The Long Run

5.73@9:37

Day two at the camp.  Did not want to go the whole week without some sort of workout,  baesd on what I could find, there was a nice stretch of mostly flat and good shape packed gravel.  It was less than 1/4 mile so decided on 1 minute fartleks.  Paces ranged from 6:30 to as fast as 5:57.  One way was a little faster than the other way.

Felt like I got something done.

6.31@9:57

Back to easy running.  5 camp loops, 659 feet of climbing.  Last full day here and tomorrow don't have to start first thing in the morning because Jessica is not working.

6.07@9:18

Sleeping in this morning!  8:30 start time for the run.  Drizzly rain this morning.  Started the run during a break in the rain.  Did less loops as I ran out farther on a spur down one of the roads that went past the warrior course to what looked like a water treatment (maybe reclaimed water ponds) to a gate that marked camp property.

Rain got heavier and then lighter again a few times.  Finished up with 10x100m strides.

Big drive home.  Barely room for everyone's stuff including an extra duffle from the people giving Jacob a ride home.  We drove via Athens so Sophia could tour UGA.  I drove over to and stopped at the old site of the Navy Supply Corps School (now part of UGA) and took a picture outside of the old Bachelor Officer Quarters (BOQ) where I lived for about a month before getting an apartment.  It was about 33 years ago that I graduated from that school before heading to the Kitty Hawk.

Rain picked up on the way home and it was dark and rainy about two hours of driving until we reached the edge of the front, then it was light out for a little until the sun went down, but the rides were dry and was smooth driving the rest of the way home.

3.13@9:56   HR 129 bpm

Thought this might be a rough run after the long day of travel, but it wasn't so bad.  One loop inside Westlake Village.

Tomorrow is the Freakin' Hot 5K which I tried to do last year but overslept.

Freakin' Hot 5K   Race Report

Chip time 21:06.7, 2nd place age group

Weather: 77 degrees, 92 percent humidity, actually not quite "freakin' hot" but not cool either

I signed up for this race last year but overslept.  This year, woke up in plenty of time, arrived over 45 minutes early and had enough time for check in and a warmup of about 1.8 miles, mostly easy jogging with 4 strides at the end.  I was able to accelerate to 5k pace and faster which was a good sign.

Race starts and after a little bit I look at my watch, showing that I'm too slow I'm also in some tall trees so for now just look ahead and try and pass the people who started out too fast until I can settle in to a faster pace I can hold.  First mile goes pretty quickly and I manage sub 6:40 pace, first time I've done that in a while.  Still feeling pretty strong into the second mile, keeping it together in the 6:40's, but I slowly slip a little then get some back, finishing the second mile in 6:48.

Now I've got two good miles under my belt.  I'm more in a hanging on mentality but I'm also thinking about cadence and trying to concentrate on that.  But, no matter what I'm going to hang onto sub 7:00 and not blow it like I did on July 4th.  Finally the home stretch.  Clock is still in the 20:50's when I see it but I'm too far to sneek under.  

Splits: 6:36, 6:48, 6:56 0.12@6:33

Gotta work on finishing the last mile strong, sub 6:50 and I could've broken 21:00.

However, just broke the slowing down streak since the Hippie Dash.  Deseret News Half did not give me confidence to predict a good marathon, but it did tell me that maybe if you have some luck and really dig, you can still get it.

Today's race showed some progress at least.  Fall 5k's could get faster, I've seen jumps as much as 1 minute between hot summer 5k's and a cooler fall 5k.

Got to see Joe, Renee, the old Wednesday night group (minus Daisy who had to split early), Jenny, Sean, and Maria.  Also chatted with 1st AG guy Brian who beat me by a good 30 seconds and he's 59 years old so can't use age excuse.

4.12@10:01   HR 129 bpm

One loop inside Westlake Village and a little bit up and down the street to make it to 4 miles.

