The Long Run

I was proud of today's run because it was one of those where you have to do something different, something out of the routine.  These always make me feel good once I have finished them.  Jenny was going to run a 5K this morning with two of her friends at 8:00 at Fred Howard park (where the Beach to Bayou 5K was that I ran in April).  She was going to bring the kids with her and then I would meet them at 7:30 so I could watch the kids and cheer her and her friends on.

So, the best plan I could come up with was to run in that area before the 5K.  I had scheduled myself for 16 miles.  I usually don't run in that area and wasn't familiar with the running routes there.  So, I planned out a course as best I could and aimed to get there at 5:00.  Alarm clock at 4:15 wasn't so bad.  I got moving and headed over there arriving just after 5:00.  The gates to the park were locked so I found a school nearby to park at.  Fortunately the moon was pretty bright and there were some street lights on the roads.  Warmed up and stretched a little bit and was on my way.

First mile was 9:36 - it felt faster because it always seems faster when I run in the dark, next 3 miles were right around 9:00.  The 5th mile I was starting to move a little bit faster.  By this time I was on the Pinellas trail - a bike path that used to be railroad tracks.  I came up to a tunnel that went under the road, it was pitch black inside so I attempted to go up and over it at first but that didn't work out, so I went through it and it wasn't too bad except for the middle where it was pretty much pitch black.  So, my initial fear of the tunnel slowed me down a little bit to a 9:20 for the 5th mile.

Kept on going and my pace started feeling better.  I finally passed one runner and then a little bit later a biker.  Just after 7.6 miles,  I turned around.  Since my trip out was a little bit slow I didn't want to count on being faster on the return trip and risk being late for meeting Jenny.   The return trip was faster and it slowly got lighter out.  It was a beautiful morning for running.  I got back to the car just after 7:20.  I didn't quite have my 16 miles but I didn't want to risk being later and I figured I'd still have about the same mileage for the week.

Splits were: 9:36, 9:01, 8:56, 8:58, 9:20, 8:38, 8:06, 8:13, 8:08, 8:13, 8:08, 7:55, 7:51, 7:52, 7:54, 7:36, 7:38, 0.52@8:04 

I met up with Jenny and watched the kids while they played.  Jenny and her friends had a great 5K - it was both of her friends first 5K. 

Pretty good Monday morning run. First 2.5 miles were a little bit sloggy but I got the job done. Weather was nice again, low 60's. Did my usual indoor warm up first - 10 mins stationary bike, 3 minutes rower, a few minutes on the treadmill.

Splits were: 9:05, 8:43, 8:35, 8:06, 7:57, 7:28, 7:04, 7:27, .43@8:20

The 7:04 mile didn't feel any faster, so it may have been a garmin glitch I maybe I was just feeling good. Should have kept it a little bit slower, but once you go from feeling slow to feeling good it is hard to resist.

A good chilly morning run (not cold just chilly, mid 40's).

I ran from home doing one loop through the neighborhood, out to the old road, onto Trinity blvd. for a bit and into Thousand Oaks neighborhood and  back.  Run felt good overall, no complaints today.  This was surprising since I went to bed feeling tired and woke up tired.  The run finally fully woke me up.  Felt like doing more but had to get to work a little bit earlier today than usual.

Splits were: 9:02, 8:35, 8:18, 8:19, 7:52, 7:39, 7:58, 0.73@7:51

Average pace: 8:13 

I wore new shoes today, a pair of Asics gt-2120 which were on sale for only $49.99 

Woke up this morning feeling cold and tired.  Made sure to get good and warmed up inside before running outside.  Did the usual bike, rower, treadmill warm up.  This makes the overall run seem like a big production but it helps get me going and has helped me knee tremendously, so as long as I have the time I'll try and stick with it.

Headed outside, started run with a little bit over 2 easy miles which actually felt somewhat easy.  I then ran a 4 mile tempo run.  After reading some tin man articles I thought I'd try 4 X 1 with 1 minute breaks.  I was thinking that the breaks might make it seem easier.  They did not, I didn't feel like moving again after the 1 minute recovery - but I had to, so I did.  He also suggested 5K place + 1 min for the pace, which these are not (although maybe someday!)

So here is what I did:  6:55, 6:55, 7:05, 6:41

The third mile was slower partly due to maneuvering around school buses and garbage trucks at one point.  The last mile always seems to be faster and feels easier. 

Then I cooled down with another 2.5 miles to get back to the parking lot. 

