The Long Run

7.02 mi, 1:06:51, 9:31 avg, HR 120 avg, 140 max

Ran with Joe at the Striders run at Longleaf.  Out and back on the Starkey Bike trail.  Legs were feeling sluggish today.  It was back to warmer and humid with humidity you could see and low 70's for temps.  Other than that a pretty good run and nice to run with Joe (as part of his 11 mile run).

1.54 mi, 15:22, 9:59 avg

Part two of the run was after I got home and walked both dogs.  I took Stella around the loop.  She was all over the place with the extra traffic and people/dogs out walking I had to take a coupld of walk breaks to settle her down.  But still, managed to get most of the miles I wanted.

8.05 mi, 1:15:14, 9:20 avg

Ran with Joe and Jamie in the neighborhood starting at about 6:00.  We ran a little over 5.5 miles together then I stopped by my house to make sure the boys were up and I leashed up Stella.  Stella was way too excited to see Joe and I had trouble calming her down so gave up on running with Joe and Jamie and I ran in the opposite direction and met up with them later near Jamie's house.  Stella and I did a little over 1.5 miles and I finished up enough on my own to get 8 miles for the total.  Temps really cooled off since yesterday and should be nice for tomorrow's Little-Markou 5k.

Little Markou 5K Race To Educate 5K

Wonderful and fun race through the streets of the Longleaf community in memory of two beloved high school students.  This is the second year in Longleaf (was previously held nearby at a different location).  I was over a minute faster than last year and happy with my time (although I lost some drive during the third mile).  I started out as usual where I seem to end up behind a long line of people.  I passed several people after making the first turn and the line thins out to where I can see about 7 or 8 people ahead of me.   Anthony has taken an early lead (like he did during Robbie's Run 5K in the spring).  Jean is also a good distance in front of me and also Anthony.  I think towards the end of the second mile I was in 5th place, with Anthony passing Jean and I had just gotten ahead of Andrea.  Andrea has a very light and relaxed stride and is super cheerful thanking all of the volunteers (note to self to not let my 5k pain make me less cheerful).

First two miles on my garmin were 6:00 and 6:02.  But, since this is a twisty and turny course I knew I'd still have a tough time breaking 19:00.   Finally at about 2.5 miles I pull up to Jean and he says he's done (he's had a remarkable fall racing series with a 2:58 in Chicago).  Anthony still has a good gap on me.  I am feeling less motivated.  I'm not done but I don't have a strong drive to try and catch Anthony (didn't think I could at the time but maybe now that I look back at it).

But, fortunately I knew Andrea was very close behind me and knew she could/would pass me if I eased up.  In one of the pictures near the 3 mile marker I see just how close she is and looking at the official times we both ended up with 19:19.

At Robbie's run 5k, Anthony had faded.  But this time he stayed even, finishing 10 seconds ahead of me overall.  My last mile was 6:12 (garmin time), so another 6:02 would have put me neck and neck with him.

But, all things considered this was a very very good race for me.  I loved running with so many familiar faces through the Longleaf streets with extra holiday decorations and for a good cause.  The racing part (the push from behind and pull to catch up) could not have been better.  I had been missing that at the last Wesley Chapel 5k.  The last two 5k's were a slow down from the two before that but with this one, I once again sped up a little bit by 2 seconds.

Cooled down with a mile easy after the race and before the awards.  Was awarded $50 for second place overall male (Anthony got 1st place masters at $75, no double dipping thankfully).  After awards, ran another 4 miles with Julie who was looking for some more miles.

When I got home, picked up Stella and took her to Starkey Park and we did 3.6 miles on the trails there.

12.31 mi, 1:53:52, 9:15 avg, HR 122 avg, 145 max

Ran with Jamie and Daisy in the neighborhood.  Since Daisy has not run here before I thought it would be easy if she met us at Johnny Brusco's (pizza place nearby).  Both Jamie and Daisy misunderstood and thought this meant we were doing some new adventurous route.

