The Long Run

Ran Trinity Y loop, overall at an 8:08 pace with some of the miles at MP or faster.

Ran on the treadmill, with 2 easy miles and two MP miles, followed by some lower body weight training.

6.2 mile Trinity  Y loop with Randy, Dixie and Eudair.   About 8:21 pace overall.

Ran 11 miles at Starkey park, good warm up on the way out and picked it up on the way back.  Last mile was at 7:11 pace

Ran loop with Eudair, Dixie, Raj , and Randy, about 1 mile was at a 6:40 pace, very hard.  Nice warm up for first 2 miles.

Ran 6.2 mile loop with Eudair, overall pace was 7:46 with the first half slower than the second half.

Ran two loops around the neigborhood, overall pace of 8:18

Ran on treadmill at Y for about 20 minutes.  Did two 800's at 6:22 pace (3:11 800) with warmup and cool down and slower pace between 800's    First time trying this out to see what it would be like

A nice long run in Starkey park. Early start at 6:45 am. Didn't feel too much like running that morning.   Decided I would do 9 miles.  Beautiful morning for running.  At 5 miles just after I had turned around to head back ran into three people I knew and ran with them back in the outbound direction as they were doing 10 miles.  Slowed down a little bit as one of the runners was a newer runner.  Felt good to go the slower pace for  a change although we did pick it up slightly on the way back.  Ended up with 8:48 average pace for the entire run.

Met up with the guys this morning for the usual 6.2 mile run.  Most of it was pretty easy with a buildup at the end.   Last full mile was at 6:57, and 6:30 pace for last .25 miles.  Felt very good today.  Overall pace for the run was 8:19

Met up with Eudair at 5:30 this morning.  It is her week off so she had extra time to run so we did 9 miles.  Ran from the Y out to the horse farm.  I had dropped off some water 3 miles out so we stopped on the way out and the way back for water as well as a short break to stretch at 4.5 miles.  First mile was about 8:40 then we picked it up with some 7:30's and three miles around 7:00 (7:10, 6:55, 6:59).  Felt very good as if I could have gone farther.  Weather was great at about 63 degrees, although very dark in some spots.  Overall pace was 7:58 including three breaks.

 At some points during the run had some mild shin pain which came and went so I'll have to keep an eye on that.
 

 Last week I did 5 runs.  I plan on doing 5 runs this week and then boosting that up to 6 runs in another week or two.   This will give me a good base when I start my 18 week Chicago marathon training in the beginning of June.

 

Took it a little bit easier today.   Out later than usual last night entertaining some foreign visitors, but fortunately not too late!   Did 5 miles around the neighborhood.   Nice and cool out this morning.   Started out slow and easy with 9:20 pace then picked up a little bit with a couple of the miles just under 8:00 , average for the run was 8:26

After warming up on the Arc trainer, lifted some weights for about 1/2 hour then got onto the treadmill.   Today I did 3 800's at 3:20 pace for each one.   Didn't feel quite as hard as last weeks 2 800's.  I'll go for 4 next week.    With 1 mile warmup, and slower speeds between the 800's and cool down it came out to 3.5 miles.   This was on the treadmill which is very convenient but I'll have to get on the track when I get a chance.
 

Decided to cut back a little bit for today's run and just do 7.  Met up at the Y until several of my friends showed up.  Headed out towards the horse farm with David, Eudair, and Barbara.  Eudair and Barbara were going to do 15 today.  3.5 miles out David and I turned back and picked up the pace slightly with last two miles at marathon pace.

Warmed up on the Arc trainer for about 10 minutes, then did about 30 minutes of weight training (upper body).   Got onto the treadmill, ran an easy pace for 1 mile, then did 3 sets of 1/3 mile "hills" (5% grade at 7:35 pace) with 1/3 mile easy running after each one.  Challenging just because it was different.  Very few hills here in Florida, but I might be able to find some to get practice on the real thing.

Was not quite ready for the 5:30 am group run this morning as it was another night out entertaining the customer's from Germany.  So, I did 5 miles through the neighborhood taking a different route from last time.   Total time for the run was 41:34 or about 8:18 pace.  First mile was 9:33 and the rest were between 7:46 and 8:30.    Felt much better at the end of the run than at the beginning.  I'll try for the early run tomorrow and Thursday.

Did the early 5:30 run this morning from the Y, but today it was just me.    A bit harder to get going and get up to a good pace when I'm by myself.  Did the 6.2 mile loop with an average time of 8:03.    Right shin was bothering me slightly again this morning, not any worse than before and maybe getting a little bit better.  I'll try the early run again tomorrow and might take Friday off from running depending on the shin then try a longer run on Saturday maybe 12 or 13 miles.

Made it for the early run this morning.   Met up with Dixie, Eudair , and Randy for the 6.2 mile loop.  Stopped once for water and then a second time because the others stopped for water.  Averaged 8:03 counting the first break of about 1 minute, but only counted some of the second break.  Last mile was at 7:05 pace, could have been a little bit better except for the traffic light and a car pulling out of the parking lot as I was heading in.   So, today was a little bit faster than yesterday's 8:06 average where I did not stop for water.  Runs are easier and go  by quicker when going with other people :)   This morning was a bit warmer than yesterday, about 70 degrees and in the high 90's for humidity.  6 miles is becoming easier which is nice.   Shin was even a little bit better today.  I'll try for a few miles tomorrow then a longer run on Saturday.

Did an upper body weight workout then hit the treadmill for a bit. Ran for just under 30 minutes with a warmup, cool down and a couple miles at marathon pace.

 Would have liked to run a little bit farther this morning but I was already pushing my time to get back home, get ready , and drop son off at school.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are so much easier timewise since I have people to meet at 5:30 then I have plenty of time.  Need to get better about waking up earlier even when I'm not meeting anyone.

 

Met up with Dixie this morning just after 6:30 outside of John Chestnut park.  Ran a 7.2 mile loop through the Lansbrook neighborhood.  Maintained a pretty good pace, the beginning was tough for me because it usually takes me a while to get going but Dixie is the opposite where he can get going quickly - but might fade out later (although usually doesn't).

Dixie had to get going so I then ran another 1.8 miles inside the park by myself (7:57 pace for the 9 miles including one water break) and met up with my wife and kids.  Today was the first annual healthy kids day 1 mile fun run.  I ran with Noah (5 years old) and Jenny ran with Andy (8 years old).

I let Noah go at a pace he could handle, he didn't start out too fast, but just kept on going and going, eventually passing a lot of kids who did start too fast.  He finished with a 10:20 mile.

Andy did really well too finishing with a 9:40 mile.

 Today was a fun day to get 10 miles of running.

10 minute warmup on the Arc trainer, followed by 30 minute of weights (lower body).  Got onto the treadmill for 2 easy miles followed by 2 MP miles.

 Shins still bothering me a little bit (actually just my right shin), not getting any worse but not getting much better.  Hopefully I can shake this.  I'll try to take it a little easier this week.
 

Early morning run with Eudair, Dixie, Raj, and Randy.  6.2 mile loop course.  Brief stop at 4.6 miles for water at which point I must have stopped the timer on the Garmin.  Average pace for the 4.6 miles was 7:51.  Picked up the pace on the way back but I'm not sure what it actually was since the Garmin was not counting it, although pretty sure it was below 7:00 because I did glance at the current pace a few times which was always below 7:00.

5 miles on the treadmill this morning after a short warmup on the arc trainer.  Held back from going fast today.  Fairly easy pace gradually increased throughout the run, with first mile at about 8:35 pace and finishing the last mile at 7:53.

Had about 20 minutes left before that before I needed to head back so did some upper body weights. 

Pretty much an easy run this morning. Met up at 5:30 with Eudair and Raj. Overall pace of 8:10 - nice comfortable run. A little bit of pickup in the middle at about a 7:40 pace for one mile. Great weather for running, low humidity and low 60's.