7.66@10:20  HR 132 bpm

From my house over to Starkey Gap trail and south to Keystone.  Before I got to the trail I ran into Joe and Renee finishing up their run so I turned around and ran with them for a few minutes before returning to my route.

Really warmed up during the run, not so bad when in the shade, but it's not all shade.

Also walked Stella a bit.

8.79@8:12    HR 157 bpm

Workout, 5 x 8 minutes @7:40  (actual pace just under 7:30).

Hot and humid again but not skipping workout.  Scheduled workout 2 x (2km@HMP, 1km@10K), other possible workout 3x800m up at 10K pace, then down at MP, followed by 5x400m@5k pace.  I had to drive to my house to give Andy a ride while he's car-less so the hill option was out.  Garmin happened to recommend 5x8minutes so the workout was already programmed in so I went with that.

It's not too far off from 5x1 mile @10k pace, but 8 minutes was about 1.1 miles.  But unlike the mile repeats, you can't finish these any faster, they will each take 8 minutes.  When I did 5 x 1 mile a few weeks ago, repeats 3 through 5 were a bit faster as I was feeling good.  Today I felt just ok, but got the job done and a little bit faster pace (but not faster time).

Friday will be a challenging workout with 2-8-2 (2 warm up, 8 miles @MP, 2 mile cool down), easy day Saturday, then 20 mile on Sunday.  I usually don't run on Sunday but baby's party is Saturday.

Yesterday garmin bumped up my V02 max to 55, but it's back to 54 today, for whatever that is worth.

5.22@10:18  HR 131

Back to easy running.  Two loops, one smaller than the other, inside Westlake Village.  Hard run tomorrow, then breaking with my routine easy run on Saturday followed by long on Sunday  (Saturday is bday party for the little one).

I got back from my run and my little two year old daughter was not there, in her place was an almost identical 3 year old (exactly the same as the two year old version, just a day older)!

12.06@8:13   HR 160 bpm

86 degrees and dewpoint of 82.  Did not think I'd survive this run without giving up but go through it somehow (however I did not run the 8 mile portion straight through, maybe I could've if I had slowed down a little perhaps but was trying to lock into a pace I thought I could hold without trying to force and exact pace).

Warmup went well, maybe better than expected, first two miles at 9:27 average.  Was running up Starkey Blvd and right onto Rangeland out to the two mile tree.  Started the tempo portion and kept going in same direction before turning around and heading to Starkey Blvd where I'd run north.

First mile good, 7:57 (goal range 7:50 to 8:09), and then held onto it for the second mile, just a little faster at 7:52.  Started bargaining with myself. Run straight through or maybe 2 x 4 miles, 4 x 2 miles?  I made it out past 4 miles, then stopped briefly.  Started again, then a little into Starkey park before turning around.  Intended to run the second half with no stops, but that did not happen.  Wanted to not wreck myself, looking towards Sunday's 20 mile run.

Hit it pretty hard for the last mile, more in the tank than I thought, last mile 7:32

8 mile splits: 7:57, 7:52, 7:43, 7:49, 7:52, 7:52, 7:46, 7:32

Not sure what to make of this run, did the distance.  Should I have run more of a heat adjusted pace which was slower.  I think this was ok.

2 more miles cool down 8:43 and 8:27

4.18 @9:49  HR 129 bpm

Short run in Westlake Village.  Three year old's party today at Old McMickey's Farm.  Will do the big run tomorrow.  Today's run felt good, feels like slow but steady progress running slightly faster with heart rate staying below 130.

Party was fun, kept moving.  There were horse/pony rides (they had a miniature horse for the little kids, the pony was larger than the miniature horse (older kids), then a full size horse for any teens that wanted to ride.  Also a hay ride and a chance to pick up chickens and a few other things.

