The Long Run

Day off post race

6.12@11:44  HR 132 bpm (from WHOOP)

Out and back run from my house, out to Trinity Blvd and then Starkey Gap Trail and a little on 54 to reach 3 miles out.  Didn't feel like crossing 54, just had about a half a mile when I got to the light so stayed on the sidewalk.

Heart rate was high at the start but it wasn't as stubborn and came back down eventually settling in the 120-130 range for most of the run.  No garmin strap today for comparison.

6.25@11:25  HR 122 bpm  (WHOOP said 155 bpm)

Slow and easy, trying to keep heart rate down, first mile was 13:17 but WHOOP had me in the 170's for heart rate so I gave up eventually, ran easy and glanced at the garmin heart rate from time to time.  Did a square'ish route from Westlake Village, to Alderman, right on Belcher, right on Nebraska, to Pennsylvania to Omaha and over to Pinellas trail with side trip to Pop Stansell Park and then back to the trail , over to Omaha, and then right on Alderman to get back to Westlake.  First 4 miles were pretty slow on purpose "sped up" to 10:21 and 10:03 for the last two which made the run not feel so tedious.

Excellent fall Florida weather once again.

6.29@9:18,  HR 140  bpm

Two identical loops without stopping inside Westlake Village.  I always want to stop after doing a loop, which makes more sense if it is hot and I'm not carrying anything to drink but on a nice day there's no reason to stop and once I run past the house it's easy to keep going.

First mile 11:37 with 118 bpm HR, picked up each mile with last one at 8:20

going to take a break from trying to follow the WHOOP HR until I figure out what's going on with it.

1.71@9:30

Raining out this morning and procrastinated partially because of the rain but the rain was actually not too bad if wearing a hat.

Ran up to the top of Lakeview to the highest point and turned right on Woodcutter to come back to Lakeview.

Will try to at least make up the missed steps today.

10.19@11:37

I'm racing tomorrow but also a little light no miles this week and wanted at least a longish run, so goal was at least 9 miles keeping the strain to a minimum.    First 6 miles were all slower than 11 (and some over 12)  minute pace keeping the heartrate in the low 120's or 11x's.  Started picking it up a little on the way back, still keeping it light.  So, goal accomplished.  Wonder if this is too slow.  Should try to get some heart rate runs while running with other people, those seem to be a much faster pace (10:36 @ 121 bpm while running with Renee) than when I'm shuffling by myself.

PHSC 5K  "Run with the Bobcats"

22:09, 12th overall, 1st age group (no where close to getting masters award as Bob Bradley was there and put down a pretty impressive 18:42).  Tom won overall with 16:25  (Strava gave him a PR at 16:08, kind of tough to run the tangents perfectly with a few hair pins on the two loop course).

This might be one of my favorite local 5K's, have been running it for years starting when it was PHCC "Run with the Quistas" 5K.  Ran with the boys several times, one year with Jacob, one year by myself.  Always run into people I know.  Coach Jacki does a great job putting this together.  This year, Tom had been given a free entry.  I picked up Tom on the way there, which I was a little early for so we were one of the first runners to arrive.  Beautiful morning out, cool enough that I wore long sleeve shirt and a hat while warming up.  Did a little over mile and a half warm up with strides.  I did not do strides just before the race so may have tightened back up a little bit.

Race started out and my feet felt stuck to the ground.  I wasn't lined up at the very front and was quickly mid pack into the starting crowd.  I couldn't get out of the 7:30's is seemed.  As we approached where I could see the parking lot loop, could see Tom trailing a shirtless high schooler.  The advantage of me being behind so many people and getting passed at the start was I'd spend the rest of the race catching up to people.

I somehow managed to get out of the 7:30's and finished mile 1 at 7:20.  After the first mile I thought I had dipped into the 6's but was soon back in the 7's but came out faster than mile 1 at 7:10.   Ok, after mile 2, I can do this, don't slow down.

