The Long Run

Up early to meet Chris H. at Longleaf for his big 18 mile run to keep him company for the first 10 miles or so. The weather was a real treat this morning. We took it easy and kept a steady pace. I split off from him just before 11 miles the did a short pick up at the end. Hung out for a bit until I could bum a ride back to Longleaf. Felt good overall and enjoyed seeing so many friends out.

A good wrap up to the third week back to running.  I'm not completely where I'd like to be eventually but I'm where I want to be right now.

Went to Starkey and headed out with Dixie, Keith, Mike, Andrea, Eudair and some others. Pace felt kind of quick on the way out, but I did not have a garmin on so wasn't quite sure what I was running. Turned around with Keith, Andrea and Melanie and started feeling better and more relaxed on the return trip so picked it up a bit. Ran to where we started but I was off by 0.1 miles, but close enough still.

This was one of the best runs I've had in quite some time.  And it was of course a lot of fun to see and run with so many good runner friends.

I did feel a bit tired after the run, but fortunately it was just going to be a nice relaxing day.

Except for 7:15 when I went to Jenny's boot camp class which was held in doors due to the rain and was 3 weight circuits, each repeated three times.

I ran with Jenny and Chris H. . Light rain which kept things cool. Felt pretty good throughout.

Friday discombobulated run with (in order of appearance) Kathryn L. Carin Z. Jenny Lisa R. and Nicole S. Great weather this morning, nice easy pace and a bonus gel from Nicky who was passing them out at the water stop! Distance is very approximate for hopefully the last day.

One more run this week - I'm going to try for 12 to see how that feels.   Also, my PT told me to try some faster miles to see how my hip holds up.

Drizzly run starting out with Chris H. and Eudair from Longleaf. Kept a nice steady pace to 7.5 miles while I ran with Chris then turned around.  I stopped briefly to stretch and retie my shoes.  Once I was at the park exit I picked it up and decided to try and hold it under 8:00 pace.  I did a pretty good job of holding the pace, but it did feel harder than I remembered.  Fortunately, the minor pain did not ever worsen, it might have even felt better as I went faster or maybe I didn't notice it.  I felt more limited by my aerobic capacity than by any pain, but at least it is not all gone.

After I hit 12 miles (which was my original planned distance), I found myself going ever faster.  I hit the lap button just after a half mile of the faster pace so I could have something starting with a 6.  Backed it down for the last 0.3 miles.

Splits: 9:18, 8:59, 8:53, 8:56, 9:00, 9:01, 9:04, 8:44, 7:29, 7:38, 7:22, 7:17, 6:59 (.52), 7:48 (.30)

After the run, I took Thomas to his first day of bowling, then as soon as we got home headed out to Universal and downtown Disney for his birthday.  Quite tired at the end of the day.

However, I woke up the next morning and did not feel sore which I had been worried about, so I guess I held up and did not injure myself.

Going to continue around the same miles for a bit with a very gradual build up.

Pretty good run. Super slow for the first mile, then slowly bumped up the speed with a quick interval at the end.

Neighborhood run with Jenny , Chris H. Lisa R. and Nicole S. for some easy running and some light banter along with some lovely refreshments. Chris tried to sneak up behind me on the final stretch but the slushie shoe noise gave him away.

Good to be back home.  Texas was much hotter so it actually seemed cooler than it usually does.

Run with the ladies this morning - Kathryn L. and Lisa R.  - Jenny was taking the morning off due to early work schedule.  Mostly easy pace through out.  Fun run!

I went to Longleaf at 5:30 this morning. I planned on doing 10. Said hi to a bunch of people at the start but started a little after everyone so I could finish my warm up. So, the first few miles were by myself, a little slower than 9:00 for the first mile, then 8:30 for the next mile, and then a little faster after that.

On the out and back in Alico Pass, I stopped to talk to Diane, then Renee showed as well as Bob Tiller so we all ran together until I turned around just inside Starkey Park. Nice weather and I was able to get into a comfortable yet faster running groove.

So, I'm finished with physical therapy now.  Not 100% better but it looks like if I continue with the exercises and stretches I should continue to improve.