No, just pieces of my usual running route, but it was new to Daisy at least.  We ran through the neighborhood to Fox Hollow and out and back the path near the golf course and a loop into one of the neighborhoods there.  On the way back I ran into my house and grabbed my phone and AAA card. 

Got back to Johnny B's where Jamie had parked (she had picked me up from my house).  Called AAA and Daisy and I ran a few loops through the parking lot waiting for the locksmith (Jamie had to get going to kids swim meet).  Then, I ran back home, getting about another mile in.

So, actually, it did turn into sort of an adventure but not anything I had planned.

10.07 mi, 1:37:12, 9:39 avg, HR 125  avg, 142 max

Started from Longleaf and ran on the Starkey Blvd bike trail.  Did about 3 miles with Joe before he turned back.  I'm not sure where the weather came from but it was sticky warm pre-rain feeling (78 degrees).  Was a little nicer once I turned back and felt a slight breeze.

Just missed Clarke and Cindy who were just driving away, having already packed up the coffee and drinks.

Drove home and ran another two miles with Stella- she was pretty well behaved, not as pull-y as usual.

10.22 mi, 1:25:18, 8:21 avg

Back to nice cool weather, slight chill and humid.  Ran in the neighborhood solo, doing a warm up followed by 2x2 miles with about a mile easy in between sets, then jogged back home and got Stella for two more easy miles.

First set : 6:32, 6:32

Second set: 6:23, 6:20

Goal was to stay under 6:40 for each mile (between 6:30-6:39), last set was a little bit faster but didn't want to unlock from the pace I got into.

AM  - 7.52 mi, 1:13:04, 9:43 avg

Ran from my house solo after doing a quick 0.5 mile warm up with Stella.  Ran out to the new park and did the lake loop twice before heading back.  Nice and cool with a little breeze but I sure was dragging for some reason this morning so did not try to get all 10 miles like I wanted to.

PM - 1.7 mi, 19:05, 11:13 avg

After dinner, evening dog walk/run around the neighborhood loop with Stella which was more running than walking and a new record pace for run/walk.  These are nice because they are go as you are, no changing required.

Still a little shy of 10 miles for the day but not too far off.

10.07 mi, 1:34:32, 9:23 avg

Ran with Jamie and Daisy in the neighborhood and along the golf course.  It was raining lightly and much cooler than I was expecting when I woke up.  Rain mostly ended but got a drop here and there.  Run went by pretty quickly.  At about 7.5 miles, stopped in at the house to wake Thomas up for school then continued on for a bit, dropping off Jamie at her house and looping back to my house.  Legs were feeling much better than yesterday.

10.25 mi, 1:34:23, 9:13 avg

Ran with Jamie in Starkey park for the Striders Saturday run.  High 40's but dressed warm enough that I took my hat off the last couple of miles.  Beautiful morning, good easy pace.  Got back to the shelter as the group was about to pack up, but I was able to drain the last bit of coffee from one of the carafes that had previously been declared empty.

Florida Holiday Halfathon Race report

 1:32:30, 26th overall , 3rd age group

Always like coming back here to the place of my first ever half marathon.  Starting in Madiera Beach, running a few miles through a couple other beach communities before crossing the intra-coastal waterway and making our way to the Pineallas Trail as the second half heads into Taylor Park.  And over the years, there are more and more familiar faces.  This year, I drove down with Joe (who I had talked into running it about a week ago).  Before the race I saw Terri R. as well as Christina (the woman I was chasing at the Brass Tap Half) and her husband Quint (who I ended up chasing and getting a tow for the last mile at the Turky Trot 10K even though I didn't realize it was her husband).  Several Striders were also there (Mike, Tracy, Stan, Amber, Suzan, Run Jodi).  I was  feeling cold at the starting line (a good sign almost always), but not too cold.

30 minutes prior to the race start, the walkers and run/walkers got their start and then 5 minutes before the start, a row of Ainsely's Angels headed out next.

