The Long Run

Today was mostly a cross train and weights day with a little bit of running on the treadmill.  They have replaced all the tv's at the Y with new big screen flat panel screens which are easier to see.  I did some upper and lower body weights, stationary bike, and rower.  Pretty much my usual Friday routine.  Tomorrow will be a long run but not too long, probably about 12 miles, then next weekend is the half marathon with Jenny and Kathryn.

Today's run was great.  I loved it.  I was supposed to meet a bunch of people at Starkey park to run on the bike trail there.  Some of the people were there, but some had gotten there earlier for their run.   I didn't get the memo.  The weather.com desktop said that it was 51° outside but it felt cooler.  My truck said it was 45 out when I got in but as I drove to the park it dropped to 39°.  I was a little worried because I had on only one long sleeve shirt and shorts, but at least I had my hat.

I started running with Kevin, Nelson, David, and Jenny.  I felt so cold at first.  Jenny was dressed much smarter than I was, she discarded one of her layers after about a mile, a gray sweatshirt which I was eying, but I resisted saying anything as I don't know her that well.   We kept on going and I slowly felt less cold.  David and Jenny turned around at 3.5 to head back.  At about 4 miles we saw Keith and Dixie on the way back from 10 miles.  At 5 miles, Kevin and Nelson turned around to head back.  Shortly after that I saw Bob coming back from doing 19 miles, I turned around for a bit and ran with him to chat.  He is training for the Boston marathon.  He has entered through a charity - a cancer research center.  So, he doesn't have to train and get a certain time, but he is training as if he did.  At this rate I think he'll be able to qualify for next year's Boston marathon while running there this year!

I turned around and continued out to turn around just after 6 miles.  Now I felt warmed up and the cold air felt good.  I picked up the pace a little here and there and was alternating faster miles with not so fast miles.  I got to the last mile and felt like picking it up.  I wanted to run to where it felt like about a 7:00 pace or just faster.  But then, the "Popcorn" song came on which made me run faster.  I looked at my pace, it was 6:23.  I cooled down for the remainder to get back to the parking lot and enjoyed some coffee and half a dunkin donuts muffin.

Average pace: 8:16

As is often the case on Monday morning's, I was a little bit disorganized this morning.  Waking up on time but taking too long to get going.  Woke up at 6:05.  Made it to the Y about 7:00.  Did some warm up cardio inside, then was outside stretching.  Talked to a guy for a bit who had seen me running a lot and asked if I was training for something.  I'm not sure what my next marathon will be.  This guy turned out to be one of the coaches at the high school next door.  Always good to talk with someone new.   So, I finally got going.  I was stuck at a light for a while on the first mile but still managed an 8:48 which is a good first mile for me. 

Eased into my pace and felt good.   At about 5 miles I was moving along nicely when someone asked me for directions.  They were looking for the street that they had just turned off of!   Maybe this was good in a way because maybe I was going a little bit too fast for easy run pace.  I had been shooting for 7 - 7.5 miles this morning but ended up with 8, a pretty good way to start the week.

Average pace: 7:56

Pretty nice early run this morning.  I met up with Dixie to run through the Lansbrook area.  He only had time for 6 miles this morning, but I figured since I was there I would just add on some miles after he left.

We did a route to the lake park and back with a brief water stop at the fountain there.  On the way back I suddenly felt like I had lost some steam.  It was a good thing that I was running with someone else otherwise it might have been hard to continue.  The feeling passed after another 1.5 miles and then I felt better and felt strong at the finish of the first half.    I stopped for a drink of accelerade and then continued on after Dixie left.  I ran north up the trail alongside Eastlake Ave. it was not a nice run because it was still dark and there were a ton of cars, I couldn't believe how busy the street was.  Turning around was nicer, with the cars at my back and it starting to get lighter.  I hit 10 miles as I approached the parking lot and ran past it for about another mile loop through John Chestnut park which was very nice.  Last 3 miles were at a feeling good 7:40ish pace.  Saw lots of squirrels.  Good thing I was running because the squirrels in this park can become aggressive :)