20.07@8:44  HR 148 bpm

Not looking forward to this run, 81 degrees at the start, however there were points here and there where it did not feel so bad.  Like so many times before, plan was to start early.  And this time the plan worked, I was running while it was still dark.  Coulda used a light but there dark part was on a pretty smooth paved trail.  Parked at the Trinity trailhead for Starkey Gap trail.  Headed north, crossed 54 and continued up Starkey Blvd and turned right on Rangeland.  Saw Tom heading towards me on his way back.

Goal today was "aerobic pace" which the plan says 8:40.  What about the heat, do I adjust and if so how much.  If I can hit 9:00 or just under that should be good.

First stop at 5.7 miles to use the water fountain in Cunningham Park, then continued on, kept on going until the neighborhoods ended at Publix and then a litte out onto 54 before turning back.  I'd be back at Cunningham Park with about 10.5 miles done, so what to do?  I could take a right onto Starkey Blvd and head north a couple miles but might run out of water.  So, instead did a few extra loops around the lake so I could keep topping off, then headed back towards where I came from, returning back to the car at 17.5 miles, had some ice cold water, then about 1.3 miles south down the trail, then back toward the car to hit the 20 mile mark.

Last mile was a push at 7:51 pace, it was faster than I thought I could do.  Going to fit in one more 20 before the race.  Confidence is mixed right now.  Have had some good workouts where I've felt improvements, good 5k progress, decent but could've been better half marathon and this past Friday's run should've been a straight through tempo but second half turned into tempo intervals.

Oh well, keep on plugging and see what happens.

10.0@8:38  HR 151 bpm

85 degrees "TruPace: 7:57"

Today's workout was 800m running uphill @HMP (7:40 for me), and then back down the hill @MP (8:00ish, but by that I mean 7:59).  45 second rest/jog at the top and then 1:30 rest/jog at the bottom (later realized it was supposed to be 1:00 and 2:00 for the rests).

Pretty happy with how it went, stuck to the rest schedule (except a little off on first one) and was able to quickly get on pace and settle in on both the  up and down.  It wasn't easy but it also wasn't where I'm struggling and then either just barely getting it or missing it here and there).

So, here's the paces for up/down: 7:28/7:47, 7:26/7:39, 7:20/7:38, 7:22/7:36, 7:22/7:16

I guess I was a little bit excited to finish so the down on the last one was faster than the up. 

Warm up was just over 2 miles and cool down was a little under 2 miles.

AM 4.17@9:53   HR 126 bpm

One big loop in WLV and then some up and down to make it to 4 miles.

PM 3.03@9:34  HR 126 bpm

Humpday Hustle run, about 6:30 pm, 90 degrees but had some clouds.  Ran with Daisy and Evan and some with her oldest son.  We opted for 3 miles although everyone was willing to do 4 no one insisted on 4 so 3 it was.

7.15@7:52   HR 158 bpm

Plans were shifting on me, scheduled run called for 10 miles, 2 easy, 4 HMP, 2 easy. Needed to be done by 7:30 and was supposed to take little one to pre-school, so thought I'd maybe do the run after dropping her off.  Turns out I couldn't drop her off as early as possible plus she had a bit of a runny nose so ended up staying home and waited for Jessica to come back from her morning errands.  So now it was later and it didn't make sense to drive to Starkey Blvd and wasn't sure if the run would be a failure so opted for just getting in some miles in the neighborhood.

But then, I turn on my garmin and it says suggested workout 2 x 15 min @7:15 pace.  That seemed doable and productive as well.  So that's what I did and it turned out ok and I felt like I got something done running wise.  In retrospect, I could have easily done this workout by 7:30 without having to run all of it in darkness.

Anyway, with this pace it's pretty much a 2 x 2 mile workout but it's timed so not quite, a little bit farther and going faster doesn't get you done any faster.  With that said:

10 minute warmup 

first 15 minutes in miles: 7:08, 7:12, 0.09@7:07

5 minute jog

next 15 mintues in miles: 7:07, 7:08, 0.10@6:34

10 minute cool down

Definitely feeling like there's been some fitness improvement recently.

