The Long Run

58:05, 6.17 mi, 9:24 avg

Easy run with Jamie in the neighborhood.  It's the first Monday that I've run in a while after having done a bunch of Sunday runs.  6:00 am start, weather pretty nice this morning.  Yesterday afternoon got pretty hot.  I think yesterday morning was pretty warm also so good to take that day off.  First mile this morning was 11:00, then next few were in the 9:00's then last mile was 8:06

PM - 2.04 miles, 16:10

Went to the Y while Thomas did swimming, warm up, weights, and then just over two miles on the treadmill.  Back up to 155 lbs for bench press (5 reps) as well as being able to do  10x135lbs (which forever has been my bench benchmark but recently I had some trouble doing that).

10.4 mi, 1:33:00, 8:56 avg

Met Jamie at the back gate about 5:10, ran to Longleaf and said hi to a few people but just briefly, continuing on until hitting 5 miles and stopped for a small water at Aristide before heading back.  Coolish morning, very dark at the start with just a small sliver of moon.  Back home by 6:40, seemed so early!

4.21 mi, 37:14, 8:51 avg

Sammy woke up early (about 4:30) wanting to go out, so let him out, back in and then got back in bed.  Just when I was about to wake up at 5:30 the lightning started along with rain so I stayed in bed, woke the kids up at 7:00 then went out for a short run.  Cool, pleasant post-rain morning, although a little bit short but maybe I needed the extra rest.

8.92 mi, 1:09:28, 7:47 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders, usual 5:30ish start time.  Was planning on warm up followed by 6 mile tempo at 6:50 average pace.  Saw Daisy at the start who was waiting for Anthony (who did not show).  Supposed to do 5 x 1 mile @ 7:25-7:30 range repeats.  Ran with her for warm up to the water stop at Aristide and then said I'd do the first mile repeat with her to start out and then I'd do the remaining 5 miles at my pace.  I also thought this would be a good exercise for me since I have this fear is that once I start out a new pace I get "stuck" there.  This is nonsense and decided this was a good time to prove that.

Did one mile with Dais at 7:24 pace.

Then transitioned to my tempo pace and held at for next five miles with last mile the fastest: 6:39, 6:47, 6:44, 6:48, 6:32

Even with the slower start, my average pace for the 6 miles was still about 6:50. The cooler air brought with yesterday's rain is sticking around so that was nice.

6.26 mi, 52:32, 8:24 avg

Nice crisp morning (believe it or not).  Ran in the neighbhorhood solo.  I started on time (about 6:00), ran about 30 minutes, stopped back home to make sure Andy was up (needed to be in earlier than usual) which he was, went back out and finished run with loop around the neighborhood.

21.24 mi, 3:04:24, 8:40 avg

Ran with Jamie in Brooksville starting at Suncoast and SR 50.  Ran south for 2.5 miles, turned around and then ran north 8 miles out and back.  High 50's at the start felt chilly but soon felt perfect.  Amazing to have such cool weather this late in the year.

Plan was to run first seven miles at easy pace (9:00-9:30), next seven at about 8:45 pace, and then last seven miles at or below 8:23 pace (3:40 marathon goal for Jamie).

Run went just as planned and good practice for me running as a pacer.  There should be a 3:40 pace group in Buffalo to run with.  Then, two weeks later will see what I can do at Utah Valley.

8.24 mi, 1:13:18, 8:53 avg

Easy paced run with Jamie in the neighborhood and golf course area.  Slower pace first few miles, then a little bit faster.  Conversational pace and once again nice cool weather.

Wore new pair of Brooks Launch 3!

10.54 mi, 1:20:42, 7:39 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders starting at 5:30.  Started out with Daisy and Anthony.  We did a two mile warmup then I did the first mile repeat that Daisy was doing, ended up with 7:08 pace for that one.  They headed back and continued on,  After a short water stop and a gel, for fun I decided to continue on the repeat pace, taking just a one minute rest between them.  Not all out but kind of a goal marathon pace feel which ended up being between 6:58 and 7:08 for a total of 7.  The one minute breaks made it feel really easy and kind of fun.  Not sure if there was a solid benefit but it did make running over 10 miles go by quickly.

New brooks launch again today to break them in.

10.06 mi, 1:31:50, 9:07 avg

Ran with Jamie in the neighborhood, out and back to Heritage Springs, past the golf course and then loop around the neighborhood.  Felt muggy like it was going to rain soon but it didn't rain but did get a little bit cooler.  Good to get 10 miles in again today.