I'd been catching up to two women (19 and 20 years old), as we went through the last couple of parking lots I finally got in front of them, turned the corner and sprinted in as best as I could not sure if I'd get outkicked in the end.  Finished mile 3 with 6:58 and the last bit at the end was 6:12 pace.

With today's splits of 7:20, 7:10, 6:58 it was kind of like how some of my time trials and tempo runs have gone.  Had some chest congestion earlier in the week and still a tiny bit left so with that in mind these splits weren't too bad.

When I ran this in 2016, I was a little sub-20:00 that day.  Tom and Andy ran it and Andy was right behind me followed pretty closely by Tom.

This year Tom managed to hold off and put a good gap between himself and the high school runner who ran 16:58

We stuck around for awards and then grabbed McDonald's drive thru on the way back.

My parents are back in town so we all went to Rusty Bellie's in Tarpon Springs for dinner that night so they could celebrated belated birthdays for the boys.

8.31@10:21 HR 132 bpm

After yesterday's day off from running, some easy miles, out and back to the Pinellas Trail northbound just past the old train tunnel and then back.  Cool weather, didn't need to carry any water and did not stop at the water fountain.  Decided to not go as slow as Saturday, hoping the heart rate would stay down in the 120's still but ended up at 132.

4.54@11:17, followed by 0.33@5:52 (5x100m (approx))

Easy run, mindful of heart rate (but knowing it reads high), just kind of kept it steady for the most part.  Ran south down the Starkey Gap trail a little past Lake Dan and then back home.

You shouldn't hide from the strides, decided to do 4 then did 1 more.  I think these help especially when most of the miles are run at a very easy pace.

4.56@8:58, HR 140 bpm

Two loops inside Westlake Village, steady pickup from slow first mile (11:13), to 7:53 for 4th mile followed by a half mile at 7:13 (paces noted after the fact, wasn't sure what the pace was while I was actually running).

Another very nice morning for running.

12.04@9:26, HR 141 bpm

Wasn't sure what would happen tomorrow morning (might be traveling and hard to get in a long run), so tried for more miles than usual.  Ran loop from my house to 54 and then down the Starkey Gap Trail and kept on going down to Keystone, crossed the street and kept on going to a little bit past Keystone Kennels (dogs were saying hi when I ran by) then once I thought I'd have 12, turned back.  The first part of the run was pretty slow (but not painfully slow), steadily got faster on the way back with last mile at 8:11 pace.

Ended up deciding to go with Jessica on the trip to south Florida (Boca area) where her kids were visiting friends.  I made sure to say out loud to make sure I got my long run (or any run at least).    I think this helped.

12.05@10:18, HR 137 bpm

This run felt warmer at the start, got slightly cooler by the end. I had no idea where I was going to run.  Hotel was a few miles from the beach (I wasn't sure exactly how far, turns out it was around 2.25).  I felt slow and clunky starting out, kind of stiff.  Had to stop at a good amount of traffic lights, then finally arrived at the end of Hillsboro.  Crossed street to a road that was blocked off.  There was a fire truck with ladder raised and a huge flag hanging down, also various police cars, swat type trucks, etc.  A 5k had just finished and people in race bibs were hanging out.  Had I planned better could've fit this into my run.  I looped around the streets near where the race was and then decided to continue north up A1A.

Sidewalk was kind of crowded and I was still feeling and running slow.  But, just past the congested area, crossed to the other side of the street where there was a pretty wide recreational trail.  I crossed over another bridge (had crossed over one earlier on Hillsboro), and then a little down the road saw a cooler outside a realty office with a sign "Free Water".  I thought it was empty at first because it was missing its top but I looked inside and saw a few bottles of water sitting on top of ice.  Took a bottle and although it wasn't that warm out, the cold water was so refreshing it tasted delicious.  I drank some, used some to top off my running drink bottle and then kept on going.

After turning back, the running felt much easier.  Made it back to the hotel feeling much better than when I started.  Finished the hard to do longer run while traveling.