5.08@9:44  HR 128 bpm

Easy paced couple of loops inside Westlake Village, slowly moving faster into the 9's with heart rate below 130.  It felt a little cooler out this morning compared to yesterday.

20.08@8:51   HR 149 bpm

Brooksville and Suncoast hilly run.

Well, that wasn't quite what I had hoped for.  With last week's pretty good run in the warmer weather thought this would go better, however, last week I did have an earlier start and the run was on Sunday instead of Saturday, so less then one week between back to back 20s.  Legs felt mushy.   Plan was supposed to be 9 miles easy, 9 miles MP, then two miles easy.

First 9 miles averaged like 9:33, turned around and got onto 8:00 pace but wasn't easy.  Hoping to settle into it.  Got to top of the six mile hill and decided to regroup.  Got going again, was not doing well, decided to take it easy (maybe for the rest of the run), 4th mile was 8:35, way off pace,  but mile 5 was 8:11 so decided to not give up and just try and stay as close as I could to goal pace.  7th mile of the MP portion was 8:19, kind of dying again.   Rallied a bit for 8th mile, down to 7:52, finished up with 8:05.

Slogged through the cool down, resisted temptation to just do 1 mile of cool down.

There were a few people hanging out at the shelter.  Two people had been biking and one lady who had been running.  The lady complimented my running, said I looked strong.  Told them what I was training for and she said that she also did Big Cottonwood last year and loved it, especially the scenery.  Showed me some pictures, nice to chat to a few strangers, meet some new people.

4.27@9:48   HR 129 bpm

Holding steady with easy run pace vs heart rate.  Earlyish start just before dawn, almost felt fallish for a second (although 78 degrees, maybe humidity a tad down).

Mightve done better if I just looped in Westlake Village on Saturday instead of driving to Brooksville, saved some driving time but the thought of doing over 6 loops seemed daunting

5.03@9:36  HR  126 bpm

Just a tiny bit less temperature and humidity this morning, early enough to still be dark when I started the run.  A couple of loops run inside Westlake Village.  Feeling the needle move just a little with slower running on most days.

AM 9.67@8:09   HR  152 bpm

Workout Wednesday

3 x 3k@ 10K pace, goal 7:15

Slightly modified from recommended workout of 3 x (2k@half mar pace, then 1k @10K pace).  Harder to program into the watch and felt I'd do better to just bump up the pace for 3k, but start a little slower and work the pace faster toward the end.  Pretty similar without being quite as rigid.

Did the workout in Westlake Village, so course was rolling which I think helps more than hurts.

1st set, about 7:11 average, 2nd set, about 7:12, 3rd set, about 7:09 average

Even though I programmed workout to be 3k repeats, watch still gives me mile splits but close enough.

Kind of hot this morning , glad it wasn't a tempo run, I can survive repeats, even these longer ones.

Garmin rewarded me with an increase of VO2 max to 55 from 54.

PM 4.01@9:13  HR 132 bpm

Humpday Hustle run with Daisy, Evan, Eric , and Marina.  Nearby rain cooled down the air for the two miles back.  Sticking with the group, heart rate stayed reasonably low enough.

5.61@9:46  HR 129 bpm

A couple of loops inside Westlake Village.  Weather was again just slightly nicer (days are hot but mornings not so bad).  Good pace vs heart rate.  Not quite as good as Tuesday, but for doing 13 miles yesterday including a workout run it's not bad at all, solidly under 10:00 with HR "in the 120's"

Another easy tomorrow then 14 miles Saturday with most of it an MP tempo.

5.07@9:46  HR 129 bpm

Very similar to yesterday's run as far as pace/distance/heart rate go.  Location was Starkey Gap trail heading south.  Reported recovery time of 19 hours (last couple of days the recovery time was much more than a day) so should be fully ready to go for tomorrow's long run of "only" 14 miles (compared to last two weekends with 20 miles for long), two warmp up, 11 at MP, 1 cool down.

vo2 max holding at 55 which is right where it was just before Cleveland marathon (with just missed BQ time of 3:35 and change).  For Treasure Coast I peaked too early, slumped a little but couldn't come back in time.  Hopefully it comes together this time.

