The Long Run

Another nice and pleasant morning for running.  Out the door at 6:00 sharp with Jenny.  We first intercepted Kathryn, then picked up Jamie.  The 4 of us ran together for most of the run but split up on the way back as each went home.  Did one more mile by myself to get over 10 for the morning.

Average pace: 8:43

I'm really enjoying this wonderful weather.  Nice 71 degrees this morning.

We ran together for almost 9 miles, then I did some strides, 12 by 25 seconds each with 50 seconds between each one.   I had been thinking about doing something more extensive as far as speed work goes, but I decided I'd better not push too hard today.  The strides at the end was a fun way to add on some more mileage.

Average pace: 8:16

Ran by myself this morning.  Pretty decent weather and somewhat non-eventful run.  Quicker pace throughout with a faster last mile.  Pretty successful week of running so far this week.

Average pace: 7:40

Going for a longer run tomorrow!

Longest run I've had since the marathon.  It went pretty well.  I wasn't worried about it but at the same time I needed to take it seriously since it is not quite yet nice fall weather.  Dixie was up for doing 16 with me.  We decided on starting at Longleaf neighborhood and running up Starkey Blvd into the park and doing most of the miles there.  Usually we will have someone pick up our stuff and leave it in the park for us - like food, dry shirt, towel.  And then we'll get a ride back with someone.  But, we weren't able to arrange the stuff pick up and ride home so decided to just do the out and back from Longleaf.  It would save time on the drive and make it less of a production.  The weather was warm but not hot, but not quite cool enough to be nice, very in between.

The run overall went pretty smoothly.  We started out slow for the first mile, then gradually picked up to around an 8:00 pace and held that for most of the run, then went faster the last few miles with the final mile about 7:15 pace.  This run turned out to be Dixie's long run "PR".  Big difference to just a few months ago when he would be "done" at mile 11 out of a 13 mile run and average about 8:50 for the entire run.  The miles are starting to pay off for him.

Average pace: 8:04

Finally made it to over 60 this week!  I've been meaning to get here sooner, but at least I've made it now.

Took a dip in the pool after the run to cool down.  Water has been refreshing due to all of the rain we've been getting.

Then, unfortunately I had to spend a good part of the rest of the day at work.  Big stressful deadline looming!

Ran with Dixie at the hilly neighborhood this morning.  Started a little bit later than usual at 6:30 instead of 6:00 because it is a day off, but didn't start too late since I was going with my family to Busch Gardens.  Good run with decent weather, and plenty of conversation, except at the end when we did 6 pretty fast repeats up the church driveway on the way back.

Average pace: 7:49

Nice run with Jenny this morning.  We started a little bit earlier and were able to end earlier even though we put in more miles.  We ran the whole thing together.  Pretty steady pace throughout and a slight speed up at the end.

Average pace: 8:35

Ran with Jenny and Jamie.  Jenny was up for a tempo run, her first one since the marathon.  We warmed up with 2 easy miles, then did 5 miles at just under an 8:00 pace.  Run went by quickly and we were soon back near our house.  I did a little bit on my own while Jenny ran a bit more with Jamie.  Picked up the last mile to just barely under 7:00 pace.

Average pace: 8:20

P.M. - did my wii fit yoga routine, I can't believe it had been 36 days since the last time I did it, although I have been doing some other yoga to try and stay loose and injury free.   Jenny on the other hand has probably had perfect attendance with yoga everyday!

Started out at 5:45 with Jenny, looped around the neighborhood and picked up Jamie along the way.  We ran together for about 6 miles at a nice and comfortable pace.  It was a little bit warmer out than it was yesterday but still pretty tolerable.

After the 6 miles easy I did 5 X 1Km repeats with a goal of 6:07 pace or better for each one.

Paces were: 6:09, 6:04, 6:06, 6:00, 6:11

The first one was on pace until the end when I almost ran into Jenny, accident avoided and I still almost made it.  The next few felt pretty good.  Usually I do well on the last one of any set of repeats, but today the last one was extra hard.  A stressful week was catching up with me a little bit I think but, still I almost made it and the average for the repeats was a 6:05 pace.

Cooled down with an easy run back to the house.  I like the fact that I seem to get more miles when I'm doing some sort of speed work.

Average pace: 8:09

Ran by myself around the neighborhood.  Pretty good run and nothing too eventful.  I was feeling a little bit sluggish but managed to not start out too slow and end a little faster.  Weather was decent but not like some of the cool pre-fall teases we had been having.

Average pace: 7:56

Another 5K tomorrow, for a good cause - prostate cancer research.  I'll see what I can do, maybe shave off a few more seconds?

 Jenny had signed us up for this race.  She was the kid runner (stayed with the two boys and just ran easy) this morning and I was the racer.  On our drive down I saw the outside temperature climb a little from 77 degrees when we left to 80 degrees when we got there.  I warmed up with a little bit over 3 miles easy pace including a few strides at the end.  After Thursdays harder than expected 1K repeats I wasn't sure how well I would do today.

