The Long Run

5.63 mi, 51:59, 9:12 avg

Ran with Joe, Jamie, and Lisa in the neighborhood.  Conversational pace throughout although it sometimes felt like I was going faster than I was.  Nice to have the company.

6.06, 57:57, 9:34 avg, 123 bpm

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders.  They have decided that the traffic near the Y is too busy in the morning to be safe.  Probably a good idea but I'll miss Tuesdays there.

Ran mainly with Joe and a little bit with Tom C.  Wore heartrate monitor and was happy to see that the pace I felt like running happened to coincide with 122-132 bpm range.  Weather was good (was a bit warmer and humid yesterday).

5.71 mi, 47:15, 8:17 avg

I decided to do a little bit of a tempo run.  I was short on time so had to split it up so actually it was more like tempo intervals.  Did about 1.5 mile warmup and then did three faster miles at: 7:01, 6:39, 6:53

The break was in the middle of the second mile (stopped my watch, woke up Andy, then started again).  Couldn't seem to keep my legs moving fast enough during the first mile but not too bad for just over a week after marathon.

6.09 mi, 57:57, 9:30 avg, HR 127 bpm

Ran with the Striders at Longleaf, ran mostly by myself, up and down the Starkey Blvd bike trail, but I did pass coming and going several runners I knew.  Heart rate run today which looked like it was going to be a little faster at first but then I had to back off a little to stay under 132 bpm.  But, still, it's a good HR run pace compared to where I started at.

5.04 mi, 48:36, 9:38 avg

Ran in the neighborhood with Joe.  Had to cut it short a little bit to get back on time (and because bathrooms I was hoping to use were locked - needing to go while on a run is a pretty rare occurrence).

15.5 mi,  2:25:57, 9:25 avg

Ran up and down Starkey Blvd, also in Aristide neighborhood and a little bit in Starkey Park.  Time and distance a little bit of guess work since my garmin died about 5 miles into the run but was able to reconstruct from other people's times.

Started out with Renee, Cynthia, Joe, Michelle, and Jamie.  Group up after the out and back in Aristided.  Michelle, Cynthia and I ran into the park and then picked up Rob for a few miles before he split off..  Morning started out nice and cool (best day so far this week), but got kind of warm during the last few miles where I slowed down a little bit.

6.11 mi, 54:24, 8:54 avg

Ran with Joe and Lisa in the neighborhood.  We started off easy then did some 1k repeats at Lisa's 5k goal pace - at least that was the plan.  Was aiming for about a 7:20 pace, what we got was:  7:04, 7:03, 7:23, 7:04, 7:38

The fourth one was actually a little bit short because after slowing down on the third one I said lets just run to the water fountain, so that one was more like a fartlek and was 0.45 miles instead of 1k.  Kind of faded on the last one.  Was hard to keep her on an even pace because she wants to take off quickly out front and doesn't do as well following next to or behind.  But, still a fun run. 

7.22, 1:09:58, 9:41 avg, HR 128 bpm

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders, used HR monitor and kept rate at or below 132 bpm.

I still had my garmin set to kilometers for the splits from yesterday's run.  Other than that I don't remember too much about that run but I guess it was pretty good!

7.7, 1:12:47, 9:27 avg, HR 124 bpm

Another easy day of running.  Ran by myself in the nbhd - usual suspects were unavailable to run with but I did end up crossing paths with Lisa towards the end of the run.  Pace vs heart rate was pretty good with easy feeling pace matching up with  in range HR.

8.21 mi, 1:16:57, 9:23 avg, HR 127 bpm

Ran on Starkey bike trail with the Striders.  Was able to get in a little bit longer for my run.  Wore heart rate monitor and kept rate at 132 or below.

While on Alico Pass a dog ran towards me but stopped at the edge of the yard, most likely invisible fence.  HR briefly spiked until I realized the dog was stopping.

When I got back to the parking lot everyone had left except for Clark and Cindy who were about to pull out, but Clark had a cup of coffee waiting for me, then he left.

5.63 mi, 55:05, 9:47 avg

Ran with Jamie in the neighborhood.  I almost slept in after falling back asleep but waking up about 5 minutes before I was supposed to meet her.  Get ready quickly and out the door.  Ran easy which was good because I seemed to have some soreness in my legs which wasn't going away which I think I finally was able to shake.

This might be my favorite half marathon - definitely one of my top favorites.  It's somewhat lowkey, has a nice route through "old Florida" neighborhoods and near the water, and I actaully kind of like the two loop course, and then there is the nice refreshments at the end.  This is also my PR course (2012).  Last year it was my fastest half between November and March.  Hopefully it won't be my fastest this year.

The past week my legs had been feeling tired, with no bounce.  It seemed to start the week before with the long run on Saturday and then some moderate speedwork on Monday pacing Lisa for some repeats.  During that run I stepped off the curb incorrectly and felt a warning pain in my hip/groin area, so the rest of the week I took it easy.  Was originally going to try and get a six mile tempo run on Wednesday but skipped it out of caution.  I knew that doing the tempo run could do more harm than good.

Race morning, still feeling mentally unprepared, but fortunately that slowly wore off.  Rode down to the race with Jessica and ran into Cynthia and Joe and then eventually Jamie and Renee.  Easy jog with Jessica about a half mile then I did some strides.

Race started and I took off after Ollie and Bill Cottrell (the Dr. that almost always beats me).  I was happy when I saw my pace was about a 6:45 halfway into the first mile.  Held that pace through the mile and a little bit beyond.  Hit the first bridge ascent, slowed a little on the way up but got most of it back on the way down and managed a 6:58.  These first two miles were better than I had expected.  I decided I'd do my best but not worry about pace for the rest of the race.

