The Long Run

6.22@8:46

A little under 6 miles in Trinity (near my house), mainly keeping in the shade on Robert Trent Jones.  Finished up with 6x100m strides in front of my house.  Just before the strides at a few gulps of Orangina, very refreshing.

First time in a while hitting 40 miles for M-F.  Looking for maybe another 15 miles tomorrow to finish off the week.

13.62@8:51

Original planned goals were 8:30 average pace, no stopping, 14 miles, and start by sunrise (6:38 am).  I pretty much missed every single goal.  Actual start time 7:50 am.

I stopped at 3.5 miles, drenched in sweat.  Decided on 13 miles at whatever pace I could manage.  Stopped a little bit after the turnaround and for the most part kept on going until reaching Conservation Park (slightly off the planned, direct route home) for some ice cold water to drink and splash. After the stop, had trouble getting back on pace but eventually was able to do so.

Felt exhausted after the run.  Although I missed all my goals, still a long run, mental toughness, etc.

Overall Place: 51, Age group: 1

I had originally planned to try and do the 5k in Lutz on the morning of the 4th, but surprisingly that one sold out (not surprised by good attendance but maybe by the cap).  I had been dreading the heat and stillness and humidity of the night air, but it didn't feel so bad.

Warmed up with some jogging and a few short strides to stretch the legs.

Race splits: 7:13, 7:23, 7:20, 0.1@6:43

Simple out and back on the Dunedin Causeway, race starts at 11:40 pm.  First mile felt decent and I thought ok, I can pick it up a little more and be just under 22:00 or at worst a few seconds over.  Away from the start line there are no street lights.  Most of the light is from far away or from the green light for the drawbridge traffic signal.  Turn around is about a half mile past the bridge.  Running over it and onto the grate, worried I'll catch my foot and trip, wished I was wearing a light, but made sure to pick up my feet and was ok.

After the turnaround was passing people here and there, but I'd slowed a little instead of picking it up.  Seeing 7:23 for the second mile a little disappointing.  After that I started looking at my watch more often, pace had slowed even more down to 7:30.  Didn't want to get passed, so dug in and got my feet to turn over a little faster and improved a little on 3rd mile compared to 2nd.

Jessica was near the finish line with the baby fallen asleep in the stroller.  3 years ago was the 10k which I ran with Jacob and we had Sophia and Aubrey there to cheer as well as Jacob's dad and three years before that, Andy and I did the 5k and 10k, my brother Jim ran the 10k, and Jamie was there, and Tom was just starting to run but did not come with us.  Good memories, glad to be back here one more time.  I'll bring a light next time!

1.12@10:10

Post race cool down, technically Monday morning July 4th.  Got in a mile running around the parking lot and killing some time waiting for awards.

I met a guy from Strava, Bill, who came in just behind me but was happy to hear I was not in his age group.

After getting back to the house, stayed up for a bit and watched an episode of Stranger Things with Aubrey.

For evening firework watching that night we went to the airport parking garage to the top deck.  360 degree view of Tampa area, with fireworks near and far.

5.26@8:45

Somewhat standard run, two loops inside Westlake Village, first mile 9:50 , last mile 8:09

2.59@8:58

Felt good to do this - out the door and started run at 4:40 am.  I just wanted to get in any sort of run.  7:15 am flight for same day out and back trip to Atlanta.

It was nice to start and finish the run while it was still dark.

Then, with some airport walking and walking at the customer site able to get over 12,000 steps for the day..

6.31@8:26

Picked up Stella from Jenny's (Tom and Jenny watched Stella while I was gone and Andy also out of town), then ran about 6 miles with alternating quarters of easy and faster - none of them all that fast until the second to last one which was at 6:15 pace.

7.42@9:36

Ran with Joe in Foxwood.  6:25 am start, early enough to see the sunrise.  Ran on the Starkey Gap Trail, south to Keystone before turning back.  Finished up with 6x100m strides near my house.

Took a half day off work to go with Jessica to Tallahasee to go see Jacob.  Stopped by his dorm, had a quick dinner out before dropping him off.