Decided I'm going to try Long Haul 100 again coming up in January.  This weekend was a good place to start building weekend mileage (which I was pretty short on for Long Haul 100 in 2020).

7.17@10:15

Ran from my house, then over to the Starkey Gap trail and headed south until just before reaching 3 miles.  Was going to keep going until 3.5 miles out but I saw a dog of its leash a little bit further down and did not see its owner appear.  Probably a friendly dog but decided to turn back just the same.  When I got back to Robert Trent Jones, turned left and ran the sidewalk until the light at Trinity Blvd, then turned back and headed home.

I felt slow and clunky for the first mile (12:57). but was more loosened up for the last mile (8:51)

Got back and was about to do my strides but neighbor Mike was out and we chatted a bit and it was getting late so no strides today.  Going to do some sort of speedwork tomorrow.

7.64@8:48

5x1km workout with 2:30 rest after each interval.  The intervals were run up and down Lakeview and a little bit onto Sandy Hook.  First interval felt really hard to get moving, did not break 7:00 pace for the first one.  The next ones after that I could get onto pace but had trouble holding the pace.  This workout did not go as well as a similar one I did a few weeks ago, but at least I did it.

Splits: 4:32 (7:18), 4:13 (6:47), 4:23 (7:03), 4:10 (6:42), 4:18 (6:55)

After doing the 2:30 jog after the last one, did one more mile which felt like a much easier effort coming in at 7:46 pace.

Will probably try the Turkey Trot 5k next week aiming to get under 22:00.  It's a good course for that with a huge crowd to get swept up in and go fast the first mile which has a lot of downhill.  The uphill at the end isn't that bad.

8.13@8:53  HR 141 bpm

Parked at the Longleaf church and ran up Starkey Blvd into the Starkey Ranch neighborhood.  My first mile was not quite as slow and clunky as they have been recently (10:36).  As I was running (clockwise) around Cannon Lake someone recognized me, it was Daisy, so I stopped for a little bit and said hi.  She's thinking of doing Long Haul 100 after her recent success at running back to back Sat/Sun Marathons a week after running another marathon and holding up pretty well. 

Continued on to the bathrooms, filled up my water bottle.  My water bottle today was a reused 8 ounce bottle (not a running bottle just a disposable bottle) which I had crunched up empty and put in my belt.  Could have gotten by without carrying water but it was nice for the return trip.  Headed out farther on the main road until reaching just past 4 miles out and then turned back.

The original intention was to run slow and easy but decided I'd been doing too many slow runs and did the return miles faster with last mile at 7:44.

Beautiful morning overall and always nice to run into someone you know.  Stopped by the bike shop to stock up on Celsius.  Awaiting the new Celsius BCAA flavor coming out soon but not in yet.

9.65@9:01, HR 148 bpm

Just a little bit short of a medium long run, fitting in the amount of miles I had from the time I left until when I needed to be back.  Ran from Westlake Village, cut through Eniswood and up Alt19 before getting on the Pinellas Trail and heading south.

First mile a little slow at 11:25.  Steady increase until about mile 7 then pace stayed about the same.

Absolutely no stops today until close to the end (decided to wait for the light crossing Alderman rather than dodging cars).  

6.16@8:46, HR 146 bpm

0.39@5:47

Out and back from my house, down the Starkey Gap trail until out just past 3 miles.  Stopped and stretched a little bit at the bench, then continued back.  I had the little water bottle with me in my belt which I would've survived without it, but better safe than sorry.

Got back home and this time did the strides, 6 by about 100m.

HR a little bit high for an easy run, will go slower tomorrow on the long run.

20.09@9:16  HR 149 bpm

First 20 mile run in a while.  Was actually thinking about doing 22 miles or so but by the time I was a little past 10 miles, finishing the 20 felt ambitious.

