The Long Run

4.38 mi, 34:02, 7:46 avg

Broken up run in the neighborhood.  Ran Stella for a little over half a mile, then ran to Joe's house to let his dog out, once I got there I accidentally stopped and saved the run (first part was 1.8 miles at 8:17 avg), then ran back home and up and down the street a little past my house (2.04 miles at 7:25 avg).  After finishing and going back inside I noticed that my total was 3.84 miles, so why not at least get over 4 miles for the morning.  So, I ran out about a 1/4 mile, then came back running fast to run some sub-7:00 which turned into almost sub-6:00 with 1:31 for the return 1/4.

13.03 mi. 2:00:06, 9:13 avg

Ran with Joe, Jamie, and Renee from Longleaf to Diane's house where we picked up Craig and Diane.  Ran from there to Starkey, stopping at the shelter briefly before turning back.  On the way into the park I talked everyone into an a few sets of an "Indian run" or sometimes called last man sprint or leap frogs.  Everyone complains at first, but then they seem to have fun and some distance paces and the overall pace picks up.  

I was feeling pretty good until about mile 11 when the mugginess of the morning caught up to me, I stopped for a bit, then started again but went slower for mile 12.  Joe and Renee went ahead.  I felt better once we finished mile 12 and got back to the old  pace and even picked it up slightly for mile 13.

Picked up Tom and Andy from Jenny's about 12:00 and took them to lunch at Tarpon Tavern - Andy picked it but it's one of my favorites.  I wanted to live there one time - mile 36 of the 46 mile Pinellas Trail Challenge has an aid station there.  Great to spend time with my two favorite boys.

4.32 mi, 38:35, 8:56 avg, 113 feet elev.

Westlake Village run - ran the Village Way loop and then did out and back on Lakeview Drive so I could go up and over the hill.

7.4 mi, 1:06:58, 9:03 avg, elev gain 163 feet

Zigzagged through Westlake village to hit some of the hills, then exited onto Nebraska Ave, until turning left on Omaha Ave.  I was going to head south for a while until reaching 3.5 miles, but instead when I got to Florida Ave, I looked to the right and had a clear view of the flag pole outside of Pop Stansell Park and could see the water of St Joseph Sound and the Gulf, so headed that way.  Ran out onto the little pier where some guys were fishing and stopped to look out over the water before turning around and heading back the way I came.  It was a bit warm this morning and I did not carry anything to drink nor did I bring any money to stop at a store - I'll have to not do that again.

6.19 mi, 56:03, 9:04 avg

Ran in Foxwood neighborhood with Joe and Jamie.  Jamie canceled so it was just Joe and I.  Good run, but it felt very muggy (it rained a little bit later which explained it).  We saw a little alligator past the bridge.  This little guy had been hanging out in an ever shrinking puddle until there was only a little water left by the drain - but now it is filled back up.  We also saw another little gator (this one even smaller) in the pond near the Heritage Springs gate.  As for land animals we saw an armadillo and a rabbit as well as the usual array of squirrels.

On the way back into Foxwood we ran into Jamie who had decided to at least get in a couple of miles.

6.45 mi, 58:36, 9:05 avg, elev gain 60 feet

Did an out and back run from Westlake village from the northern entrance, west on Alderman to where it dead ends, then further west on another street that dead ends but has a little cut through to the Pinellas Trail.  North on the Pinellas trail to Wall Springs park, then did a little loop inside the park with a stop at one of the little wooden piers (pier #2).  Looked into the water and saw a school of fish, mostly mullet but also a few sheepshead.  They looked like they were enjoying the morning.   Ran back out the way I came but headed north on the Pinellas trail just a little bit more, almost to the old railroad tunnel before turning back.

Temperature felt much nice today (75 vs yesterday's 79), and I brought a little hand held bottle.

4.11 mi, 37:54, 9:13 avg, elev gain 70 feet

Very unmotivated to start running but decided to at least get some miles, meaning at least 3, which fortunately turned into 3.  Found and took the secret cut through out of the neighborhood which makes running to the Palm Harbor Y only about a mile (otherwise almost 2 miles without the cut through).  Ran along Nebraska, back into Westlake village from the south entrance, looped through the park and then one more loop on Maple Ridge back to the house.

