The Long Run

7.54 mi, 1:09:41, 9:15 avg

Ran with Jamie in the neighborhood, started a little bit late, but not too late.

8.06 mi, 1:03:28, 7:52 avg

My re-introduction to speed work.  I needed a challenge but have not done  much of any speed or tempo in a while.  I thought that 2x2 miles would be a good compromise.

First set: 6:42, 6:40

Second set: 6:40, 6:46

It was challenging and would have been good to not slow down on the second mile of the second set but still prett close.  I ran out and back from one of the water fountains near the golf course so I'd have a place to leave my gatorade.  Felt somewhat accomplished afterward.  I needed this run, was a tough week and was going to get tougher, but in the end things somewhat worked out (I'm writing this the Sunday night after the the actual day - Wednesday).  On today, as well even on some "easy days" any run can turn into a run of self-discovery.

6.1 mi, 55:00, 9:01 avg

Ran with Striders at Longleaf.  The person who was going to leave water at the water stop had mixed up her calendar and did not leave out water.  This was actually kind of good to remember and appreciate the effort that people go through to provide water for 99% of the runs.  Ran with Joe but kept the run a little bit short as I had to get Thomas to a 7:15 appointment.

5.12 mi, 45:25, 8:52 avg

It was raining when my alarm first went off, so waited a little bit before starting. Only did 5 miles and started out a little slow but got moving faster by the end.  Out and back in the neighborhood.

12.25 mi, 1:51:21, 9:06 avg

Ran with Joe, Jamie, and Cynthia starting at Longleaf at 6:30.  Good to run with the whole group, nice morning out also.  Ran into Starkey Park and then back.  Time for a quick cup of coffee afterward with Cynthia.

AM - 6.25 miles, 8:39 pace

Ran in the nbhd, slightly late in getting started, so did 4.5 miles, woke up the boys then ran around the nbhd again to get 6.25 miles.

PM - 2.14 mi, 17:36, 8:13 avg

Ran at the treadmill at the Y and did about 10 minutes worth of weights when dropping Thomas off at swimming
 

8.09 mi, 1:03:25, 7:50 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders.  Chilly windy (but not that cold, 54 degrees), didn't feel like going fast but thought I'd pick it up after grabbing a quick water at 2.7 miles.  Joe had caught up to me by then.  We ran to the end of Alico Pass, picking up the next mile to 7:24, turned around, next mile at 7:17, then 7:06.  Joe told me to go ahead once we got to the bridge (two miles left), picked up next mile to 6:42, thought about slowing down but finished last mile in 6:40.  Wind wasn't that bad and had warmed up by the end.

7.93 mi, 1:05:47, 8:17 avg

Ran in the nbhd, solo.  Actually got up and moving on time so I didn't have to cut the run short except maybe a little since I had to get the kids up 15 minutes early.  Stopped at home after 5.3 miles then went back out and finished up the rest with last two miles at 7:43 and 7:15, the rest were all 9:30 to 8:00 range.

Wore old Brooks Pureflow which I retired a while ago but still look and feel pretty good.

9.07 mi, 1:14:04, 8:10 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders.  Got in some pretty good miles and had a nice pick up at the end.

7.76 mi, 1:04:37,  8:20 avg

Ran in the nbhd, solo, ran a little bit over 6 miles, stopped at the house to wake up the boys then finished up another mile.

27.21 mi, 4:11:39, 9:15 avg

I started out at Diane's house because I thought she and Renee would be starting there.  I got there a couple minutes late but Renee's car wasn't there so didn't think I missed them.  Started out and legs felt really dead and pace was slow and difficult.  Stopped and then started again.  Eventually shook off the feeling after about 3 miles.  Just after 4 miles, met up with Jamie and Cynthia inside Starkey Park.  We ran out just over 4 miles, then turned back.  I said goodbye and turned right at the power lines and ran north on the dirt road almost 6 miles before turning back, then headed back out toward's Diane's house.  Some of the miles on the dirt road were slower due to large holes and some partially torn up sections.  Mile 25 a little faster, back under 9:00 to 8:46, then last two miles at 8:06.  Hopefully I'm getting enough of these big runs in to be ready for the 68 mile race without an excessive amount of suffering!

13.49 miles, 9:31 pace

Ran with Jamie and Cynthia, started out at Target near Suncoast and 54 and headed south towards Lutz Lake Fern Rd, and then kept going onto the new section of Upper Tampa Bay Trail.  My legs were a bit tired today but easy to just go along with the group.  My garmin died right before 6 miles (5.99), but got the pace and distance from Cynthia after the run.  Temp was in the 40's but felt pretty good, wore just the right amount of layers.  I did get hungry on the way back (which doesn't happen too often on runs).

So, pretty happy to get nearly 41 miles in two days.

6.04 mi, 52:35, 8:42 avg

Ran on the Starkey Bike trail starting out at Longleaf at 7:00.  Andy's track team was meeting there for an extra run since today was a school holiday.  Pretty good steady pace, slowed down the 5th mile, then picked it up a little bit at the end.  This was Andy's longest run (he's been running 4-5 miles for the "easy" runs in addition to the track workouts).  Pretty fun Monday morning run.

8.23 mi, 1:09:48, 8:29 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders.  Out and back run with a little bit faster on the way back and finished while the coffee was still set up and remembered to give Clarke my water contribution of 70 small bottles of water from Costco.  It was a pretty fun morning.

8.38 mi, 1:05:00, 7:45 avg

Nice cool 48 degrees.  Decided today would be a challenging run.  Goal was 5 miles at 6:55 average plus warm-up and cool down.

