The Long Run

6.2 mi, 54:30, 8:47 avg

After missing Friday and Saturday due to weather, travel, and being tired from travel and not enough drive to overcome the obstacles I was able to run thanks to my brother-in-law John (might have still run without him but would have probably been boring run up and down his street.

John took Jacob and I to the W&OD trail (Washington and Old Dominion) - rails to trails running/biking trail in Virginia about 44 miles long.

I took off first since I wanted to do 3 miles and John and Jacob were going to run 3.  My garmin is kind of messed up so the battery was nearly dead when I turned it on.  I didn't have a regular watch either so I carried my phone and used its stopwatch (I don't have a running app either).  About a minute and a half into the run I saw a mile marker (have these every 0.5 miles) and hit the lap button on each one (was going to write them down but lost them).  

I started out about  a ten minute/mile pace and was just under 9 minute pace at the turn around.  Weather was perfect and the trail was a pleasure to run on.  Second to last half mile I remember was 3:40 and then I felt like I was going even faster after that.  When I wasn't far from the last marker my phone switched to low power mode and I lost the stopwatch screen, but got it back after pushing some buttons and had the last lap finished in 3:44 which should have been faster if not for the technical difficulties.

John and Jacob were back and sitting on a bench with coffee when I finished, we then headed to a bagel place and I went into the Dunkin Donuts next door so we could bring back bagels and donuts for everyone else.

Spent some time in DC mall area that afternoon to see some monuments before heading to the airport for the trip back.

5.07 mi, 43:35, 8:36 avg

Ran solo in my neighborhood, out to Trinity Blvd and back and then up and down my street for a bit.  Some of it with Stella (I think just under a mile).

6.36 mi, 1:00:07, 9:27 avg

Ran with Jamie, about 6:45ish start time.  Did standard t-shaped route out along the golf course and back.

One of the Striders, Shane, owns a construction company and had posted that they were putting up hurricane shutters.  Jessica has shutters at her house, I was debating what to do and also figured I'd waited too late but I made the call anyway.  They had one opening left for Friday afternoon.  Glad I called and grateful for Shane and his Carlson Construction.

3.64 mi, 32:16, 8:53 avg

Short run consisting of running out and back to the gate 3 times (it started out as "I'm going to run at least one mile even though I have a lot to worry about (hurricane) and don't have time - so the trick worked but even one mile would have been better than nothing).  I think the middle part was with Stella.

7.35 mi, 1:04:07, 8:44 avg

Calm before the storm run.  Started  my run about 8:30, very tempting to skip it with things to do and lots of uncertainty about what would happen.  I slept in too late for Joe and Jamie run but she stopped by while finishing up her run.

I was thinking about driving to Longleaf to run from there and Jessica was going to do some walking, but since it got late I said I'd just run from home.  Ran from my house, out past the golf course, to Trinity Blvd then into Trinity Oaks where I saw lots of people putting up boards over their windows.  Ran out a little over 3.5 miles and then turned around.  Run was calming and cleared my head.

Got back home and Jessica had headed out but my wallet and phone were gone.  Slight misunderstanding, she had gone to look for me at Longleaf.  I called her (fortunately she's one of about 4 phone numbers I actually know and can dial).  

We headed out to one of the sandbag centersj at the Seven Springs fire station.  It was pretty well run, self service where they handed each person a stack of bags and as one dirt pile would run low a dump truck would show up a few minutes later.  We filled a bunch of bags then headed to her house to put them around front door and back sliding glass doors.  

I also needed to still find 6 bolts to attach the base for the hurricane shutters at my parents house.  The big stores were closed but maybe the ACE hardware stores were open.  First one had people out front loading their car but the store was not open.  The second one had closed at 12:00 (it was now 1:30).  I was going to have to call my dad and let him know I couldn't find the bolts.  At Jessica's house, after we put out the sandbags I talked to her neighbor for a bit, I mentioned about the bolts.  I asked to see one (I was able to find one that was painted into the base), he said he had some, gave me six of them along with matching nuts.

