The Long Run

8.12@9:11 followed by 6x100m strides (0.39@5:47)

Ran from my house, first doing my new favorite loop portion on the Starkey Gap trail along with enough further south down the trail so that I'd get 8 miles for the easy portion.

Finished up with the strides near my house, up and down the street.

6.11@9:18

Did tomorrow's run today.  6 easy miles, looping inside Westlake Village.

10.06@7:32, HR 158 bpm

1 mi warmup, 3T, 3T, 2T, 1 mile cool

Did yesterday's tempo today running loops inside Westlake Village.

First up was 3 miles at Tempo: 7:29,  7:23, 7:23

(first set was a little bit slower than goal but was pretty sure I'd get faster.  This workout is supposed to get progressively faster each set so actually kind of on goal).

Second set: 7:14, 7:20, 7:11

Third set: 7:15, 7:02

Good to get this run completed, slowly going in the direction I want.

9.02@8:23

Mid-week medium long run from Westlake Village, over the the Pinellas Trail via the crossing near the high school and then north far enough to reach 4.5 miles out (which is a little past the old trail tunnel).  Last 4 miles were at 7:55ish average which was probably too fast for today but once I again I was in a hurry for a deadline to get back to the house.

7.52@8:28, HR 143 bpm

7 miles plus strides at the end, run from my house, past the golf club, then down Starkey Gap Trail until reaching Keystone Road, then back the way I came.

Probably ran this "easy" day run a little too fast.

20.08 @ 8:10, HR 155 bpm

10:59 am start time, weather in the mid 60's and cloudy so I was able to once again get away with the later start.

20 mile run, up Starkey Blvd and into the park until reaching 10 miles.  First mile was 9:43, then the next 9 were in the 8:15 to 8:45 range.  When it came time to shift to marathon pace miles I did a reasonably good job.  I didn't want to quit and I hit all of the miles under 8:00 pace, but I did end up stopping a few times, partially due to the hydration situation.   It was better than the last 20 mile run where I also stopped a few times but gave up after just two miles of marathon pace, then shifted to survival finishing with an 8:32 average.

So, progress at least despite not quite being where I wished I was with fitness, but then again 20 miles itself is an accomplishment.

I felt better after the run this time compared to last time where I felt beat up and tired going into Monday.

6.41@9:47 , 1:02:43

6 miles easy pace from my house and then out and back down the trail past Lake Dan.  I avoided Robert Trent Jones Pkwy today by running in the ditch to the trail and then crossing Trinity Blvd with the yellow flashing lights rather than at the traffic light.

The traffic light can actually be dangerous with left turning cars in a hurry and the intersection near the golf club can be dangerous with poor turn signal usage.  So, to avoid that spot I'd been crossing before the intersection, but the last couple of times some guy in a golf cart has been yelling at me because someone was hit recently.

Anyway, took the run easy with the easy part just over 10:00 pace, followed by not skipping the strides.

Last week I saw my (garmin reported) vo2 max drop from 53 to 51 and then down to 50 on Saturday (previous week it went from 54 to 53), maybe a little bit of overtraining so going to move to the slow end of the easy pace instead of pushing pace the faster end.

5.17@9:13

I pushed out my hard run (6x800,4x400) out one day. I was feeling tired, Whoop said my recovery was low, did not sleep well last night, and the time was tight (wanted to get back so Jessica could get to body combat at the Y), so just opted for easy paced run scheduled for tomorrow.

Out and back run from Westlake Village, to the Pinellas Trail and a little bit north.  It was a nice morning, good temperature for speed work, hopefully will be good tomorrow.

9.06@9:58

Another bad night of sleep and showing low recovery again.  Decided once again to push out the hard run and do Thursday's run today.  Hopefully tomorrow will be good, I'll just have to do the best.

I went out extra slow the first mile (12:18), actually it started out as a walk and gradually morphed into a run.  Was thinking about doing only 7 miles, but when I got to the end of the trail portion where it turns onto Keystone, kept going and a little bit into Brooker Creek Preserve to reach 4.5 miles.

