The Long Run

Dunedin Kiwanis Midnight July 4 5K

I was on the fence about running this race but decided why not.  Earlier this week I had had a bad run (Tuesday) and retried it on Thursday with much better results so thought I had a chance to do pretty good.

Weather was as expected, hot and humid, still up in the high 80's.  Warmed up with easy running and a few strides.  Strides felt better than expected.

Race started and for a little bit my watch did not show any pace so running completely by feel.  Once it did lock on showed I was running like an 8:00 pace.  Pace slowly got better.  Drawbridge is about 2/3 into the first mile, have to be careful running over the steel grate section, but then you get the downhill on the other side (bridge is not very high, maybe 25 feet above the water). Finished first mile in 7:18.  Then before not too long the fastest runners had already turned around (course is very simple out and back on the Dunedin causeway).  Then the turn around, at which point the bridge looked very far away.  The causeway is pretty dark, not many lights, brightest light is the drawbridge traffic light - fortunately green the whole time!

I had kind of given up at looking at pace and just wanted to hold my place and maybe catch up to any faders which I did , catching a few here and there.

Once over the bridge, it finally felt like the homestretch.  

Kept on going steady and picked up the last 0.1 to near a 6:00 pace.

Splits were 7:18, 7:14, 7:05

Fairly recently I ran three miles in the neighborhood with splits like 6:43, 6:53, and 6:51, but tonight could not get under 7:00 for any of the miles.  But that was in the neighborhood with no crowds, not late night and no pressure.

But, the plus sides for tonight's race was - got out there and did it, did not go out too fast, near perfect negative splits, did not give up, and finally 6:00'ish pace kick for last 0.1

Also, got first age group and saw my friend Dr. Keith - he got 1st in his age group, 2 years older than me.

Last year we were oddly in the same age group with me at 58 and he at 60 but this race has age groups not following the normal pattern of 50-54, 55-59 etc.  Age groups here 51-55, 56-60, etc plus they've got 2 year increment age groups for the kids

3.11@10:22   HR 128 bpm

Garmin suggested recovery run of 27 minutes which doing loop in Westlake village meant I'd not quite back be at the house so added an extra 5 minutes to get back.  Stayed within pace/heart rate easy range.  Did a few walk breaks when HR creaped up but no specific run/walk interval

Lake Baldwin 50K

5:56:34    32.77 miles @10:53 avg,   HR 146 bpm (time from two years ago: 6:04:40)

Place overall: 7 (I think)

Male place: 5

First mile: 10:03, last mile: 10:24, fastest mile: 9:34 (tie miles 4 and 7), slowest mile: 14:32 (28)

"Fun" free race part of the Summer Slam Series (three races, this one and Durty Beer Run 6 Hour race, and Pinellas Trail Challenge (46 miles).

2.5 mile loop around Lake Baldwin in Orlando area, nice paved bike/multi use path, mostly flat with some tiny hills to make it not totally flat (Garmin says 371 feet of climbing).

No registration, you just show up a little before the start, they write your name down on a sheet and each time you finish a loop they check it off until you finish 13 loops.  If you aren't in it for any type of place you can start earlier than 6:30 start and if it gets too hot and you don't care about a place, you can finish it the next day on your own to finish the miles then email the RD your time.

Ran this race two years ago, making a weekend out of it with Jessica and the two little girls (they stayed back at the hotel until near finish time then they cheered me on).

This year it was just me, found a pretty inexpensive hotel nearby to stay the night before so I wouldn't have to wake up at 3:30 and then drive two and a half hours.

My strategy was to go out a little bit faster than planned average pace for the early loops since it was relatively cooler out and then once it got hotter I'd slow down as needed and also I'd need longer breaks for hydration and ice.

So, I think the first three loops I just ran, and then after the third one I think, I stopped long enough to put on an ice filled bandana on my neck.  This is one of the keys to surviving this race.  The loop format makes this much easier than a point to point race.  With no crew, but a parking spot right on the edge of the course, a cooler and a chair with a shade on it, I could stop briefly, take off my bandana and set it on top of the chair to refill with ice as well as topping off my water bottle.  The 17 oz water bottle was more than enough to get me through a loop.

Miles 4 and 7 were my fastest miles at 9:34

Slower miles were 13, 16, 21, 23, 26,  and 28

These miles were mostly where the loop ended, so there was hydration and ice.  There was one bathroom break and one time out on the course where there was something in my shoe, actually inside my sock, it was a  penny.

I pretty much had no idea where I was place wise because everyone was pretty much doing their own thing.  I did see my friend Jeff at one point, came up behind him as he was walking, had hit sort of a rough patch, still almost a full lap ahead of me.  At that point, a lady named Joanne came up behind us and she'd go on to finish was first place female.

The last lap got a little bit rough with cramping. I didn't slow down too much but I wanted to go faster and felt like I had the energy but my calf would give me warning pulses if I tried to speed up so I just did what I could.

After I finished, they had me pretent to finish again as the lady with the camera was on a break when I finished and they wanted to capture my finish.

After walking around a bit, went to sit down and my right calf seized up pretty bad so I yelled as that sometimes helps.  This attracted the attention of a helpful guy who came to the rescue with some salt.  Talked to him a bit, was originally from Sweden, so I asked about Kalmar Triathlon which my brother is going to be doing next month.

There was also a guy who's Garmin was dying and asked if I had a charging cable, which I did have, so I guess I saved the day (or so he said).

Glad I came out here although the drive home felt a little rough with the traffic and heat.

After getting back , took Sophia out for her belated birthday dinner at Longhorn along with Aubrey, Jessica, and the two littles.