5.13@9:18

Ran in Tallahassee from the Aloft Hotel, ran south, and then west over to near the stadium and then found a trail (nicely shaded) to run on, then back to Call Street which sort of appears and then disappears changing from a street to just a sidewalk through the campus.  Ended run at the dining hall where Jessica and Jacob (and baby) were having breakfast.

Was planning on doing a long run today but due to the driving and unfamiliarity with the area just decided to get in any run.  I'll do a tempo run (or maybe more like a marathon goal pace run) tomorrow.

Headed back to the hotel, then back on the road, pretty easy drive back to Tampa.

8.16@8:00

As make up for no long run yesterday, broke my rut and ran this morning doing a tempo of 1 mile warm up , 6 miles @pace (between goal marathon and half marathon), followed by 1 mile warm down.  Started run at 7:00, already pretty warm but sun still pretty low.

After the mile warm up, started out a little more conservatively running first mile at 7:51 (minimal goal was all miles under 8:00).

Splits: 7:51, 7:41, 7:44, 7:33, 7:40, 7:25

The "warm down" mile was 8:08 which felt a lot easier than the 7:25 but really wasn't that far from first "tempo" mile of 7:51.  I think the conservative start helped.

Will extend this to 7 miles and then maybe work on some faster paces.

rest day since I didn't take off on Sunday

5.42@8:23

Did the square loop around the outside of WLV and then the 1.25 "marathon loop" inside.

Today's accomplishment was that the first mile was sub-9:00 (8:49).  Not sure why it is so hard for me to get started, but I'm slowly getting better.  With the exception of a few runs at hump day hustle, where I'm chasing after a small group, I have trouble with the first mile of an easy run.  When my first mile is too slow compared to the average pace, I try and catch up and ending up running the last mile too fast.  Trying for a more evenly paced.

Last mile was 8:14. 

Better dynamic pre-run warmup has been helping.

AM 3.13@9:03

One loop inside WLV.  First mile 9:11, then tried to stay around there for the rest of the run, picked it up ever so slightly.

PM 8.81@8:47

Combo run Humpday Hustle and track session with Cynthia.  Pretty hot at start of the run, sunny low 90's, humidity but at least some cloud cover.  Ran to "2 mile tree" with Daisy, Marina, and Arlo in his stroller.  Stopped for picture then I continiue to Starkey Ranch K-8 to use their track and meet up with Cynthia.  Her scheduled workout was 4x800m followed by 4x400m (2:30 rest between 800's and 1:15 rest between 400s).  It's been a while since I've been to a track.  It took me a while to find the track as I went from one side of the building to the other, finally finding the back parking lot.  Building is pretty good.

Wasn't sure what to expect for paces, conservative goals of 3:30 for the 800's and 96-100 seconds for the 400s

800s: 3:27, 3:25, 3:17, 3:21

400s: 1:34, 1:34, 1:34, 1:31

Parking lot gates were getting locked so Cynthia had to move her car, so she missed out on some of her repeats.  For the last three of my 400s, she met me at the 100m mark and strided in with me.  For the last one I almost felt like I could've pulled away from her but she did keep up and it was nice having the help with the final push.

Cool down was a run out to and loop around Cannon Lake (counter clockwise) and back to the parking lot (about 2 miles).

I felt better about my speed potential after this run and will try to get to the track more now that I know where it is.  Maybe some 1K or 1600 repeats to try and improve on my 5k pacing. 

3.29@8:40

Sort of up and down the street in a figure 8 inside Westlake Village,  Nothing fancy.

Kept it short beacause Jess had a doctor apppointment, then she had trouble putting gas in her car.  Met up with her later at gas station.  I guess Pacificas can be finicky sometimes with certain pumps due to their capless gas tank design.  Glad there was no repair bill.

10.07@7:54

The plan  - two miles easy, 7 miles tempo/marathon pace (start at MP and build to threshold), followed by 1 mile easy.

