The Long Run

3.39 mi, 33:54, 10:00 avg

First run after the marathon.  Felt pretty good, slowly loosening up as the run progressed from slow 11:00 pace down to a 9:00 pace.  Ran with Stella.

5.02 mi, 47:27, 9:27 avg, HR 125 avg, 143 max

Ran on Starkey Blvd bike trail from Longleaf area with the Striders thursday morning run.  I took Stella with me and this was her longest run ever.  On the way back, we had picked it up a little and while crossing the bridge which has concrete barriers on either side of the bike path, the car noises echoing were making Stella skittish and she got out in front of me as I sped up, must have been leaning forward, lost my balance and went down.  My right was oustretched still holding her leash.  I skidded a little bit when I landed, but fortunately I almost perfectly distributed the force from my hip, shoulder, elbow and wrist, so nothing was broken.  Elbow was bleeding pretty good and hip was a little bit sore and had a grape fruit sized road rash, but that was the extent.  Ran back to the parking area and got patched up by Anthony who had some gauze, tape, and alcohol.

5.63 mi, 54:24, 9:40 avg

Ran with Joe and Jamie in the neighborhood (no Stella this time).  Still a little bit sore from yesterday but thankful it wasn't worse.  Pretty good run today and just a little bit longer than yesterday.

8.19 mi, 1:16:11, 9:18 avg

Ran with Jamie in Starkey Park.  Very nice morning out.  Run was good but felt a little bit "long".  Got to chat with a few people after the run before heading home.

Picked up the truck from the repair shop after three days of using the loaner (a brand new Silverado).  Good to get the truck back to Andy so he has use of it again.  On Monday, he had driven it to Busch Gardens and it started to overheat.  Still drivable but in need of some repairs.  Water pump, instrument panel replaced, and oil leak fixed (the second two had been on the list for a while).  Hopefully good to go for a while now.

Also, remembered to actually register for the Western States 100 lottery.  Drawing will be in December when I'll find out if I've gotten in or will need to try again next year.  I was pretty lucky to get in the first try for 2013 race and at that time I only needed a 50 mile race to qualify.  This time it took me two attempts - GA Death Race where I missed the qualifying time, and then Oil Creek 100 mile race where I made it.

7.17 mi, 1:06:36, 9:17 avg, HR 129 avg, 139 max

Ran at Longleaf on Starkey Blvd bike path with Joe and Anthony.  Easy pace also happened to line up with MAF run heart rate.  Nice and cool morning and nice to finish a run early but with some light.

Went home and then ran another 1.39 miles (10;13 pace) with Stella around the neighborhood loop.

I have a little bit of post 5K soreness combined with a little soreness on the right hip from Thursdays Stella fall.

7.03 mi, 59:21, 8:26 avg, HR 144 avg, 177 max

Ran in the neighborhood, solo.  Mini speedwork session to get ready for Sunday's half marathon.  Did a couple of strides, then 1x800m, 1x1600m, and 1x2000m at goal half marathon pace (or at least goal pace for as long as I can hold it) - 6:35-6:40ish

Felt pretty good and during the run and actually felt like my legs got out of a rut.

5.1 mi, 47:17, 9:16 avg

Ran in the neighborhood solo.  Did neighborhood loop first with Stella, then ran out and back to the water fountain.

7.12 mi, 1:07:21, 9:27 avg, HR 125 avg, 147 max

Easy paced run, out and back to the new park and a few loops around the small lake (0.72 miles per loop).  Did one loop easy, and then the next loop easy but timed it, then ran the third loop relatively easy but faster than the previous loop (about 8:30 pace for last loop).  Nice cool morning.

10.01 mi, 1:37:21, 9:44 avg, HR 125 avg, 144 max

Nice run in Starkey Park with Cynthia at the Striders run.  Picked up Patty to run with us for the last couple of miles.  5 miles out and then back resisting the urge to tack on another mile out.  Temp was nice high 50's to start.  

After the run got together with Keith, Jorge, Bret, Victoria, Marcia, and Patrick for a bit at Panera.

BRASS TAP HALF MARATHON - Ozone, FL

1:30:32, 5th overall, 4th male, 1st place age group. I have to go back to Dec 2013 for a faster time.