Purposely went a little slower today.  Going to give 5k a try tomorrow morning at RAP River run.

This was my first 5k since December when I did the Say No To Drugs 5k in Clearwater, where I could not get under 22:00.  So, it was good to take a chance and sign up for this race as well as asking if Thomas wanted to run this one as well (we both ran the Turkey Trot, where I ended up having a decent time there "in the 20:00's").

It was lucky that the weather was a little better than usual, relatively "cool" for a June race in Florida and it's a mostly shaded course, pretty flat but a few very small hills which prevent it from being overly flat.  Warmed up by walking from the car to registration, then back to the car, then back to the race area and then did about 0.6 miles easy jogging and a few strides.  I saw lots of people I knew and it was great to be surrounded by so many friends.

The race started like it always does, packed into the starting area, just waiting for the horn to sound.  I was a couple rows back from the very front.  Thomas was farther up with his high school friends.  For the first half mile, the crowd thinned out into a long line with gaps between small groups of runners.  I slowly caught up to (Magic Pants) Robin (wasn't sure if I would - he's been chipping away at his times despite the increasing age (now 68).  His wife Pat has been doing the marketing for this race, now 11 years in a row.

I was feeling better than I had been in a while, holding my pace just under 7:00.  I think the beet juice shot I had done at 6:00 was helping.  

Thomas was nowhere to be seen.  Last year, I was trailing him, slowly caught him and eventually passed him, but not this year, he was way up ahead someplace I was pretty sure.

As I approached mile 2, I was on track for a few seconds over 7:00 pace.  I decided that wasn't going to happen, even if it meant slowing down for mile 3.  Made it under in 6:56, relaxed a little and saw my pace slip.  But the race had other plans.  There were still people ahead of me that I was following and people behind me that I knew would pass me if they could - people I had passed and were hoping to pass me back.

I slowly got back my pace, coming back from a slow down to 7:30ish, to almost breaking 7:00, hitting mile 3 at exactly 7:00.  It was a straight shot to the finish line and I ran the last 0.1 at a 5:40 pace.  A guy who had been wanting to pass me shook my hand after the race congratulating me on how I took off at the end.

My friend Daisy had run the 10K that morning and was cheering on the finishers.  I asked her if she'd seen Thomas.  She had seen him finish and thought she saw about 17:50 on the clock.

His actual time was 17:48 (about a 2 1/2 minute improvement from this race last year and a new PR by about 35 seconds).  The two top finishers were guys in their mid 20's with times of 15:51 and 16:13, followed by another high schooler (not from Mitchell) named John who was a second behind 2nd place guy.  Then there about a 1:30 gap with Tom at the lead of all of the other high schoolers (the next 10 finishers).

So, overall, I could not have been happier with this race.  I feel like I'm ready to race again, I had a lot of fun, and Tom had a big jump in time from his last 5k as well as over his fastest 5k.

Finished off the running morning with a lap around my neighborhood so I'd have over 6 miles for the day.

6.25 mi, 55:28, 8:53 avg, elev gain 86 feet

I did not want to run more than a few miles, I did not want to run a new route, I didn't want to leave the neighborhood, I didn't even want to have a run where you're amazed at how much better you feel at the end of the run vs the start of the run because it means you had to make it past the sucky part.

So, despite all of this, I ran a new route, east on Alderman, south on 19, and then east on Nebraska, turned right onto 19th street thinking I could cut through the side streets to get to the Palm Harbor Y, which you can't do, so  I turned around, went back to Nebraska, and then headed up 18th street, and then to Pennsylvania Ave to 16th Street where the Y is located.  There were some new hills to run on, there's even a hill to get to the Y parking lot.  I went inside to use the fountain and take a gel, then headed back out and used the cut through to get back into Westlake Village where I took Village Way back to the house but going the long way.