 Average pace: 8:19
 

Ran this morning with Dixie, Raj, and Raj's friend Tim.  We met at the Y just after 5:30.  Decided to not do a tempo run since Dixie will be doing a 15K on Saturday and I do not want to risk any possibility of injury for my half marathon with Jenny on Sunday.   Run was fun and pleasant.  Picked things up a bit on the last 2 miles with  7:07 and 7:36 pace miles.

Average pace: 8:09 

I went inside the Y for a little bit of cardio cross training followed by a full body weight routine. 

I woke up this morning at 6:11 glad that I didn't have to wake up extra early.  I let the dogs out and saw that it had rained last night but had stopped now which was good.  I fed the dogs as I was getting ready for my run and was out the front door by just before 7:00.  Stretched and warmed up a little bit more outside then I was on my way.  I wasn't sure exactly what I had in store for this morning's run other than hoping to get in about 8 miles at a reasonable pace.

First mile was typical of first miles for me at 9:03 which included a traffic light delay.  Second mile was faster, then 3rd mile was inexplicably slower which worried me slightly until I reminded myself that pace did not matter today, then I was ok.   I had turned on my music just after 2 miles and was really starting to enjoy the morning.  It's mornings like these when I feel as if someone asked me what I was training for I'd say "nothing, I just like to run".  The fourth mile was right where I wanted it to be at 7:41 which should have been a good pace for the rest of the run.   However, some music came on my ipod which made me feel like running faster.  The next two miles were at 7:07 and 6:49.  I slowed down a little bit and got stuck crossing a busy road so the next mile was 7:58.  After that I felt charged up again and did two more faster miles at 7:09 and 6:48.   Now I was almost home, slowed down, jogged and then walked a bit.

I like finishing up Thursday's run because it is the end of 4 days in a row so those during the week base miles are finished.  Friday is a fun do whatever you want short run, and Saturday is the long run that sometimes feel like an adventure run.  Although this Saturday might just be some cross training since half marathon is on Sunday. 

Average pace: 7:41 

Normally I do a short and easy run on Friday's.  But today I did not run however I did do some cardio cross training and some weights.  I'll do an easy run tomorrow.  The schedule shift is due to the half marathon on Sunday.

As part of my pre race ritual I ran some easy miles. I warmed up first with some bike and rowing machine then hopped onto the treadmill. I kept it pretty much at a 9:05 pace so I could get an idea of what that felt like. During the last half mile I picked it up a little bit.

Average pace: 8:57

It was a wonderful day for a race. My wife, her friend Kathryn and I ran the Gasparilla Half Marathon this morning. I had signed up to be their pacer. They had both recently run the Disney World Half Marathon and were shooting to break 2 hours. I had very little doubt that they would be able to do this.

The race started (not so) bright and early and 6:00 am with the air only slightly chilly. Kathryn's husband Chuck drove us all down there so it was very low stress to get there. We lined up a little too far back from where we should have been but it was hard to get farther up in line. There were a little more than 3000 people between the half and full marathon. The race started and we started shuffling forward. It took 1:50 to cross the start mats. We somewhat got onto pace with 9:27 for the first mile. Next mile was on pace, with maybe a few seconds gained back. It was a nice run around Davis island, passing along the airfield at MacDill AFB as we looped back towards the north of the island. At about mile 5 it was getting light out. It was turning to be a very beautiful morning. Jenny and Kathryn did great sticking with me although they did grumble a bit when we had to pick up the pace after hitting the water stops.