Last year's time was 1:34:00. I had two goals this year - run faster than 1:34:00 and at least run the first 3 miles at 6:59 or faster. I managed to run the first 9 miles at 6:59 or faster.

Miles 1-9: 6:37, 6:48, 6:47, 6:48, 6:47, 6:52, 6:46, 6:57, 6:58

Into the second mile, as the crowd thinned out and the three fastest guys were way out in front, I was trailing closely behind the first place female.  The course winds through town, the does an out and back on the Pinellas trail, crossing over a pedestrian bridge, then doing a 180 turn, back over the bridge and looping back through the town.

So, about mile 5 or so, I finally caught up to first place female (named Christina), go slightly in front of her and very promptly missed a turn.  I could see arrows on the asphalt pointing which way to go but for some reason I thought those were only for the second loop.  There was a policeman there.  I suddenly was not sure about my second guessing the arrows, said something to Christina who asked the policeman who said that yes, we were going the wrong way (he figured we knew what we were doing).  Fortunately, we didn't go that far out of the way.  I still felt bad for messing up just as I took the lead.

However, I think we had been slowing down slightly and now both picked it up maybe due to the panic.  I got slightly ahead of her again as we did the out and back near the bridge.  Mile 9 marker was just before the bridge.  I was ahead slightly but then slowed down and she passed me on the way down.  I was suddenly running about a 7:45 pace.

Miles 10,11, and 12: 7:26, 7:24, 7:15

 I followed Christina, tried to not stay too far back and slowly picked it up and hit mile 10 at 7:26, did a little bit better the next mile at 7:24, and same with mile 12.  We were nearly side by side at the mile 12 marker and both picked it up.  She pulled a little bit ahead as we ran headed toward the finish line, with last mile split for me at 6:49.

Course is a little bit short, but it was also last year when I ran 1:34:00, and the year before when I ran 1:30:50, with this year's race 1:30:32 (Christina got 1:30:25).  I was grateful for being able to race against and work with Christina on the course.  With the three fastest guys way out in front and the two of us ahead of most of the others, it would have been a tougher race if I didn't have anyone to chase and it seemed to help her, too.

We chatted a little bit after the race and I heard her mention the overall winner's (1:14:29) name was Michael MacDonald, whose name sounded familiar (from fastrunningblog.com!!).  So, I said hi to him and asked if he had a blog here.  Yes, indeed, same person.  Great meeting another FRB'er

5.33 mi, 55:23, 10:23 avg, HR 122 avg, 139 max

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders and Stella on the leash.  We ran up Starkey Blvd on the bike path to the water stop at Aristide.  First longer run for Stella since I fell while running with her.  This morning's run was slightly longer and I took it especially easy while going over the bridge.  Nice and cool morning and it all worked out.

AM - 3.33 mi, 34:40, 10:25 avg

Ran with  Stella in the neighborhood.  It was extra difficult as she was being extremely antsy.  Dogs were out of their routine since Sammy was having surgery and I couldn't feed them (I fed Stella after taking Sammy to the vet).  So, did the best I could with the run.  There was much stopping and sniffing and such.

PM - 1.7 mi, 24:33, 14:26 avg

It was almost a run, more of a run/walk.  Tried to make up a little bit for such a light morning.  Took Stella around the neighborhodd loop.

7.52 mi, 1:08:34, 9:07 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders.  Daisy was there and hadn't left yet so we ran together.  My garmin battery died at about 2.7 miles into the run but I was able to get her data after the run.  We ran to the end of Haltata and then back.  Air was cool but very humid, causing a chill if you stopped very long, but it sure did look nice across the fields when it started getting light out.  Had a good chat with Daisy while running and the time passed quickly.

AM - 6.11 mi, 57:30, 9:24 avg, HR 123 avg, 159 max

Ran in the neighborhood from my house and out past the golf course.  Did 4.3 miles Stella who was much better today than on Wednesday with things a little bit back to normal for her.  After I dropped her off I ran a little bit farther and did 10 x 25 second strides with 50 second jogs in between.

PM - 1.7 mi, 22:06, 13:00 avg

Did a run/walk in the evening with Stella around the loop, this time was a little bit more running than last time and the dropping pick up was much faster.