Average pace: 7:49

I can't believe the marathon is less than 2 weeks away now.  I'm feeling the least injured and most ready than I have ever been this close to a marathon.  I have a half marathon on Sunday which I am going to run.  I had signed up for this one before I had signed up for the marathon and originally planned on racing it.  But 1 week is probably not enough recovery time for an all out marathon.  I'm thinking of shooting for planned MP + 15 seconds.   

Brooks 

I didn't run today.  I wasn't feeling that great - like I am fighting off a cold or something.  I had to catch a flight in the morning.  I could have gotten up at 5:00 or 5:15 and fit in a few miles but decided to not push it since this is supposed to actually be a taper week.    I felt kind of lame not running but overall I think it was a better choice not to run, at least this time.

I usually do just a short run on Friday's but today I needed to do something a little bit longer to make up for yesterday.  I didn't get to sleep until almost 12:00 due to the business trip so I didn't have very high expectations, get in at least 6 or 7 miles.

The weather was nice.  I had a long sleeve shirt on but could have worn something lighter - I'd be hot by the end of the run.

First mile went ok.  By the end of the second mile the outside of my left shin had gotten really tight so I decided to stop and stretch a bit.   It felt so tight that if I extended out my foot it felt like a muscle was going to snap.  I felt better in a little bit and got moving again.  Still felt tight but slowly loosened up.  Next 5 miles were pretty consistent (except for some delays while crossing two busy streets).  Last 2 miles were faster with the last mile the fastest and feeling the best.

Splits were: 9:00, 8:44, 8:25, 8:52, 8:21, 8:17, 8:02, 7:19, 0.20@9:14

Asics 

Just a few miles on the treadmill today to keep my legs feeling ready to run.  Also did some warm up on the bike and rowing machine.  Treadmill was mostly at an 8:10 pace with some slower at the beginning and a few small speed bursts just faster than 7:00.

I didn't run first thing this morning because Jenny was doing her 10 miles this morning - her first run ever in the double digits.  

 I'm doing the Holiday Halfathon tomorrow - not racing it but I'm going to try and just have fun and do some of it as quality miles.

(old asics)
 

It was a nice day for running. I received an email last night titled "Heat Advisory". I thought "oh, great, here we go again". But it was just the race directors telling everyone that it was going to be a little bit warmer than usual but nothing like Chicago and to make sure to pre-hydrate.

The packet pickup was busier than usual this year, there were at least a couple hundred more preregistered this year than last year, and they had chip timing this year for the first time. There were also a lot of people doing race day registration.

I did about 5 or 6 minutes of warm up, nothing too fast, but not too slow.

The race started a few minutes late, probably due to the registrations.

My plan was to do the first four miles easy than do the rest and planned marathon pace for next week's marathon. A guy I knew said he knew someone who was going to run at about a 7:40 pace, but I didn't know what she looked like. So we ran up to catch up with her. I caught up with her and introduced myself. I guess it was a little bit awkward since we didn't know each other. She said to have a good race, so I figured I'd just keep going. The first mile was 7:19 which was a lot faster than I planned but did not feel hard at all. It usually takes me a while to build up to this pace, but not today.

So, the next few miles continued on, a little bit slower than the first one but faster than my overall planned pace. At about 2.5 miles I thought I could not keep up this pace but I realized that this was just my not fully warmed up body talking.

At four miles was the big bridge - well not that big. It's only 25 feet above the water, but it seems larger. It's the highest "hill" on the course (there are two other pedestrian overpasses later). I don't care for the first 4 miles as much as the rest of the course. I'm not sure why because it is a nice run past a few small beach front communities.

After the bridge, it heads in land for a few miles to the Pinellas trail. It curves around past a small lake before heading onto the trail. The trail is my favorite part of the run.

A little bit after getting on the trail is the second bridge, just before the 7th mile marker.

**** The BEST PART OF THE RACE *****

As I was approaching 8.5 miles I could hear bells. These bells sounded familiar, I had heard them once before back in October. These were cow bells that Tyson chicken was giving away at the Chicago marathon. I could hear the bells first then I could see Jenny, Andy, and Noah along the side of the trail. They had found a cross road to the trail, parked, and were waiting with the bells. Not only did they cheer for me, but they waited as each person that they knew passed by as well as many strangers. Some of the people they saw looked a little down and tired as they approached and then fresh and happy after they passed.

***** back to the rest *******

It stays on the trail until just past 11 miles before turning off and into Taylor park where the finish line is located. The route goes along the sidewalk for a short time before hitting mile 12. Sometime around 6 miles the pace felt really easy compared to what this pace usually feels like. I didn't feel like I was overdoing it so I didn't slow down. When in the full sun it felt almost too hot but fortunately there was plenty of shade.

