The Long Run

Ran by myself this morning.  There was a 10% chance of rain and a 30% chance or Jamie (one of Jenny's friends about to do NYC marathon this weekend), so I headed towards her house until I could see it was dark, then continued on.  High 50's , great weather for running.  Kept my eye off the pace and just let the run clear out my head.  Headed down Trinity Blvd for a loop through the Thousand Oaks nbhd before heading back. One stop for water/gel on the way out and a quick stop for water on the way back.

Jenny is tapering this week, and due to a not so good run on Sunday, decided to take off the rest of the week until Saturday when she does the Savannah Marathon.

I got home at 7:30, and it turns out Jenny's first client canceled so I was able to get into work early.  Got myself ready and out the door by 8:00 (including some quick stretching), dropped off older son at the bus stop and headed to work.

 

Felt good to get back out there and another run after missing a day.  It was a good exercise in missing a day and not worrying about it.

You have to run because you want to run and not out of fear of what happens if you miss the run.

It was raining at first when I was going to run and thought about scratching it, but then it stopped. I didn't have much time so did two quick loops around the neighborhood.
Got a little carried away and went faster, then decided to see what I could do for a 5K - 19:59, then a little cool down afterward. Thinking about all the racers I know this weekend racing in Savannah, NYC, and right here at home.

It was nice to go faster, although I originally meant to do more like a 7:00 pace, but once I got going kept with it.  At least all my runs won't be the same this week.

Left the house early and ran up Starkey Blvd. Stopped at Diane's lemonade stand for first time ever, then continued into the park. Found and successfully navigated the 3 mile off road loop then headed back just as it was getting light. Went a little faster the last few miles. Started receiving alerts on my phone from Jenny's marathon which was exciting!

Overall it was a good run and I was glad to be able to include some trail miles.  Would have liked to have done more but wanted to begin and end at the house.  I felt more comfortable navigating the off road portions, things are looking more and more familiar to me.

Home with just the boys today and tomorrow until when Jenny gets back.  She did really well with a 3:48 time.  Stuck with the 3:40 pace group until about mile 22 when cramps started to hit her legs and slow her down.  Could have been a lot worse since those can really shut you down when they hit.  Very frustrating to get hit with those.  It has only been one month since completing her first 50K race.  She actually felt much less beat up on that race than today, but road marathons and off road are such different things.  Or at least, so I've been told since I won't find out until January when I get to try out my first longer off road race (I guess I shouldn't count the 5K I did in 2002!!).

Met Sean K. in Starkey park when it opened. We got going about 6:40 and ran together for 4.5 miles then he pointed me on a trail that would get me back to the parking lot. I technically did not get lost but ended up about a half mile from the parking lot and had to run the last part on the road. Had "fun" going through the freshly tilled sections of trail (good strength training though).

I was originally going to run from home but wanted to get some trail miles in and realized I could still fit in the rest of the days activities (Universal with the kids). Thanks for running a few with me Sean.  So, this was actually my second longest trail run ever.  Definitely need to log more miles out there and with the time change and more light it will be a little bit easier.

Last week I bought a stronger light to clip onto my hat but it was also blinding me.  Last night I decided I'd put some electrical tape on the bottom of the light to get rid of the glare.  It seemed to work great but then I realized I would not be needing it today.  Oh, well it will come in handy later.

After going to Universal, I got home just in enough time to get food to cook dinner with - steak, some kind of fancy looking potatoes, asparagus and portabello mushrooms.  Dinner went pretty well, I was able to get everything prepared at about the same time.  That's usually the point where I fall apart.

 Chatted with Jenny about her marathon.  Pretty amazing time after just having done a 50K just 4 weeks ago.  While tracking her I saw her keeping with the 3:40 pace group through the 20 mile point.  I knew a lot could happen in the last 6 miles but it was great to see her running so strong.  Jenny, you are amazing!!

Ran by myself to the Y and back.  When I started out my legs felt a little bit flat and saw I was running about a 10:30 pace.  Picked it up a little bit to shake off the feeling and was soon feeling comfortable just under a 9:00 pace.

Hit the golf course water fountain twice as well as taking a gel at the Y. I saw a couple people at the Y that I know.  I like the lighter morning.

My back was pretty much back to normal.  I'm ok with injuries that I have had before and I know what it takes to get rid of them and how long they last.  The new ones that don't go away are the scary ones!

Happy to be alive.

Nice relaxed run with Chris H. in the neighborhood using the classic t-route. Humid out but it actually felt kind of nice. Made the morning extra dewy, kind of misty out.

We had a slight chance of Lisa joining us.  Jenny is thinking of running tomorrow and Friday since she'll be up early anyway.  Hope she has some good runs this week.  We haven't had very many for a while although her Sunday runs usually turn out well - except for the one a week before her marathon.

It was a good opportunity to slow things down today.  My easy run paces have been getting faster but that can be kind of dangerous and sometimes meaningless.  I'm happy that my runs have been feeling good.  I've been keeping the pressure off of myself.  But eventually I need to do some races to see where I'm at.

Going to go a bit longer tomorrow and try to get in some good miles for the  week.

Started with Jenny and Lisa R. out to the water stop, then said bye and headed out for some more miles.

This was a much better run for Jenny than the last time we ran together.  Lisa's knee has been a bit bothersome also so she kept it short also.  But it felt like summer when it seemed like we all ran together every day.

I did some of the run along the grassy part along Trinity Blvd again.  I'm starting to really appreciate it. 

I only had time for some really quick stretching and mobility exercises, no weights or pull-ups or stuff like that.  Was ready and out the door in less than half an hour to drop Andy off at his bus stop.  I did forget my workout clothes for boot camp tonight but Jenny is good about bringing them if I've forgotten.

