The Long Run

Trying to get back into routines today.  Had the day yesterday to "recover" from the vacation.  Everyone enjoyed the vacation but then you get to come back and appreciate all the things that were missing while you were away.

I went to the Y, warmed up on the bike then did some stretching and got onto the treadmill.  I did 3 miles at 8:26 average.   Then, headed outside and did just another 2.2 miles at 8:17 pace.  Warm and muggy, although 2 degrees cooler than yesterday morning, bringing the temp just under 80 degrees and soupy humidity.

 Lower part of my calves still just a little bit sore.  Left glute was bothering me during bowling last night but did not hurt at all while running.  I can feel it when stretching.

I ran with Jenny this morning.  We started out from our house and met up with Cherise.  From the start of the run my back starting hurting - felt kind of like a side stitch but in my back, offset from the center a bit (almost rib cage).  Same place it was hurting on the Monday before the marathon (fortunately it held off during the marathon for the most part!).  I was hoping it would clear up but it did not.   So, I just hung back and followed the ladies a few feet back.

Calf was a lot better at least!

This morning's run was much nicer.  Weather was slightly cooler and my back was much better (just a hint left - the little bit of yoga and stretching I did must have helped).  We met up with Carin this morning to help pace her for her 1600's.  It felt good to go a little bit faster than yesterday (8:09 pace) and it passed the time faster too.

Ran part of the way with Jenny, then headed out a little bit farther by myself before turning around.  Felt pretty good today and picked up the last mile to about 7:00 pace.  Can't remember too much more (back filling again!!).

Average pace: 8:08

Ran with Jenny and 5 of her friends - a pretty bit group for a Friday morning.  Nice easy paced run for the most part, except for the first mile where I had to run faster to try and catch up - I had spent too much time waiting for my Garmin to get its signal.

Average pace: 8:43

 Went to Starkey Park.  Arrived just before 6:30 and got running pretty soon after that.  Everyone else had gotten there earlier so I ran by myself until about 5.5 miles.  Just when I was turning around to head back I ran into David, Derek and Diane.  Ran with the three of them for a bit then David wanted to pick it up a bit so I volunteered to go along.  We ran one more mile together then I did the last two by myself.   Great ending for the week, big difference between how I felt on Monday's run and how I felt this morning.

Spent some time at the social hour then gave Dixie a ride back to his car.

Average pace: 7:53

Met Dixie at 6:00.  Ran to the hilly neighborhood and then did 4 hill sprints up the church driveway on the way back.  I was dragging a bit this morning and Dixie was leading the way and towing me along.  Finally was feeling stronger at the end of the run.  Good to end the run on a high note.

Average pace: 8:18

Slightly cooler morning with a breeze, felt nice running into it.  Ran with Jenny and we both had a nice run this morning, easy and consistent pace.

Average pace: 8:35

Ran on the treadmill at the hotel.  I had thought I was staying at a different hotel which adjoined an office park and quiet road with some hills, but not this time.  Treadmill wasn't so bad but I was running a little short on time.  Started out real slow, then was mainly at an 8:00 pace with a few short surges into low 7's to pass some time.

Average pace: 8:12

Jenny and I were supposed to run together this morning, but it was dumping rain when we woke up.  So, Jenny headed to the Y for the treadmill and I waited a bit for the rain to slow down.  Finally started running about 7:30.  It was pretty nice out, a few sprinkles and an occasional medium sprinkle but mostly clear.  I had thoughts of cutting the run a little bit shorter but already felt behind after yesterday's shorter run.  Glad I was able to manage fitting in 8 this morning.

Average pace: 7:57

Slept in a little bit this morning, but not as late as yesterday.  Got started just before 7:00, already pretty warm and humid out.  I felt slow starting out and was wondering how few miles I could do today and still make 50 miles for the week.  Fortunately the run got a little bit better the farther I went and pretty soon I was on my way back home and soon had over 8 miles for the morning.

Never judge what the run will be like based on how it starts, just keep going.

Average pace: 7:54

Went to Starkey park at 6:00, was there just a few minutes early.  Waited for Dixie then got going, we ran together to almost 5 miles out, then he turned around (he had started earlier and had already gotten in 5 miles).  I ran out to the water stop on the Suncoast trail before turning around.  Ran into a group at the 5.5 mile water stop and ran with them - David, Derek, Diane, Alex, and a new lady whose name I have already forgotten but I'm sure will remember next time.  We headed back and then I picked up the pace a bit.  I was glad this wasn't going to be a longer run because the heat/humidity were getting to me a little bit but I held onto the pace pretty well.

Average pace: 7:55

Spent some time at social hour then gave Jorge, Victoria and Steve a ride back to their car.

Met Dixie to run the hilly neighborhood.  1.5 mile warm up then we zig zagged through the neighborhood.  I was dragging a little bit but not quite as bad as last week.  Finally, on our last circuit I woke up and we were running pretty quickly and we were gaining more speed on the downhills than losing on the up hills.