The rest of the miles became a gradual progression run finishing up at 8:17 pace.

I felt really good at the end, not tired at all, somewhat rejuvenated.

Tomorrow I will run fast.

8.05 @ 7:42 avg

And finally, Tuesday's run.  I think it paid back with legs feeling fresher.

The nice surprise is that the first of the 800's was pretty close to goal pace (within a few seconds), but it didn't feel hopeless and I knew that pattern that they would get faster and more doable.  I didn't have to bargain with myself to keep going.  Just did one and moved onto the next one.  Then, moved onto the 400's.  

800's paces: 6:50, 6:44, 6:34, 6:26, 6:30, 6:26

400's paces: 6:08, 6:16, 6:04, 6:04

Route was out to the Pinellas Trail and a little south for the easy miles, and then up and down the trail near the entrance for the repeats.  

Last time I did a similar workout I struggled with the first one and only did 5 out of 6 of them, although I did do the 400's (but only two scheduled that time)

5.82 @ 9:40 avg

5ish easy miles followed by strides.  Did my favorite loop near my house on the "new trail" which I guess has a name because it now has signs "The Starkey Gap Trail", so from henceforth it will be called that.

In keeping with Wednesday's successfull slow run, ran slowish again today although the strides at the end made the overall average seem faster.  Saving it for tomorrow for the 16 miles which includes 4 Tempo miles.

16.12 @ 8:19

Was going to try and get an early start but it was pouring rain (which is doable), but the thunder and lightning gave me second thoughts.  But if I waited too long it might be warm humid and miserable.  Rain slowed down but told Jessica to go ahead to body combat class and I'd stay back with the baby.

So, finally got started at 10:20.  Easy start with slowish first mile at 10:34.  Ran north through Eniswood and over to the Pinellas trail heading south.  Carried a 17oz hand held bottle and had a small 10oz bottle in my belt.  Stashed the big bottle near where I'd start the tempo portion after doing some more southbound out and back.  I let the pace creep up for miles 5-10 (mile 10 @ 8:08) partially so it wouldn't be a big shock transitioning to the faster miles.

Similar to Thursday's run, when I had to speed up I could speed up to the pace I wanted.  It was only 4 tempo miles and I was thoroughly warmed up so no excuses to stop.

Tempo paces: 7:22. 7:17, 7:22, 7:16

At the start of the last tempo mile I seemed to slip off of pace, had to struggle to get back on pace but then ended up finishing it faster.

Grabbed my drink bottle and did the two miles home (which turned into feel good MP miles).

The weather really held.  After a partly sunny warm patch at the start of the run, the cloud cover held and some cool breezes remained for the run.

6.48 @ 9:28, HR 131 bpm

Another easy run day, followed by strides.  Wore heart rate strap to try and keep myself honest  which seemed to work with HR at 131 including the strides.

Ran from Westlake Village over to the Pinellas Trail and then north until reaching 3 miles to turn around.  Was coolish for most of the run, but warm enough to run with no shirt.  No music as well to make it so I wasn't all geared up.

3.02@9:25

Similar to last week, I pushed my hard run out one day and just did Wednesday's easy run today.  There was a bit of covid teen drama here last night and the morning schedule looked uncertain so instead of stressing about it just did one loop inside Westlake Village.

9.04@7:41, HR 149 bpm

Unlike last week, I only pushed out the hard run by one day.  Since the original schedule got compressed due to Marathon date/venue change today could have been 3x2 mile repeats or a mix of shorter repeats.  The other skipped week was 1200m repeats so I decided to do this one which was 3x1 mile, 2x800m, 2x400m.  But, I didn't remember correctly and ended up doing 4x400m instead of 2x400m. 2 mile warmup and cool-down.  Ran on the Starkey Gap trail south of the golf course.

3x1 mile: 6:54, 6:55, 6:43

2x800m paces: 6:32, 6:38

4x400m paces: 6:12, 6:12, 6:04, 6:00

Overall very happy with this workout, would like to be able to do more mile repeats and get the times back down toward 20 minute 5k pace.