At 12 miles I thought I would just cruise through the last mile at about a 7:35 pace or so. I wasn't watching my pace and I suppose it was just the way that things worked out that I picked off a few runners. I had thought about just following someone in but they seemed to slow down, so I passed them. As the last mile was finishing I noticed my total time for the first time and realized this whole race was faster than planned (I was thinking I'd run between 1:40 and 1:42). Then, once I could see the finish clock I'd realized I'd be under 1:38.

The miles with parentheses show where the Garmin was short, although the 12th mile the Garmin measured long although I didn't note the time difference. If I hadn't messed with the lap button, I think mile 12 would have evened things out (it did last year).

Splits were: 7:19, (7:22+:09),7:36, 7:28, (7:31+13),7:39, 7:46, 7:22, 7:20, (7:24+07), 7:24, 7:31, 6:51, .13@6:10

As I approached the finish line, I decided I would not stare and focus and the finish but enjoy the moment, look around so you can really see things. Also, I ran through the finish line and slowed down after crossing, rather than before.

I felt like I had plenty left in the tank. And except for the last mile's faster pace, I felt like I could have kept up this pace for the full marathon without any problems. This run also gave me some good drinking practice. I grabbed water or gatorade at all of the stops except for one. At two of them I took water to wash down the gel that I downed just before getting to the aid stations.

*** UPDATE ****

Official results are posted now. I'm actually 6th place instead of 8th place in my age group. They must be using gun time for the official results because my time is posted as 1:37:50 instead of 1:37:42 (which they posted yesterday).

I didn't run today.  I felt like I could have if I had to, but this week I'm tapering.  I'll probably do a few 6 mile runs at a typical easy run pace, then a short run on Saturday.

I did take 2 dog walks of 1 mile each.  The first one with Sammy, and the second one with Barbie and Chelsea.

As I was writing yesterday's race report I was trying to get in as many facts as possible but not take up too much time.  So, unfortunately I left out the best part of the run.  I've fixed the race report entry. 

I felt pretty well recovered today which was good.  Decided to do plenty of warm up and make a big production out of it as that seems to make the run itself easier.

Nice weather with the sun just coming up over the horizon as I started.  Did 6 miles with my usual patter of a couple slow miles followed by slightly faster.

I'm going to keep the miles lower this week but keep my pace the same.  I'm going to do a short run on Saturday since that seems to work for me as far as day before a race goes. 

Average pace: 8:16

Asics gt-2120 

Some light cardio cross training this morning.  20 minutes on bike and 10 minutes on rowing machine.  Finished up with a few sets of arm curls and tricep exercises just to even things out.

Felt like running but didn't.  I'll run tomorrow.

As promised yesterday, I did run today.  But I decided not to make a big production out of it and just ran from home instead.   It was cool and foggy out this morning, almost too cool for shorts and singlet.  This weekend is supposed to be much cooler in Jacksonville which is fine but is also supposed to be windy - which is not so good, oh well.

I did one loop around my neighborhood, then onto Trinity blvd to the next neighborhood where I looped through there and back home.  Kept the pace somewhat consistent.

Splits were: 8:57, 7:59, 8:27, 8:15, 8:14, 7:58, 0.16@8:04

I will do one more run before Sunday.

I've gotten in touch with a friend of a friend who is going to run Jacksonville.  He is also going for a 3:20 and is running with one other guy also trying for 3:20.  These two guys are a little bit faster than me but I think I can stick with them.  Joe will be starting out with us but is only shooting for a 3:30 so he plans on dropping back a bit sometime during the second half. 

Brooks 

4 mostly easy miles on the treadmill.  After about 1.1 miles I saw my shoe was untied and dangerously hopped off of it without slowing it down first.  That was almost a disaster.  Also did some bike and rowing machine.

We really lucked out with the weather today. The reports kept on making it seem worse and worse with tornado warnings, freeze warning and possibility of winds of 20-30 miles per hour and nearly 100% chance of rain at the start.

Somehow, the dire predictions did not come true. The start of the race was about 68° and 90% humidity but barely any wind and the rain had finally stopped. It had been raining for a good part of the night. I had woken up at 1:00, fell back asleep and woke up each hour until 5:00 when I got up. Joe and I found a parking spot about a half mile from the start, so that was pretty much my warm up.

I met up with two guys who were also going for a 3:20 - Pat and Andy.