Did 4 repeats up the church driveway on the way back.  We ended up racing each other a bit which was good otherwise I might not have pushed nearly as hard.  Good to have a running buddy!

Average pace: 7:58

Ran with Jenny this morning.  I thought it was just a touch cooler this morning, but maybe I was just imagining it.  We kept the pace pretty easy for most of the run.  Shortly after we got back to the gate I picked up the pace and ran the last 0.75 @ 7:04 pace.

Average pace:8:48

Jenny's friend Jodi joined us this morning.  We ran together for 5 miles to help pace her tempo run.  After the 5 miles together I wanted to do 4 X 1km repeats since that was the last thing on my schedule before the marathon - the plan in reverse.  I had forgotten that pace so it was good to relearn it and I figured it would be a good test to see how I handled it.  Went pretty well, although a little slower than last time, but not that far off.

Splits: 3:49 (6:09 pace), 3:45 (6:03), 3:41 (5:56), 3:49 (6:09)

Average pace: 8:26

I'm going back to my hometown this weekend and I think there is a 5K that I can run up there.  I'd really love to get under 19:00, just breaking my PR would be nice too.  It's been a while since I've done a 5K.

Ran with Jenny and also met up with her friend Carin after about 2 miles.  We ran with Carin a little over 4 miles and then Jenny and I headed back.  Pretty good run overall with ok weather for running, a little warm and humid but normal for this time of year.

Woke up early this morning (4:30) to go fishing on Lake Ontario.  My brother Jim, nephew Brian, my Dad and I headed over to the river to get on the charter boat.  It looked like it would be a pretty nice day for fishing but once we got off the river the lake was a bit rough so we decided it wouldn't be such a good idea to be out on it for 5 hours.

So, we headed back in the back to Jim's house.  A little while later we decided to head out for our run.  Pretty nice day for running, temp right about 70 degrees and some light cloud cover and a breeze.  We headed up to Lake Road, where there was some nice rolling terrain.  Ran along the lake for a bit then turned back and zig-zagged a slightly different route back.  Fun to be running back in my home town, although a lot of it was areas I had never been too.

At one point when heading back, there was a nice long downhill and I said something about how good it was we didn't have to run up it.  Shortly after that, the road leveled out and we headed back up the same amount we had just run down.  Ran by several yard and garage sales and a few fresh fruit and vegetable stands.

We stopped by Jim's house for some more gatorade at about 10.5 miles, then did a bit more to get over 14 miles for the day.

New PR this morning, and chipped away a little closer to under 19 minutes.  Before coming to Rochester I looked for a local race.  I found one in Scottsville, NY, about 35 minutes away from my brother's house.  Jim decided to run the race also.

Nice morning out, starting out in the high 50's.  But, the race didn't start until 9:00, still not too warm by then.  Warmed up with 2.22 miles.  I probably could have used a little more warm up because I didn't feel completely loosened up.  Pretty good turnout for the race, I think about 200 people.  There was a mix of high school kids and a wide age range of adults.

I still had my garmin set for 1km laps instead of miles, so my splits are in 1km increments, except for the first mile where someone was calling out the times as we went by:

• 1. 4:00
• (1 mile) - 6:17
  
• 2. 3:51
  
• 3. 3:58
  
• 4. 3:54
  
• 5. 3:33

The course was a trapezoid shape which started out uphill for the first km, followed by downhill, then flat, and the last km a steady uphill.

Shortly after the race started the line spread out to pretty much the finishing order.  But, for a good part of the last mile someone was close behind.  With about a half mile left to go he passed me up and I was pretty sure he was in my age group but I either didn't have it in my or couldn't find it to kick up the pace to not get passed.  I did however run the last km much faster than the rest.  The guy beat me by 7 seconds.  They had age group awards (10 year increments), with a medal and bottle of wine (if over 21) for the age group winners.

Here is (the back of) my brother coming in to the finish line:

So, a good morning, a new 5K PR in a small town near Rochester on a somewhat cool August morning.  Although,  with some more 5K practice I should be able to get under 19 minutes soon.

Now, off to the 25 year H.S. reunion BBQ!

Oh, and here are the donuts I had after the race:

9.6 miles @ 8:08 average pace.  Back home after a weekend away in my hometown for HS reunion.  Ran by myself this morning.  Had to stop a couple of times at first as my ankles felt tight, hate it when that happens.  Once I loosened up things were a lot better.  I ran mostly in my neighborhood and past the golf course and then a little bit into Thousand Oaks neighborhood.

I did 6 strides at the end of 25 seconds each with 1 minute jogs between.

8.66 miles @ 8:03

Was supposed to run with Jenny, but it was raining, so she went for the treadmill and I decided to take my chances with the rain as soon as it slowed down a little.  I waited a bit for the rain to stop which it did, started my run, got rained on off and on but at least it was nice and cool. More evenly paced today than yesterday.  It would have been nice to listen to some music but that's just asking for trouble when it is raining out.  Also, not listening to music when you really want to makes me appreciate more the next time I can.

Yesterday afternoon my legs were a bit sore.  Not sure if it was left over from the 5K or if it was just from doing the strides at the end of yesterday's run.  Anyway, much better feeling today.