3.19 mi, 28:57, 9:05 avg

Tight schedule this morning and I did not get up early enough to get the whole run in that I wanted.  But, once I realized I had missed the window I resisted the tempatation to sleep in even more.  So, better than nothing run, out and back to golf course water fountain (which is finally fixed after several weeks being out).

10.65 mi, 1:30:30,8:29 avg

Nearly perfect run in Webster, NY from my brothers house.  Short run on road to the Hojact trail (former railbed).  Ran northwest to the end of the trail on Lake Rd, then made a quick left onto Forest Lane until it dead-ended so I'd get just over 5 miles in, then turned around and headed back the same way.  It had been raining earlier so there was some muddy areas here and there on the trail.  Also, a few small hills for variety kept it fun.

(new brooks launch)

Meet-U in 5 and a Half - Half Marathon, Titusville, PA

Not long after signing up for the Oil Creek 100 Ultramarathon in October, received an email from the RD about a chance to preview part of the course.  The Oil Creek 100 runs on a 31 mile loop split up into four sections.  This half marathon would run on sections 4 and 1 (in that order).  My brother also wanted to run this since he has volunteered for some pacing in the fall and it was also a good chance for brother time.

Titusville is birthplace of the Oil Industry with the Drake well.  Race started in the parking lot of the Drake well museum.  Cool and cloudy, we were fortunate that it wasn't raining at the start.  We started with a one mile loop run across a grass dike, then back through the parking lot before we turned onto the trail.  Trail started climbing right away.  There would be over 1700' of climbing (the 100 mile race has 17,000 total feet of climbing).

Jim and I stuck together with me running behind him.  He was right behind a woman named Julie who we passed after about 10 minutes.  Jim caught his hydration pack and I was thinking about how he misjudged the clearance from the pack to the tree I slammed my shoulder into the same tree so hard I was soon thankful I didn't actually break it (nice sized bruise later).

After the big climb the trail was up and down, in and out of small ravines crossing streams which fed into the bigger creek down below.  Some streams we went through and some had very small wooden bridges.  I went down one pretty steep and muddy section which slowed me down a lot.  Jim was far ahead and Julie caught up and passed me.  Caught back up to Jim and Julie.  A couple of times a guy dressed in black and green was just a few feet behind me.

Rain had started after a couple of miles but it was light and had to filter through the trees, so stayed dry for the most part.  The race had a 5 hour time limit and I had no idea how much time I'd actually need, worried that it might be death race hard.  The trail was challenging at points but never brutal. 

At about 7 miles we came to a road where a bridge would take us over the river.  The four of us were there - Jim, Julie, the guy in black and green.  After a brief stop I got going along with the others.  Julie asked the volunteers how many women were ahead of her - they said 3.  Then she said to us "Ok, take us home boys".  So, I went out in front and thought I'd pick things up and see if I could catch female #3 (but had no idea how far ahead).  Julie was soon shouting "turn, turn!" - I had overshoot the turn from the road to the trail.  Back on track, more climbing and I was feeling good.  I was thinking Jim would catch up and pass me again on own of the downhills but I was getting farther out front than I thought.  I soon passed up one guy.  A few miles later while going in and out of a ravine, passed one more guy.

Trail was getting muddier and muddier - could no longer go around the muddy sections had to start going through them.  I also kept on hearing over and over again the words of the race director "assume that every root, rock, and bridge is slippery".  I had a few near misses with slipping but overall kept a good footing.  

With less than a mile to go the trail ended onto a paved bike trail.  Passed one more guy as I approached the bridge back over to the park.

3rd place female and gone through the finish about 30 seconds ahead of me.

Took off my race bib and jogged back to go find Jim.  Soon, saw the green/black clothed guy and a little later saw Julie.  Ran to almost where the trail met the bike trail, saw a couple more people and then Jim and ran with him back to the finish.

Splits: 9:45, 13:55, 11:30, 12:34, 13:29, 12:24, 14:57, 13:26, 10:17, 11:51, 13:48, 12:08, 8:41, 0.11@6:20

Stuck around for the awards ceremony and some refreshments before getting into some warmer dry clothes - temperature was dropping, so we kind of lucked out for the race.

7.64 mi, 1:07:10, 8:48 avg

Ran in the neigborhood with Jamie, Andy, and a friend of Jamie.  Ran the t-shaped route out and back to golf course, then did one more loop in the neighborhood.  Andy is starting to run 3 weekdays and a weekend long run.  Legs felt pretty good but still feeling Saturday's hills a bit.