I really wanted them to both make their goals but there was not a lot I could do other than try and run as steady as possible. Coming across the half way mark I saw we were between right on pace and a few seconds ahead. We picked up the pace slightly as we approached Bayshore Blvd. which was an out and back section of the course. By about 9 miles we were ahead even a little bit more. Kathryn needed to make a pit stop so I stayed with her while Jenny went on ahead. Kathryn and I ran on for almost another mile, catching back up from the lost time. She made one more stop and told me to go catch up to Jenny. So, I picked it up and after a few minutes I caught back up to Jenny. She was doing great, having picked up still more time. We were a bit worried about Kathryn but then we saw her just after we hit the turn around, she looked to be in good shape so I did not go back for her.

With the 1:50 that it took us to cross the start I had to calculate our actual pace which is always harder to do while running. I did not want to mess things up with another math error. But, when I saw the pace clock at mile 11 it said 1:40. With 20 minutes left to do 2.1 miles without adjusting for the start time I knew we were in good shape. Jenny showed no signs of slowing down. She thought she was slowing down. She wasn't wearing the Garmin so I told her she was more than on pace and just to keep going.

We wanted to cross the finish line together but with about 100 yards left to run she took off on a final kick and I almost lost her. My Garmin time showed 1:57:01 but I knew that I had started it just before the start mats and stopped it just after we crossed. So we were later pleased to find out that her time was actually 1:56:54.

We were hoping that Kathryn did not fall back too badly, didn't hit a bad patch and give up and walk. Well, she did not, she hung in there and made her goal with a 1:58:49. I can't take much credit for the hard work that they did but I was glad to be able to help out. And, it was a really great morning to run and enjoy being out for a tour of Tampa! Way to go Jenny and Kathryn!

Jenny:

old PR:      new PR:
2:10:47      1:56:54

Kathryn:

old PR:      new PR:
2:05:32      1:58:49

It was a bit chillier this morning than it was yesterday.   The sky was very clear which had made the temp drop overnight but I knew it would warm up quickly because of the clear sky once the sun came up.  I was feeling a little bit off schedule and wasn't sure what to do.  I figured I'd try and get in 7 miles and that should straighten me out.  I warmed up inside the Y on the bike but the rower's were both being used so I figured I'd be ok busting out of my normal routine :)

First mile in 8:51, then 8:18 for the next one.  The next miles felt good and I picked up the pace a little more each time.   One of the miles was 7:23, after which I backed it down slightly since today was not going to be a tempo day.   I was a bit under dressed with shorts and a short sleeve shirt, but I did have a hat! It was 44° at the start and maybe 48° at the end but felt much warmer by then as the sun was up.

I went back inside and did some cool down on the rower ( I just couldn't resist) then headed home.

Average pace: 7:53

This morning's run was interesting.  Pretty much nothing about it went according to any routine.  But overall it was still a good run.  I met up with Dixie about 7:00 outside of John Chestnut park.  I showed up a few minutes before him and bought a gatorade at the 7-11 there.  I had forgotten to drink my usual 2 glasses of water that I always drink when I first wake up.

We decided to start by running into the park.   The pace felt nice and easy but it was a lot faster than normal for a first mile at 7:54.  We ran through a section of park I had never been into then came to an observation tower (that I had been to before).  Dixie wanted to go up it so I said why not.  My left shin was kind of tight so I stretched out a bit when we were at the top looking out over Lake Tarpon.  I needed to stretch because I had forgotten to do my usual prerun alphabet stretch.  We went back down the tower then onto a board walk going through the cypress swamp.  I had imagined that it would feel to harsh running on the wood but it was actually kind of springy.   There were lots of squirrels and we also saw 4 deer.  We ran on various surfaces - grass, packed shells, pavement and boardwalk.  We exited the park just after 4 miles, although I'm not sure the exact distance because the garmin kept losing its signal in the tall trees.  We had also made a couple more stops so the average pace looked really slow.

The remainder 3.8 miles were back on the road where we got back into a more usual and consistent pace.  We both felt like doing 10 but with the adventure through the park time was getting a little bit tight so we opted to wrap things up at 8.