So, then I headed to my parents house, stopping at a gas station that was open, and also stopping at Wawa for a sandwich (and a beer to go along with the hard work).   It took me about three hours but I figured it out, got both sets of sliding doors covered, and lowered the metal awnings around the other windows and screwed them down.  I grabbed a few more important photos and then was on my way.

Can't remember what I did next but probably more hurricane stuff before turning in for the night and not knowing what the next night would bring.

6.12 mi, 55:20, 9:03 avg

Ran with Joe and Jamie this morning.  Legs feeling tired so nice to just tag along with and sometimes behind.  

Today is Thomas's birthday.  He's at Jenny's house and the plans to go out to a favorite Japanese (all you can eat) restaurant were scrapped due to hurrican closures however their neighborhood pizza place was open so it still worked out.  Also, due to school also being closed at USF for the hurricane, Andy was home so that was also a nice gift to spend extra time with his brother.

3.54 mi, 31:59, 9:02 avg

Ran around the neighborhood loop twice.  It was much cooler than I thought it would be at 75 degrees.   First mile was very slow, rest felt pretty good.

6.18 mi, 54:54, 8:53 avg

I was attempting to do a mid week longer run (maybe 10 or 11 miles) but I turned back early due to rain which looked like it might have been nasty.

I left my house about 8:00 and while still in the neighborhood saw Stan running back and heard him say something about the coming storm.  At that point it just looked a little cloudy.  As I headed onto 54 I could actually see the rain coming down in the distance.  I turned back just short of 2 miles and was getting a little bit of light rain.   On the way back the rain overtook me and it came down heavy but no lightning or anything dangerous.

By the time I was back in the neighborhood it was done.  I did a little extra then stopped at my house and picked up Stella.  We did about 1.25 miles together with one mile at 7:34 pace.  Dropped her off and added enough to get 6 miles for the day.

AM 5.55 mi, 52:55, 9:27 avg

Ran with Joe and Jamie, legs once again feeling tired but mostly during the warm up.  6:45 start time.  Did not add on extra.

After the run picked up Jenny and Thomas at Jenny's house and dropped off Thomas at my house and dropped Jenny off at the airport to go out to Dallas to see her mom and dad (with her dad not doing well).  Will be an extended time with Thomas at my house, longest since a little before the wedding.  Andy is starting a part time job at Busch Gardens so is not coming home this weekend.

PM 1.79 mi, 21:12, 11:52 avg

Run/walk with Stella, pretty good pace for wearing cargo shorts and older running shoes and only running half the time.  Stella seemed to like it also.

14.27 mi, 2:13:17, 9:20 avg

Met Joe and Jamie at back of the neighborhood about 6:00, headed out to 54 and into Longleaf where we ran into Leah and Daisy heading our way to meet up with us.  The bike trail was heavily flooded in portions due to the dumping rain last night so we first did a 3 mile loop in Longleaf.  After that it was light out so we decided to brave the trail.  There are often large puddles after rain but today they were much larger, but still there were some good open stretches so we would cut across the grass and run on the road's shoulder.  We ran out to the bridge and then back to Longleaf where I grabbed my stashed gatorade.

Got back to Foxwood, said good bye to Joe and then Jamie.  I was at about 10.5 miles, so I did a loop through Cameron's point, headed home, walked Sammy and Stella and then ran Stella about 1.25 miles and then did a little more on my own to get over 14 miles.  Legs were pretty tired but at least I got into the low end of long run territory.  Maybe do another Stella loop tonight.

7.09 mi, 1:05:39, 9:16 avg

Ran with Joe and Jamie in the neighborhood.  I felt a little bit better starting out than the average Monday morning.  I went the long way home a did an extra loop around the neighborhood.

Afternoon: 1.0 mi, 12:19

I went out for a run/walk in the late afternoon, playing aroumd with mapmyrun.  I decided to count it since it was a little faster than a walk.

AM: 7.21 mi, 1:00:30,  8:23 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders, first time in quite a while.  It was dark but I had my light and the huge puddles from the weekend were mostly dry.  It did smell kind of swampy as well.   I started out feeling really slow (like 11 minute something pace kind of slow), but got a little faster, then stopped at the Aristida water stop and took a gel.  Went out a little more before turning back, averaging about 7:35 pace on the way back with fastest mile at 7:02.  Felt rejuvenated when I finished.  Had some of Clark's delicious coffee before heading home to wake up Thomas (well, maybe he was already awake before I called him).

