The Long Run

4.41@9:03

Ran in Westlake Village.  First, a little loop around Park Ct., then a bigger loop where I cut across Lakeview Terrace from Pinewood/Village way, and third loop was the 1.25 mile marathon loop and then a little bit of up and down the street.  Looked like it might've started raining at any minute and didn't want to get caught out in lightning too far from shelter.

5.41@8:29

Two loops inside Westlake Village (but different sized loops, the 3 mile and 2 mile plus).

Slowly getting faster, first time cracking 8:30 in a while.

5.24@8:39

Friday run from my house, southbound on the Starkey Gap trail to a little bit past Lake Dan and then back home.

13.27@8:41

It was a pretty good run.  Once again over the half marathon mark and a little bit faster average pace than last time.  Ran from Westlake Village, cut through Eniswood, and then onto the Pinellas Trail with sharp left hand turn southbound until turn around point and then back the way I came.  Mile splits steadily got faster through mile 8 (8:21) and then varied for the remaining miles until the final mile which came in slight faster at 8:17.

Felt good to start the run early (new standards of early, e.g. before 7:00 am vs old standard like 5:30 or ealier - but I'm getting enough sleep this way).

6.22@9:16

A few different sized loops inside Westlake Village, even later start than usual today because it's a holiday.

5.53@9:19

This was another scary soaker.  Ran from Westlake Village, heading over to the Pinellas trail. Weather starting looking worse so I stopped at Cane's Cafe right by where I cross to the trail.  Rain started getting heavier.  Weather App said rain next 20 minutes, then changed to 30 minutes and soon said one hour.  Lightning strike hit pretty close by.  After about 15 minutes there was a break and even a patch of blue in the sky. But, instead of turning back, I went forward, headed down the trail a little and then the rain started up again.  Made it to Pop Stansell park and hung out there for a bit.  Waited for another break in the heavy stuff then headed back.

Puddles in the street were pretty deep at some points with my whole foot submerging to my ankle.  A little more lightning on the way back but nothing too close.

6.07@8:47

Run from my house and then up and down Robert Trent Jones pkwy and a little jaunt south down the Starkey Gap Trail and then back home.

10.13@8:45

Welcome back to the mid-week medium long run.  I was rested and awake early enough and the weather was decent so no reason not to.  Ran from Westlake Village, taking the northern route to the Pinellas Trail with a sharp left hand turn southbound.  Turnaround point is right in front of DeBine's brewery.

Hit the fastest mile at mile 7, then two slower miles followed by last mile tied with mile 7.  So, it wasn't strictly progressing  in speed but the slowdown wasn't that bad either. 

6.06@8:58

54 to Starkey Gap Trail to Robert Trent Jones loop, each mile progressing a little iwth first mile at 10:52 and last mile 7:53

14.17@8:46

Another pretty good long run.  Left Westlake Village but turned right onto Alderman and then headed north on Belcher until Klosterman where I turned left and conquered "the Everest of Klosterman" and then over to the Pinellas Trail southbound.   Went past the chimps and gorillas at the sanctuary but did not stop to see who was out and about, kept on going.  Made it to Conservation Park for the cold drinking fountain.

Continued down the trail south all the way to the base of the pedestrian bridge not far from Curlew.  Turned around and headed north and took a side detour to Pop Stansell park where I used the not so cold drinking fountain.

I noticed several times the Coast Guard C130 overhead.  I see it now and then but today it seemed to be making large circles.  There was a 9/11 memorial going on at Curlew Gardens with the governor and various other guests such as Lee Greenwood.

Leaving from Pop Stansell I seemed to slow down a lot but then was able to pick it back up for the final two miles which included a little bit extra once back in Westlake Village.

6.6@8:55

Trying to start the week off right, 6.6 miles, mostly easy, running from my house southbound down the Starkey Gap trail and then back home the way I came.

4.52@8:47

Looping around the neighborhood in Westlake Village

8.53@8:45

Ran from my house, out to SR54 and then northbound up the Starkey Blvd bike trail.  Stopped for water at the cold drinking fountain in Longleaf.

Knee continues to hold out, between maybe the dumbbell squats and joint supplements, something is working.  Seem to be basically back to where I was before the knee stuff started.  I'm grateful to be able to just go out and run with no pain.

7.42@8:41

Pretty typical route, head out from Westlake village to Omaha street and then cut over to the Pinellas Trail via Delaware, norhthbound for a bit up to Wall Springs park and then back.

Another pretty good run.

5.22@8:55 

Followed by 6x100m strides (0.41@6:14)

Easyish run followed by 6x100m strides.  Baby steps, adding something back in besides easy to moderate running and fast finish runs.  Will try for more structure.  Probably a good idea to pick something to train for.

Route was from my house and then southbound down Starkey Gap trail for about 2.6 miles before turning around.