This run certainly kept me out of a rut for the week.

Average pace: 8:53

I woke up early this morning, at 5:02.  I wasn't feeling fully focused and alert until about 5:30.  I met up with a bunch of the guys at the Y just after 5:30.   Everyone else was ready and they started to go ahead, saw I wasn't going and asked if they should wait.  I said, no, go ahead.  I didn't want to miss my few stretches I do and I had to wait for the Garmin had locked in.

So, I got going and slowly caught back up after a mile.  It was a good way to get going.  Then I backed it down for a bit while we finished the warm up, crossed Mitchell Rd then started the tempo.  Just 3 miles today but it felt a little bit tough with the warm air and humidity.

Splits were:  7:14, 6:47, 6:54

Average pace for total run: 7:57 

Cooled down for the return trip back to the Y.  I went inside did a little bit of cardio cross training and a quick full body weight routine. 

Good run this morning.  I ran from home.  It felt very cold at first but got better once I warmed up.  Temp was 45° but with some wind to make it feel a bit chillier.  Wore shorts, long sleeve tech shirt and hat.  Started out with a nice and easy mile of 9:18, then did the next two in low 8's.  Picked things up a little bit more.  Next miles were 7:46, 7:15, 7:00, 7:20, 6:41, 7:43, and 7:10, then slowed down for the remainder .29 to get me home.  Felt great at the end.  As I neared my house I took a left instead of right to add an extra loop around the neighborhood.  The last mile especially felt the best.

 Average pace: 7:40
 

Planned non-running day.   I did not do my usual Friday short run since I had just run 6 days in a row.  I'll run tomorrow then I'll be back on my usual schedule next week.

I did 11 minutes on the bike, 11 minutes on the irresistible rower, then weights consisting of leg extensions, leg curls, tricep pull-downs, and lat pull-downs.

When I got home Jenny asked me "So, how was your run?" which I knew of course was a trick question :)  No, I actually did not run when I said I was not going to run.

I feel like doing a longer long run tomorrow but have not yet decided on the distance. 

This morning's run was great, I loved it.  It was the most miles I have done in a while although it wasn't non stop.

I met up with Bob and Dixie at 5:30. Actually I was a couple of minutes late, they were just leaving so I said I would catch up with them.  Bob was going to do 21 miles but with  two out and back runs, and he said he was going to run between 9:00 and 9:30.  It took me 4 miles to catch up to them, so they were not going at the pace they had planned. There were two versions of the story as to whom was speeding up, Bob's version and Dixie's version.  Anyway, we did slow down for the trip back to finish the first 9 miles. 

Some more people had shown up, so after a few minutes we headed out again, this time with Nelson and Raj, as well as Bob, Dixie and I.  Dixie and I turned back after 3 miles because I figured that 15 miles total would be good for me, although 18 miles was tempting me.  We did pick up one of the miles to a 6:58 which felt great.  After getting back from the 15 miles I saw Keith who had just finished his track workout and was going on a short cool down run.  So, I went with him for the final 1.38 miles for me.

So, overall it was a pretty fun morning.  The weather was great and there were lots of people to talk with.  I didn't even get a chance to turn on my ipod.  Spent a little time after the run at social hour and then headed home.

Jenny had made some very delicious French toast with vegan sausage links and sliced up strawberries on the side.  What an awesome way to wrap up the morning.   But then things kept on getting better.   I could go on but now I'm straying from running :)

Average pace: 8:38

I ran with my brother Jim this morning which was great.  He is staying with my parents for the week but made it over here this morning at 6:30.  His longest run before today was just 5 miles.  With the humidity it was a little bit tough this morning and we took a few walking breaks but he did pretty good considering the 25 hour straight drive they did to get down here on Saturday.   The last 0.2 miles he wanted to go fast so we ran in at a 6:00 pace.