So, I ran more than a few miles, ran a new route, it felt like an adventure and I was glad that I had one of those runs where you feel a ton better at the end compared to the beginning.

7.67 mi, 1:13:09, 9:32 avg

Wanted to do a fairly simple route with only an out and back (although did end up with one small loop and a little side trip to Pop Stansell park).

Ran from Westlake village, exited south through the cut through past the Y, continued south until reaching Florida Ave which took me to the Pinellas trail, headed about 1.75 miles south until reaching the closed pedestrian bridge (could have crossed the street at street level but decided that was a good spot to turn around).  Headed back north and took a short detour to Pop Stansell to go look at the water from the dock and then stopped for water refill at the fountain before heading back to Westlake village.  

Felt like the right amount of miles for today.

AM 5.51 mi, 52:02, 9:27 avg

Ran in Foxwood neighborhood with Jamie.  Usual route from neighborhood out by golf course, Joe wasn't running today.  Temperature a little nicer, 75 degrees.

PM 11:57, 1.15, 10:21 avg

Short version of humpday hustle with the Striders at Longleaf and Stella.  Saw Tom running on the way back as he was heading out.  Ran into Jenny after the run while she was walking Sammy and Nikyo, like a small dog party.

Did not realize it was going to be 6.66 miles until after I finished.

3.17 mi, 29:52,  9:25 avg, elev gain 50 feet

I thought this would be the first of two runs today, but it turned out it would be the only run, but maybe I needed less mileage today.  Westlake village loop, with an inner loop around the park next to the house.  81 degrees at the finish, not too bad as long as it was shaded.

7.33 mi, 1:07:33, 9:13 avg

Stayed at my house, was going to sleep in a little but Jessica had to head back to Palm Harbor so I ran a little longer, solo, as it was too late to bother Joe or Jamie by the time my plans changed.  I wanted to run a little bit on the new section of Pinellas trail that ends at the Pasco county line which will soon have a connector going to Starkey Blvd trail as part of the Florida coast to coast connector trail system, linking existing trails with new gap connectors to traverse from St. Petersburg to Cocoa Beach.  This new section heads south just over 2 miles, then heads west on Keystone Blvd where it links up to the main Pinellas Trail.  It was a very peaceful run (especially since the northern end is officially closed), running next to (fortunately not directly underneath) power lines.  It's mainly open but there's some shade here and there, no water stops.  Saw a deer cross the trail.  It didn't seem to care that there was a 4 foot high fence on either side of the trail area.

14.13 mi, 2:05:00, 8:51 avg, elev gain 85 feet

Ran out and back from Westlake Village to Tarpon Springs just past US 19 by running on Alderman Rd (about mile and a half), and then up the Pinellas Trail.  Temps were reasonable at first but humidity was wearing on me.  Had a 10oz hand held bottle at first with gatorade and then refilled with water at the Tarpon sprayground and Wall Springs Park.  

I decided to run a little faster and was able to get under a 9:00 for the average but it seemed like I should have been able to go faster with the same effort, maybe on a cooler and less humid day.

This run capped off my first 40+ weekly mileage which used to seem like such a standard, even lower bar, but I'm feeling pretty good and staying away from being overtrained.

I would go on to cover some of these miles on the Pinellas Trail while on the father's day bike ride with the boys and lunch at Tarpon Tavern.

3.77 mi, 39:43, 10:32 avg, elev gain 78 feet

Stressful morning, wanted to skip my run but needed at least some to try and clear my head.  One big loop around Westlake neighborhood.  First mile was pretty slow, the rest was not very fast either.  Run helped a bit, they usually do.

10.1 mi, 1:31:55, 9:06 avg, elev gain 162 feet

Started out with the idea of doing just a bunch of small loops in Westlake.  After the first small loop, which was made even smaller by needing to stop back at the house for bathroom break, changed the plan and decided on a much bigger loop.  Headed out onto Alderman Rd then headed north up Belcher until reaching Klosterman, then left until reaching the Pinellas trail.  I'd never run very far along Belcher, it wasn't bad, decent sidewalk and not too much traffic.  Ran nearly 4 miles down the trail (with brief stop at Wall Springs for water) until turning onto Florida Ave, and then 16th street and back to Westlake via the cut through.  First 10 mile midweek run since getting the Westlake house.