Sometimes when I start out a half marathon I run with the starting crowd and soon look at my pace and see I'm going way too fast and should slow down.  That did not happen this morning.  So, then I sped up to a 6:40ish pace.  It felt hard but I figured I would give myself sometime to warm up some more (did a short 0.9 mile warm up before the race with a few strides).  Second mile hanging on with 6:53.  I came up to Angel Run Jodi pushing a stroller and said hi and wished her well.  (It turns out they often have a running partner take turns pushing the stroller but Jodi was alone today.  Tracy would catch up to Jodi and turn into an Angel for the morning and give Jodi (literally) a hand to help push).  

Third mile was not feeling good and I couldn't seem to lock into the pace I wanted but was determined to make first mini-goal of at least the first three miles under 7:00, so 6:54.

Lost the sub-7:00 feeling and hit the Park Blvd bridge, part way up to the mile 4 sign, for a 7:12 mile.  I wasn't upset but felt a strong attraction to wanting to just go for an easy run.  A guy with no shirt passed me on the way down the bridge.  I trailed behind him for a while.  Was contemplating what pace to try and run.  I didn't want to get passed by too many people, but this early on in the race I would need to run a little faster.  Mile 5 was 7:16.  Was playing tag team with shirtless guy.  So, shortly after the 5 mile sign (and maybe an aid station), I went to catch up to someone who just passed me and then I was sub-7:00 again (6:56), but just for one mile.

We did the little loop around the park and onto the Pinellas Trail.  This is usually my slowest mile of the race no matter how fast I run and today's time was 7:21 (and soon after that I felt like I was running slower).  A new woman came up behind me and she passed me.  I passed her back in a little bit but she seemed determined to get ahead of me.  This finally ended my pace slide with mile 8 a little faster (7:15), and mile 9 I wanted to really make sure I lost her and got back below 7:00 again (6:50).  So, I even caught back up to shirtless guy and was rigtht behind him.  Mile 10 and 11 were both right at 7:11.  I closed in on shirtless guy and passed him as we turned off of the trail to run through the first half of Taylor park and managed a 6:50.  We also passed a couple other guys (an 18 year old and a 66 year old guy (who would win 1st place grand master, hope I can run 1:33 half when I'm 66)).

Just past the 12 mile sign I couldn't keep the drive to stay ahead of shirtless guy and figured I'd try following him.  But, once that happened I couldn't stay close enough to have a chance to out kick him at the end.  I didn't realize he was in my age group or maybe I might have tried a little harder to stay in the lead, but fortunately it was just the difference between 2nd and 3rd age group.

And just like that, the race was done.  I did not get sub 1:30 (or even 1:30 "and change"), but also did not fall apart and also looked at it as PR marthon pace run.  Terri wasnt too far ahead of me as well as Bill Cottrell (24th place).  Shirtless guy was 25th place and also had a name (Anthony).  Mike took 2nd place Masters with a 1:30:29 time (19th place).  And Joe finished under 1:40.

Looking back, I kind of wished I'd started out faster, not so much pace wise but enough so that I could lock onto and try to run with a familiar face (or more likely a familiar back) - like Mike, Terri, Bill, or maybe even Christina again.

Summary, my splits:  6:47, 6:53, 6:54, 7:12, 7:15, 6:56, 7:21, 7:15, 6:50, 7:11, 7:11, 6:50, 6:58, 0:51 (0.14@6:18)

Hung around watching friends, acquaintances and other familiar faces finsh their races.  Michael MacDonald (local FRBer) took second place overall, got to say hi to him and chat a little, good to see him again after Brass Tap half).

And now I'm ahead (slightly) of the 10 miles per running day that I need for the rest of the year to make 3,000 miles for 2016.