Maybe we will get one more run in together this week and then hopefully we'll get to do a 5K in Tampa this Saturday before they have to drive back.

Average pace: 9:38

Tempo run with Dixie this morning.  Met up at 5:30 near John Chestnut park.  It felt very chilly and damp this morning although the temp wasn't too bad, quite different from yesterday morning.  We decided to start out slow and do a 3 mile warmup followed by 4 miles of tempo then a 1 mile cool down.

Splits for tempo were: 6:55, 6:38, 6:51, 6:57

Last mile was a bit slower due to dodging more cars.  We'll need to pick a route on a wider road next time.  Felt really good.

Average pace: 8:13

Ran with a new pair of New Balance 825's.  Well, they were almost new, I got them from Keith who had just worn them a few times.

I had to be back home by 7:25 so I ran from home and picked a course that I thought would be about 7 miles.  I woke up early enough but by the time I actually started running it was 6:25.  Oh well, should be plenty of time.

I started out slowly but it turned into a really slow mile due to various obstacles.   Second mile was also slow, it was as slow as what my first mile is usually.  Third mile saw included some time being stuck waiting for traffic to clear, but it was slightly faster than the second mile.  Now I was getting into a loop and would soon start heading back home but my times were much slower than usual I was starting to worry if I'd make it back in time.

4th mile was normal finally at 8:25.  Then I started feeling a bit faster and picked it up to get back home exactly on time with the final miles at 7:38, 7:42, and 6:50.  That felt good to finish strong and get back home on time! 

Usually I try not to worry about pace when a run is not going so great but sometimes running  changes from exercise to transportation, like when you are out on an out and back course.

Average pace:  8:22

Today was a pretty busy and somewhat stressful day at work, but I did get in a good run before my work day started.  I just didn't get to write it down until much later.  Jenny says that when there is too much time between the run and the blog the blog entry turns into something like "I ran  10 miles this morning, it was good."

I got a pretty good start without too much time wasted.  I started out slowly and felt like I had picked things up but it turned out I was going slower than I thought I was.  It felt like I was moving at the usual pace but the Garmin said otherwise.  I thought that maybe the Garmin was wrong.  When I got to the turnaround point I turned off the Garmin then turned it back on to see if that would help.

Well, I think the Garmin was accurate because the return trip was the exact same distance.  However, I did end up doing the return at a significantly faster pace.  The miles felt good.  I did one of the miles in 7:18 then backed it down slightly as I turned onto SR 54.  This is the least nicest part of the run but it goes by quickly.  Fortunately crossing it was not an issue, a huge gap opened up and both sides were clear so I went for it.  It wasn't at the light but it was so wide open I figured that was better than going to the light and possibly getting hit by an impatient driver trying to make it through.

As I got into the neighborhood I started feeling really good, my pace had picked up.  Instead of backing it down I held the pace and finished the last mile in 6:39.  I ran past the house a little bit for my cool down then back for an extra half mile.

Average pace: 7:57

An easy run which I kept at an easy pace.  I just ran around my neighborhood.  I didn't feel like doing the same loop twice so I ran the loop once but ran into several cul-de-sacs to stretch out the run a little bit.  It was a nice uneventful run.  Weather slightly warm.  Did not run with music.  I think I am going to do a 5K tomorrow.  It was kind of spur of the moment decision but it should be fun.

Average pace: 8:16 

This was a pretty good race for a number of reasons, although I did fall short of my goal.

My 5K goal (for a while now) has been to break 20 minutes, and I might have been able to do it except for a number of reasons. Those reasons really aren't too important. More important were the lessons learned.