12.25 mi, 1:50:00, 8:59 avg, HR 131 avg, 155 max

Ran in Starkey Park this morning, out and back on the bike trail.  For the first 6 miles I stuck pretty closely to keeping a HR of 131 or below.  For the next 5 miles, bumped it up to 136 avg (which is still within MAF range if I add 5 beats assuming I'm in better shape now).  The last mile I picked it up for variety to get the average below 9:00 (it had been about a 9:05 average up until then, so with last mile at 7:55, brought it down to 8:59).

Wesley Chapel 5K - Series Final (until Spring)

19:32, seventh place (I think), one female ahead of me. 

Weather conditions were great, nice, cool and crisp but comfortable once warmed up.  I was feeling pretty good but was having trouble tapping deep into enthusiasm but results were pretty close to last two races, just a little bit slower (last two were right at 19:21).

Splits this time: 6:09, 6:11, 6:14, and 5:51 pace for last 0.16

I did a little bit better with the tangents this time.  MacKenzie, who won the female division last time was there again and brought her time down some so there was a bigger gap between us and no one else this time for most of the race for me to chase.  There was another fast woman who was ahead of me for most of the first mile, and then I was able to get ahead of her and she wasn't quite close enough behind me to push me faster.  The third mile I felt like I was really slowing down a lot but as it neared the end I was able to make up some time and come close to the second mile (and really not that much slower than the first mile).

Michael is going to take a break from these races so he can figure out how to bring up the attendance and hopefully try again in the spring.

After I got home, it was still nice and cool so I took Stella out for two more miles.

Segments: warm up - 1.27, race - 3.16, cool down - 1.04, Stella run - 2.09

Striders - 8.0 mi, 1:11:10, 8:54 avg, HR 131 avg, 140 max

Stella run - 2.09 mi, 20:43, 9:55 avg

Cool crisp morning again, low 40's.  Had to wear long sleeve shirt and hat but was quite cold for first mile or so.  Good heart rate run with 8:54 average and all but first mile under 9:00.  Again, I allowed some of the miles to go into the maf pace +5 range, but most of the miles averaged 131 or less.

Once I got home, ran Stella around the neighborhood.  Running is not so smooth with her but it gets better as the run progresses and overall she is getting better on the leash while running.

6.08 mi, 54:15, 8:56 avg (no HR strap today, forgot it).

Nice run in the neighborhood, felt a little bit tired during parts of it.  Really good weather

Tampa Bay Times Turkey Trot 10k race report

42:09 time, 55th male, 62 overall, 4th AG

This was the first year since 2010 that the boys also ran the race (although that year we all did the 5k).  This year, Andy wanted to do the 10k and at first Thomas said he wanted to do the mile race but was talked into switching to the 5k.  Weather for the 5k was good, high 50's at 7:00 am start.  We did some warm up together and I stuck around at the start line until the race started.  It's a big uncontrolled start so I made sure he got up front.  Results are only given for the first 125 male and female runners since there is no chip timing and the race is huge, they pass out race cards at the end until they run out.  If you get a card, you also get a Turkey Trot coffee mug.  

So, I head over to the finish line at the Clearwater High School stadium and see the first place guy come in at a little over 15 minutes.  Time goes by pretty quickly but before long I see Thomas coming around the corner.  His old PR was a couple weeks ago at the PHSC 5k race where he did 20:25.  That race was small enough that you couldn't get boxed in and prett flat. This race has a pretty daunting looking hill late in the third mile which can slow you down.  But, no matter I see him enter the stadium at about 19:30ish and see him finish still under 20:00, about 19:57 I think.