Ran from Westlake Village, out to the Pinellas Trail and southbound.  Not too warm out at the start and it would end up being cooler at  the end.  Just south of Curlew I saw a woman on a bike getting a ticket from a bicycle cop.  I think she had run a red light but not 100% sure.  At the next light there were a couple more police officers on bikes.  So, good day to mind the crossing lights.

There was some sort of festival in Dunedin which looked fun.  Traffic on the trail thinned out after Dunedin.  Going through Clearwater, the trail gets confusing at it crosses streets at odd angles and sometimes blends back onto the sidewalk and sometimes its own paved trail.  In the downtown area there were a couple small groups of homeless have some sort of get together as well as a few lone homeless hanging out near the trail.

Ran down to just past 13 miles before turning back.  Goal was to finish back in Dunedin and get a ride from Jessica at 7th Sun.

The run had started out slow and easy (especially since I was thinking about going beyond 20).  First mile pace was 11:58, next was 10:14, then it was all in the 9's (excep for mile 9 at 8:58).  Miles 10-13 felt kind of a struggle to hold a low 9's pace but once I turned around, the rest of the miles were in the 8's and suddenly felt easier (although my heart rate said otherwise).

Last weekend was two 12 mile runs and this weekend a 20 mile run, going to slowly increase the back to back run lengths.

2.22@13:47

Due to some miscommunications and rain I did not run this morning.  However in the afternoon it was nice out and I went for a walk and threw in a little bit of light jogging and decided the walk/jog pace was fast enough I'd go ahead and count it.  

Used the Whoop app on my phone because I wasn't planning on recording it as a run.  It's not a bad pace if I can do this for Long Haul 100, would give me sub-24 hours.

4.59@8:58 HR 142 bpm

Two loops inside Westlake Village.

10.03@9:13 HR 141 bpm

Ran from the Longleaf Church, up Starkey Blvd and into Starkey Ranch neighborhood.  Took a right at the Huckleberry shuffle then ran on a road I don't usually run on until joining back onto Rangeland Blvd (main road that comes from Starkey Blvd).  Stayed on Rangeland until the end which took me behind and past the relatively newer Publix near Gunn Highway.  Turned back and ran to and then stopped at Cunningham Park for water where I saw Ben.  He was there with his family and another family doing family photos of each other.  Chatted for a few minutes (about running of course) before I continued on around Cannon Lake (counterclockwise) and back to Rangeland and back to Starkey Blvd.

First mile this morning was 10:17 (did a little bit better job warming up), last mile was 8:46.  Weather was perfect again.  Carried a little water bottle in my belt (reused the 8oz disposable bottle again, they crunch smaller so fit nicer.  Could probably use a fancy collapsible bottle instead).

Tampa Bay Times Turkey Trot race report.

Time: 21:07.7

Splits: 6:43, 6:51, 7.07, 0.08@5:45

After having no race last year, did not want to miss this year.  No 10K this year and the pre-race party was moved as well as the finish line and there was a slight change to the course.  Plan was to go out hard running through the mayhem of the first mile with thousands of people many of whom are not lined up to their ability but it's part of the fun.  Got a pretty decent warmup with just under a mile including some strides (was having some trouble getting the legs to turn over as fast as I wanted but better to get that out of the way before the race than during the race).

Race starts and things go pretty much as expected, with the crowd a little less crazy after about a 1/4 mile.  I'm hanging on ok and locked into a 6:40ish pace.  Bill Cottrell goes cruising by me and wishes me a happy Thanksgiving.  We turn the corner at the end of the first straightaway and soon hit the mile sign. 6:41. One goal down, get back under 7:00 for the first mile.  Can I do one more?  Continue on until taking the left hand turn that will lead to the hill.  I'm struggling but moving along and seemingly the same pace, slipped maybe a little to about 6:46, feeling pretty locked in.  See the two mile sign and a little after that the watch beeps, 6:51.  Hmmm, that's odd pace had seemed pretty steady.

