The Long Run

6.12@8:12  HR 150 bpm

20 minute half goal pace run, pace range 7:09-7:29, actual pace 7:12

Felt not too bad, first fast mile felt hard at first with pace in high 7:20's, relaxed a little bit and ended up with 7:13, pretty steady the rest of the way with slight pick up for last 5 minutes to 6:59.  Ran in Westlake Village doing loops.

CD had her dance recital, they did really well and it was fun to watch, gave her flowers afterward.  In the evening we went to The Current Hotel and had dinner and supposedly a night of relaxation but spent about 3 hours at hospital for false alarm (not a bad turnaround compared to some hospital visits).

4.56@8:49  HR 137 bpm

40 minute easy run, started on Tampa Road near 19 after dropping off the mini van at the repair shop.

7.65@7:51   HR 163 bpm

Today's workout supposed to be 30 mintes @6:39-6:59 tempo run.  Had high hopes but fell a little bit short, but not terribly I guess.  Ran on Starkey Blvd, temps were mid 70's.  After 15 minute easy pace warmup got going, made it through the first mile at 6:57 with hopes I'd slowly even improve.  But shortly after that first mile, seeing average pace being stuck on the wrong side of 7:00, debated whether to break and go again to get on pace or struggle through at a slower pace.  I picked stop, got going again but still was off pace so determined this time just keep going and set a new pace goal to keep it faster than high end of half marathon goal pace range (7:09).  After finishing the last full mile, with just a few more minutes to go, got the pace down under 7:00.  Small victory to not stop again, average pace for 30 minutes was 7:04 - outside of goal and had one stop.  I think I underestimated the effect of the humidity.

Since watch broke up run between first 20 minutes and then optional 10 minutes, here's the splits that go along with that:

First 20 minutes:  mile 1: 6:57, mile 2: 7:08, 0.82@7:08

Last 10 minutes: mile 1: 7:07, 0.41@6:54

Heart rate for last fast mile was 185

AM  4.67@8:35  HR 144 bpm

40 minutes of easy pace running in Westlake Village

PM 3.03@9:36 HR  134 bpm

Humpday Hustle Wednesday night run with Evan, Daisy, and Joe.  Really hot one tonight, 3 good miles though.  Also, global running day.  I've missed a bunch of Wednesday nights in a row.

4.56@8:48 HR 141 bpm

40 minute easy pace run inside Westlake Village doing one big loop and a smaller loop.

RAP River Run 5k

Chip time 21:12 (gun: 21:14)

Weather: hot and sticky of course (82 degrees, dew pt 76)

Felt pretty good overall and improved by 9 seconds over last year's time, mile splits were all under 7:00.

Splits: 6:51, 6:58, 6:53 (about 6:14 pace for final kick)

Probably did not go out as aggressively as I could (last year did 6:47 in the first mile).  There is a timing mat at 1.7 miles, just as the course takes a left turn for a straight shot back.  If I look at my detailed pace chart from garmin it shows pace very steady, then after that there was a lot of fluctuation I think due to catching and passing people.  According to the 1.7 mile mat I was in 28th place and finished at 23rd place overall.  No one passed me and once I passed number 23 there was no one ahead of me that was anywhere near catchable.   As I approached 2 mile marker, was determined to stay under 7:00 which gave me a small kick, so at the start of mile 3 it looked like I was doing about a 6:35 pace.  But, it was fluctuating a lot.  But, anyway kept it comfortably under 7:00 and just in case there was anyone close to passing me picked it up a little more.  (Next person back was about 4-5 seconds behind me, so maybe could've passed me if I slacked off enough).

My son Tom was there racing the 10K which started an hour before the 5K, he got first place running progressively faster each mile, had about a 3 and a half minute gap on second place person.

  One could theoretically run both, and a number of people did.  Tommy Brown had run both, he's a lot faster than me but due to his tired legs (he had just run 38:30 10K) he was 25 seconds behind me in the 5K  (it's probably the only way I can beat him in a 5K and even then it's not guaranteed).