AM - 10.36 mi, 1:35:30, 9:15 avg, HR 128 avg, 142 max

Ran with Striders starting from near Longleaf.  Out and back on Starkey Blvd for 8.25 miles.  Grabbed the last cup of coffee that Clark had saved for me, then I drove home to wake up the boys.  Walked both dogs then ran Stella around the neighborhood for a little over 2 miles.  It was cool and foggy this morning, nice.  

PM - 1.7 mi, 18:54, 11:07 avg

After dinner run/walk with Stella around the neighborhood loop.  New record time.  Becoming more run than walk each time.

9.69 mi, 1:20:05, 8:16 avg

Ran solo from my house and was originally planning on doing 5x2k at goal 10k pace.  After a warmup, and running the first one I was going to grab some water at the golf course water fountain and take a gel but a golf course worker yelled at me about not jogging on the golf course, so no water for me.  I did the second repeat and ran it faster due to being warmed up and just having gotten yelled at.  But, I had started too late, so I headed home.  I thought I would break up the next one and did a 1k repeat to get to my house, woke up the kids of school and then did the second half.  Since it was faster than the original plan I ended up doing just one more.  After all that took another lap around the neighborhood to try and get close to 10 miles.

Summary of speed work: 1st 2k 7:50 (6:20 pace), 2nd 2k 7:45 (6:15 pace), 1st 1k 3:43 (5:57), 2nd 1k 3:39 (5:52), 3rd 5k 3:34 (5:45)

I felt really good about the 1k repeats progressing like that

10.24 mi, 1:39:42, 9:44 avg, HR 121 avg, 136 max

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders.  This morning I ran with Daisy and Leah.  Leah was doing 6 miles and Daisy was doing whatever so we went out and back for about 6 miles, then Daisy and I ran an out and back into Longleaf to get 8 miles.

Drove home, woke up the boys, walked the two dogs, then ran Stella for another two miles.

A bit tired later that morning but glad I got ten in again.  I'll do a little less tomorrow and then make it up after the race on Saturday (Say No to Drugs 10K in Clearwater).

7.15 mi, 1:06:18, 9:16 avg

Ran solo in the neighborhood.  Was feeling a bit tired but also wanted to do a little bit less today due to the race tomorrow.  I ran a little bit over 6 miles, then stopped at home, walked the dogs, and then ran Stella for about a mile.

Say No to Drugs 10K

20th overall, 20th male, 3rd AG  (last race of 45-49 AG)

I did this race 6 years ago and came pretty close to breaking 40 minutes, and with the last 10k I did at just over 42 minutes I was hoping to come someplace in between, maybe break 41 minutes perhaps.

I arrived there in plenty of time, get signed up, warm up a bit, and then get Jamie's stuff for her as she was running a little bit late.  Went to use the POP one last time but this was cutting it too close and ended up running to the starting area and could not get that close to the starting line before it was time to go.  Looked hopeless at first due to the size of the crowd.  But, after about a half mile I was slowly heading towards the pace I wanted and steadily pacing people.  It had taken me 24 seconds to cross the starting line so I figured anyone I was next to I was alread ahead of (sort of) at this point.  

Finished the first mile at 7:01 pace and that was at the top of the bridge.  As I picked up speed I had some hope that I could salvage my race, because 7:01 was my slowest mile at Turkey Trot so if I could hang on maybe still break 42:00.  I passed a big body builder guy wearing a Santa style womans nighty.   The 5k turnaround point came and went and it was no longer a crowd but a very long line stretching pretty far.  On the downhill I was running about a 6:20 pace but didn't hold it once the road flattened out but still ended up with a pretty good 6:30.

I was still passing people including a guy pushing a stroller making it look way too easy.  A few minutes from the turnaround I could see the leader, Michael Poole, with no one nearby behind him.  3rd mile was 6:44, then came the turnaround and passsed 2 or 3 more people as we headed to the roundabout.  The people I was passing must have been fading a bit because my pace was slowly slowing, with the next mile at 6:56.