 I had told Raj that today would be an easy day and itdid feel easy for me today, but two months ago it would not have felt that easy.  It was harder for Raj but he kept up fine although I do get annoyed when others tell me it's going to be an easy run but turns out to be not so easy.
 

After my usual arc trainer warmup and some fairly light lower body weights I did 2 easy miles on the treadmill.  I had signed up for a 5K tomorrow and wanted to run just a little bit today.  Wish I had done at least 1 more mile this morning.

I know that speed shouldn't be my main goal right now but I thought it would be fun do a 5K for a little variety.  My last 5K was back in November.

Maybe I'll do the 1.7 mile neighborhood loop with the kids tonight.
 

Arrived at the beach early and warmed up with just under 2 miles of easy running (about 8:50 pace).

This beach is at the end of a .8 mile causeway. There was a strong wind coming from land (about 15 - 20 miles per hour), but fortunately was not straight on, but almost.

First mile was difficult with the wind but I made it in 6:57, the second mile went much faster and I surprised myself with a 6:13. I could feel myself fading a little bit on the third mile but I made that in 6:40. The finish line was back inside the beach parking lot but it was not a direct line but had one last turn at the very end, so it was hard to go full speed. For the last mile there was a guy that I was pacing. As we got near the finish line I heard him grunt and then he passed me, I started to catch up with him but did not make it into a life and death struggle as I didn't want to risk hurting myself. Instead I just encrouraged him on staying right behind him. He crossed 1.1 seconds ahead of me and I later found out he was in my same age group. So I finished second but that was ok - at least this time :)

5 miles on the treadmill at a fairly easy pace no faster than 8:00 pace, average was 8:24.  Felt a bit sluggish at first but feeling great at 4 miles and had to hold myself back from going faster.   Followed up with some upper body weights, just had time for a little over 20 minutes.

 Going to try and put in at least 36 miles this week.
 

Today's run was a little bit faster than planned.  My ipod headphone cord was tangled up and the others started without me so I had about 45 seconds of catching up with them which meant my first mile, which is usually pretty slow (8:45-9:00), wasn't so slow (8:15).  Then one of the guys who usually doesn't run so fast ran a little bit faster to the first stop.  Randy and Raj were just doing 5 miles today, so Eudair and I split off for the extra mile.  We went a little bit faster on the way back.  Overall pace was 7:37.  It didn't feel that bad but definitely not a slow pace.  Must have helped that I went slower yesterday.   Tomorrow I'll go a little bit slower.

5 miles on the treadmill this morning at the Y.  42 minutes total time with a slow start and a gradual speed increase every half mile until about a 7:45 pace for the last mile.

Warmed up, stretched and did some lower body weights before the run. 

A good solid 6.2 miles this morning with Eudair and Dixie.  Raj and Randy started out with us but were just doing 3 miles today as they are doing St. Anthony's triathlon on Sunday.  David was with us for 4 miles, his return to running after last week's survival in Boston.

Overall pace was 7:58.   Felt good overall.  It's also nice that at least by the end of the run it is now getting light out.

 So far so good, on track to get 36 miles in this week.
 

I went to the Y today but decided to skip the treadmill.  After some light warmup and stretching I headed out to the usual Tue/Thu run area.  Ran for 5 miles  starting out at a pretty slow pace then gradually went faster but stayed at a comfortable pace.   Didn't wear the Garmin today which is good to do now and then.  Time for the run was 39:32 but I'm not sure if it was exactly 5 miles, a little over or a little under.  

Got back inside and had time for about 30 minutes of upper  body weights.

Looks like I'm on track for 36 miles this week, just need 9 more tomorrow, maybe I'll do a little bit more.

It was warm and humid this morning at 75°, felt like it was about to rain but it hasn't yet, maybe later today.  We really need it as all the small ponds are starting to dry up.

Met up with Dixie and Eudair at the Lansbrook Y at 6:15.  Did the first few miles at about an 8:30 pace and stopped for water at the park by the lake.  Headed towards the high school and began to pick things up but not too fast.  Turned around at the high school after a short water break then headed back towards the Y on the bike path.  Pace felt pretty easy but a few of the miles were about 7:35 pace.   Finished back at the Y with a total of 9.2 miles, 8:04 pace overall with 3 of the miles between 7:30 and 7:35.

Made my 36 mile goal for the week. 

 Great weather for running, not too humid and 62°
 

4 miles on the treadmill.  Average pace about 8:15.   Did some lower body weights first.  Definitely felt like a Monday this morning.

Woke up a few minutes earlier (4:55 instead of 5:00) to get a little bit more stretching before the run which seemed to help.  It was just Randy and I today.  We took the first few miles at an easy pace then picked up a little bit to an 8:00 pace.   Randy split off at the point to complete 5 miles and I continued up along the usual 6.2 mile route.  I was feeling good so I took a slightly longer way back to the Y for a total of 7.3 miles.   Overall pace was 7:45.

Going to see the doctor today about an abdominal problem, hurts when I sneeze and it has been months since I've been able to do a good crunch.   Want to get it looked at as Chicago marathon training is approaching. 

5 miles on the treadmill this morning at the Y followed by about 30 minutes of upper body weights.  Overall pace averged 8:05.   Slower and shorter run than yesterday.  Planning on doing at least usual 6.2 tomorrow.

Good turnout for this morning's run, Dixie, Eudair, Keith, Raj, Brian and myself.   Started at with an easy pace for the first mile (9:00).  Stopped twice for some quick water breaks.  Dixie asked if anyone was up for an extra mile so I said sure and we repeated the run I did on Tuesday but did not go as fast today.  Averaged 8:16 for the run.

Met up with Dixie, Eudair and Brian at the Y this morning at 5:30 which we usually don't do except for Tue and Thu.  Ran part of the usual 6.2 mile loop to only do just over 3 miles.  Then headed over to the track at the high school next to the Y where we did 4 800's at 3:20 each (actually between 3:18 and 3:21 which was pretty close) with about 3 minutes of jogging between each one.   Didn't feel too hard which was good as we just wanted to do a little bit.

With the more frequent running I have been doing for the past few weeks I have been feeling more fit than ever. 

Doctor visit a few days ago has worked out really well.  After just two physical therapy appointments my lingering lower abdominal pain when sitting up is pretty much all gone.  Glad I didn't put that off any longer. 

12 miles, starting at the Y this morning. Weather was already warm at 71°. It was Dixie, Eudair, Franco, Barbara and myself. Barbara, Eudair, and Franco were doing 14 miles, but Dixie and myself only had time for 12 miles which was fine as I had put in a pretty good number of miles for me this week already. We were trying to take things slowly and stopped a few times for water until we had done 7 miles. The last 5 miles were pretty solid with no stopping and miles splits ranging between 7:45 and 8:05. It had warmed up at the end and was 77° and feeling even more humid. With the slower pace at the beginning and breaks counted, the total average pace was 8:42, total time 1:44:28

It's been a good week for running :)

Ran a 5k distance with the boys this morning.  Andy is going to do a Mother's Day 5K next week with Jenny.  Noah wanted to go along on this morning's run.  We stuck with Noah's pace which overall was 12:35 - not too bad for a 5 year old.  Andy could have gone a lot faster but that's ok since today wasn't the race.

Decided to take one day off from running even though yesterday was a very light day.  Still though, it was 7 days in a row of running.    

Did 20 minutes on the Arc trainer and then about 45 minutes of upper body weights. 

Another physical therapy appointment this morning, lower abdominal strain is almost all gone now. 

Early run, met up at 5:30.  Brian, Raj, Randy, Dixie and myself were there.  We almost left without Dixie as he showed up at 5:33.  Not sure where Eudair was today.   It was colder this morning than it had been in about a  month, about 54°.  I felt very sluggish but kept up ok with everyone else, just didn't feel very energetic.  A little bit faster on the last 1.2 miles.  Average pace for the run was 8:10 with one short water break.