16.35@8:53

I feel like a distance runner again.  Ran from Westlake Village, cut through Eniswood and then northbound on the Pinellas Trail, up through Tarpon Springs where it turns to the east, crosses under US19, zig zags through a couple neighborhoods east of 19, and eventually ends up on Keystone Road where it is a little hill with no shade at all.  It was kind of getting warm by the time I got to this point and turned around.  Happy to be turned around with a false feeling of the run is almost done, ran what would be the fastest mile of the run at 8:29.  Started feeling overheated, but luckily there is a cold fountain at the Tarpon Springs splash playground (where there's also a dog park and kayak launch - something for everyone).

Got going again, slowed down but pace stabilized and kept it under 9:00 (except for mile 11 which was 9:06), ticked off the miles and eventually was back in Westlake village, 16 miles today and 49 miles for the week.

6.26@8:52

Monday morning pretty good run, from my house, out to SR54 and a side trip over to Longleaf to use the fountain outside the pool, then back across 54, then Starkey Gap Trail over to Robert Trent Jones, then back home via Tamarind.

6.06@8:32

Two different sized loops inside Westlake Village and then up and down the street to make 6 miles.

7.23@8:21

Similar route to Monday, but instead of turning back when I got to the Longleaf Pool, I ran down Towne Ave and ran around the square near the mail boxes, then started heading back.

A little bit faster and farther than yesterday.

8.34@8:40

A little bit farther but slightly slower than yesterday.  Back to doing loops inside Westlake Village.  There was a little bit of rain and started to get what felt like a blister on one of my toes.  Effort was probably a little bit harder than it should have been for an "easy run" but overall not bad.

Jessica (and baby) and Jacob headed up to FSU late in the afternoon to go look at the school, Jacob's dad was also going so the girls stayed back, they are not usually at the house on Thursday's.  Cooked dinner of meatballs and pasta and then made cookies for dessert but the cookie sheet had mysterously vanished so made them in a muffin tin which worked out great.  I went to bed feeling like I ate too much.  Didn't stay up too late as I had to leave at 7:00 to get the older girl to school on time

6.23@9:08

Up and down the street in Westlake Village.  After the early morning school dropoff I went back to sleep for a little bit.  Got back up and stuck close by until A was waiting for the bus and then saw the bus leave.  Slowed it down a bit today.  Poor recovery after eating too much last night, but felt better with some easy-ish running.

Going to go for another 16 miles tomorrow.

16.45@8:47

Distance-wise, this was a repeat of last week's run, only a different place.  I started from my house, ran across Trinity Blvd to Robert Trent Jones, then turned right on the Starkey Gap Trail and headed north, crossed 54, and then continued north on Starkey Blvd bike trail and on into Starkey Park.  8 miles out would've been just short of the bike parking lot and bathrooms so kept on going to there to fill up water bottles at the fountain.

But, fortunately it was early enough that the Striders were still hanging out at the shelter and they had some cold bottles of water and Gatorade.   Visited for a bit (probably too long) before starting out again.  Hard to get back on pace, so while I was getting a little faster each mile on the way up, the mile heading back out was 9:11.  Next one was better at 8:53, then started getting a little bit faster for the most part for the remaining miles.

The extra distance on the way out meant I would've been over 17 miles if I returned the exact same way, so instead of that I ran along 54 and entered the neighborhood from the Duck Slough entrance.

Felt pretty good overall, good mileage and nice to see some friends.

6.42@8:54

Ran from my house, over to Starkey Gap Trail and then southbound until I was out about 3.2 miles then turned around.

Today (Tuesday), I was looking at the mileage board and didn't see my name and then realized it was because I was as usual behind in posting to the blog, so now I've almost caught up.

7.27@8:04

Decided it was finally time for a tempo run.  Thought about something really short, like 2 miles, then decided on 3 and then figured round it up to 5k.

Warmed up by doing most of the two'ish mile loop in Westlake then got going.  Had my sights set pretty low, just wanted 3 good miles under 8:00 pace, that helped take the pressure off.  Got a little faster each mile with a surprise sub-7:00 at the end.

7:24, 7:15, 6:53, 0.12@6:27

Took it easy the next mile although that was still at 8:24, and then sped up again to 7:33 for the last mile.  I wish all the 7:33's could feel like that last mile.

So, with practice 5k at 22:19 and garmin showing vo2 max of 52 I'm about where I was not that long ago and with some more speed and tempo work, not overdoing the easy runs and watching my recoveries I can move forward again back towards BQ and who knows what else beyond that.

7.16@8:47

Really like the nicer weather.  Classic route running down Starkey Gap trail with a slight right onto Keystone for  a short distance and then turn back for a 7ish mile run.  My music stopped working so after the turnaround I stopped at a recently installed bench, it was a nice spot.

Pace seemed to pick up after that, second to last mile was fastest, partially because I slowed down a little on purpose.  The first two miles were a lot slower so the easy start made the overall run feel easy.

And today is one of the first days in a while where I'm not behind on the blog.

6.22@8:57

Last run for September and finally made it over 200 miles for a month, didn't think I'd see this again when I couldn't even hit 100 in June.  Nice morning and felt pretty good, ran from Westlake Village out to the Pinellas Trail heading north for a little bit before turning around.  Was trying to keep the effort easy.  It did feel easy but heart rate average at 146 was higher than yesterday's 144, but I guess still in the ballpark.