Received the extension bar I ordered for the pull-up bar I got for my office.  I had bought it because it was half off and it does not need to screw in to the frame.  Still came out ahead even with the extra cost of ordering the bar (Iron Gym).

PM - went to boot camp which was about 1 hour and included about 1 mile of running.

 

Met Keith and Greg at Longleaf and we headed up Starkey Blvd, then we ran to Diane's house for a quick stop before continuing into Starkey Park.

Just before the power lines I stopped to top off my water, then was on my own. Turned left at the power lines and headed north.

It was a beautiful run, nice weather, peaceful, new scenery and lots of wildlife (but nothing dangerous). At 9 miles I was at about a 9:10 average, but my pace picked up especially on the return trip although it felt comfortable and easy. Got to the SR 52 and ran through the park up there before heading back. Ended up with a little extra.

What I didn't realize before is that there is an entirely separate and large park to the north of Starkey Wilderness Park called the Serenova Tract with 18 miles of well marked trails and a campground up at the north end.

After the run, stopped by the Striders area where Karen and David offered me a muscle milk (thanks!) and was able to get a ride back to Longleaf (thanks Denise!). Also, thanks go to Jenny's parents for taking Thomas to bowling so I could go a little extra this morning. I'll find out tomorrow if I ran this too fast or too far, hopefully not!
(I'm going to cut back a bit on miles next week)

I Put up some pics of the trails here.

Ez paced run, temps about 66 degrees.. Beautiful morning sky. Enjoyed.

Yesterday, was a good day of walking around St. Pete cheering on Jenny and her Mom as they ran the Women's Half marathon.  Neither one of them wore a garmin, they just enjoyed their time together on the course and the wonderful day.  Part of the course winds through Tropicana Field (the Tampa Bay Ray's baseball stadium).  Jenny says that when she was going through there that she may or may not have done a cartwheel.  I hope a picture turns up, it would be priceless.

 

Yesterday's walking was also a good recovery day for me after doing a run that might have been a little bit too long on Saturday.  Heels were a little bit tight when I woke up on Sunday, but by the end of the day and especially by this morning I felt pretty much back to normal.

Started out with Jenny, Lisa, and Kathryn, we ran together for a bit then I did a few more miles alone. Jenny's knee was kind of off and on, a little more off than on.  Hopefully nothing serious, leftover aches from Savannah marathon which had some sections of banked roads which might have contributed.

It was nice starting out with the group to share some running. The rest of the run was pretty good, too. Even if you can just part of the run with others it makes it worth it. Kept the pace easy.

I'll try for fast tomorrow at the 10K - going to do the Turkey Trot 10K in Clearwater.

I've been going there for most years since (I think 2003).  But, this will be the first year I'll be going alone.  We usually end up running our own races when we go (although I've run with the kids a few times), but it was still nice sharing the whole experience together.  Oftentimes, Jenny did the 10K, so I would be waiting up in the High School stadium bleachers waiting for her with the kids, watching the clock to see if she would make her time and get that coveted coffee mug which they hand out to the top 125 for each race.

So, I was kind of going back and forth on whether or not to do the race this year since no one else was going.  But, figured I'd keep the tradition going for at least one more year.

2 years ago she "double mugged" - came in top 125 for both the 5K and 10K.

Last year we both did the 5K because her Mom was there and ran with the kids for the 1 mile fun run.

I've never done the 10K here before, but it should be pretty good with lots of people to try and keep up with and tow me along when it starts to feel hard.

 

P.M. - went to Jenny's boot camp, which was extra tough tonight (I think I might have said that before, but tonight was done as a fitness test).  There were three circuits which each included a lap of running and several exercises with the sets repeated 3 times.

39:54 (I never thought I'd see sub-40 again).

Decided I would give the 10K at the Turkey Trot a try this year.  Couldn't talk anyone else into going, although I later found out that my mother-in-law was partially thinking about going.  They did have the nicest looking shirts this year.  Actually, I didn't think I'd have time to get the shirt and get back to my car to drop it off, but when I saw them I figured I could make it and use the run back to the car, and over to the start line as my warm-up.

1.11 mile warmup, got to the start about 15 minutes early to line up. Weather was nice, I was a little cold when I first got out of my car, but half way through the race it had gotten warm enough that I was thankful it wasn't any warmer.

Weaved through the first mile but manged 6:24 pace, 2nd mile was 6:10 and felt great. Hung on after that until I could see tattoo Mike, closed the gap a little but didn't catch him.

Got out-kicked at the very end by my sports doctor (Cottrell). I got a mug with 45th place. I wasn't expecting to do so well after Jenny 's hard core boot camp last night - or maybe that is why I did well, along with the shock top with my father-in-law after the boot camp!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Check here for some pictures (about half way into the post)

Woke up as Jenny was leaving for her run (went to meet some friends in Starkey), then I went back to sleep and finally got out of bed about 6:45 and was out the door and started running a little bit after 7:00.  It was kind of nice to be running while it was light out.

Left the neighborhood, and instead of going straight to run through the Fox Hollow area, I went right and ran along Trinity Blvd on the grassy part.  I used to avoid this but thought this would do nicely since I couldn't get out to any real off road areas.  But, I guess my feet didn't know the difference between 10 feet off road and running deep in the woods.  I wouldn't normally want to run along this road, but there's very little traffic on a Sunday morning.

I ran down almost all the way to East Lake Drive before turning around.  One of my first ever "long runs" (8 miles) was on this route but along the asphalt shoulder.

I felt slow at first but soon forgot about how fast I was running and just enjoyed the peace and quiet of the morning.

Originally planned on just 5 miles, but it was nice to get in a little extra.  Legs felt good, and probably better at the end than the beginning.