We set out and got into our pace right away. The first few miles were terrible for me, I was doing all I could to keep up with the other two guys, but I kept hanging on. I often times have this problem, I'm not sure what causes it but I know that it usually gets better eventually. At 11 miles, one of the guys with us dropped off for a bit, he had been fighting a side stitch and could not shake it. We would see him later at one of the loops but he would not be able to catch up again. Pat and I went on. By the half way point I was finally feeling better - we made the half at 1:38:40. At 15 miles I started thinking that I might be able to pull this off. I was surprised to see that I could keep hitting the planned marathon pace or close to it.

At 18 miles, Pat announced 64 minutes to do 8.2 miles. What I really had in my head at this point was keep each mile under 8:00 and I've got my goal. That was not correct. How much under 8:00? It's difficult to do the math, and with cutting things so close that 385 yards at the end would make all the difference. It was tough going but within reach. At 20 miles I decided I needed to focus on getting to 22 miles, then I would take it as 4 1 mile races to beat the clock.

Whenever we went through water stops, Pat would walk and then sprint to catch up. He was very good at this. However, sometime after 21 miles, Pat did not catch up to me. I would be on my own for about the last 5 miles.

I made it to mile 22 and was doing good until about half way through I got a side stitch. It was one I knew I could recover from but it slowed me down, that would be my slowest mile and only mile slower than 8:00, it was an 8:12. Next mile was better at 7:48. With two miles left I should have kicked it into high gear but I did not. It was a little bit uphill and the wind and finally picked up and was coming directly from the north.

At the 25 mile sign the clock said 3:12:xx (xx maybe 29 or something like that). I though, ok I still have a chance. I did kick back into gear but it would not be enough. 7:33 for the last full mile and then the remainder put me over 3:21. The finish line goes on the Bolles school track for about a 1/2 a lap, my watch said 3:20:48 as I got onto the track and the clock was ticking towards 3:21:30 as I ran under it. I knew I started a few seconds after the starting gun but not that late. Final net time was 3:21:24 for the net time - missed BQ by 25 seconds. So many places where I could have gotten those extra seconds.

Every muscle on my legs was aching.  This was different from my last two marathons where mainly my calves felt knotted up and aching.   Jacksonville marathon advertises itself as "flat and fast".   That's not quite true as it is really more like mildly rolling terrain.  It made the course interesting and also helped spread out the wear and tear across all of my leg muscles.  Some people have mentioned before that this is not very nice looking course.  I think they have worked on the routing maybe in the past few years and it is actually quite beautiful most of the way, running under canopies of large live oak tress covered with Spanish moss,  many large beautiful old and new Florida homes, and an occasional view of the St. Johns river or one of its tributaries.

Now I know I can do this pace for a full marathon. I never fell apart or slowed down drastically at any one point. I made it through without any cramping. I also felt the best after finishing than I have after any other marathon. There will be other marathons.

Joe was able to make his BQ time and we had a good ride back home, although we made several stops to get out and stretch.

Today was my birthday. I'm pretty much not sore for the most part from Sunday's race which is very promising. I didn't do too much in the way of exercise today. Got a little bit of a cold but I think I can shake this one quickly.

40 was a good year for running. 3 marathons (my first three) and three marathon PR's (does the first one count as a PR? I don't see why not). 3 5K's and 3 5K PR's and one half marathon which was a half marathon PR.  Also, one 10K - also a PR because it was my first one, but mostly enjoyed it because I got to run with Jenny, and then I won a free pair of shoes!

I hope 41 is just as good or better!

(and that was just my running life, the rest of my life went pretty well also, which I am very thankful for).

A little bit of active recovery today.   Walked one mile in the morning and then walked 1.7 miles in the evening with Sammy (this can be dangerous sometimes but he was a good dog tonight).

Decided to brave the treadmill today.  I almost felt like I didn't need much recovery at all after this marathon but figured I should still be careful.

I went to the Y this morning.  10 minutes on the bike, 6 minutes on the rowing machine then got onto the treadmill.  Took it easy with an average pace of 8:50 and nothing faster than 8:20.  My calves felt tight when I was done but not nearly as bad as after my first run one week after the Chicago marathon.

If I'm feeling up to it tomorrow I'd like to try maybe 5 or 6 miles. 

Some easy miles this morning to test things out and get back into the swing of things.  It was cool and overcast this morning.  Good weather still for shorts and short sleeve shirt.  First mile felt surprisingly good.  Kept an easy pace with nothing faster than 8:00.  It was an easy run that actually felt easy.  For the last 0.5 miles I ran with Joe who was out for one of his first runs also.

