The Long Run

1.25 mi, 12:56, 10:19 avg

Short "better than nothing" to break my non-running streak since Thursday, 4 days, yikes!

3.05 mi, 27:52, 9:08 avg

Ran out to the gate and back and then did 10x25 second strides workout, under 6:00 pace for most of them but not all.  Got in a little more mileage and glad I pushed myself a little bit.  

3.82 mi, 36:55, 9:40 avg

Ran with Jacob from my house to the c-gate neighborhood in Champion's club.  We ran onto a service road to look for the end of the new Pinellas Trail extension which will soon join up with the Pasco section linking to Starkey Blvd as part of the cross-Florida trail they are working on.  Found the trail, but it is blocked off for now.  New section will be done sometime next year.

As we approached back to the house, I told him to take off and I'd try to catch him.  He got out way ahead.  We ran a few more strides which he wasn't expecting after going "all out" thinking each one was the last one.  Pretty fun run.

5.46 mi, 53:14, 9:45 avg

Ran with Joe and Jamie in the neighborhood.  Joe had to turn back early to make it to an appointment on time.  I took Jamie back to show her the new trail.  Part of the barrier had been taken down.  Mostly took it easy, but I did pick it up a little bit on the way back as the pace felt unnecessarily lazy.  Good run overall.

10.18 mi, 1:22:06, 8:04 avg

Woke up at 2:00, drove back home from PH house so Stella wouldn't be alone all night, went back to sleep but couldn't get out of bed until just before 8:00 (when alarm went off at 6:30 I saw that the weather would stay cool for a while so I opted for sleep).  Ran from my house to Starkey Blvd, then ran up to Alico Pass before turning back.  First three miles were slower (especially the first mile).  Picked up the pace and averaged 7:34 for the last 7 miles.

Today is Sammy's birthday, he's turning 13.  I took Stella over to Jenny's and brought a gift for Sammy.  Stella, NiKYO and Sammy played in the backyard, although it was mainly Stella and NiKYO playing.  Saw Tom and Andy briefly.

3.1 mi, 27:47, 8:57

Easy  run in the neighborhood, solo, from my house out near the golf course water and then back home.  Warmer out this morning, reminding me not that many cool mornings left.

2.56 mi, 36:00, 14:03 avg

This was either the run that almost wasn't but I started walking and then did some running or the walk that was almost a run, either way it was something.

Stella's first night at the Palm Harbor house.  She was awake a lot and kept on waking me up.  Ended up going down Village Way to Westlake Drive until hitting Nebraska over to 19th Street and then back.  Weather back to cool again which was nice.  Was in much better mood after the run/walk with Stella and so was she, almost forgot I was up most of the night (until later in the day).

3.55 mi, 33:18, 9:23 avg

Better run than yesterday. Ran in Westlake Village.  First 2.75 miles with Stella, but she was getting a little bit tired toward the end running up some of the hills.  Garmin claimed on 77 feet of climbing although it seemed like a lot more, probably because a lot of runs in Florida can be like 10 feet of climbing over a 15 mile run.  It was pretty fun finding some new routes and new hills.  Weather was good also.

4.59 mi, 39:41, 8:38 avg

Another Westlake Village run - a little bit longer and faster with last mile at 7:45.  Today I managed 132 feet of climbing.  My last Brooksville trip had about 350 feet of climbing over 15.75 miles, so feet per mile this run had more.

Still kind of light on the miles this week but at least it is a little bit different from usual patterns.

5.44 mi, 52:43, 9:41 avg

Return to Foxwood.  After what seemed like being away forever (3 nights, lol), back at the old house.  Ran with Joe and Jamie in the neighborhood.  Joe was a surprise as he said he couldn't make it but ended up surprising us but only ran about 3 miles or so before heading back early.  Good, relaxing run.

11.81 mi, 1:37:30, 8:15 avg

Solo run from my house to SR54 , up Starkey Blvd, and then into Aristida nbhd turning around at Diane's house.  She had just brought her stuff inside but garage door was open so I went in and said hi and she gave me some gatorade for my bottle.  I didn't start until just before 8:00, but it was still pretty cool out and there was a little bit of very light rain here and there.

The run overall was pretty good, never really got into a very smooth feeling faster pace but wasn't horrible or too hard, just a little more effort than the runs earlier this week.

Also, on my way up I saw Joe and talked to him briefly, and then a little bit later saw Jamie and Renee (they all started about 6:30).   There were a number of people running south down Starkey Blvd that were part of the C2C - new relay from Cocoa Beach FL to Tarpon Springs following the route of the in progress Coast to Coast Florida trail.  I had not heard of this race before , inaugural event, maybe check it out next year.