Ran by myself this morning.   Warmed up a little bit first on the elliptical trainer, then headed outside.  Started out slow but not too slow with an 8:10 for the first mile then picked things up to about 7:30 pace and held it there.  A few of the miles were a little bit faster, but nother faster than 7:15.  Overall pace was 7:33.   I think I could have held this pace for at least 2 more miles before it became a real struggle.  Felt a lot less sluggish today compared to yesterday, might have been the extra 45 minutes of sleep.   I'll go a bit slower tomorrow.

Early run this morning at the Y at 5:30.  Eudair, Randy, myself and a new guy named Randall who is going to do the Marine Corps marathon in October.   Started out pretty easy, with a gradual picking up towards the end.  I tacked on one more mile at the end as I was feeling good.   Went faster but not all out, 6:45 pace.  Overall pace for today's run was 8:03

Met up with Dixie and Eudair at the Y this morning at 5:30.  Did an easy warmup of 3.1 miles around the Kinsmere loop.  Headed over to the track at the high school where Dixie and I did 4 800's at 3:20  (each one was either 3:18 or 3:19, we didn't hit 3:20 exactly).  We jogged one lap between each 800.   Total mileage turned out to be 6.2 with an average pace overall of 7:46 (not counting the walk from the Y to the high school).

It was supposed to be smokey this morning (from the north Florida fires) but turned out to be ok when we were running.  Unfortunately the smoke still came.  Andy is supposed to be finishing his "marathon" today at school.  His 2nd grade class has been walking one mile each day (a few days have been 2 miles when they needed to catch up).   The kids have really loved doing this.  If it is too smokey today, hopefully they can finish up on Monday.

Met up at Starkey park this morning at 6:30 - it was Dixie, Keith, Eudair and myself.   Wanted to get started before it got smokey out which could have been as early as 8:00 but has so far not shown up.  First 4 miles out were at an easy pace, although it felt hard to get started.  Eventually things fell into place.  After 4 miles, slowly picked things up.  Had to tell the others to slow down at one point because everyone was feeling good but we all said we didn't want to go too fast today.    Overall pace was 7:57.

Ran the "I love Mother's Day" 5k and 1/2 mile run.   Jenny and Andy ran the 5k as a mother/son team.  It was Andy's first 5k with a time of 30:47.  I ran the 1/2 mile race with Noah in just under 5 minutes.  Noah wasn't too happy about not being able to do the 5K, but other than that we had a great time.

After a fun day yesterday of eating too much, it was time to get back on track.   Made it to the Y just after 6:30.   Had time to warm up and stretch then did 5 miles on the treadmill.   Overall pace was 8:20/mile with the fastest mile at 7:47.    Then had time for about 30 minutes of lower body weights.  Did some ab work with a little discomfort someone between none and mild.

Met up at 5:30 this morning at the Y with Randy, Randall, Dixie, Eudair and David.  Dixie was going a bit faster than usual but I did not try to keep up with him.  Overall pace was 7:44 with the last mile at 7:13.  First few miles were fairly easy.  Pretty good weather this morning with the temp and humidity not too hot and no smoke.

Ran by myself this morning.  Arrived at the Y just before 6:30.  Stretched and then warmed up a little bit on the arc trainer, then headed outside.  Took the same route as last Wed, the Kinsmere loop then down Grimsby and Wyndtree but went a little bit farther today.  Was feeling good on the last mile and picked things up and did that mile in 6:58 although this wasn't what I planned on doing.   Overall pace was 7:27.  If it wasn't for going faster the last mile I think I could have comfortably done a couple more miles at 7:30 without too much effort.  But as it was I was a bit tired after finishing, although I did have enough left for about 30 minutes of upper body weights.

No nosense easy run today.  Dixie, Randy , and I headed out from the Y just after 5:30.  Randy has a race this weekend so just did 4 with us.  Dixie and I did the usual 6.2 route but did the initial  1 mile spur at the end rather than at the beginning.  Felt really good especially at the end and wanted to go faster but Dixie was the voice of reason this morning and we just held steady with the pace.  

 
8:07 overall pace.

No running today, just 20 minutes on the rowing machine, and 30 minutes of lower body weights. Also did some ab work this morning which was completely pain free, so the doctor visit and physical therapy sessions really paid off.

Wanted to take today off to see if I feel "fresher" for tomorrow's run.  6 days a week has been working pretty good for me but I tend to get a lot of criticism that I am running too much, even though I'm not doing any more miles than I would be doing in 5 days. 

Ran through various neighborhoods near the Y.  Met up at 6:30 with Joe and Dixie.  Started off with 8:40 pace for the first mile.  Several miles were around 8:00 or just over 8:00.

Joe split off after 10 miles then Dixie and I continued on for another 3.  Paces were pretty steady, not too hard but not slow.  Last 3 miles were a little bit faster and started feeling a little bit harder.  We decided to back it down slightly for the very last mile.   As we were finishing up, I noticed we were just under 13 miles.  I also noticed that if we ran another .1 miles I would have a new half marathon PR.  That wasn't really the point of today's run, but it was a fun way to finish up.  Overall pace was 7:48.

Just 4.5 miles on the treadmill, followed by upper body weights.  About 8:20 pace overall, with last mile at 7:50.    Run felt pretty good although I'm trying to fend off an emerging sore throat.  Hopefully I'll be better by tomorrow morning.

Usual Tuesday morning run at Y starting at 5:30.   Eudair, Dixie and myself today.  Went a little bit slower with an overall pace of 8:12.  Last mile at 7:17.

This morning's run was very enjoyable despite still having a little bit of sore throat, but that is almost gone now. 

Another nice and cool morning for running.  Ran by myself this morning.   Left from the Y after a short warmup and stretching inside.  Planned on running 1 easy mile followed by 4 at 7:30 then 1 mile easy.  Unlike last week when I did 1 mile easy followed by 6 miles faster than planned including the last mile much faster than planned, this week I pretty much stuck to the plan.  The 4 miles were just under 7:30 (7:23 - 7:29).  Last mile was at 7:55.   This week I did not feel worn out at all, although not perfect as there is a little bit left over of what I was fighting off yesterday but I think it is mostly gone now.

 Overall pace was 7:35.
 

Met up at the Y at 5:30.  Dixie and Randy were not there.  Raj was there (finally!).   Eudair came by but was just finishing up her run.  Raj and I did the 6.2 mile loop at a pretty comfortable pace.  The weather was perfect.   I figured that since I went fast yesterday I didn't need to go fast today.  Overall pace was 8:24 with the last mile the fastest at 7:42.  One minute stop for water included in total time.

This morning was somewhat stressful and busy and I almost did not do any running.  Then I figured that it wasn't that busy that I didn't have time for 3 miles.  3 easy miles on the treadmill 25:00 minutes or about 8:20 average.   Did some weights too as I seem to be shrinking quickly with the running, trying to stay balanced.  But then again, the few pounds I have to carry for 26.2 miles the less energy required.

6:30 morning run at John Chestnut park.  Met up with Dixie and Joe and headed north up the bike path.  Did a loop through a neigborhood at the end of the bike path and then wound back through some different neigborhoods on the way back.  Very fortunate again with a starting temperature of  68°.  Overall pace of 7:56.

4 miles on the treadmill this morning.  Felt a bit stiff from the weekend but much better after the run.  Thought about not running then decided to just do 3 which seemed kind of lame, so I did 1 more.  Finished off with some lower body weights.

Another early morning Tuesday run at the Y. It was David, Raj, Randy, Randall and myself. A nice easy first mile, started feeling really good after two miles. Continued easy but a little bit faster for the next two. Started picking up after 4 miles to a 7:35 pace, then picked up the last 1.2 miles, especially after crossing the traffic light to a 6:54 pace. It felt challenging but very controlled and no where near all out.