The next mile was just a straight flat line to the bottom of the Clearwater bridge and a reconverging with the 5K.  The organizers did a good job of announcing before the race for 5k'ers to keep to the right, they had signs posted and course marshalls.  I lost a lot of speed going up the bridge and was hopeful I could get most of it back on the way downhill.  Made it to the helix, wound around to the bottom and made the sharp right turn.  Then just one more shorter hill up before the remaining flat and downhill to the finish.

Miles 5 and 6 were 7:04 and 7:08, but I was still passing people.  There was one more person to close in on, a woman that looked like maybe in her 20's wearing a red outfit.  As I approached the mile 6 sign and headed to the last turn I picked up the pace trying to catch her but she had also picked up the pace and slowly opened up a bigger gap as we ran under the finish clock.  It was a hard fought battle but I could not catch this last runner.  It turns out she was actually 12 and was the first place female for the race.  Although I didn't catch her my chip time was about 20 seconds faster (not sure if this counts as being chicked, not sure what the official rules are, I'm guessing that goes by gun time and not chip time but I wasn't able to find anything on the USATF web site).

Splits: 7:01, 6:30, 6:44, 6:56, 7:04, 7:08, 1:47 (0.3 @ 5:56)

I jogged around a bit to get some cool down miles and ran Jamie back to her car before heading down for awards.  One reason I signed up for the race was for the pancake breakfast, but I couldn't get my stomach to calm down and just had a banana and some juice.  Went up and got Jamie's award (3rd AG F40-44) and then looped back around the stage for mine.  I said I'd bring the boys home some cinnamon melts so was heading straight to my car.  I could hear them announce 50-54 AG awards and heard "Rob Murphy" wasn't sure if it was THE Rob Murphy from FRB, turns out it was, would have been nice to say hi.

1.17 mi warmup, 6.3 mi race, 3.07 mi cool

13.08 mi, 2:01:45, 9:18 avg

I was originally not going to run but my brother was in town and my friends (Renee, Jamie, and Cynthia)  were doing 13 miles, so better to run with company.  We ran at UTBT from Suncoast and 54.  Jim turned back at 3.7 miles.  My legs were tired especially at first and temps were in the low 70's but when the breeze was blowing it was kind of nice.  Good way to start 50!

6.53 mi, 58:36, 8:59 avg, HR 130 avg, 157 max

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders, out and back on Starkey Blvd bike trail.  David was there today and brought coffee.  Good to see everyone.

3.78 mi, 40:13, 10:39 avg

Got back home and took Stella for a run using my new Ruffwear leash that the boys got me for my birthday.  It can be attached around the waist and has a section of bungee to absorb shocks from the dog but as sections you can grab as well that don't stretch.  Worked pretty well and when she was running out in front with a slight pull made the run feel easier.  First mile was almost 15 minute pace because I ran into Stacy and chatted with her a bit but forgot to stop my watch, so I was actually about a 9:10 running pace.

Finally, less than a hundred miles to go to for 3,000 miles in 2016!!

10.11 mi, 1:35:14, 9:25 avg, HR 117 avg, 134 max

Ran in the neighborhood with Joe and Jamie, Daisy was going to join us, but after waiting a bit, found out she had missed her alarm.  We ran about 6.5 miles together, then I stopped by my house and got Stella.  Tried to run together but she was too excited to see Joe so I ran in the opposite direction, eventually meeting up with Jamie and we ran a bit more and Stella seemed to calm down a bit.

11.14 mi, 1:42:01, 9:09 avg, HR 121 avg, 134 max

Ran with Jamie and Daisy this morning.  We all ran together for about 8.5 miles, then I finished off enough more to get to ten miles, before her sister picked her up.  I then took Stella out for a little more to end up with over 11 miles.  Nice and cool 48 degrees this morning.

Only 71.68 more miles to go for 3,000 in 2016!

10.26 mi, 1:33:09, 9:05 avg

Ran with Joe, Jamie, and Daisy from the neighborhood to the Y and back.  Slightly warmer than yesterday so very comfortable.  Traffic was light on the roads so it was a pretty relaxing run.