The third mile is where the change is.  Instead of a straight shot up the same road, we take a left down a side street, a right, another right and finally a left to get back to the street where we left the old course.  Then, turning left onto Druid you could see the finish line.  Traditionally, you'd turn just past this year's finish line and head onto the high school track where the finish line was which is kind of nice, but this year's straight shot down the road made it slightly easier.  Also, that little detour down the side streets broke up Cemetery Hill into two parts.

Pace seemed to be holding at about 6:54 for the last mile.  Somewhere back maybe around mile 2.5 I'd passed up Bill.  Not wanting to get passed again I sped up as best I could, past the 3 mile sign and did the best kick I could.  As I went by the 3 mile sign, watch beeped and showed 7:07 for the split, strange again.

Managed to not get passed by anyone and after going through the chute saw the person with the coffee mug cards still had some left, I'd made it under runner 125.

I soon realized what had been going on with the splits.  At some point, my watch display switched to average pace, which explained the mismatch between what I thought I was running and the actual splits.  The plus side of this mishap I think is it kept me from getting discouraged in the third mile where I'd probably slowed down running up the hill and zig zagging through the neighborhood.

Found Tom and saw he had a coffee mug card (not much of question of whether he'd get one).  6th place for him this year with a time of 16:20.

Rest of the day was nice.  Due to people's schedules, our main meal would be breakfast - Jessica was taking Aubrey to cheer competition in Orlando.  Later in the evening, had dinner with Sophia and her friend and then went up to see my parents and brought them dessert.  Andy brought Stella to Jenny's house for dinner.  She got to play with NiKYO as well as having a big bowl of dinner leftovers. 

12.51@9:14, HR 150 bpm

Felt pretty good after yesterday's race.  First mile was 10:29 which is pretty reasonable for a first mile for me.  Miles 2-9 were all in the 9's.  Started off from the Longleaf church, ran up Starkey Blvd to Alico Pass, then turned back and took a left into Starkey Ranch neighborhood, ran out past Cannon Lake then turned around and headed back, going around Cannon Lake again.  Miles 10-12 were a little faster than  9:00 pace.  Run was enjoyable and felt pretty easy although heart rate was a bit higher than I would've liked.

18.6@9:50,  HR 141 bpm

Started out from my house, out to SR54 , and then up Starkey Blvd and into Starkey Park.  Instead of staying on the bike path, I got onto the trail next to the horse corral.  Seems like I hadn't been here in forever.  A little bit onto the trail hit mile 7, two more miles to go.  Heart rate stayed between 125 (mile 1)  and 136 (mile 10).  Turned around just past mile 9.  Ended up on a slightly different trail which did not go back to the horse corral but ended up in the field near the entrance.  So, the trail portion was a loop rather than straight out and back.  Pace picked up as soon as I got back to the pavement.  Heart rate went up a little but it felt easier.

Felt like I had a lot more energy on the way back, glad I kept it slower on the way out.

Going to add a little more miles onto next long run.  Felt good reaching 31 miles in two days (12.5 yesterday, 18.6 today).   I could survive 100 miles, with more good training hope to do a little more than survive.

After the run, drove to Busch Gardens to meet Jessica and her kids (and our kid).  Pretty crowded today.  Baby went on her first rides.  Unlike last time, she was old enough to go on the rides (have to be able to walk to the ride on your own).

After Busch Gardens, drove out to Cocoa Beach so I could watch Tom (and hang out with Andy) run the (southbound) Space Coast half marathon which he won with a pretty comfortable lead, new PR but just shy of breaking 1:14.  It was a lot of fine watching the race. 

5.39@9:33, HR 132 bpm

5 miles easy, out and back down the Starkey Gap trail turning around near Lake Dan.  Started the strides immediately when hitting 5 miles back near my house. A little bit more difficult today getting legs to turn over quickly (6:22 pace for the strides, usually get around 5:30-5:40 range).

3.55@9:58

Fairly short run, inside Westlake Village, had a meeting to get to starting at 9:00.