Overall pace was 7:53 

Slightly warmer this morning at 72°, maybe this is finally the end to the cooler weather.

Just to see where I am at, I attempted a training run from the book "Run Less, Run Faster". It was quite difficult. Goal was for 10-20 minute warmup, 3 * 1600 m at 6:22 each with one minute rest intervals followed by 10 minutes of cool down. First 1600 was at 6:19 (actually going off of a 1 mile lap, but pretty close .01 miles farther), second was 6:24 (possibly a 6:22 1600). Towards the end of the second one I bargained with myself that if I made the time I would just try for under 7:00 on the last 1600. Since I wasn't sure if I actually made the second one in time, I went a little bit faster on the last one than my bargain, with a 6:42. Then I jogged back to the parking lot for my cooldown, about 10 minutes or so.

Went into the gym for about 30 minutes of upper body weights. 

It was just slightly warm, about 71° , and a little bit of smokey haze, just enough where you could see it and smell it.

Ok, looks like I'm not quite ready for this sort of pace, but I'm not that far off either. It was good to see where I'm at as far as speed goes.

I'll just keep putting in the miles and try again later.

David invited us to his house to run instead of the Y.  Got there at 5:45, then started running about 5 minutes later.  3.25 miles up at a fairly easy pace then picked it up a little bit on the way back.  It was David, Dixie, Randy, Keith and myself.  On the way back Dixie started picking it up, I began falling back as I didn't want to go too fast until he said "Mark are you with me?" so I caught back up with him.  Overall pace was 7:48.

 Got back to David's house for some coffee, juice, bagels, and bananas on his front porch.  Karen and Barb were back from their run.  It was a nice change of scenery from the usual routes.

The cooler weather is finally disappearing, but it was still very comfortable weather for running.
 

Since yesterday was faster than planned and was not a recovery day for the fast running on Wednesday I just did 3.5 today on the treadmill.  I also warmed up with 10 minutes on the rowing machine for something slightly different.  30 minutes of lower body weights after the run.

Tomorrow I'll do a good long run since I really enjoy those a lot. 

10 miles of mostly "easy" running this morning.  I arrived at the Y just after 6:30.  It had been raining pretty steadily all night but let up a little bit when it was time to wake up.  I was debating what to do if it was raining too hard.  Maybe an hour on the treadmill or maybe run tomorrow.  When I arrived, Karen and Regina had already started to run, there was a light sprinkle.  Dixie, David, Randall and Bob showed up.  The rain had stopped so we started out.  We made it out about 2.5 miles with no rain, then the rain started, pretty light at first.   At the horse farm Eric had caught up to us after starting at least 5 minutes after us.  The rain got steadily worse.  Instead of heading straight back, Dixie, Eric and I went a slightly longer route back to get in 10 miles.  The last 2 miles were pretty intense with a strong wind (maybe 25-30 mph) and a soaking rain.

I let the time keep running for all of the breaks today.  I did stop at at one point when we stopped and knocked on someone's door because a tree in front of their house was rubbing against a power line, causing a visible ball of electricity, some smoke and blackening the end of the tree limb.  The guy who answered the door thanked us and said "Do you guys do a long run each Saturday?"   So we invited him to join us next week.

 Overall pace was 8:02
 

I had a little bit more time this morning, so I came closer to what I should be doing on a daily basis which is 6 miles.  5.1 miles on the treadmill, just under 40 minutes with the first 3 miles easy, 2 miles at about 7:30 per mile, then a brief cool down at the end.  

Followed with 30 minutes of upper body weights. 

5:30 morning run at the Y.  David, Randy and I showed up.  It was already a warm and very humid 76° at the start of the run.  Had a nice easy start (about 8:30 for the first mile), then Randy picked things up a bit after about almost 2 miles which we kept up until a short water break.   David picked things up after the break and I kept up with him.  The air was very thick and it was noticeably harder than usual.  The pace progressive got faster with the last two miles at 7:07 and 6:43, then cooled down a little bit for the last .3

Overall pace was 7:22 

Ran by myself this morning.  Picked another run from my upcoming marathon training program.  Today's run was one of the temp runs, much more attainable than the last track workout I tried.  I did two miles easy, which ended up being a about 8:10 each, then the goal was two miles at 6:54 - this turned into 6:49 and 6:51.  I wanted to hit each mile at 6:54 but I was afraid of coming in too slow so I did each one slightly faster than goal.   Last two miles were supposed to be easy.  The fifth mile was 7:35 - a little too fast for easy but it felt much easier compared to the previous two miles, then the final mile was just over 8:00.

 Average pace was 7:34.  This run was challenging but not all out, felt pretty good when finished, then did about 20 minutes worth of lower body weights.

The weather was about the same as yesterday, about 76° and humid but it didn't seem as bad for running so maybe the humidity was down slightly today.

I didn't get much sleep last night because my older dog kept on waking me up to go out, she does this from time to time.  She's very persistent when she does this.  Then I kept on waking up also.  My wife woke up a few times.  No one was in a great mood this morning.
 

Ran at David's house again this morning.  Raj and Randy were also there.  Some of the others who might normally have been there were on vacation or had other commitments.  Met up about 5:40 (10 extra minutes of sleep!).  Did a nice easy pace on the way up, stopped and grabbed a water then headed back.   Back was a little bit faster at about 7:50.  Average for the round trip including the break was 8:16.  Temp was about 70° and humidity was not bad, pretty much perfect out.  Had some bagels and coffee after the run on David's porch.

A little bit over 5 miles on the treadmill this morning.  Easy pace for most of it with a slight pick up at the end, then a gradual slow down for the last 0.1.  Total time was 41:30 or about 8:09 if my math is right.  

6:45 run this morning with Joe and David.  Looped through some slightly different routes for a partial change of pace.  Weather was not too bad with some cloud cover blocking out most of the direct sun.   Last few miles were starting to feel hot with a temp about 84° and humidity there but not terrible.   First 10.5 were with Joe and David then I headed back out for a few more.   Pace was pretty good with the second half faster than the first half.

We were thinking about maybe starting these Saturday runs a little bit earlier to avoid the heat. 

 Average pace for entire run was 7:47
 

Did 5.3 easy miles on the treadmill.  The first mile was pretty slow with a buildup to an 8:35 pace which I held until the last mile, with a slight increase to 8:20.  Enjoyed the slower and steady pace.  I'm not sure I broke much of a sweat.  But it felt good just the same.

The air felt very thick this morning. Temp was about 79°, humidity about 82%

Not terrible I suppose in that it will get worse. Also I looked up heat index chart and it said that any heat below 80° does not have a significant heat index.

Dixie, Randall, Randy, Keith, David and myself - a pretty good attendance for a Tuesday.

6.2 mile loop, first mile at 8:28 , second mile at 8:10 but it felt much harder. Started to pick up the pace. When I looked at my Garmin the pace was usually about 20 seconds slower than it felt. Had a nice strong finish at the end.

7:49 pace overall.

Today was a much nicer day for running.  Even though I started later this morning than yesterday it was much cooler, about 73°.  I think it rained a bit just before I woke up this morning.  Did one easy mile, then did 4 miles at a faster pace, backed down slightly for the 5th mile then took it easy for the last half mile.   Maintained a good pace but didn't feel like I was pushing too hard.

Average pace was 7:27 

Another very pleasant morning for running.  Actually, another few degrees cooler and it would have almost been chilly.  Met up at David's house again this morning.  Also there were Raj, Randy, and Keith.  Up Starkey Blvd bike trail for 3.25 miles and then back, up and a little bit of the back were at an easy pace, then we started to pick up on the way back for a strong finish.

Average pace: 7:37 

My left foot was bothering me a little bit yesterday.  It's not really hurt just bothering me, so I took it a little bit easy today without totally skipping a run.