7.12@10:07, HR 130 bpm

Successful implementation of easy run on easy day.  Kept the heart rate average fairly low, sped up a little bit last two miles so I didn't feel like I ran too slow.  Trying to save something up for the weekend long run.

Ran the loop from Foxwood to SR54, to Starkey Gap Trail, south the near Lake Dan then back home via Trinity Blvd and the ditch.  Running the ditch makes me feel like a trail runner.

4.46@9:31, HR 132 bpm

Easy run day, looping inside of Westlake Village.  After the 4 easy miles, 6x100m strides.  A little faster than yesterday (easy portion was about the same pace, strides sped up the average).

Hopefully tomorrow goes well.  Last "long run" before the marathon.  Next Saturday is "only" 10.

14.1@8:11, HR 149 bpm

Last long run for this marathon, no pace goals on the plan but turned this into progression/marathon goal pace for last 6 miles after slowly approaching goal pace before that. Started out early enough (7:15ish) so I could get to Aubrey's brunch around 10:15.

Ran from WLV, cut through Eniswood to Alt 19 then onto the Pinellas Trail with a sharp left turn heading south.  It was pretty much perfect weather with start temps in high 40's gradually going into low 50's.  Wore long sleeves and a hat but after about two miles took off the hat and later rolled up the sleeves.

As I approached the turnaround, had to decide whether to go over the bridge or run along the sidewalk.  I chose the bridge even though it would be a little harder (but safer due to no turning cars to watch for).  I didn't lose too much speed going over but gained some momentum coming back.

At some point I saw Bill ride by on his bike in the oppposite direction (I don't actually see that many people I know while running on this trail).  Last two miles were 7:33 and 7:37.

4.51@8:47

4ish easy miles plus 6x100m strides at the end.  I kept the 4 easy miles somewhat easy with an average pace just over 9:00 pace (after a first mile of 9:52).  Feels like I've started to escape the negative effects of the slight overtraining I noticed at the end of January.

Ran from my house, out the neighborhood and north onto the Starkey Gap Trail out to two miles, turned back and headed home then finished up with the strides up and down the street.

8.14@7:47

I finally did a faster Tuesday run on Tuesday instead of moving it out a day.  Today's run was 2x2 mile repeats at tempo pace with 2 minute rest between each set.  Did the loops in Westlake Village. Little rolling hills are a nice variety without being hard enough to impact the speed, I think it comes out to be a plus.

1st one: 7:09, 6:57

2nd one: 7:05, 6:53

I felt like I could have done a third one if needed to and possibly again at a faster pace.  Slowly inching my way back to sub-7:00 runs even if for just two miles.

3.51@9:51

Easy run day so I took Stella with me.  There was some sniff 'n stop for the first half mile but then after that was a pretty steady run.  Did out and back from my house going north on the Starkey Gap Trail.  Good quality time with the beast.

7.12@8:20

The Thursday medium long run has tapered down to just 7 miles.  Route was from WLV out to the Pinellas Trail via the crossing near the high school and then north to around Wall Springs Park then back the same way.

First mile was 9:35, then did each mile a little faster.  Trying not to run too slow during the taper which I've often done in the past.

4.62@8:16

4 easy plus 6x100m strides at the end.  Ran from my house and then southbound on the Starkey Gap Trail.  Return trip was mostly the same way except stayed on the trail until the ditch rather than Robert Trent Jones.  It is a little nicer with fewer tricking crossings (just one crossing that has a warning light).

Doesn't quite feel like training is almost done.

10.03@7:51

Supposed to be "easy" run that turned into (goal) marathon pace run.

Ran from WLV to the Pinellas Trail, north to Klosterman Road with a right turn onto it to get the last 0.1 miles needed for the 5 miles out.

First mile was 8:55 (finally a sub-9:00 for first mile), next mile 8:14 and the rest were under 8:00.

Wishing this was my new "easy" pace.  Hopefully this deviation from the plan is more helpful than harmful.  Didn't feel beaten up after the run, looking forward to the final week.