2.64 mi, 25:00, 9:27 avg, elev gain 53 ft

Fairly short, mostly easy paced run in Westlake Village.  Sort of a big rectangle loop with a little rectangle near the house at the end of the run.  Was a pretty decent morning weatherwise.  I was hoping for more climbing on the small rolling hills.  Still working on best routes for most climbing.

3.8 mi, 34:18, 9:01 avg,  elev gain 82ft

1.34 mi, 10:37, 7:55 avg, elev gain 50 ft

Two part run, around the same time.  First part was a squarish loop venturing a little outside of the neighborhood, south to Nebraska Ave, up Omaha St back to Alderman and then back to the house.  It was pretty good scenery and seemed somewhat rolly but was not as much as I thought it was.

So, I added one more out and back on Lakeview after finishing the first part.

3.34 mi, 28:58, 8:40 avg, elev gain 61 ft

Morning run in Westlake Village and a little outside the neighborhood also.  Left the neighborhood, then right on Alderman and then south down Belcher to Nebraska and back up through the southern entrance.

1.19 mi, 12:37, 10:35 avg

I promised Stella I'd take her to hump day hustle near Longleaf on the Starkey Blvd bike path.  Got there a little bit late and I ran in cargo shorts and a tech shirt - almost a come as you are run.  Stella had fun and it wasn't too hot (82 with a little bit of breeze).

6.26 mi, 53:20, 8:31 avg

Ran in Foxwood and near Fox Hollow, ran from my house to Trinity Blvd, then went into the c-gate neighborhood to run 4x400m repeats with 400m easy jog between.  I wanted to do at least something and not keep letting speed slip away.  Ran splits of 1:31, 1:33, 1:29, and 1:31

Fairly consistent and maybe slightly better than how I thought they might go.  

5.41 mi, 51:03, 9:26 avg

Ran with Joe and Jamie in the neighborhood and up and down by fox hollow.  Cool weather and mostly relaxed pace, nice morning run.  6:30ish start time.

13.12 mi,  1:54:34, 8:44 avg

Parked at Diane's house, ran to Alico Pass and intercepted Jamie and Daisy who had started earlier at Longleaf.  Ran back with them to Diane's house, headed back out running toward Longleaf and were joined by Craig and Diane.  In the 9:00's (9:05-9:47 range) for the round trip to Longleaf and back. Picked it up a little for last mile back to Diane's, stopped for drink refill then headed out again with goal of 4 miles at marathon pace (targeting 7:45 pace), it wasn't super hard but it wasn't easy and I had to keep some focus to hold the right pace until the last mile which seemed to finally start to feel easier (ran 7:43, 7:41, 7:31, and 7:24 and then last 0.12 @ 6:44).

It had warmed up by the end but breeze was helping.  A little bit better mileage for the week and a longer run to finish a pretty good week of running.

1.42 mi, 14:16, 10:03 avg  (with Stella)

2.27 mi, 18:17, 8:03 avg (sans Stella)

First part of the run was with Stella, looping around on Westlake Village roads and through the little park.

Second part of run was without Stella, similar but slightly different route, hitting some of the small hills.  Garmin data only says I did 49 feet of climbing but when I look at the elevation chart and it shows several climbs which add up to more than that.

5.94 mi, 53:55, 9:04 avg

Went for a less broken up run and ran sort of a trapezoid/rhomboidish loop.  Headed south through Westlake Village and headed west onto Nebraska Ave to Alt 19 and hopped onto the Pinellas trail, turned left onto Crystal Beach Ave and ran to the little beach area that they have and touched the water of the Gulf because I was there.  About 4 miles to get out there.  Took a shorter route home - back on Crystal Beach Ave, north a little on Alt 19 (ran past Gyro King which has a sign for 2for1 Gyros every Wednesday from 3-close), then head east on Klosterman (ran past my old office in the key west style office building where I had my own little porch) until arriving back at Westlake Village and then to the house.

Fun little route.

1.83 mi, 17:12, 9:23 avg, 48 feet  with Stella

2.66 mi, 21:28,  8:04 avg, 101 feet  sans Stella

1.59 mi, 17:16,  10:51 avg  with Aubrey (Jacob had Stella)

AM:

Started out running with Stella, doing some random loops in Westlake Village, see seemed to have had enough, so I dropped her off and went back out and ran up and down the hills.