4.5 easy miles on the treadmill, about an 8:35 pace.

I'm hoping to be nice and fresh for tomorrow's 5K.   I'm interested to see what if any improvements I've made in the last two months since the last 5K.  I certainly feel a lot stronger now. 

I wanted one more 5K before I start my "official" Chicago marathon training next week.  It was a very small race sponsored by the local Habitat for Humanity so it was also for a good cause.  There were about 30 runners including myself and Randall (who has often run with me the last 2 months).  The race took place in Starkey park which has a nice paved bike trail.  The course was pretty much straight out and back except for the first .1 miles and last .1 miles.  I warmed up with 2.5 mile at 9:00 pace.  It was already starting to get warmer, about 85° by the time the race started.  There was some shade on the way out but full sun on the way back in.  I did better on the first two miles but slowed down a little on the last mile.   I had a new problem today, I didn't have anyone to chase down so it was just me against myself.  Maybe I could have gone faster if there was someone else out in front but not having anyone in front was also nice.  I'm not too far off from one of my goals of breaking 20:00 5k.

I won a $50 gift certificate to Dick's Sporting Goods and a nice engraved hammer as the "trophy" 

Now I can concentrate more on endurance because due to many different charts my 5K time reasonably predicts that I have the capability with the proper training of getting a 3:20.  This 5K was 38 seconds faster after two pretty solid months of steady running. 

5 easy miles this morning on the treadmill and some on the Arc trainer. I still felt a little bit low on energy this morning. On Friday afternoon I felt like I was coming down with something but was relieved to find out Saturday morning that I wasn't sick. After doing the 5k I felt great but felt somewhat tired early that evening. Repeat pattern on Sunday. Tired again this morning but that was ok because I didn't have very much planned as far as a difficult workout. Tomorrow's is supposed to be more mileage and more intense so hopefully I'll be up for it.  If I'm not up for it I'll just do my best to get the miles in.

I pretty much felt back to 100% this morning.  Maybe not when I first got out of bed but by 5:30 when it was time to run I was ready.  Dixie and Randy were there this morning.  Dixie wasn't feeling great so he turned around after going out two miles.   I did some 1 mile repeats which were better than last time I tried this.  I set my goals a little bit lower, aiming for 6:30 each.  The times were 6:30, 6:25, and 6:20.   With the warm up and cool down it came out to 6.5 miles.

Average pace: 8:03 

Did some cross training today.  Just over 20 minutes on a stationary bike which was very boring although it was not very easy and I worked up a good sweat.  Decided to do a little bit of running also so I did 5k on the treadmill.    The top of my left foot is bothering me a bit.  I had this happen once before from lacing up my shoes too tightly and it got better by itself.  I'm keeping an eye on it, hopefully it's not a stress fracture.

Ran with Keith this morning.  He had emailed me yesterday and was interested in doing a tempo run.  Met up at 5:30 and waited a few minutes to see if Dixie would show up - he did not.   We did two easy miles, then did two miles planned at 6:54 which ended up being 6:54 and 6:46, then slowed down for the remainder.  Last mile sped up a little bit to about 7:40 but it still felt a lot slower and easier.   Temp was close to 80°, it was high humidity but a few light sprinkles of rain made it feel much cooler.

No running today. Foot was bothering me a little bit even with slow running.  Not too bad, but thought I would try and extra day of running rest.

I did however swim for 30 minutes which was extremely hard for me since I don't swim very much and don't know how to correctly do the strokes.   I did keep at it and it was a pretty intense cardio workout especially due to my bad form.

Followed up with 30 minutes of upper body weights, mostly lower weight and higher reps.

Foot was ok when starting out. A little bit of discomfort after 2.5 miles but it never got any worse after that. Started out relatively slow but never picked it up too much. Goal was to do 13 miles at 8:09 pace which I accidentally overcompensated for the slower start and ended up with a 7:54 pace. It was pretty hot when I finished, about 85º of non-dry Florida heat. Fortunately there was some shade along the route.

It was just me by myself running today.  Since that was the case I didn't have to worry about taking breaks when everyone else wanted to and then waiting to get started again.  In those cases I either don't stop the clock making it look like I ran much slower or do stop the clock and wonder about what my real pace was.  So, today I stopped three times for water - there were some drinking fountains along the way so I did not have to carry any with me.  I made the stops as brief as possible and just let the clock run the whole time. 

I ran breifly with a woman who was going for a 40 mile run and was training for the Badwater ultramarathon race in Death Valley, 135 miles. Hard to imagine.

No running today.  But I did do 30 minutes on the rowing machine then 30 minutes of light weight/high reps.

I was supposed to run this morning.  But something ominous happened.  My wife suggested that I take the day off.   She never tells me to do that.  We pretty much have an agreement between us that it is our job to tell the other person to go exercise when they don't feel like it.  Oftentimes when you don't feel like going that is when you need to exercise the most. 

It was very hard not to run today. 

One more day of no running.  I did stationary bike for just over 30 minutes, then another 30 minutes of weights.    At least the bike was easier this time compared to last time.  Hoping for a completely pain free run tomorrow.

Well, after taking off a few days from running to see if my foot gets better I tried running today.  I resisted the urge to do a tempo run that someone else was doing and stuck with the "slow" group.  Ended up with overall 8:14 pace.  Aerobically, it felt very good and easy.  I was a little worried that it would feel hard because I missed more days in a row than I have for a long time.  About 2.5 miles into the run foot started to ache a little bit.  As usual, it wasn't bad and never got worse but it was still there.   One of the guys I run with is a physical therapist and he seems to think it sounds like tendonitis but I think I'll see the doctor just in case it is worse than that.

Did some swimming this morning.  Just over 20 minutes.  At least it was something.  I'm not a very good swimmer but today I got a little bit better at breathing while attempting free style.   Did some ab work and light leg work (leg extensions and leg curls, nothing weight bearing) after the swim.

 Had my doctor appointment which went pretty good.  Diagnosis is tendonitis.  I'm still a little bit afraid of there being a stress fracture that the x-ray won't see.  However based on the low level of pain and the lack of pain keeping me up at night the doctor did not think there was enough there to justify a bone scan.   The bump on top of my foot is probably some irritation to the bone covering, possibly going back to when I dropped a bucket of sand on my foot six years ago and does not neessarily indicate a stress fracture.   And, at least she didn't say anything like "I can't believe you ran on this yesterday!"    So, overall that was good news.

I'll try a not very far and slow run tomorrow after a good warmup.

 

Good long run today.  Absolutely no pain for the first 5 miles then a little bit after that which showed up after five miles, wasn't very much and never got worse.  This was an improvement over the last couple of runs.  Kept the pace pretty reasonable.  A few miles were faster but most were around 8:00 with some longer.  Overall pace was 8:14.  Ran the first 10 miles with David.  Joe and Bob were with us for the first 7.  I headed back out after the 10 with David.  It was warming up and was a bit humid today.  Temperature at the end was 83º.

I didn't run today although I had planned on it.  Decided on one more foot rest day.  I also spent time wondering why I ran 15 miles on Saturday and didn't stop after ten or twelve.  At least I didn't make things worse.   My first goal for Chicago is to make it to the starting line, followed by completing it, followed by various time related goals which I haven't nailed down yet but will thing about it as my training continues.

I did do 6 minutes on the arc trainer followed by 30 minutes on the rower and 30 minutes of weights. 

A hot and sticky run this morning - actually more sticky than hot as it was "only" 77º.

I resisted the urge to go faster and instead did an 8:14 pace, with first mile at 9:00 pace and the rest between 8:00 and 8:20.

It's a good thing that I resisted because my foot is not 100% but is getting close, a little bit of discomfort on top of foot last 0.5 miles.    I did not use the extra padding today like I did on Saturday.  I laced up my shoe a little bit loose, maybe too loose as it was sliding toward the end and I could feel the top of my foot hitting the tongue and lace area of my shoe.