PM: 1.8, 22:23, 12:26 avg

Run/walk with Stella around the neighborhood using MapMyRun

6.11 mi, 55:31, 9:05 avg

Ran with Joe in the neighborhood (no Jamie today).  We ran about 5.5 miles together and then when I got back near my house did a little more out and back to make it to 6 miles.  After the first slow, stiff mile, it was a pretty good run.

10.36 mi, 1:22:49, 8:00 avg

Finally, a good Thursday workout run!  Left my house and headed out to SR 54 and then to Starkey Blvd.  It did not look promising at first as first mile was very slow.  Stopped at the small church and dropped off my gatorade and took a gel.  Ran a little bit farther and then did 2 x 2mile repeats (I was wavering between tempo run and repeats so I opted for long repeats.

Paces: 1. 6:44 and 6:40, 2. 6:48 and 6:35

Did one mile easy between the faster miles.  Stopped back for my drink, ran easy a little bit and then did the last 1.75 miles at 7:30ish or faster pace.

Regained some of my confidence that I might be ok at NYC marathon.  Still some more time to prepare but it's coming up fast.

5.55 mi, 49:30, 8:55 avg

Ran solo from my house, running the t-shaped route to Heritage Springs and then to the other end of Robert Trent Jones Pkwy (sometimes referred to as running along the golf course).  Weather was nice. I used to get sick of this route but today it felt comforting and went by pretty quickly.

After yesterday's run my left achilles tendon was pretty tight and I had a slight hobble.  Expecting it to get worse I was pleasantly surprised that it got a little better (and was good for the rest of the day as well).

If I get a good long run in tomorrow then I'll be back in the 50's for the first time in a while.

17.4 mi, 2:34:19, 8:52 avg

Started my long run extra late due to watching the cross country meet.  Meet was originally supposed to be in Starkey Park but since the park was closed up until during the week they switched the meet to Anclote High School.  I thought the course looked a little confusing at first but it turned out to actually be kind of nice and good for spectators.  It was two loops with some of it on grass field and some of it through the woods.  The past two meets had been canceled due to the hurricane, so this should have been the 5th meet but was the third one instead.  The team had practiced this course twice during the week so they were all pretty familiar with it.

After the race started, I cut across to near the one mile marker where there was a time clock and I caught a rough split for Tom, about 5:59 (had to do the best I could looking across from where I was standing).  He was third place for Mitchell HS boys, after Zeke and Spencer.  Cut back across to near the start where the two mile clock was.  That split was 6:19 (total for the two splits was accurate, so 12:18 for the first two miles).  Then headed to the finish area, which was crowded, looked like 19:34 for the finish (official time turned out to be 19:35.50).  Very proud of  Thomas and all of his hard work. No PR for him today but a very solid race which can be better than a PR sometimes.

A little bit after the race I headed home and got my stuff together for my run, hoping to get 16 miles done.  I knew it would be a hot one.

First mile was slow and clunky (11:30ish pace again), next mile better, and then dropped off a hand held bottle on Starkey Blvd near the little church.  Continued north and was actually feeling pretty good.  It was about 80 degrees at this point with some scattered clouds and some shade from the trees.  I was just hoping to survive with somewhere in the 9:00's for pace (would be happy with anything under 10:00).  I tuned out my pace and listened to music.  I'd see the splits once I finished and they were better then expected ( a lot of 8:40's).

Made it into Starkey and decided to run to the first water stop which is at the 1.5 mile marker on the bike trail which would put me more than 8 miles out (almost 8.8 miles).  I was afraid there would be no water (if that happened it wasn't too far to the bike parking lot and a faucet coming out of the ground with ok water).  But, as luck would have it, the cooler was filled with ice cold water.  I drank one 12 oz bottle and refilled one more time before turning around.  I stayed on pace but also was draining my water bottle a lot faster than on the trip up.  I was looking forward to my other hand held bottle that I had stashed ( a 20 oz bottle about 3/4 full).   Made it ok and drank that one down (not very cold but not yet warm).  About a half mile away is a new Circle K.  Stopped there and bought a fountain drink ($0.79) - lots of ice and combination of Powerade (mango flavor) and mountain dew voltage.  I drank some and filled by big bottle back up. About 2 miles left to go home, which now felt easy with the ice cold bottle in my hand.