PM:

Took Jacob and Aubrey (and Stella) to "hump day hustle" at Longleaf at the start of the Starkey bike trail.  It was a bit warm still (low 80's).  I started out and was in warm up mode but Aubrey took off with the group so I had to get out of low gear a little bit early to keep up with her.  Apparently Liz was also trying to keep up.  After about a half mile Aubrey started to slow a little.  We took a short walk break and made it to a little past 3/4 mile before turning back.  She finished the mile at 10:12.  We took a couple more walk breaks on the way back but made it ok.  Jacob and Stella did three miles.  Stella was wiped out after the run and drank two bottles of water (although a lot of it ran onto the ground as it was poured into her mouth while she lapped at the bottle).  Two different people took turns watering her.  

We dropped Stella off at the house, gave her dinner, and then met the group at Johnny Brusco's for pizza and watch the Lightning game.  I had to turn down a free beer, sad.  But, other than that it was pretty fun.

3.29 mi, 30:32, 9:17 avg

Short, easy run in Westlake Village.  First 1.4 miles with Stella and then ran the rest by myself.

5.43 mi, 52:04, 9:35 avg

Easy run with Jamie in the neighborhood, 6:30ish start time in the morning.

11.03 mi, 1:47:33, 9:45 avg

Joe, Jamie, and Cynthia drove down to Palm Harbor to run with me in Westlake Village.  Joe brought some fresh baked blueberry muffins for after the run.  At the start of the run it was sprinkling a bit -  rain was on and off lightly for a good part of the run.  Run started with a loop through the little neighborhood park (about 0.6 mile loop), then continued back onto the roads and making our way south (in a sort of zig-zag) until exiting onto Nebraska, then heading through downtown PH to the Pinellas Trail, then north to Crystal Beach Ave.  Cynthia was looking for just 7 miles.  I had wanted to run to Crystal Beach but it would have made the run more like 8 miles, so we turned right instead, making our way back to Alderman Road and then heading back to the north entrance of Westlake Village.

  Cynthia hung out and walked Stella in the park while I took Joe and Jamie for another 4 mile loop, this time turning left on Nebraska, north up Belcher and back to the north entrance.

Hung out for a few more minutes after the run.  It was a pretty fun morning.

8.56 mi, 1:20:27, 9:24 avg

Memorial Day run with the Striders.  Left my house about 6:30 and met Jamie at the gate near Duck Slough, then we ran to Longleaf in time for the group photo.  We had at least 40 people this year.  Ran out and back on Starkey Blvd with Joe, Renee, and Cynthia and other random people from the Striders.  They had all sorts of fun food and drinks and some healthy fruit.  Hung out for just a few minutes before running back home.

3.13 mi, 27:11, 8:41 avg

Cobbled together about 5k of running.  Started with about 0.5 miles with Stella running up and down the street for a warmup.  Next, ran out and back to the gate for another 1 mile.  Then moved onto 9x25 seconds strides with 50 second jogs.  I was going to just do 5, but added some on and on the last one I promised myself I would not make myself do ten this time - although I should have!  I almost ran all of them under 6:00 pace - somehow on the second one the pace was 6:01.  It's a pretty good improvement from back in December where I could only run one of the ten under 6:00 pace.

5.08 mi, 46:26, 9:09 avg, 108 feet

I got pretty wet on this run.  Sure, it felt nice at first, a very light sprinkle you could hardly feel, making the warm humid air more bearable.  I ran a couple loops around the Westlake Village Park and then ran up and over the hill at Woodcutter and Lakeview before heading back on Lakeview, past the house, then turned around and ran up and over the Woodcutter hill until reaching one mile away from the house.  At this point rain had picked up and was now pouring down, ran back toward the house again until getting just over 5 miles for the morning.  Now I was wet, but it was all good.

2.54 mi, 21:40, 8:32 avg, no climbing

Insurance run.  Wanted to run in the evening if I could get my end of month work done early enough but was not sure if that was going to happen so I went out for a little bit.  Foxwood neighborhood run, first 0.8 miles with Stella, then ran one loop around the neighborhood. First mile average was 10:20.   Then, for a fun run I had the idea to keep running until the average got below 9:00.   I was able to reach that and then kept on going for a little bit after that.  So, next mile was 7:22 but was not looking at pace until I had finished the mile.  Last 0.54 stayed at 7:22, so must have found a groove.  Easy to do I suppose when you know it's just for a little bit.  Just need to extend that out another 24.66 miles or so and I could run another good marathon!