Was alone for the run this morning, but that was ok.  Easier to do exactly the pace you want to do - at least when it is an easy pace.  No one tempting you to go too fast.

My new "program" called from temp run with 2 easy and 4 at 7:09 but I don't think I'm ready to get back into that for now.  Actually this is a new program with 3 20 mile runs instead of 5 and one "speed" session (either tempo or intervals but not both in same week) with some weeks off.  Seems pretty sensible.

 Anyway, run went pretty well, ended up doing 6.7 miles.  First two were slower (8:32 and 8:20), third mile was a bit faster.   Refilled my gatorade bottle at the Y with water, then turned around.  Going out there was 3.7 miles, then I took a slightly different way back for a 3.0 mile return trip.  Last mile I picked it up a bit to 7:18.

Average pace was 7:51, probably a little faster than intended. 

 Put some extra padding on the top of my foot.  Pain is better but not all gone yet.

I was drenched in sweat at the end of the run.  It didn't feel that hot when I started out but it was pretty hot at the end with the usual Florida summer humidity.



 

Run over at David's house. Up and back down the Starkey Blvd bike path. Keith was there also. They had both just down July 4th 10 k's and were not up for anything too fast which was just fine with me. We went up the trail at about an 8:30 pace. The mile which included the turn around and chance to grab some water was 9:11. Picked things up slightly on the way back, then finally at the last 0.5 mile, Keith and I started going faster, picking up to a 6:30 pace.

No pain in foot on the way up, a little bit on the way back. It was strange that it started feeling better for the last 0.5 mile which helps confirm the Dr's diagnosis of it not being a stress fracture.

Overall pace was 8:20 which is pretty much where I wanted it to be. Weather was a little bit nicer with the heat and humidity combination being tolerable.

I felt good today afterwards because I have now had 3 good days in a row, all run outside.  I feel like I can get back on course for some good solid preparation as the marathon is starting to feel like it is coming up fast. 

Did some swimming this morning but did not run.  Did some weights but not too heavy.  Foot feeling a lot better.  I think I should be up for my 12 mile run tomorrow.  Maybe try 5 runs next week.  At the very least I won't skip two days in a row.  Hopefully some of the Las Vegas heat will cool down a little by next Saturday when I want to do 14 miles.  Normal low for this time of year is supposedly 78 which I can handle.  A few degrees more might be ok.

12 mile run this morning. Most of it with David and Keith. Tried to get an early start but I was a couple minutes late, but still I think we got going about 6:20. It was already warm when we started. The usual high humidity and about 80° Stopped several times for water/gatorade. Picked things up for the last three miles with 7:17, 7:26 (slowed down for traffic light), and 6:56 for the final mile. After doing 15 last Saturday today's run felt much easier and I had a lot left over, except right after the last mile.

Average pace was 8:05

Pretty good week for running, although it was only four runs I stayed consistent.  My foot continues to get better. 

7.2 easy miles.  Although, as usual, warm and humid.  I'm hoping that 80º and  humid is good preparation for running in Las Vegas where it will be low 80's before the sun comes up but very low humidity.  No pain at all in the top of my foot.   Ran by myself today, there seem to be fewer people running on a regular basis these days between vacation plans and the less than ideal running conditions.

 Good run for a Monday morning, only one day off running since Saturday.
 

Average pace: 8:11 

Cross train day today.  Warm up on arc trainer (about 10 minutes) then 34 minutes on the rower.  I can remember when 20 minutes on the rower was difficult, now I just keep going.  Felt like I could have gone on a lot longer but today was not knock yourself out day :)

 A day off from the heat and humidity was also nice.

Based on what weather.com tells me, the heat humidity combo during the morning is equivalent to the higher heat / lower humidity combo of Las Vegas but I'll have to wait and find out for myself when I get there later this week.
 

6.1 Miles , average 8:06 pace.  Felt cooler out at start of the run for some reason even though thermometer read the same at beginning and end of the run - 80º

No pain whatsoever in my left foot today, either on the top of it or the big toe so I think I may have turned this one into just a close call.

7 miles tomorrow morning then off to Las Vegas to see how I do in the heat.  My wife will be competing in the Women's Tri-Fitness competition, she has been training very hard for this.  Once finished with that she'll get back to running and training for the Disney half marathon in January which she'll run with her Mom and 3 sisters. 

7.5 easy miles (about 8:14 pace).  Ran by myself at 5:30.   No one else had showed up, although I ran into some people about 3/4 through my run as they had started later in the morning.  They would have told me but thought I had left for vacation already :)

 Temp was warm (81 degrees) and humid as usual.  I think I'm getting used to these.
 

My first dry run :) This was one of my most challenging and rewarding runs. Everything felt different but it worked out fine. Running in Las Vegas! I woke up at 4:30 but fell back asleep until 4:52. Seeing how late it was I got moving quickly. I got into the car and drove out of town a little bit so I could run on the roads. I had spotted some roads that looked pretty good the day before. I was able to start my run at 5:30, already 86 degrees with the sun coming up. I took my water belt and carried a bottle in one hand.  The water belt has two 20 oz bottles which I usually don't take but instead put one 12 oz gatorade and one 16 oz water, but today used the two bigger bottles, one with water and one with Accelerade. 

The first 3 miles were very hard and I couldn't seem to go faster then 9:00. The first three miles were something like 9:50, 9:30, and 9:10.  But I figured that didn't matter. Eventually I was doing 8:30 miles. Once I got just past 7 miles I turned around. At that point the run got a lot easier. I realized I had been going up a slight incline the whole way. The run back was much easier due to running down a decline and carrying less and less weight.  I was doing miles between 7:35 and 7:40 the return trip with what seemed to be less effort on the way out. Final average was 8:13 pace.  1:02 to where I turned around at 7.1 miles, finish time at 14 miles was 1:54.

Another run in Las Vegas.  Started out at 5:30 but this time just decided to run starting from near the hotel.  We were at a different hotel than on Saturday, so the night before I looked over some maps to pick out a route.  Unfortunately, it turned out that part of my planned route was through a private neighborhood and apparently they don't make exceptions for runners.  So, I just went around it, which was probably just as well as I was able to see more things.  The only drawback was that it meant running on more sidewalks.  It seemed a little cooler out than on Saturday but not a whole lot.  Started out slow and gradually picked things up.  By 5.5 miles, I had averaged 8:30 pace.  I wanted 8:24 so I figured I would pick things up some more -  I was planning on running 7 miles.  I seemed to get a little bit lost and ended up doing an extra 1.2 miles.  The last two miles were at 7:05 and 6:52, and about 8:00 for the last .2, followed by some walking around the parking lot to stretch things out.

This is my new longest Monday run, and second longest run while on vacation. 

Average pace: 8:09 

Pretty much an easy run day. Ran from hotel down to UNLV, a little bit on the grounds there, and then back up.  Heat wasn't too bad.  Picked up a little bit for the last mile and ended up with an average pace of 8:20.

No running today.  But I did hike 2.2 miles on the Bright Angel trail in the Grand Canyon (1.1 down and then back up) with 3 other adults and 5 kids ranging from 5 - 12.  It all worked out surprisingly well with very little complaining.  Of course the scenery was wonderful and everyone seemed to like going back up better than going down.

Another morning run in Las Vegas.  Ran down through convention center and into Howard Hughes Pkwy which has no traffic in the morning and lots of shade trees.  Felt very sluggish at first but gradually warmed up.  Last mile at 6:59.  Average for run was 8:05.