So, I made it, more than 16 miles and had a good mid 50's for mileage this week.

Got home and spent some time in the pool - but between the later run and time in the pool got a little too much sun.

7.16 mi, 1:03:55, 8:56 avg

Ran solo from my house in the neighborhood and out along the golf course in the usual t-shaped route along with an out and back in the last neighborhood before Trinity Blvd.  I didn't have a terribly slow first mile then kind of kept the pace steady around 9:00 with last couple miles a little more under.  Weather was pretty nice.

Afternoon: 1.0 mi, 12:00

Late afternoon run/walk using MapMyRun, hopefully these count for something.

7.5 mi, 1:05:39, 8:45 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders at 5:30.  Arrived just as the others were starting out.  It was a pretty good run.  One minor glitch - I did not tear my gel open correctly and could not get it to open, but I wasn't doing that long of a run and really didn't need it I suppose.  I ran into Aristida neighborhood, turning back at about 3.75 miles.  Ran one faster mile (7:09) towards the end of the run.

Chatted a bit with Barb, Clarke, and Anthony.

6.14 mi, 53:09, 8:40 avg

Overall, not a bad run.  I spent a little extra time warming up - lunges, jumping jacks, high knees, leg swings.  It seemed to help a little bit.  Instead of a 10:30-11:00 mile, first mile was 9:48, then 9:00, and then the rest in the 8:nn's and I felt much better at the end than I did at the beginning.  For some of the run I didn't feel like running and almost took a walk break a few times, but resisted and knew I'd feel better if I kept on going.

Last year, I ran a marathon in the spring for fun to pace a friend (Jamie at the Buffalo marathon), and two weeks later I ran the Utah Valley marathon to hopefully BQ but I missed the minimum BQ time by 7 minutes for a 3:37.  So, I trained some more, especially for downhill and ran the Super Tunnel Marathon in Washington state where I did better, but did not better my BQ time (1:42 cushion at Marine Corps Marathon in Fall 2015).

Then in October, I ran the Oil Creek 100 mile race in PA so I could enter the lottery for Western States 100.  It was touch and go and if not for my crew (Jim and Cynthia) would not have made it.  Two weeeks later I was feeling pretty good when I ran Marine Corps Marathon "for fun" and ran 3:27:00, good for a 3:00 Boston cushion, better than any cut off so far.  But, that would not be good enough, but it was good for not doing any real marathon training - I was running a lot of 5K's and improving my time and running some volume of slow heart rate miles for general fitness and 100 mile race training.  I also improved my half marathon time to almost break 1:30 again (which was good enough for NYC marathon entry).

So, no Boston for 2018.  It would have been nice but honestly, I never brought the right amount of focus to marathon training, but that's ok.  I do feel bad for the people who did have full focus and a good plan but could "only" get 3:22 or less above and beyond Boston cut off time.  The bottom line I guess is that it is different for everyone, you get out what you put in but that might still not be enough.  But, while playing the BQ game I am staying in shape, giving me my health and sanity and I am within striking distance and believe that some good will come out of it.

PM - 2.16 mi, 18:04, 8:21 avg

Took Stella to Longleaf for "Hump Day Hustle" run.  We just did an out and back on the bike trail. 9:24 pace on the way up and 7:30 pace on the way back.  She seemed to like the way back a lot better.  She got lots of pets at the end from her admirers.  When I got back to my car I saw that Cynthia texted me, said she saw me running with Stella and that she'd be at Lonzalos with Harry.  So, I got Stella back out of the car and we went to say hi (she also had her two dogs Bones and Tasha with her). Stella liked this part also.