AM: 6.06 mi, 56:33, 9:20 avg

Ran with Joe and Jamie in neighborhood and along the golf course.  We were all dragging a little bit from the humidity.

PM: 1.12 mi, 12:34, 11:14 avg

Ran on the Dunedin causeway with Stella.  I skipped humpday hustle to take Jacob to the causeway where he was meeting up with friends.  It was slow going with Stella because I had to keep stopping to walk when there were other dogs, and then she started to look like she was overheating, so we walked a little bit and didn't go out as far as I had originally planned.  Stopped and got some water for her and then walked some more.  As the sunset it started to feel nice out.

5.52 mi, 47:02, 8:31 avg, elev gain 133 feet

I noticed yesterday that last month I ran 1.0 mile of V02 max and this month total so far was 0.0, so I decided to make one small step forward and run 1.25 by doing 5x400m.

Warmed up with just under 2 miles easy running, I ran to the high point on Lakeview Dr, then looped around Woodcutter/Sandy Hook.  Cheated just a little bit by starting some of the 400s on a slight downhill.  Although, the fastest repeat had almost equal gain and loss (17 vs 19 feet).  Paces for the repeats were: 5:57, 5:53, 5:59, 5:50, and 5:57

This was more successful than I thought it would be. Kind of wish I had done more.  They were not easy but it was a good hard

6.1 mi, 56:16, 9:14 avg

Ran with Joe and Jamie in Foxwood and along golf course.  Was pretty humid this morning, one rest room visit/ac break.

11.36 mi, 1:45:02, 9:15 avg.

Warm and humid morning, did not help that I started at 8:20.  Did a big loop from my house, past the golf course, continued on to the Y where I refilled water bottle, back to Little Road, then cut behind the hospital and ran along SR54 before crossing, over to Ellington Way, then over to Town Ave to make it to Havana Dreamers in time before the Krispy Kreme fundraiser was finished.  Handed over my sweaty $10 and then delivered the 12 glazed doughnuts to the boys.  Then finally, made it back home completing an 11ish mile loop.  

Next up was a trip to the vet to drop off Stella for boarding.

One more 40+ mile week (these used to be a "low" mileage week).  Run felt pretty good overall especially compared to what I thought it was going to feel like.

3.12 mi, 38:21, 12:18 avg

Despite the slow speed this was not an easy run.  First day of vacation in Cabo San Lucas at the Pueblo Bonita Sunset Beach Resort.  Resort occupies the side of a hill.  After going to the pool for a bit, decided to run, but didn't feel like changing.  So I ran wearing swim suit and water shoes.  Water shoes actually worked out pretty well, felt like barefoot running except with protection.  

I started out going up a pretty steep hill.  I was at more of a walking pace even though I was running between the incline and running in water shoes.  Ran over toward another section of the resort where there was much construction - so the path I was on would end some times, I'd switch to the road and then back to the path.  Turned back about 1.3 miles into the run and then passsed by where I started from and headed onto the beach.  The sand is pretty course and not packed in tight which made it difficult.  Ran to the resort boundary on the beach then another tenth of a mile to make it 5k.  Just past a rocky point was the small beach area called Pedregal Beach. It felt peaceful there, much quieter.  Looked like it was mainly private homes but there was public access to the beach.  You can't swim in this area (either by the resort or Pedregal Beach) due to very dangerous currents.  Near the resort they have a few lifeguards that make sure you don't get too close.

One year anniversary today.  We would do a photo shoot a little bit later then go out for a nice dinner at the resort's Steak House.

2.18 mi, 20:00, 9:10 avg

Resort had a nice fitness center with great view of the water.  Did some random weights, about 10 minutes on the bike, and then 20 minute run on the treadmill.

This would be my second and final run for the week of vacation.  Although, I really did do quite a bit of walking including a lot of steps and hilly paths.