After the race I talked with two people who said some really nice things to me about how I inspired them.  Good reminder to not get down on myself

4.51@8:54  HR 142 bpm

Easy paced run, 40 minutes.  Ran from Carsmetics repair shop (just like I did last week).  Finally got broken headlight cover fixed.  Lights still worked but looked really bad driving around a busted looking car.

Took it easy enough on the run keeping in mind my challenging workout tomorrow, 30 minute tempo ran , 6:39-6:59 pace range, so basically the pace I ran on Saturday's 5k but for 30 minutes instead of 21:12

7.72@7:47   HR   156 bpm

30 minute tempo run workout.  Pace range 6:39-6:59 which is pretty much what I've been averaging for 5k's (although at the slower end of that range).  So, a bit daunting but decided I'd see what I could do.  Watch sets up two segments, 20 minutes and 10 minutes, but they are back to back continuous.

Averaged 6:51 pace for the tempo.

First mile was 6:46, slowest was third mile at about 6:54, ended with 6:50 pace for last portion.

I did "cheat" a little by wearing the fast shoes (hyperion elite) which apart from initial test run was saving them for racing only.  But, for comparison purposes I did wear these shoes at Saturday's race.  Overall pace was about the same.  

Ran loops in Westlake Village.  I seem to do well on the little rolling hills vs the flatter trails.  Started the first mile on an uphill (about 0.1 mile) before turning onto a section of more down than up.

This Saturday is supposed to be the race I've been training for these past 12 weeks but with things in flux I haven't been able to sign up for any races so I think this is going to be a self run race in the neighborhood that I'll run as much like a race as I can.  There are a couple of races that are near enough (one 45 minutes away and one that is two hours away), but they both start at 8:00.  The one that's 45 minutes away is 6 out and backs so lots of 180 degree turns.  The one that's two hours away is 4 out and back so a little bit better but farther drive.

So, neighborhood self supported it is.  Didn't want to miss out on this training cycle's "reward"

4.58@8:46   HR  138 bpm

40 minutes easy running inside Westlake Village

4.5@8:55  HR  146 bpm

40 minutes easy running out and back on Starkey Gap Trail from Trinity Blvd

Rest day from running, 1.68 mile walk doing the Foxwood loop

DIY Half marathon or half marathon time trial

1:38:37   

I've been following a half marathon training schedule using Garmin and had nominally picked a local race in Hudson called Viking Half Marathon which is a 6x out and back course.  There was also another slightly more appealing one in Ocala which was 4 out and backs.  These races both started at 8:00 am.  There were some races these past two weekends that I thought about traveling to but things with the baby arrival were constantly in flux so travel was ruled out.  Even driving to Ocala might've been risky so figured why not just run loops?

Each neighborhood loop is a little over 3 miles.  Plan was to go out at about 7:30 for the first mile then try and run 7:15-7:20 for as long as I could.  I set up one "aid station" with a cooler with ice cold drinks that I'd grab.  It was a little past the 3 mile point after hitting a down hill section followed by a road crossing and some uphill.  So, it turned out to not be a great spot because I'd be on a roll from the downhill and would lose that momentum.

Did a little warmup, light jogging and a few strides, about 2/3 of a mile.

First mile was right on track at 7:31, next two miles were good at 7:20 and 7:13, then back near the start, grabbed a water, struggled to get back to pace and had 7:41 for the next mile followed by two faster miles, 7:13 and 7:15, then a similar pattern with 7:38 for the next mile (a little better), but then I'd start slowing in this pattern.  

4 loops seemed daunting and by the time I started the 4th loop was starting to not care as much as I wouldn't be close to my goal time of 1:36. But then again not too far off, especially for self supported and a little warm and humid (at 76 degrees couldn't have asked for much better in Florida this time of the year).