After the competitive 5k, they have a 5k fun run, and then the mile race.  10k starts at 9:00.  Andy and I warm up some more (although mine is cut short due to porta potty lines).  We get in line near the front just before 9:00.  And then wait.  Some sort of injury on the course delays the start.  Now, it's getting kind of warm, maybe low 70's.  Andy had been thinking about running it easy and just trying to run a little faster than the Dunedin Midnight run 10k back on July 4th.  I talk him into going out sub-7:00 the first mile (nice downhill), then easing into a 7:00 to 7:15 pace and seeing what he's got left at the last mile.  We start out and are pretty close for a good part of the first mile.  I wasn't feeling in PR shape but wanted to get a good sub-7:00 pace run and try and earn a coffee mug.  First three miles are good, I hit a rough spot for the fourth mile, feel a little bit better the 5th mile and think about not pushing the 6th mile.  But then a guy passes me going just the right pace where I think I can hold on if I just concentrate on following him.  This was fortunate as it got me back into the 6:40's.  I passed him just as the 6th mile ended and he told me good job, I picked it up a little more into the stadium but got passed by another guy who came out of nowhere.  I later found out that the guy I was following and helped me out turned out to be the husband of the woman I was following at the Brass Tap Half Marathon two weeks ago.

Splits: 6:35, 6:41, 6:41, 7:01, 6:50, 6:46, 0.25@6:08

I could see the clock just under 42:00 minutes but was too far out to make it under.

Waited for Andy, wondering how things went and in less than two minutes saw him coming around the corner and down the chute to get his race card.  I had been watching the guy handing out the cards and hoping he didn't run out.  He beat his old PR by ten minutes.  Happy that we all got a mug, each running our races a little bit different.  Thankful to have this opportunity to see them run.

After I got home, took Stella on the neighborhood loop with side trip to park (to drop off waste bag), about 2.1 miles in 21:11  (garmin was charging so distance approximate but pretty close)

AM - 3.5 mi, 35:07, 10:01 avg

Ran with Stella in the neighborhood, was feeling sluggish and difficult to get into a good rhythm with the dog getting distracted.  Ended up adding in a mile of walking when the going got frustrating.  It was actually a good morning for walking and then once we got going again was pretty nice the last half mile.

PM - 3.55 mi, 34:35, 9:45 avg

Decided to try and make up some mileage from the short run in the morning.  Did two loops around the neighborhood and just enough past my house to get to 3.5 miles to get 7 total for the day.  Glad I made myself go out again.  Evening was warmish but pleasant.

13.11 mi, 1:55:58, 8:51 avg, HR 133 avg, 168 max

Nice run in Starkey Park with Joe.  I was thinking that this would be a tough feeling run based on how I felt yesterday but it was actually pretty nice.  Air felt cool at first but was actually kind of humid.  Did slower, easy miles on the way out and gradually picked it up on the way back with last two miles at 7:50 and 7:15.  There were a few of the Striders left at the shelter along with some coffee and muffins.

AM - 10.1 mi, 1:35:10, 9:25 avg

Ran with Jamie and Cynthia at the Upper Tampa Bay Trail.  Cool, low 50's at the start.  Took it easy and enjoyed a nice morning.  Three of us had not run together since two weeks before Marine Corps Marathon.

PM - 0.75 mi, 7:40, 10:13 avg

I took Stella to the dog park. She was playing a little bit rough and one of the other dogs was a bit more aggressive (I thought) , so I pulled her out and we ran a loop around the lake including the little extra bit to get to the 0.75 marker.  We slowed down when we approached other people so she wouldn't pull me too much.   She seemed to have fun and then we stopped by the fence so she could say bye to some of her friends.

9.39 mi, 1:25:47, 9:08 avg, HR 127 avg, 138 max

Ran at Longleaf on Starkey Blvd at the Striders Tuesday run.  Everything was good, weather and breathing and pace was good for sticking within heart rate range.

Drove home, woke up Andy, took Sammy and Stella for a walk, then ran Stella around the neighborhood loop for 1.7 miles

Chipping away at my goal of 3,000 miles for the year - within striking distance.  I'll need under 300 in December.

7.08 mi, 1:05:18, 9:13 avg

Stella and I ran 4.66 miles.  I was originally going to just take her one loop around the neighborhood for 1.7 miles but she was being really good so we added on an out and back to the golf course water fountain.  The running is keeping her nails trimmed - the vet techs said they were already short enough.

Dropped off Stella, woke up Andy to get ready, then headed back out.  I finished off the fifth mile then did 10x25 second strides with 50 second jogs and a short cool down after that.  Strides felt better than last time, so maybe I'll have a good race on Saturday (5k).