It wasn't until earlier this week that I decided I was going to run a 5K this weekend so it was a "come as you are" race, which is a pretty good way to gauge where you are at. The race started at 8:00, the drive was about 45 minutes and I needed to still sign up for it. We left a little bit late and I got slightly lost and ended up parking not very close (I don't do very well navigating in downtown Tampa). We got there about 7:30, signed up and had a little bit of time for a warm up. I usually like to run slowly for 1.5 to 2 miles as a warm up with a few strides thrown in. I think I ran about .75 miles altogether but I wasn't measuring it so that is just a guess. The temperature was fairly warm, about 75°, but with heavy humid air. Just before the race started the sun came out from behind the few clouds which made it feel warmer.

At this point I was feeling pretty warmed up and ready despite the less then smooth pre-race rituals. At the starting line, I looked down and noticed that my right shoe was not double knotted, so I quickly fixed that. We were lined up near the start as there were no chips for timing. I was with my brother Jim who was shooting for a 24:30. The race started and the first thing I realized was that although I had double knotted my shoe it was very loose. Oh, well not much to do about it, just try and be careful. I took off at what felt like my usual 5K pace but it was faster than normal. In fact this would be both good and bad. I finished the first mile in 5:55. This was a new record for me, I had never finished a mile in less than 6:00. The bad part was that it was too fast. The second mile quickly became tough. Now I was hot and the sun was hitting me hard. I was hanging onto a 6:40 pace but just barely. I was thinking that wasn't so bad for the second mile, I could get back on pace for the third mile and still make my goal.

At the start of the third mile my legs were starting to burn, this is the first time I had felt this in a 5K. It wasn't terrible but made it even harder to hold onto the 6:40 pace. As I approached what I thought was the finish line I realized that it was not the finish line. The 5 mile race had a finish line at the entrance to a tunnel. The 5K finish had been moved to the other side of the tunnel. I gave it all I had and could soon see the finish clock. I could see that the first number was a 2. And maybe for that reason I didn't quite go completely all out for the last 100 feet or so. I went through the chute and saw a time of 20:35. Shortly after I realized I had not stopped my Garmin. I stopped the timer and it said 20:53 with a distance of 3.25 miles giving me an average pace of 6:26 which would have been fine if the distance was correct. I looked at a couple other people's garmins and they all measured what I had. The course is not certified, but that doesn't really matter I suppose.

I filled out my race card and dropped it into the male 40-44 box, my card was the first one in so I had some hope of getting 1st for my age group - later I found that I actually got 2nd. Not sure yet of my overall place or what my "official" time was.

This was the first 5K out of the last 5 where I did not get a PR. I knew this day would come as it is nearly impossible to always get a PR (short of never running again after getting a PR).

This was the first 5K where I went out too fast and paid a price for it. I had been meaning to do this at some point (although didn't specifically plan on it today) to see what it would feel like. I usually can't go out too fast, it just seems to take me longer to build up a good head of steam or to fight my way through a crowd or something like that.

This was my first ever sub 6:00 mile. When I saw that my first mile was going to be under 6:00 part of me thought maybe a could get a huge PR today, I just needed to hang on. This was probably just being greedy, but part of me was glad that I tried.

The entry fee included a free ticked to the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game that night against the Boston Bruins. I'm not a big hockey fan but thought it would be fun. My brother was heading back up north so he gave his ticket to my Dad and we saw the game together.

Jim got about a 25:20 something. Not a PR for him either and short of his goal but still a good effort for him.

Jenny's friend Kathryn was also there with her whole family. She just missed 3rd place for her age group and should have gotten up except for a mix up with how they handed out the race cards.

Shortly after the race it rained, pouring down.  Now it made sense, the air had that oppressive feeling that it gets just before the rain comes down and cools everything off. 

If nothing else, this was a good speed workout in preparation for my 10K coming up in 2 weeks. Hopefully we'll have better weather for that. It is a known course for me which makes it easier and it is even flatter than this race was (mostly flat except for some bridges).