Well, this really should go with last week's training. Due to traveling was not able to do my Saturday run until Sunday.   This is going to make my mileage for this week look pretty big for me. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see the temp at only 73º when I started my run this morning just before 7:00. I ran alone at Starkey park, going out to the end of the bike trail and up the Suncoast pkwy trail for about 1.5 miles. Did a good job of taking it easy on the way out. Ran faster on the way back with the last mile at 7:06. With 3 miles left to go it started to sprinkle which felt good to run through and kept the temperature from going above 75º. It could have been a miserable run but turned into a pretty good one.  I noticed that there were two extra water stops that weren't there before.  I refilled my water bottle a little bit two different times to make sure I didn't run out.

Average pace: 8:02

Did some cross training today.  Recovering from yesterday's run.  12 minutes on arc trainer, 20 minutes on the bike, and about 30 minutes of upper body weights.   Calves felt a little bit tight but not terrible.

Another nice day for running, 74º and very reasonable humidity.  Before leaving for my vacation mornings were warm and humid, then I had a week of running hot and dry, now it is much nicer and very much appreciated.  No one ran with me this morning, the regulars seemed to have dropped off a bit right now.  

Ran at the neighborhoods near the Y.  Started out slow, felt all recovered from Sunday's run but thought taking it easy would be wise.  First mile at 9:14, picked up a little bit faster each mile with  the last two miles at 7:32 and 7:16.  Ran the last .2 miles with the high school cross country coach who was leading his pack back in.

8 miles at 8:08 pace. 

This morning's run was kind of interesting.  I wasn't expecting to run with anyone and got a little bit later of a start.  Just past 6:30 I was at the Y, I saw my friend Jenny who was talking to another lady named Anne Marie.  Anne Marie asked if I wanted to run "with these guys" - who were the high school cross country team, they were all doing 10 miles, but there was another guy there who was not on the team but ran with them who was only doing 8 that day.  So, I went along with them.   Started out with an easy 8:38 pace for the first mile, followed by 8:08, gradually picking things up.  On the way back got caught at a really long traffic light, maybe about 45 seconds or so.  Weather was pretty good again at about 74° and pretty reasonable humidity for Florida.

I was invited back for speed work on Mon and Fri but I think that would be asking for it :) 

Average pace: 7:49 

Another 8 miles this morning.  Alone.  8 miles is starting to feel easy which is a good sign.  Started out at 8:50 pace, then just kept on running without trying to increase pace but it seemed to go up slowly by itself 8:11 -> 8:09 -> 8:07, last two at 7:32 and 7:26.

 Temperature has gone back up but still not too bad, 76° and a somewhat stick 75% humidity.

A bunch of people will be running on Saturday so I will do 10 miles with them at 6:00 am.

Overall average pace: 8:02 

10 mile run with David, Dixie, and Randall.   Hadn't seen Dixie for a while, so it was good to run with him again.  We met up at 6:00 at the Y, waited a few minutes for Joe (who couldn't make it but I didn't check my email), got moving at about 6:10.  Pretty easy pace most of the way, stopped a few times for water.  I do enjoy running with other people but the stops always seem to take longer.  Had a couple of faster miles at the end at about marathon pace.

Weather was pretty decent with not too much sun, a reasonable 75° and average humidity.

Overall pace was 8:22

Woke up not feeling much like going on a run, but that's ok because there are days like that.  I got moving and was able to start my run just after 6:30.  Ran alone this morning with a 12 oz bottle of gatorade for company.  Started out with a couple of slow miles, built up a little bit faster and ended with the last 2.2 miles at about marathon pace.  Felt like going a lot faster for the last mile but held back a little bit as this wasn't supposed to be a fast day.

Average pace: 7:59 

Weather getting back to normal, 80° and 68% humidity.

I thought today would be an easy run, but it was just David and I and he was up for something a little bit faster so I went along.  It rained very early this morning but didn't cool down much so the run was warm (80°) and sticky (86 % humidity).  First mile at 8:19, then kept on increasing the pace.  Garmin said that 6th mile was at 5:52, but that is highly suspect as the mile before was 7:15 and the last .4 was at 6:53 so I'm guessing around 7:00 give or take 5 seconds - also I have never run a mile that fast, although maybe I could?  I need to try out it out sometime.  This course usually measures between 6.2 and 6.3 depending on which direction we go on the loop.  The Garmin also said 7:21/mile average pace, so that means it was probably more like 7:30 ish.  These are great tools to train with but aren't always perfect.

It seems that starting a little bit later, when it is just starting to get light, rather than when it is still dark is more comfortable since that's when the breeze starts up. So, that's what I did this morning. It was raining before I woke up but it was cooler this morning with a few light sprinkles at the start of the run.

Started out with two easy miles, than ran 4 miles just under 7:07 (ranging between 7:00 and 7:06) and the final mile at an easy 8:20. I hadn't done a run like this for a while, it wasn't easy but it felt comfortably hard with no aches or pains, just a desire to quit most of the way, until the last 1/2 mile of the hard 4 miles where I suddenly felt stronger and wanted to go farther at that speed, but that was enough for today.

"Easy" is a relative term I suppose.  This morning's run wasn't physically demanding but it was challenging due to the rain.  It was more than just a light sprinkle, but varied between moderate and heavy, except for one very short time when it let up and came close to stopping.   Dixie, Keith, David and I left from his house this morning at about 5:50 and ran out his neighborhood and up Starkey Blvd.   I didn't give my Garmin a chance to lock in its signal so the distance ended up being off.   This route is pretty well measured and always comes out to 6.5, but today it said 6.33.   The rain made it darker and there were some pretty significant puddles which you couldn't see until you stepped in them and totally soaked your foot.

At the turn around point things felt better, last mile and a half picked up to about a 7:30 pace.  Garmin distance was 6.33 with an 8:32 pace.  If 6.5 is really correct then it would be about an 8:20 pace.  

Enjoyed some coffee and bagels on David's porch along with Karen, Regina, and Barbara.  Despite any perceived complaining I might be guilty of here, overall it was a good run and one to remember. 

Today was one of my longest runs since December. It went pretty well overall. I was running a little bit later than planned, arriving at the trail parking lot at about 6:15 instead of the planned 6:00. It was already about 76° but it felt somewhat cool. I saw Eudair in the parking lot as she was getting ready to go for a bike ride. She had thought about running but is still going through some PT and decided to not do the long run with me today. The first four miles were at an easy pace but felt difficult, just took me a little while to get going. Those miles were between 8:35 and 8:53. I was wearing the water belt with two 20 oz bottles which is part of the problem, doesn't feel bad after a while but does feel heavy at first.

After that I started to get my legs. I was heading up the Suncoast pkwy trail, went a little past the entrance the Starkey park bike trail then turned back and got on that trail. At about mile 9 I was feeling good. Mile 10 was my second fastest mile for the day. Started to feel hot out just after passing mile 11 but I kept on moving. Eudair past by me a couple of times throwing out some words of encouragement. There were mainly cyclists on the trails with a few individual runners like myself and a few groups. Mile 14 felt encouraging as there was only 4 miles left. As I was finishing mile 17 I thought I would back it down a little bit for the last mile. Just then Eudair showed up to run the last mile. We ran in at a 7:32 pace which was the fastest mile for the run. I then drank lots of water, walked around a bit and stretched. The temp was 86°, humidity not too terrible at 64%

Overall pace: 8:05/mile

A pretty good run this morning. Didn't get running until just before 7:00. The start of the run was warmer than Saturday morning's start but the end was probably not quite as hot. I took a tip from something I had read recently and made sure to do a route that I don't usually do. I didn't cross over Mitchell Road but instead stayed on the side by the Y. First mile was pretty slow at 9:29, second mile was not too bad at 8:35. I don't remember what the next few miles were but somewhere between 8:00 and 8:15. Last three miles were at 7:39, 7:38, and 7:17. Jogged for another .1 and then went inside for some cool down on the treadmill for about 6 more minutes.