10.86 mi, 1:28:33, 8:09 avg

Ran from my house out to 54 then to Starkey Blvd.  First mile was a clunky feeling 11:11, followed by a more reasonable 9:32.  The next half mile was recorded as being slow because I didn't stop my watch when Jenny and NiKYO pulled over to talk to me briefly.  I stopped at the little church to take my gel and stash my gatorade before starting on the workout of the day.  I had decided on a 5 mile tempo run but was going to run it on the "easy" side of the range and just shoot for 7:0x pace range (was also attempting to adjust for heat/humidity).

It didn't feel much easier than if I was running 6:40-6:50 range.  Ran out 2.5 miles and turned around.  I kept on wanting to scrap the run, was not feeling great but I was at least hitting my pace goals.  Finally, when I finished the 4th mile I actually did stop and decided I'd do the last mile in 6:45 or better and stop struggling with the pace that was supposed to be easier.  Got going again and was able to do the last mile 6:37.  

Took it easy a little bit going back to the picnic bench with a slower mile and did two more MPish miles (about 7:45)

Overall I had mixed feelings about this run, mileage was good and I was certainly out of my comfort zone but I also felt I wasn't quite where I wanted to be.

6.21 mi, 52:53, 8:31 avg

Ran solo in the neighborhood.  First mile slow, but not as slow as yesterday's first mile.  Next 3 miles faster, 8:45-8:10 range.  Stopped briefly just after the turnaround and talked to a guy who was out walking and he asked me if I was doing speed work and what was my best 10k time (he guessed 38 minutes, told him 39 something but these days more like 42 for a good time).  He said he wished he could still run like that and used to do 40 minute flat 10k's but has an artificial hip now.  Nice guy to talk with.  It was also motivating.  Run while you can, when you can, run as fast as you can when it's time to race.

Weather was quite nice.

And now, first time in a while I've made it to 40 miles by Friday.

Part 1: 5.11 mi, 45:15, 8:51 avg

Part 2a: 0.67 mi

Part 2b: 8.27 mi, 1:13:05, 8:50 avg

Part 3: 4.31 mi, 33:01, 7:39 avg

Started out with just over 5 miles running in the neighborhood, finishing just after 8:00, then drove over to Holloway Park in Lakeland to see the cross country meet.  Meet was starting a little bit later today because they had an invitational race before the varsity races.  Saw Thomas at the start, then cut over to the one mile marker.  Saw him and got his split (5:59).  Looking strong and running 3rd place for the team after Zeke and Spencer.  Then ran over to the next spot (about 2.4 mile marker which I'd verify the distance later that morning).  Still holding 3rd place and looking strong.  Finally, ran over to the finish area.  Course comes out of the woods and does a horse shoe shape mowed into the grass.  Saw Zeke (about 18:30), then Spencer and Tom who ran 19:30 (course PR for him). 

For me, it was 0.67 miles (curious to see how far it was).

Although it was later in the morning, there was some cloud cover and a little bit of a breeze.  I was going to head straight home and try to do another 10 miles, but decided to get some miles in here.  I ran several loops around the small lake, no trail but mowed grass that was pretty easy to run on.  After finishing about 3.5 miles, the last race of the morning had finished and people were packing up, so I decided to run the course.  It starts on a field going up a hill, then the trail narrows and goes downhill then into a rolling terrain with lots of twists and turns.  It was great seeing the trail from the racers view.  Finished up the course and saw the timing guy as he was packing up.   Did a few more lake loops, sun was out now and decided 8.27 was good and I'd finish up the rest on the treadmill.

For part 3, went back home, let Stella out, then went to the Y.  Warmed up slowly and periodically bumped up the speed until about a 7:15 pace.  Played around with the speed and incline.

It was about 3 pm now, felt like I'd been running all day but glad to get it done and enjoyed the variety and grateful to get out to see Tom run.

As I was leaving the Y, Joe texted me to meet at the Brass Tap where they were doing an Oktoberfest party.  Saw Joe, Liz, Dave, Anthony, Evan and a few others.  After Brass Tap, got cleaned up then headed over to Jessica's parents house and had a "break the fast" dinner with them and some friends (and of course Jessica!).