Had a follow up appointment with the Doctor (a different one than the first time).  She said everything looked pretty good as far as the x-ray and my range of movement, and to come back in if things started getting worse or if the improvements stopped, in which case they'd probably do an MRI.  Fortunately, she was pretty confident it is most likely not a labral tear.

Pretty happy that I've managed 3 weeks in a row of over 30 miles.  Plan is to gradually work my mileage up a little bit at a time.

Good for a Monday. Ran alone and just ran whatever pace I felt like, which was about a 10:00 for the first mile, then faster after that. Pleasantly muggy and gel'd up at the water stop with a tangerine Gu.

Ran with Chris H, Nicole S. and Lisa R. in the nbhd. Ran together until the water stop where we had our gel "picnic", then Chris and I turned right for a little bit longer run. Good recovery miles after yesterday's run in the AM and bootcamp in the PM

Short run in the nbhd with Jenny , Chris H. , Lisa R. and Nicole S. No gel today but I did wear my new (but last year's model) Ghosts.

All the usuals, and all at the same time - Nicole S. , Lisa R. , Chris H., Kathryn L. and of course Jenny ran together to the water stop for some brief water cooler socializing, then Chris and I turned right while everyone else headed back. Mostly easy pace except for a quick pick up at the end.

Ran with Jenny in the neighborhood this morning. Picked up the pace after a warm up mile, felt good and it was lots of fun.  I was caught a little off guard but held up ok.  Usually Friday's are a slower paced run with a pretty good sized group.  Once we started going, Jenny said we'd go faster but not too fast - keep it at about an 8:30 pace, but we were soon in the 7:30's.

Ran in Starkey park on the bike trail with Chris H. up until 6.5 miles, then he went on further. Turned back and had a good return trip. Saw a bobcat and 2 deer. Glad to finish the week with some decent miles.  I kept the last 6 miles under an 8:00 pace and felt pretty good both breathing wise and injury wise - 7:54, 7:39, 7:40, 7:38, 7:38, 7:41

Later in the afternoon we started talking about our oldest dog, who has been with us for 17 years, and was not a puppy when we got her.  She had been having trouble walking for quite some time and always looked in pain and for a while now was steadily losing bowel/bladder control.  She had some good moments on some days but it was just not getting any better.  So, we made the decision that it was time to put her down.

Here is Chelsea from 6 years ago, along with Andy, myself, and Thomas.

So, long Chelsea, you will be missed.

Alone with music. Monday run done.  Time to start the week and see what's in store.  Mondays can be a new beginning.

Ran with Jenny , Chris H. , Lisa R. , Nicole S. and a guest appearance from Jamie! No racing or pace pushing today, just a chill run.

Easy run with the big group - Kathryn L. , Chris H. , Lisa R. , Nicole S. but most importantly my beautiful wife and running partner Jenny (sorry for the mushy stuff Jenny :-) )

It was weird how my legs felt.  I had been awake pretty much all night, just couldn't seem to get to sleep.  So, when I woke up in the morning my legs did not need anytime to wake up.  It's often a struggle just to keep up with the group during the warm up mile.  So, not such a good thing to get very little sleep but interesting.  Maybe that is why I don't have a sluggish feeling in my legs on many marathons because the night before those I don't get very much sleep.

Warmed up a little bit by myself, then ran with Jenny , and Kathryn L. for a nice relaxed Friday run. Glad the weekend is almost here.

I am going to do a 10K tomorrow.  Komen Race for the Cure 10K.  I did this one two years ago and PR'd.  That was when I was in the midst of marathon training and was running more miles than I had run.  This year I'm running it just to support the cause as well as part of a fundraising team that a friend is running called "Team Eye Site".

So, I may just run it, or maybe run it as a tempo run (haven't done a tempo run in a long time), or maybe I'll race it.  I'm not sure what will happen.  Sometimes you just need to show up and see what happens, those can be the best experiences.

With tomorrow's miles, I'll have a few less than I did last week, so a cut back week which is good.  Then next week, hopefully I can add a few more miles in and start doing some longer runs.

I'm grateful for many good things this week in addition to just the running.  I need to always remember to concentrate on those things and to do my best always.