About mile 3 or so I think I passed a woman wearing a black and white top, I'd see her again.

Heading back into Ozona on the first loop I saw Jessica running the 5k, actually she saw me.  I was looking but missed her until right when we were crossing.

Hit the halfway point and then a little past it as we were heading back out to the trail I felt pretty good and managed one more mile under 7:00.  I came up behind the first place female, pulled ahead of her and kept a pretty good gap until just past mile 10.  I felt myself slowing down and now she was right behind me.  I didn't want to mess up her pace so I slowed to have her get back in front of me.  It seemed to help a little as we both sped up.  Just before the mile 12 marker, the woman in the black and white top came up behind us both running at a steady pace.  So, I tried to pick it up.

There was a man walking his two dogs on leashes and then another woman with two dogs not on leashes.  The two dogs briefly went after the black and white top woman until the owner could get them back in control.  I closed the gap a little at this point but she pulled ahead and took off even faster once at the 12 mile sign.

I turned the last corner and saw 1:33:53 on the clock and tried my best to sneak in under 1:34.  It felt like a slow motion dream as I saw each second tick.  Thought maybe I had made it but no, it would be 1:34:00.

The black and white top woman's name is Lois, and she always seems to beat me no matter how fast or slow I run by just a little bit.  30 seconds today.  The former first place female ended up with second place, coming in about 20 seconds behind me.  Lois was about 30 seconds ahead. 

Last year I was 10th overall and 2nd place age group - same rankings this year, just a little bit slower pace.

Jessica was waiting for me at the end and then we watched Joe, Renee, Cynthia, and Jamie come through the finish line.

For what I was feeling before the race started, I was pretty happy with how I ran the race

Splits: 6:43, 6:58, 7:02, 7:07, 7:09, 7:30, 7:10, 6:59, 7:09, 7:31, 7:45, 7:26,7:13

5.96 mi, 52:22, 8:47 avg

Ran with Joe and Victoria on the Suncoast trail, leaving the Target parking lot and heading south and partially on the new section which is getting close to connecting to the Upper Tampa Bay trail.  Got a weird pain in right side of my hip area which made me walk a bit.

5.44 mi, 53:18, 9:48 pace

Ran at Longleaf with Striders.  Out and back on Starkey bike trail.  Ran with heart rate monitor keeping rate at or under 132 bpm.  I arrived a few minutes late, so everyone had already left but I caught up with several and said hi on the way out and back.  I had to run a little short to be back home before 6:45

PM 2.04 mi, 19:05, 9:18 avg

Ran on the treadmill at the Y while Thomas did swim team practice

5.48 mi, 50:56, 9:17

Ran in the nbhd, easy pace (catch up post)

10.39 mi, 1:34:30, 9:04 avg

Met Joe and Jamie at Diane's house which is also Craig's house who also ran with us today after being away in New Zealand forever (about 6 weeks).  Ran into Starkey park, stopped briefly at the shelter then continued out far enough to get 10 miles ish for distance.

5.63, 53:06, 9:26 avg

Ran in the nbhd, easy post (finally posting this on 12/24 to see where I'm at for the year, Ive missed a lot of blogging days).

7.51, 1:05:59, 8:47 avg

Ran on Starkey Blvd with the Striders

From 9:56 pace first mile to 8:14 pace last mile

5.51 mi, 51:01, 9:16 avg

Ran inside Starkey park on the bike trail with Jamie and Cynthia because everyone had a little extra time.  Nice run, was relaxing.

Ok, I have no idea what my actual place was because tjhey only do times for the first 125 overall males and females.  I was pacing my friend Lisa from the neighborhood who I had last paced in May of 2012.  Her old PR was a little over 24 minutes so she wanted to break that.  Looking at last year's times I was pretty sure she could be in the top 125 as well (and earn a  coffee mug).

Last time I paced her we went out too fast and faded a lot.  Did much better this time with splits of 7:14, 7:19, and 7:24

Warm up consisted of some easy jogging and a few strides a little bit before the race started.

Starting line is a madhouse, but it gets manageable about a quarter mile into the run.  There's no chip timing, just a gun start and race cards at the end.  She takes off quickly especially once we are through the thickest part of the crowd.  Slows a little bit for the second mile but still ahead of goal.  During the third mile I thought she was going to fade a lot.  There's an uphill of 46 feet which is a "monster" hill for these parts.  I hear her yell at herself a few times which seems to help.

She ended up about 75th place overall for females, so earned a mug and smashed her old PR.  I had a ton of fun which was good since I wasn't feeling quite race ready but happy to help someone out.

5.55 mi, 49:25, 8:54 avg

Ran in the nbhd, easy run, then need to finish packing for the trip this afternoon.

Philadelphia Adventure

3.75 mi, 36:00, 9:36 avg

I'm totally guessing on the distance, I just know the time and pace is what it felt like.

Ran in downtown Philadelphia with my brother from near city hall to the art gallery, the one with all the steps that Rocky ran up.  Saw one guy doing a selfie video running up the steps doing his best Rocky.  Would have been fun to stay longer and count how many people did the same thing. 

Sort of meandered a bit back through the streets.   Thought about running to the Ben Franklin Bridge but decided to get back to the kids.

Did a walk later where we met up with my parents and saw Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.  Then headed to Ben Franklin Bridge with my brother, his daughter and my two boys.  Google maps said it was only 1.1 miles to the USS New Jersey museum.  What I failed to notice is that was taking the ferry and not walking over the bridge.  Actually a bit over 3 miles.  Toured the ship and then took the train back.  Enjoyed the walking tour of Camden from the waterfront to the City Hall train stop!

Brother's fitness tracker said the walking total was 7 miles.