Start from Longleaf church, was trying for sunrise start but was much later.  They are chopping up the sidewalk near where I started from so had to run around it.  I did 1 mile out and then back for the 2 miles easy then headed off for the 7 mile portion.  Fuel belt was bouncing around.  Could've ignored it but stopped about 1.25 miles into the tempo and stashed the bottle.   Then ran north to farther than the turnaround point (3.75 miles instead of 3.5 miles).  Then stop number 2 at the bench.  Then continued back to where I stashed the water bottle (now about 0.8 miles to go), pick up pace for the last portion.  So, not at all straight through 7 miles, but 7 miles nonetheless at mile splits: 7:52, 7:37, 7:32, 7:31, 7:14, 7:26, 7:13

Finished up with 1 mile easy-ish.

If there were no stops at the above paces I think this would've been an awesome run.

But, as it turned out it was still a good run, getting out of my comfort zone and putting in some work.

14.27@8:44

From Westlake Village, cut through Eniswood to Alt19, then sharp left onto Pinellas Trail, heading south and then turning around at Curlew traffic light just past the pedestrian bridge.

Run started out pretty well, 9:06, 8:41, 8:29, 8:39, 8:23

Then it started getting harder (it was getting warmer of course).  Had to break the run up into pieces.  On way back stopped at Conservation Park which is just off the route, but the cold fountain water really hit the spot.  Slowest mile, not counting the warmup was mile 12 at 9:04

Was hoping for an 8:20-8:30 average with no stops.  Or maybe should've tried for longer run at a slower pace.

4.54@8:23

Figure 8 shaped loop inside Westlake Village.  Finished up wth a few strides.

7.69@8:36

Headed south through Westlake Village, quick right on Nebraska and then south down 19th street and across Tampa Road to check out Palm Harbor middle school track to see if it was usable by public (came up on google search) - nope, pretty well locked up with no trespassing signs,  Will maybe call office sometime to see if certain hours possibly.

Continued run heading west on Tampa over to Pinellas Trail , then crossing near Canes Cafe and head back to Westlake Village.   No luck with track but at least a different route for variety.

5.93@8:16

One bigger and one smaller loop inside Westlake Village.  Finished just in time to shower and be at work by 9:00 for start of the meeting.

No humpday hustle run this evening due to dinner out with customers after the meeting.

4.16@8:01

Up and down the street and figure 8 shape inside Westlake Village.  4th mile was 7:16.  Another day with customer meeting.

In the evening tried to get to bed early for 3:45 am wake up the next morning for early flight up to Rochester.

4.31@8:46

Ran in Webster, NY from my brothers house, along Klem Road and then just a little bit onto the Hojack Trail heading north before turning back.

We had a a 6:10 am flight from Tampa and plane change in Detroit, flight was delayed a little bit but made it to Rochester by about 12:30.

My brother and his wife had already left, dropping off the dog and heading up to Lake Placid so Jim could check in for the Iron Man (his first attempt at the full distance).  My parents were at his house with my dad recovering from some heart issues, so they wouldn't be able to go to Lake Placid to cheer.  We had fun as the baby explored Jim's backyard - the creek with tiny fish swimming in it, the big rocks to climb on and the little kid sized bench.  In the evening , my dad grilled some chicken and I made some mushrooms and we ate outside.  It had been hot earlier but cooled down nicely for the evening.  Just sitting outside, eating and drinking a little wine while the baby toddled around was worth the flight.

4.75@8:49

8.06@8:04

Almost 13 miles, running from my brother's house in Webster.  Klem to Holt to the trail along NY 104 to Gravel Road.  While waiting to cross the street accidentally hit the button to end the run.  Started again, took old Ridge Rd to Cherry Hill Lane then down Parkside Drive (aka memory lane) past my old house then onto Bay Road.  There was one house that looked abandoned last year but now was getting fixed up.  Turned around at Flags (bar) then traced the route back.

When I had what I thought was 2.25 miles left, decided to do the next mile sub-8:00, or if I didn't quite make it then the mile after that.  But, I did get the next mile at 7:44 and instead of rewarding myself with taking it easy, picked it up a little more to 7:26.  The next mile, eased back a little but still held a good sub-8:00 at 7:37 pace.  Had to run a little past the house to finish off that mile.

So, a slight surprise at the unplanned "fast finish".  It's usually much cooler in the mornings here, but at least it was cooler than Florida.