I had one big goal for today's race - get up to the front of the line and go out fast.  Right before the race I chatted briefly with a guy I see at a lot of races, named Joe, who is my age but a good bit faster (17 - 18 minute 5k times).  So I stood next to him at the beginning.  We were off and was right behind Joe for a short time and ahead of everyone else.  Joe then continued to gap me but that was ok, I was able to get the quick start that I wanted.   Just after about a quarter of a mile, one guy passed me, and then another guy.  The two guys that passed me spread out from each other and from me and it pretty much stayed the same spread for the rest of the race.

I was happy with my first mile and after the second mile I thought I had a slight chance at going under 19 today.  But, I also knew that my garmin was not accurate, I just wasn't sure by how much.  I felt myself slowing down in the third mile (mid 6:30's) but was able to regain some of that speed.

Turning the last corner it was hard to see the finish chute at first because I was running into the sun.  When I could finally see the time clock it was maybe 19:02 or something like that, so not today.

 Splits from Garmin: 5:58, 6:09, 6:15, 1:03 (0.18@5:44)

4 out of the top 5 guys were in my age group, the guy not in my age group was 50.  Joe ended up exactly 1 minute faster than me.  So, I was 2nd in my age group.

The race was pretty well put together for an inaugural 5k and well attended (about 500 people).  Course was very scenic, mostly flat with a small hill near the beginning and the same hill about halfway.  They had nice plaques for all of the age group recipients which was a nice touch.  Tom took first place in the under 10, and Andy 2nd place in the 10-14 group.

Garmin said I had a 6:06 average pace, so if the pace had been correct it would have been under 19:00.   However, before the race started they warned us that the race course was measured and certified but would probably measure long on gps devices.  There were quite a bit of turns which garmins don't handle as well as straighter courses.

I was happy with the first mile, a decent second mile and a pretty good kick  at the end.  Although the time was slower than my last two 5K's, something felt good about today's race.

Did the Monday morning Y routine.  When I got there I saw Raj and was able to give him his age group award plaque from Saturday's race.  It was a warm and humid morning outside and I motivation was low, at least at first.

After some warm up I got onto the treadmill, did 3.15 miles at 8:05 pace, then headed outside.  Since I was more warmed up, my spirits were better.  I was a little bit low on time so my mileage outside was 4.42 miles @ 7:43 pace.

Went back inside and decided to try out doing some strides on the treadmill.   They were kind of fun and on the last one I set the treadmill as fast as it could go, I wasn't sure how fast that was before I tried, but it turned out to be 12.4 miles per hour.

Back at home I did my "better than nothing" strength training routine which consists of 2 sets of 25 push-ups (using the as-seen-on-tv "perfect push-up") and 8 pull-ups, repeated twice, then a few sets of dumbbell exercises, whatever I happen to feel like.  It's not a lot but it seems to be helping as the pull-ups are less of a struggle now.

I had a big cloud over my head, big project due to be finished at work on Wednesday but I was not yet at the stage where I was sure I could finish it.  The cloud had a name and that is USB.

Easy run with my favorite running buddy.  A touch cooler out this morning than yesterday morning.

Average pace: 8:40

This is another late post so I have few details that I can remember.  Work cloud still hanging over my head.  It will be a late night at work.

Cooler weather once again, barely 70 degrees.  Might be time to start running with a shirt again.  Nice pleasant run with Jenny and Jamie.  It was a little rough going at first because of getting home late from work (just after 1:00 am), then getting up and running.  But, it's easier when you can mainly just follow behind.  I had been thinking about doing some speed work but was not up for it.  Jenny had also been thinking about speed work but also decided to scratch it and just enjoy an easy run in nice weather.

Average pace: 8:44

A beautiful morning for running.  Good run, mostly easy with a few pick-ups here and there.

Average pace: 8:35

Work cloud has lifted, finished enough for now at least.  It looked impossible at one point, but it somehow came together.  Miracles do happen sometime (even if they are just small ones).

Another good run with Jenny and Jamie.  Good weather again, uneventful run that just sort of flowed along and went by quickly.

Average pace: 8:41

I was greeted by a temperature reading of 71°  when I pulled into Starkey Park this morning at 6:10.  I ran into "tattoo Mike" who I hadn't seen much of recently.  He was doing 14 and I was planning on 16, so we ran 7 miles together.  It was very pleasant running and we kept the pace conversational.

I went on another 1.5 miles (changed my mind at the last minute to do 17 miles today). Turned around and headed back, slowly picking up the pace some more until I had done 4 miles between 6:51 and 7:05.

Backed it down for the second to last mile and then decided to see what I had left. Managed a 5:59 for the last mile, hard but felt great to finish so strong.