Average pace: 8:37

Asics gt2120 

Decided it didn't matter how I got my miles in today so I broke it up into three parts.  I started off running with Noah.  We did 1.35 miles at a 10:35 pace.   As we turned the corner back onto our street I said to Noah "home stretch!" and then he took off.   I had to really run this time to catch him.  He was doing about a 7:10 pace for the last tenth of a mile.  Pretty soon he is going to take off and I won't be able to catch him.

 My next volunteer was Andy.  I had to do some bribing.  Also, Andy likes doing things with Dad where his brother doesn't always come along.  But actually we took one more with us - Sammy.  We did 1.4 miles at a 10:21 pace, but with no burst of speed at the end.

Finally I went back out by myself.  Since I was now thoroughly warmed up the pace felt easy.  Did 3.15 miles at 7:55 pace.  Last mile was a little bit slower as my left calf started to knot up slightly but felt ok once I slowed down a little bit.

Brooks
 

Easy miles which actually felt easy this morning. Still easing back into things. I decided to make the usual big production out of my run. 10 minutes on the bike, 5 minutes on the rower. Some static and dynamic stretches.

Calf felt much better today than on Monday. Much of this was due to the wonderful calf and feet massager my family gave to me.

Temperature was great for running, a very comfortable 59° .  iPod shuffle was not working again today.   Must still be on Christmas break.  I'm getting better at running with no music.  This is good practice for WHEN I go to Boston :)

Set out running with a goal of at least 4 miles depending on how things felt, things felt good so I ended up with a bit over 6 miles.

Average pace: 8:11

Asics gt-2120

Another easy run that felt easy. I tried my best to reproduce the steps I took before yesterday's run and it seemed to work. I did the same warm up and stretches as yesterday.

I was a little bit faster today than yesterday, but like yesterday I didn't look at my pace until the mile beeped. Once again the weather was nice and there were very few cars to contend with due to schools being out and many people taking time off.

Average pace: 8:01

Brooks - 485

Today was planned for just a few miles at an easy pace.  I decided to try and not make a big production out of it and just run from home.  I woke up just after 6:30 and fed the dogs.   Then I found myself dawdling, this happens sometimes when I don't leave the house to go some place else to run.  I caught myself and got myself moving.  I did one loop around the neighborhood on the bike to get warmed up.  It was great weather for running, again about 60°, although the air felt chilly while on the bike.

Then I did a little bit more stretching and started on my run.  Ran with no music.  Even on days when I run with music I like to start of with no music because I can hear myself breathing and this seems to help to settle into a good running rhythm.  I had my garmin but made sure not to look at the pace.  When the first mile beeped I was surprised to see 7:51 for the pace.  I usually can just barely get under a 9:00 pace for the first mile, sometimes it is slower than that.  Thinking maybe it was just a glitch a kept on moving at the same effort.  The next mile was 7:46, then 7:40, and 7:35.  Final 0.15 at 8:10 pace.

Ok, too fast for what was supposed to be an easy run but the effort felt easy so I call these easy miles.   Tomorrow I'll slow down, get in 8 or 9 miles and hopeful run with some others from my running group.

Asics gt-2120 

I met up with a bunch of the guys at Starkey park this morning at 6:45.  I had not run with such a big group for a while.  We all started out together but some what ahead and some turned around at the 4 mile mark.   I had been planning on 8 or 9, but Keith was doing 10 so I went along with him.  

The pace felt pretty good.  We stopped a couple times briefly, but I kept the clock running.  The beginning of the run was nice and cool but had warmed up a bit on the way back.

The last mile was the fastest at 7:41 but it didn't seem too fast because we maintained the conversation.

Afterwards we spent some time socializing over some coffee and some leftover Christmas cookies that I brought.  We chatted with a guy interested in joining our running group, he was just  starting his taper for the Disney marathon.  Hard to believe it has almost been one year since I ran that one.  It seems a lot longer ago.

Average pace: 8:23 

Brooks - 495 (maybe time to retire these) 

Nice run this morning with some of the same guys I ran with on Saturday.  It was a bit warm at about 71° but with very high humidity.   We went to the same spot as Saturday which was Starkey park at that same time.   I didn't bring my ipod as we weren't going that far and there would be plenty of conversation between the four of us.

There were a few other runners out on the trail including the man with the very well behaved Doberman, they seem to be out there just about every day.

It was an uneventful even paced run.   It was the kind of running that I need to be doing at this point.

Asics gt-2120
Average pace: 8:27