I convinced my two boys to run the 1.7 mile loop around the neighborhood.  They are both good runners but I don't take them out enough.  We also brought Sammy the dog.  It was just after dinner.  Everyone had a good time.  We kept the pace light and easy and if someone said "walk break" we would take a short walking break.   The last time I took Andy out I pushed him a little too hard at the end and he hadn't wanted to run since then.   I think this run ended on a good note and hopefully we can do more of these together on a regular basis.

Time for the loop was 20:53.  (I didn't bring the garmin, but I did wear a watch and only looked at it at the end). 

I had that Monday morning "what should I do?" feeling as I was getting ready today.  The answer of course was go for a run and sort things out while running.  But first I did some warm up inside the Y with bike and rowing machine then headed outside.  The first mile was slow - a little bit slower than usual.  The second mile was also slow.  I still had a tiny bit of residual soreness from the race.  But just after two miles I felt loosened up and ready to run.  Eventually I picked it up for a couple of 7:15 miles, then did the last 1.15 at about a 7:45 pace.

Weather was very nice this morning with a beautiful 64° and comfortable humidity.

Average pace: 8:01 

For the most part today's run felt ok, but was maybe a little bit sluggish feeling compared to last Thursday's run when I did the same route.

I ran from my house to SR54, up Starkey Blvd and then back.

The weather keeps fluctuating, and today it was warmer than yesterday and a bit sticky.  Usually at the turn around point I'm feeling great because I'm on my way back, but today I caught myself thinking otherwise.  Despite a some negativity here and there it turned into a pretty good run.  My return trip was faster than the outbound and I managed to do one faster mile as I got close to home - 6:53.

Average pace: 7:58 

Overall a basic run, nothing too fancy. Our fluctuating weather continues with much cooler weather this morning and wind (15-20 with gusts to 30).

I warmed up inside with the usual 10 minutes bike and 5 minutes rower.

I thought about doing a short run outside and then finishing up on the treadmill, but by the time I got to four miles I didn't see a point in going inside. I picked up the last mile a little bit to  7:24.

Average pace: 8:08

After the run I went inside and did some lower body weights.

Today I felt back at my usual energy level as compared to yesterday where I felt a slight dip.  Boy, I'm glad that's over with. 

Tomorrow I intend to hit the track for some 800's. I haven't done those for quite a long time.

As promised yesterday, I did do some 800's today.  It has been quite a long time since I have done those (last spring) and even quite some time since I have been to a track (Nov. for 1600's).  It was colder out this morning than yesterday (about 41° today) but not as windy as yesterday.   I woke up a little bit earlier than usual to make sure I was done before school started.

Did a little bit of usual warm up inside the Y, then headed outside for a little over 2 easy miles ending up at the HS track next door to the Y.

The first lap of the first 800 felt really good, almost easy.  Next lap felt harder but overall not too bad.  Second 800 felt much harder and I began questioning myself as to whether I could do these or not.  Third and fourth did not get any worse, fifth one felt a little bit better.  I was feeling much more confident for the sixth one.  Since I was on the verge of doubting myself until the last one, I think that means I was putting out a good effort.

Here are the splits:

3:03, 3:02, 3:01, 3:02, 3:00, 2:57

Times might be off slightly as it was difficult to hit the stop button exactly when I crossed the line but they are probably not more than a second off.  The Garmin pace on the track is not very accurate, but it is somewhat helpful to keep on pace with if you have a rough idea of how far it is off.  However, it was a great confidence booster to see the pace as 5:xx for most of the time while doing the repeats.

I jogged 400's between the 800's, then after I was done cooled down for almost 2 miles.

Average pace: 8:39

Today was a planned non-running day.  I went to the Y this morning and did some cardio cross training followed by various upper and lower body weights.  I started to get onto the treadmill and then decided against it for some reason (I'm not sure why though).

After dinner Noah was a little bit wound up so I took him and Sammy out for a short run.  It was actually walk, jog, sprint, repeat.  We did 1.4 miles in a total time of 15:49.  Afterwards, everyone felt much better and I escaped ending up with a goose egg for today.