Felt pretty good at the start, did about 1.5 mile warm then started the tempo portion.  I seemed to get on pace quickly and easily but holding it was not so easy.  I was over 7:00 for the firt mile (7:07), then I had to squeeze through a gate to get to the nbhd part of my usual route, so my pace slowed a lot for the second mile which I gradually got back most of but finished mile 2 with 7:27 but at the end of that mile I had picked up momentum and did the next three miles at 6:37, 6:39, and 6:37. 

So, end result was 6:54 pace for 5 miles but not quite the way I planned.  When my pace slowed on mile 2 and I thought about scrapping the run I decided it was just going to be based on effort no matter what the pace came out to be.  That seemed to get me motivated to keep going and pace picked up also.

8.64 mi, 1:15:00, 8:41 avg

Ran with Joe and Jamie in the nbhd.  We all did a little over 6 miles together then I continued the long way back to my house and finally finished up with 7 x 25 second strides with 50 second jogs between.  Not my fastest, especially at first but did the job to practice leg turnover.  It's like a fun mini-speed workout.  Weather was great and the miles with friends rolled along pretty smoothly.

16.09 mi, 2:23:19, 8:54 avg

Ran with Joe, Jamie, and Cynthia from Longleaf, up Starkey Blvd and into Starkey Park out almost to the power lines.  Was a nice and cool 50ish degree kind of morning.  I had some dread going into the run and last night but my legs were nice to me and the easy pace felt easy and I gradually picked up the last three miles - 8:19, 7:45, 7:19

Part of the reason I picked it up though was needing to get back in time to watch Andy at his track meet.  Meet started at 10:00 although he didn't get to run until about 3:15 - a lot of sitting around in the sun and seeing the temps climb - to about 81 degrees.  Still did really well with 2:32 for the 800m event.  This was his first official time so now he has a starting point.

8.24 mi, 1:09:42, 8:27 avg

Nice cool 50ish weather, run around the nbhd, solo.  Slower start with faster pace at the end.  Started pretty much on time and added a loop after waking up the boys for school.

PM - 2.10 miles, 17:10, 8:35 avg , ran on the treadmill at the Y while Thomas was at swimming and then did a few sets of random weights after the run.

8.23 mi, 1:06:36, 8:05 mi

Striders run at Longleaf.  Started about 5:35, caught up with a few people at the water stop and then continued on until at the end of Diane's street.  Picked up the pace with a few miles in low 7:30's.   Warmer today but still sort of cool, low 60's

Got back too late for coffee but did say hi to Julie.

6.18 mi,  58:48, 9:31

Ran with Jamie in the nbhd.  Nice, easy paced run.  I had thought about doing some more but had a little bit of pain in lower abs - need to stop slacking with the core stretches/strengthening exercises.  (did get better as the week went on)

8.51 mi, 1:08:17, 8:01 avg

Ran at Longleaf with Joe.  Last night he asked if I wanted to do 6 x 1 mile at 6:45 pace, I said ok but thought it sounded a little odd.  This morning he said it was actually 5 x 1 mile at 6:38 pace.  50's for the temperature but cold feeling with a pretty strong wind from the north.  Warmed up for about a mile and a half and then started.  I must not have really been warmed up yet because I couldn't seem to get moving fast enough, plus we were heading into the wind.  The second repeat was much better - warmed up, out of the wind and in a neighborhood with some street lights so less dark.  Pace felt much easier.  Also in the 6:30's for the next two repeats and for the last on I went a bit faster and finished with a 6:22.  I hadn't run a mile that fast since the last 5k I did.

mile repeats: 7:07, 6:35, 6:32, 6:33, 6:22

PM - 1.56 mi, 13:36, 8:43 avg - short treadmill run at the Y after doing some weights while waiting for Tom's swimming.

8.17 mi, 1:16:09, 9:19 avg

Ran with Jamie in the nbhd, just over 6 miles, easy pace with a little bit faster toward the end.  Stopped in at the house to wake up the boys then ran another loop so I'd get at least 8 miles.  Nice, chilly but not cold morning today.

16.42 mi, 2:18:18, 8:25 avg

Ran with Joe starting from Longleaf.  I had no exact distance in mind, Joe had 16 on his training schedule and wanted to do the last 4 (or possibly last 8) faster.  As we were heading out we talked about how sometimes easy pace feels hard enough that you don't think you can run at a faster pace but when it's time to go you just go.  So, that's sort of how it went.  Ran into the park and turned around near the power lines than started moving a little bit faster for mile 10, then were in the 7:30's and 7:20's and finally at the last mile I decided to pick it up some more.  I didn't want to struggle keeping it at an exact pace and didn't want to come up short so went faster than planned with a 6:53 for the last mile.  Weather was great which helped a lot.  Actually kind of cold until I warmed up, had to keep my hands balled up inside my sleeves for warmth.  Felt perfect at the end with the sun and temps warmed up to low 50's.

11.28 mi, 1:45:07, 9:19 avg

Ran with Jamie from the nbhd, looped through Kinsmere and back via Little Road.  Chilly again at the start but felt perfect after a few miles.  We ran a little over 9 miles together then I added some more on by myself.

Felt pretty good, hardly felt yesterday's run including fast finish.

5.54 mi, 48:46, 8:48 avg

Slightly abbreviated run, nbhd route out to golf course with out and back.  Pleasant morning in the  mid 50's, no water stop today, just a brief stop waiting for the traffic light to change going out and coming back.