PM - 2.07 mi, 16:30

Ran at the Y on the treadmill after doing a quick weight workout while Thomas was swimming.  Was able to do a maximum bench press of 165 lbs for three reps - working my way back up there

9.02 mi, 1:12:40, 8:03 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders.  Easy warm up then picked it up a bit.  Warmer and more humid this morning.  Run was going well then the chaffing started - ouch!

57:23, 7.27 mi, 7:54 avg

I ran solo in the neighborhood.  I was going to do my usual route but instead I decided to do a "right turn run", where I start taking a right down every side street until I'm back on the main loop.  I didn't start right away.  I made it a little under halfway around the neighborhood before having to run straight back to be home in time.  It feels tedious at first to go down every Court, Lane, Way, or  Street but was also kind of fun.

(wore new brooks)

Andy was originally going to run with me but found out that the cross country team is already meeting for the fall for informal group runs.  He started a spreadsheet to track his runs (I suggested a blog, but maybe later for that).  His coach expects senior boys to run 60-70 miles per week.  He gave Andy a goal of 30-40 miles per week because even though he's going to be a senior this will be his first year of cross country but he's also not completely new to running.  So, the mileage goal corresponds roughly to sophomore runners.

10.03 mi, 1:19:37, 7:56 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders.  Had been thinking about doing a longer tempo run but the morning was a lot hotter than planned and I was not feeling as good as I had hoped so modified things slightly and decided to do 6 one mile repeats with a short rest and a little faster pace than doing a straight tempo run.  So, that's what I mostly did, except for the 5th mile.

Splits: 6:37, 6:39, 6:29, 6:41, 6:58, 6:32

So, after the slight change of plans was pretty happy with the run.

8.03 mi, 1:10:07, 8:44 avg

Ran with Jamie in the neighborhood.  She had a few fartleks to run (5 mins @ 5k pace, 2.5 min rest times 4).  We ended up doing 3 and ran a total of about 6 miles together then I added a little more on to get to 8 miles.  Was a little bit warm this morning but otherwise pretty good.

16.26 mi, 2:09:27, 7:58 avg

Drove up to Brooksville (SR50 and Suncoast) with Andy and met Joe and Jamie.  Andy was running 7 miles and would take the truck back and I'd ride back with Joe and Jamie.  We started out together and once I got to 6 miles and Joe and Jamie headed back, I started to pick up the pace.

For last 10 miles ran: 7:40, 7:37, 7:21, 7:21, 7:36, 6:52, 7:10, 7:28, 7:08, 7:05

None of it felt easy but I managed to keep going.  Starting temp was 70 degrees and when there was a breeze and shade it felt nice but quickly warmed up when in the sun.

I think it was a better run than if it all just felt easy.  The hills were nice, need to keep doing more of these!

Joe had some watermelon slices for after the run which really hit the spot.

Andy had a good week of running, finishing with a total of 27 miles and longest run of 7 miles.  He plans to run 40 mile weeks by the end of the summer.

6.21 mi, 53:16, 8:34 avg

Ran solo in the neighborhood.  Weather was pretty good and run felt good except for the first mile where I felt pretty sluggish, just needed some warmup I suppose.

11.26 mi, 1:35:35, 8:29 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders.  Dixie was there this morning, so ran with him.  He was just doing six.  We did an out and back together then I ran across the street to the actual neighborhood and did another 3 miles, but not more so I'd have a little time to talk to the others who were still sticking around. Chatted for a bit then drove home and then did another couple of miles in my neighborhood.

11.18 mi, 1:23:30, 7:28 avg

Attempted to do a 7 mile tempo run at under 7:00 pace, which I did in terms of average pace but one of the miles was 7:07, splits were: 6:53, 6:54, 6:49, 6:53, 7:07, 6:45, 6:42

Then, after a recover mile at 8:27, did last full mile at 7:14

It was a little bit on the warm side for a tempo run , but still cool enough at 70 degrees and a slight breeze kept things cool.  Ran from my house to Starkey Blvd and did the tempo portion on the bike trail, then back home for the cool down.

4.27 mi, 34:30, 8:04 avg

I didn't run this morning, decided I'd run after work.  I get home about 7:30, walk in the house and it is hot (at least hotter than it should be).  Call the AC people and they can send someone out within the hour.  I don't want to miss the guy so I do my run up and down my street, about 0.2 of a mile in each direction until the guy shows up.  It was actually kind of fun.  Now I get a new AC tomorrow.

8.31 mi, 1:11:17, 8:35 avg

Joe met me in front of my house.  We ran to Duckslough, to 54, to Corporate, to Trinity Blvd to the new park where we did three laps around the water on the trail before heading back.  Ran with Joe to near his neighborhood then kept going for another couple of miles to get over 8 miles for the morning.