Great run with Jenny, rain held off, we started out a little faster than usual and then ran an even pace, did an extra out and back past the house to get over 9 for the morning.

In the evening I did the first 30 minutes of the P90x yoga dvd.  I was watching it on a portable dvd player when the battery died and figured it was a good stopping point anyway as it was pretty tough compared to my usual easy 14 minute routine.  The whole thing would have been an hour and a half.

Ran with Jenny for about 7 miles, then did 6 X 400 with a goal of 1:26 each.

Actual: 1:26, 1:23, 1:22, 1:26, 1:24, 1:20

On the first one I thought I was going to die, but then felt better on the second one and the rest went by quicker.  Did equal time rest between the repeats.  I felt good on these afterward because I have usually only done this pace on strides, so it was a little step up in distance.

Average pace: 8:26

In the evening I did yoga from a TV show that Jenny recorded, about a half an hour, pretty good, not quite as intense as P90x but not lame either.

Ran by myself around the neighborhood.  The temperature actually felt kind of pleasant.  I needed to get back home by about 7:15 so I cut the run a little bit short.  Good idea also because I am going to do another 5K tomorrow morning. Did the last 0.6 miles just under 7:00 pace but I did not realize it until after I stopped, guess I was in a nice zone.

Average pace: 8:02

It will be interesting to see if I'll be slower (will be warmer than last weekend),  faster (maybe I'll do a better job warming up), or the same (fitness will be about the same as it was last weekend).

Red Mule Runners 5K in Brooksville, FL, 1st place masters, 19:13 time.  I was hoping to cash in on some lessons I learned last week.  Last week's race was cooler temperature wise but this week's race was flatter - although the course was quite slippery.

Woke up this morning at about 5:15 and was on the road by 5:46.  The race was at a place called Lake McKethan Park just north of Brooksville.  I couldn't find an address or any official information about the park (except for an article about how the police had been cracking down on "cruising" activity in the park, and that lots of races have been held there).

As I was driving there I felt hungry so I stopped at a convenience store for a PowerBar energy bar and a bottle of Gatorade, then continued on.  I found the park ok after just one wrong turn.  Got my bib and then got ready to warm up.  I talked briefly to a guy named Ernie that had just done the DesNews marathon.  He was on a quest to do a second round of a marathon in all 50 states.

Warm up felt pretty good, did a total of just over 3 miles with about 4 good strides thrown in.  But, by the end of the warm up I was pretty hot and sweaty so decided this would be a no shirt race for me.

The course was a single lane paved road around the lake.  We would do 2 full loops and then go off road for the last 0.2 miles.  There was also an off-road section, maybe 200 feet long near the end of each loop.   When I was on my warm up I noticed about half of the course was very slippery, especially a section where there was a wet and oily strip down the center.  As usual, I was not aggressive enough in shoving my way up to the front.  The race was loaded with high school kids.  This race is pretty well know locally as a tune up race before the start of HS cross country.  Also, the starting line was wider than the road, but everyone had to be on the road by about 150 feet.  I had a tough time getting on the road and getting in front of the people that went out to fast, something that is hard to practice for during training runs.

About 0.4 miles into the race I was still only at a 7:10 pace.  The line thinned out and I was able to start picking people off.  At one mile there was someone calling out times, 6:14 for me.  My Garmin was slightly off, but in a good way, it said I was going slower than I really was. 

I got about 1 second faster per mile on each mile.  At about 2 miles, I passed the last masters runner that I knew of.  I had no idea how far ahead the lead pack was.  As I was on the final off-road portion I managed to pass one more person.  I was pleased to see the time clock was still in the low 19:xx's as I approached it.  The coach of one of the HS kids that finished about the same time as me was there and said to him "19 minutes, we can work with that, I'll get you down to 18 minutes in one month" -  that sounded good to me so I said "what about me?" he smiled and said it might take longer than a month to get me down to 18 minutes.

After the race, I even managed to get in another 3.5 miles or so for a cool down.

Lead pack - I didn't actually see these guys but it was a good picture showing the course.

Went to the Y this morning, which I hadn't done for some time.  Old routine there, bike warm up, stretching and crunches, then onto the treadmill.  Did 4.1 miles right at 8:00 pace (slow start with progressively fast to about 7:20 pace at the end).

Then headed outside for another 4.22 miles at 7:27 average pace.

With 76°  weather outside now, it's not so bad at all especially with some cloud cover.

Had time for some leg extensions and curls before heading home.  Sammy and I walked Andy to his bus stop then we walked a loop around the park.

Finished up with a few more exercises at home, so maybe a total half hour of strength training altogether.

I'm guessing it was about 70 degrees this morning, the coolest it has been in months, a hint of fall finally!

Nice run with Jenny along the usual routes.  The pace felt easy and comfortable with a little bit of pick up at the end.  I thought about doing some more once we got home but figured just over 9 was good enough since yesterday's run wasn't quite the recovery run that it should have been.

Average pace: 8:33