Splits summary:  7:31, 7:20, 7:13, 7:41, 7:13, 7:15, 7:38, 7:18, 7:19, 8:04 (ouch, broke the sub 8:00 streak), 7:32,  7:44, 7:45, 0.13@7:14

Too much fade at the end.

Although I didn't hit my goal pace I think the Garmin training plan with Coach Greg was pretty good.  I didn't feel beat up and felt my fitness improved on slightly lower mileage than I would've normally done.  Maybe in a real half on a day with cooler temps might've made my time.

That evening my wife found out there was a scheduling mixup and instead of going to the hospital this coming Wednesday, could we come in tomorrow at 8:00 am?  So, turned into pretty busy weekend.  Glad I didn't blow off trying to cap off my training with at least this DIY half time trial running the loops of Westlake Village.

Day off running, Jess at hospital with baby, I came home with Charlotte, then back to hospital.

5.02@8:43   HR 144 bpm

Loops in Westlake Village, looks like I'm only missing one day of running this week.

4.94@8:48   HR 140 bpm

43 minutes of running in Westlake Village doing loops

5.53@8:44  HR 143 bpm

Another day running 48 minutes easy-ish doing loops in Westlake Village

2.25 Walking miles in the neighborhood

16.03@8:28    HR 153 bpm

It's been a while since I've done over 13 miles, pretty good long run today.  Ran from Westlake Village then out onto Nebraska Ave to downtown Palm Harbor to Pinellas Trail and out to the Dunedin causeway just about to the entrance of Honeymoon Island state park.  Only three quick stops, one gel stop about 4 miles into run, a stop on the way back at the bathrooms on the causeway to refill bottle with cold water and one more stop with about 4 miles left to go (around same area as first stop).

Pretty steady paces except warm up first mile at 9:56, one easier mile second to last mile (9:13), and then bring home the last mile at 7:49

5.53@8:43   HR 143 bpm

48 minutes easy-ish running in Westlake Village

8.18@8:29  HR  156 bpm

Suggest workout from "Run Less Run Faster"

Wanted to see if it was doable and sounded like a good mix.

1 mile@5k, 2 miles@just a little slower than 1 mile, 2 x800m just a little faster than 1 mile

How it went:

1 mile:  6:26  (yay!)

2 miles: 6:57 (trying for more like 6:50, but pretty close)

2 x 800m: 3:30, 3:12  (out of gas for first one, for second one at least beat the mile pace)

Light cross-training:  1.78 mile walk ,15 minute bike ride, some weights/pull-ups/push-ups

Out to dinner with people from work in the evening, left my car at Bon Appetit (restuarant in Dunedin, just two drinks but second one was kind of strong),will run back in the morning to get it.

8.54@8:41, HR   157 bpm

Ran from Westlake Village to Bon Appetit in Dunedin.  Started out feeling great, started getting hotter and instead of slowing down stuck to my pace sending heart rate up into 160s for last three miles which was not planned.

But , a pretty decent distance for mid-week compared to what I've been doing.

Indoor light cross training.

Went to the Y for first time in forever did some bike and elliptical.

17.27@9:14   HR 150 bpm

Had high hopes for this run, was going for 20 miles.  Started at entrance to Starkey Park.  Had one water bottle but knew I could hit the new cold water fountain where the Starkey Trail goes to the Suncoast Trail.  First part out to the end of Starkey Trail was good, but going up the Suncoast trail was more miles of exposed sunshine.  Turned left onto Ridge Road bike trail far enough to make to 10 miles, turned back and then stopped again at fountain on way back for refreshing.

Wasn't feeling as great as I had been and heat started getting to me.  I was going to pick it up at mile 17, run two miles @MP, then 1 easy mile.  But by mile 17 I was just hanging on, so did one short pick up and then called it quits.

But, I still had to get back to the car, so walked next two and a half ish miles which ended up feeling more challenging than if I'd just slowed down.

This was my first bad run in quite some time that I can remember.