Had time to eat and cleanup a little before the AC guys showed up.

Ran with Jamie for the Buffalo Marathon trying to help her get a BQ, but it was not quite BQ weather.  The course was nice and the race well organized.  They had pace groups so plan was to go with the 3:40 pace group and stick with them as long as possible and if we had to drop back I would do my best to stay on track for 3:43 or faster.

Cruising through the first half:

Race start had about 7,000 runners between the half and the full.  We stuck with the pacer with first mile going up a long gentle hill followed by the next few miles slightly downhill (this was pretty much the pattern throughout the race for the most part).

Just after three miles I kind of had to stop to use the POP although I knew I could probably hold it, but there was a row of 4 with no line.  I told Jamie I'd catch up but just missed getting into the last one before someone else grabbed the last one.  Had to wait maybe 20 seconds or so before my turn.  We were at a median near the end of an out and back section.  I briefly thought about cutting the course to catch back up because I was there to pace, however since I was officially registered and wearing a bib, quickly decided no way.  Caught back up right about the 4 mile mark.  I think I heard someone murmur about me making a "rookie mistake" as I darted past a bunch of runners trying to catch up - I'm sure I must have been quite the sight turning on the speed so early in the race.

Settling back in with the group after the little sprint I felt really good.  Sometime around mile 6 or 7 Jamie said something like "I hope this doesn't jinx things but the miles are going by pretty quickly".   Just after that we went over a short but steep arching bridge to get to the road that would run along the lake.  The next few miles were several degrees cooler and I wished we could have just run loops near the lake, that would have been nice.

In the 11 or 12 mile range, Jamie started mentioning about not feeling great, but she was still hanging on and we just followed along the pacer.  I asked the pacer how he got the pacing gig and said he was actually the pacing team captain.  For the marathon, they used two pacers.  At 12.75 miles the second half pacer would join us and then Jim would lead the half marathoners down the 1/2 finish chute while the rest of continued on.  The next pacer joined us, a little while later Jim split off and we went by the 1/2 way point pretty much exactly at 1:50 (although I did not see a 1/2 marathon marker - they did have good sized banner flags for each mile).

Not so good (but not horrible) second half:

Just before mile 14 Jamie took a short walk break and was starting to feel dizzy.  We still managed an 8:35 for that mile but soon after that she really wanted to quit.  I know that feeling but was going to do whatever I could to keep her going.   Also, she had mentioned about using a 3:50 to get into the London marathon so I thought that might help to bring that up, we'd just need to average 9:07 for the second half).  Mile 15 was right at 9:00 and then for the next two miles we somehow managed to stay under nine minute pace at 8:58 and 8:45 because between the walk breaks the actual running pace was in the low 8:20's.

But, it was tough going and soon the struggle would be to finish and to keep going fast enough that it didn't become a death march.

Going through Lafayette Park took its toll.  A lot more people were walking and it felt even warmer there - and it didn't help that an ambulance was being loaded up as we were leaving the park.  Maybe things got a little bit better after leaving the park, because segment-wise, we were heading into the final stretch.

The slowest miles were two miles (19 and 24) at 10:25, then mile 25 was right at 10:00.  Mile 26 is a long gentle slight downhill.  There were attempts at a couple small walk breaks but we kept moving for the most part and stayed right at 9:00.   We were running towards a traffic circle with an obelisk in the middle (you can see it in the picture below) that we could see for a while.  We went around the circle saw the 26 mile sign then a couple quick turns before seeing the finish clock.  My brother Jim was at one of the corners and got a few good pictures.

Jamie was a bit disappointed and I wished there was something I could have done to help her get a better time but I think it ended up being still a good time for a humid race with starting temperature of 70 degrees and ending at 82 degrees (not your typical Memorial Day weekend in Buffalo).  I did enjoy the course with the small ups and downs on a mostly flat two (different) loop course.  The race organizers asked the residents along the course to set up their sprinklers and hoses which many people came through and were out there cheerfully wetting us down.

The convention center had the AC turned down colder and they had plenty of great refreshments including pizza and a local craft beer "Mile 27".  We saw Jamie's family and friends several times on the course and was great that my brother could come out for the finish.  After the race (and a bite to eat at Jamie's parents house) we headed towards Rochester, stopped at Donut's Delite, then his house and then up to the Thousand Islands to see my parents. 

7.13 mi, 1:04:31, 9:03 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders.  Dixie was there again so ran with him and we chatted about training and about the Buffalo marathon.  Legs felt pretty good, not too much different then after a 20 mile run - maybe just a little bit.