14.13@7:59

Pre-sunrise start, plan was 2 miles easy warmup, 11 miles MP, 1 mile easy.  Starkey Blvd up to Starkey Park with a side trip to Cunningham Park (pit stop).

Easy warmup, out onto Rangeland at the two mile tree, then instead of turning around to start the MP portion, went in same direction, stopped to use the bathroom (so not completely straight through), but apart from that, and maybe a slight struggle to get onto pace, able to run faster next few miles, got past half way and turned around.  Felt pretty good today, much better than last Saturday.  After finishing the MP portion, jogged a bit but then picked it up a little and eventually back to just under 8:00 pace.

MP splits: 7:59, 7:52, 7:45, 7:41, 7:38, 7:44, 7:45, 7:50, 7:48, 7:38, 7:26

"easy" 7:49

mixed thoughts on whether I can pull this off but got a chance if things go well on race day.

4.18@9:53  HR 128 bpm

Easy loop around Westlake Village and then up and down Lakeview.  Harder workout tomorrow.

8.06@8:32    HR 148 bpm

Workout 5 x 1k @10k pace, then 5x200m@5k pace, 2 minute easy between 1k reps and 30 second easy between 200m.

Thought I programmed the workout exactly, but missed a few details. But first, I had to get through the easy warmup.  About halfway into it I tripped and fell on the sidewalk.  Haven't done that for a while.  Went down kind of hard but avoid serious injury (broken bones or stitches).  However, did get a big scrape near my elbow which was oozing, smaller one on my pinky knuckle, and one on my forearm.  Plus, when I got up, limping a little as I rolled my left foot slightly.  Jogged back to my car where I happen to have a newly acquired first aid kit (it was being thrown out).  Had alcohol wipes, antibiotic cream and bandages.  Bandages didn't do much good, nothing was going to stick.  Before I fell, was thinking about work, family, the pending hurricane, my parents house near the water and various things.  This is when I usually fall if I'm going to fall and then I'm careful for a while.

Back to the run, finished up the two miles, watch beeped so I picked it up but it was not for the next part of the run, it was just the mile beep.  Did not really program in two miles, but "lap when done warming up" option.  So this time, really got going.

Did pretty good.  It was hotter now, in the 80's and I wasn't sure how rolled foot would do but it wasn't bad.  A couple of the breaks were a little more than 2 minutes.

Pace splits: 7:03, 6:55, 6:55, 6:47, 7:03   (goal was 7:00-7:15)

Started the 200s but after the second one watch switched to "cool down".  Turns out I had only put in 2 repeats.  Lost the groove, decided to do one 400 and call it a day.  Did that last effort in 6:05 pace.  Finished up with just over a mile of jogging.

After the run, stopped by my parents house, took down old pictures to bring with me, grabbed some other valuables, brought the kayak in from their dock.  The high tide from the "super moon" brought the water over their dock. Had never seen that happen before.  Wouldn't take much storm surge on top of that to flood their house.

Fortunately, the timing and movement of the storm meant the high tide and surge did not stack up.  Water came up to their back porch but not high enough to come inside the house.

Decided to take the day off from running.  Still feeling banged up from yesterday's fall.  Grateful hurricane avoided us (but unfortunately it still has to go someplace).  Would stop by my parents house later to find it was dry inside, yay.

6.25@10:16   HR 133 bpm

Easy wasn't quite as easy today, slower pace but heart rate higher but still ok to call this an easy run.  Out and back down the Starkey Gap trail from Trinity Blvd.

Harder run tomorrow then over to Lakeland on Friday to watch Tom run in first meet of the season.