I was a couple minutes late getting out the door because sometime during the night the cats (pretty sure the dog was not involved), tipped over a house plant and spilled dirt everywhere, so had to get that cleaned up before it got tracked everywhere.

10.0 mi, 1:48:24, 10:50 avg

Ran on the trails at Starkey Park with Ben, Cynthia, Brett, and Evan.  The first 3.5 miles were a bit adventurous when we got stuck in some pretty thick brush and had to slow down basically to a walk for parts of it.  Either in tall grass or in hog turned pot holed sand.  Once we got out of that and onto the mountain bike trail it was actually quite nice.  Low 60's at the start made it not so bad to get lost on the trail for a bit.

In addition to the assortment of interesting Florida birds, saw two deer while on the bike trail. One of them I almost literally ran into because she was so close and blended in I didn't see her until a few feet away.  Then another one appeared from nearby.

10.05 mi, 1:35:27, 9:30 avg

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This might be the most peaceful morning all year to run.  I had been thinking of sleeping in but Jamie did not run yesterday and wanted to run early before her kids got up.  Started out at 6:00 and did a little bit over 7 miles together.  I ran a little bit farther on my own, then walked Stella and ran with her a bit longer to get over 10 miles.  Joe loaned me the dog prong collar which I tried on Stella and made a big difference.  We ran about 1.5 miles I think.

15.17 mi, 2:34:40, 10:11 avg

Ran with Daisy and Claudia.  I was originally planning on 10 miles, maybe 12.  But, Daisy said Claudia needed to run 15 and told her she'd run with her.  I had not run with her before so it was kind of fun to talk to someone that you see all the time but never get a chance to talk to much.  We ran two 3.5 mile loops through Longleaf neighborhoods, stopped briefly as the other Striders were packing up, then did an out and back up Starkey Blvd to Aristide for another 4 miles.  It was cool enough most of the run that we didn't need water and was warmed up enough at the end that it was nice once we stopped.

10.55 mi, 1:40:19, 9:30 avg, HR 120 avg, 158 max

Ran with Jamie in the neighborhood.  Joe had declared maybe the night before (he's about 50/50 pretty much when he says maybe).  Daisy canceled at the last minute due to daughter's ear ache and her sister also sick.   Started just after 6:30, still dark especially with the fog.  Ran into Jamie about halfway to her house.  While running down one of the side streets she was saying how she's not very fast and how she used to be fast (her 5K PR was in Ocotober with a 22:56).  So, I made her run fast for a little bit 6:24 pace for 0.1 mile, and then 6:17 pace for 1 minute.  The quick pick ups actually felt really good and made the rest of the run feel easy.

We ran about 9 miles together, then I stopped at home, walked the two dogs, and then ran Stella about 1.5 miles.

So now, I think I'm less than 16 miles from breaking 3000 for the year.

9.14 mi, 1:23:39, 9:09 avg

Ran at Longleaf, 5:30 with the Striders.  Anthony was there and looking for around the same mileage and pace so we ran together up Starkey Blvd and then to the end of Haltata and back.  It's was pretty foggy making the streets extra dark and making it feel much colder than the low 60's.  Wore one of the new running outfits the boys got me for Christmas.

Headed back home, walked the dogs, and then ran Stella for another 1.5 miles.

6.81 mi, 1:05:09, 9:34 avg

Ran up and down Starkey Blvd with Jamie, Cynthia, and Renee (and also ran into Craig and Diane).  Chilly and windy morning.

I hit my goal of 3,000 miles for the year today, determined to push through with enough December miles.  I was close three years ago but missed it by 100 miles and later regretted.

At the end of the run Jamie suprised me with party poppers.  Unfortunately she did not give Renee a party popper safety lesson and she ended up hitting herself in the face (we stopped Cynthia just in time).

Goal finished one day early!