Hung out with the Striders for some catching up.  Haven't seen them as much due to heading off to 5K's.

Average pace: 7:35

Then, back home, there were from-scratch pancakes waiting for me with blueberry topping, thanks Jenny!!

Ran with Dixie in the hilly neighborhood.  Started out easy and later ended up doing some faster miles after we were warmed up.  We skipped the usual set of hill sprints at the end and just added on a little bit of extra cool down at the end since Dixie's calf was bothering him.

Average pace: 7:59

Ran with Jenny around the neighborhood.  Felt good and the weather was pretty good.  We picked it up the last mile.  Jenny has less than one month to her marathon.

Average pace: 8:39

Easy run with Jenny this week.  Hooray for being halfway through the week and feeling good!  Nice weather, similar routes.  The only big change this morning is that Jenny and I switched garmins.  Almost every morning when we run together, mine always says that I went farther, and since we run the same amount of time, therefore faster.  Curious to see if they were different or if it was just how I run.

 So, different garmins, but same results per user.  Hers, which I wore, said I went farther.  We figured this is probably due to the fact that I run on the outside of her, and sometimes run ahead to grab a gate or something like that.

Average pace: 8:30

Just over 7 miles on the treadmill in Nahsua, NH.  Up a little bit too late the night before, so I wasn't sure how I'd feel but it wasn't bad at all.  Miles went by pretty quickly.  Could have done more but needed to catch my flight.

Average pace: 7:55

End of a busy but pretty good week.   Ran with Jenny this morning around the neighborhood.  Good to be back outside after being after having to do yesterday's run on the hotel treadmill.   This is Jenny's last big week before she starts cutting back a little next week getting ready for the SF Women's Marathon.

Average pace: 8:48

After the run, did my "better than nothing" upper body workout to keep me from totally blowing off non-running exercise.   3 sets of 8 pull-ups with 25 "perfect push-ups" in between each set, and then some side arm raises and curls.  Maybe just under 15 minutes worth of training.

16.3 miles @ 7:43 pace average, first 10 easy, last 6.3 between 7:08 and 6:50

Drove up to Starkey park this morning, stopping along the way to pick up some runner's bags who were getting an early start on their runs.  It was warmer out this morning, about 77 degrees.  I saw Mike in the parking lot so we headed out together.  My ankles were tight for the first few miles and felt a lot better after stopping at the 4 mile water stop.  We ran together for 5 miles before he turned back, then I kept on going for about 3 more miles on my own.

As it got lighter out, a small breeze picked up, which made it much nicer.  It is sometimes better to start a little later as long as there is some cloud cover to hold back the sun, which there was this morning.

Started picking up the pace on the way back.  While on the way out, I did look at my pace a couple of times early on, and then decided not to look at it any more and see what happened.  Would I run the same, faster, or slower?

Turned out to be pretty much the same, although slightly slower than last week, but maybe the same when adjusted for conditions.  But, it felt good just to run.  I've got this on my list of things to try, run an entire marathon with no watch or garmin.

Hung out for a bit after the run, then gave a ride back to Jorge, Victoria, Keith, Eudaire, and Dixie, back to their cars.  Glad I had room for everyone!

Ran with Dixie in the hilly neighborhood, went a little slower and took it easy. I meant to do more but was caught in a time-warp and ran out of time.  It was warmish and humid, but otherwise a nice morning.

Average pace: 8:16

Did my upper body "better than nothing" workout after the run.

 Ran with Jenny this morning around the neighborhood.  As we were nearing the end of the run, received a phone call from older son, who said younger son was not feeling well.  So, we put the plan in place, I picked it up and hurried straight home.  Nothing too urgent, but better safe than sorry. 

Average pace: 8:30

Delightfully cool morning.  Running with Jenny.  Easy paced run.  We ran together for 9 miles, then I did a short out and back by myself to get in one more mile.

Average pace: 8:38

This morning, Jenny and I had to take turns running.  One of the kids wasn't feeling well so we didn't want to both leave.  Jenny took the first shift, and I started once she got back.  I didn't do any speed work last week so after warming up I did 5 X 1K:

3:44 (6:02), 3:35 (5:46), 3:43 (6:00), 3:41 (5:56), 3:44 (6:01)

It was cooler out this time than the last time I did this workout and my times were a little bit faster.  Jogged back home for cool down.

 Except, when I was about a 0.25 mile from home, a lawn mower pulled out behind me (one of this big landscaper models).  I thought he was just going to drive into the next yard or so, but instead he pulled out on the street behind me and was going pretty fast.  I sped up to get away from him, but he kept right behind me.  I don't think I was being chased and if I had known he had a long way to go and was going to be going that fast I would have gotten out of the way!  Garmin said my peak pace was 4:39, which might be possible.

Jenny went out to the drug store and on the way back said she saw a guy on a lawnmower going really fast down the street!

Average pace: 7:32