After lunch, headed up to Lake Placid.  My parents took Jessica and baby to the airport.  While I was driving got an update from Delta that the flight was delayed and saw it was long enough she'd miss her connecting flight.  I pullled over and tried to call but no signal in the mountains.  Finally got to the vacation rental and Nancy was on the phone with my mom.  Told her I'd take care of it.  Got a hold of Jessica who was just heading out in a taxi back to Jim's house.  Told her to try and get back on the Atlanta flight and I'd book a hotel for her at the airport so at least she'd be closer to Florida and just one flight away.  She made it to the hotel ok.

Tried to get to bed reasonably early to get up at 4:30 to leave by 5:00 so we could all drive Jim to the Ironman start area.

4.31@9:21

Short run in the Adirondacks from the rental we stayed at to watch my brothers Ironman yesterday.  It had just rained earlier in the morning so humidity was 99% according to the home weather device.  Started out going down a very steep road to the main road, so ironically very slow until it flattened out enough so I didn't have to brake.

Saw one very large rabbit, but that was it for wildlife (no bears this time).

Got out by 10:00 and then on the road.  Thought about driving up to the top of Whiteface but it would've been $40.  Later found out we could've ridden the gondola to the top for same price.  I would've done that.

Decided to stop by the cottage on the way back to Webster.  Was going to take the boat out for a spin but instead we dropped it off at the marina to have the bilge pump looked at.  Still nice to hang out a little bit.

Continued on back and when we got off of 81, I saw the sign for the fish hatchery.  Decided to check it out (thought it was closer to the exit than it was).  Closed when we got there.  Oh well next time.

Back to Webster about 7:00.  Hung out for a bit and had a glass of wine with my dad and Jim.  

Tried to not stay up too late since I'd have to wake about about 3:00 for the 5:00 am flight.  Then , flight delay notification, flight delayed about 8 hours!  Yikes.  Won't make the connection in Charlotte. Fortunately, automatically rebooked.  Got to sleep in at least.

8.37@8:15

Bonus run in Webster.  Originally thought there'd be no morning run due to 5:00 am flight, but with major delay had enough time for a decent run.

Rectangle shaped route, new for me, Klem to Gravel to 104 bike trail to 250 back to Klem.  Ran through North Ponds Park which I can remember when the first built it around the time of building 104.  One of the ponds used to have a small beach.

After the first 4 miles, got down below 8:00 pace for the remainder.

No more flight delays and eventually made it back to Tampa and then Uber part of the way home so Jessica didn't have to drive all the way out.

AM 5.45@8:20

PM 4.05@10:06

Pretty good mileage for the day, getting down to the wire trying to make 200 miles for the month.  Morning run was big square around the outside of Westlake Village and then in the evening was humpday hustle.  Ran with Daisy, we went slower due to her having a minor issue with calf or maybe ankle.  Felt good to slow down a little and not have to worry about being slow because you're going at someone else's pace.

10.12@8:04

Mid week longer run.  Up Belcher to Klosterman, down the Pinellas Trail to downtown Palm Harbor, back into West Lake Village and finish up with most of the 1.25 mile loop.

Been running a little faster this week except for last night which probably helped me run faster this morning.

7.4@8:19

Up and down Starkey Blvd bike trail and then finish up with 6x100m strides.

16.16@8:47

After a week of some pretty good feeling runs, this one started out not so good.  Maybe a little bit muggier feeling and also was wearing fuel belt with the 16 oz bottle.  I've had some good luck with it but now seems harder to keep it tight, and then it starts bouncing.

Headed out from Westlake, then south down Belcher, to Nebraska, and down 19th street for a change to Tampa Blvd.  Felt like a bit of a struggle until I got to the Pinellas Trail and stashed the drink bottle as I ran down to Curlew and then back.  Those miles felt easier and I was finally running faster than a 9:00 pace.  Retrieved the bottle, ran north to Conservation Park, topped off with cold water and then back to the house, about 13 miles.  Stopped in the house briefly and looped inside the neighborhood.

Glad I stuck it out and didn't give up (seriously considered making it a short run and then retry for long run on Sunday).