Average pace: 8:05

My plan for today was to take it easy until I felt like going faster but not push too hard, so that is pretty much what I did.  I was satisfied with today's run especially after running 18 on Saturday.  I felt like I was recovered from that run, if I had not been then maybe I had pushed too hard on Saturday.  Fortunately it looks like I did not push too hard.  I have 20 miles  coming up this Saturday which I'm going to try and stick to an 8:15 pace

Temp was 80° at the start with 71% humidity.

I'm not sure how many miles I have put on the two pairs of running shoes but it is probably starting to get up there. So, once I get a new pair I'm going to start keeping track of how many miles I have put on them. I'd hate to start having painful runs because I forgot to get new shoes!

No running today.  Just 30 minutes on the arc trainer.  I might do a short run on Friday in addition to longer runs tomorrow and Thursday as well as the long run on Saturday.  If I do that then I can get one mile more than last week which was my longest week so far - not counting the week where I did 50 because I did my previous weeks long run a day late.

I did see some of my running friends as I was heading into the Y.  They sure looked hot and sweaty! 

This morning's run was not the best run ever.  At one point it almost seemed like it was going to be a disaster, but fortunately it ended up as a run that was not that bad.   My upper back had a small knot in it which partially restricted my breathing.  I'm not sure where the knot came from.  Temp was 80° with about 75% humidity.  At first it did not feel too bad.

I warmed up a little bit inside at first then started my run.  Did 2 miles at a slow pace (9:15ish) - (my ankles felt tight, not painful, just tight) then picked up a little bit for 0.5 miles, then planned on doing 3 X 1 mile repeats at 6:32 pace.  I held the pace at first but then had trouble holding on.  It was slipping away from me and I slowed down to 6:50 at one point, got a little back towards the end and finished with 6:46 but it took a lot out of me.  At that point I really felt like scrapping the whole run or at least heading back inside and finishing on the treadmill.  However, after I slowed down a bit I kept on going and bargained with myself to at least do 7 miles.  Things got a little bit better although I did take a couple short walk breaks.  When I got to 7 miles I went past the parking lot by 0.5 miles, turned around and came back to finish 8 miles. 

At the end of my run all of my minor aches and tight muscles had gotten worked out.  I didn't make my goals for mile intervals but at least I put in the miles.  Sometimes, the first mile can be difficult, then the other ones get better, so I wondered if I had at least tried the second mile repeat what would have happened.

 Average pace: 8:23
 

Today turned out pretty good.  I showed up at the Y about 5:30, but not sure when other people were running.  None of my usual running friends were there so after warming up and stretching for a little bit I got moving.   I thought I would do about 8 miles and maybe throw in some tempo in the middle of it.  As I was into my first mile I saw Dixie drive by so I headed back to the Y.  Keith and he were going to go to the track and do 3 X 1600 at a 6:30 - 6:40 pace.   I told them about how poorly I had done at yesterday's attempt and decided for a "rematch".   It certainly is a lot easier when you run with other people.  I warmed up some more with Keith and Dixie and then we got over to the track.  The first 1600 felt hard but doable.  The second one was maybe a little bit easier than the first one and was a little bit faster.  The third one was not too bad and came in right around the pace of the first one.  Dixie took the lead for each one so I just followed behind him, he was in front until the last 1600 where he faded a bit, fell behind and came in about 10 seconds after Keith and I - not bad at all since he had recently taken some time off from running.

After the third one I felt like I could have done one more if I had to which made me feel really good.  Much better than yesterday.  Plan for the rest of the week is a few slow miles tomorrow and then 20 on Saturday.  If I do this then I'll have a few more miles than last week. 

Splits were 6:32, 6:25, and 6:30 

After the 1600's I did almost another 3 miles.

Temp was about the same as yesterday, 80° with 80% humidity.

Easy run today of just 3 miles.   I did 45 last week and didn't want to jump up too far this week.  I ran outside although I had strongly considered running inside due to the humidity of about 85% and 80º temp.  But fortunately I wasn't planning on going too far and some reason the stickiness didn't really bother me.

I started out with a warm up inside of 10 minutes on a stationary bike along with some stretching.  Did my run in 24:25, came back inside for another 7 minutes on the bike for a cool down followed by about 20 minutes of not too strenuous weights and some ab work.

I did not bring my Garmin today, otherwise I would have constantly been looking at the pace.  I need to do this more often as there are a good number of well known routes with known mileage. 

Today's run was pretty good overall. Not everything went exactly as planned but it all seemed to work out somehow. I was going to get to the park gate a little bit early and then run 2 miles, then run 13 with Keith and Dixie, then do 5 miles on my own. When I got to the gate it was pretty clearly marked for no parking. So, I ended up waiting there until just before 6:00, then Keith showed up and then Dixie. But the gate was not unlocked yet. Just after 6:00 the park worker showed up, unlocked the gate and then locked it behind him. He came back about 15 minutes later and then unlocked the gate. So, we went in and got ready for our run. Keith and Dixie were planning on 13 but I talked them into 14. The morning was a typical Florida August morning with 81° temp and 87% humidity. I also realized today that I had been writing down the wrong humidity for my notes. I had been looking at the humidity at the time I wrote my blog instead of when I ran. I realized today that the humidity rapidly drops each morning when the sun comes up. Probably a fact that was obvious to everyone else.

We took off running at an easy pace of 8:45 for the first mile. There were several nasty flies buzzing around us for the second mile. Their bites can be pretty nasty so we seemed to pick up the pace a little bit. The outside part of my shins felt tight which often happens to me on a training run. It's not painful, just bothersome and uncomfortable. After just over 4 miles the started feeling better. At seven miles we turned around to head back. The weather was decent at that point with the sun still low and the humidity down slightly. All of the water stops were filled full with very chilly water. We stopped a lot for refills. I did not bring my water belt but just carried a 16 oz bottle of water. The good part was I didn't have the water belt, the bad part was I had to carry a bottle of water for 14 miles.

At 11 miles we ran into Eudair who was just heading out. We talked her into running back with us. Keith started to get some calf cramps so he slowed down a bit and Dixie stayed with him. At one point Eudair and I had picked things up and we did mile 12 at 7:08 pace, next mile was 7:44. We got back to the parking lot where we stopped for a short time and I finished off my Accelerade. Then we headed back to the trail for the last 6 miles. It was getting hotter and hotter with the sun up higher now. Finally, at 3 miles we turned around and headed back. The heat was pretty bad at this point but we kept going, and kept about an 8:15 pace. Then finally it was over. My second ever 20 mile run.

The average pace was 8:24. I would have liked 8:19 but considering the conditions I was pretty happy with the pace.

It was extremely fortunate that Keith and Dixie ran with me for most of the first 14 miles, and also very lucky that we ran into Eudair. For the last 6 miles I was going to listen to my ipod shuffle but it decided to die on me.

I didn't get a very early start this morning, woke up about 6:15, got out of the house, warmed up and stretched and actually started my run just after 7:00. As predicted today was a few degrees cooler, just 76° , humidity about 75%. Felt much cooler than any runs recently.

Today's run was supposed to be just an easy run. The first 3 miles were difficult and it felt hard to get into a rhythm. They were about an 8:50 pace. 4th mile was 8:07. 5th mile was 8:44 but part of that was to slow down and walk while I had a gel pack and water. After that I started feeling much better, with the miles gradually getting faster and faster. Before I knew it the 10 miles were finished, I was not quite at the parking lot so it ended up being an extra 0.4 miles onto the planned run.

Average pace: 7:58

Except for the start, the run was one of my best in recent weeks. I was especially pleased that this was after doing 20 miles with just one day off from running. The last time I did 20 miles, I took two days off, then just did 5 miles with some residual soreness left over. Looks like I did not overdo it this time. The miles are building up now so I'm going to try and concentrate on being injury free. If I can do that I think I'm almost certain to get a PR in Chicago and maybe have an outside shot at a BQ, but I'll have to see how the next few weeks progress.

Also, almost forgot:

Glycerin: 10.4

(new pair of shoes today)

Cross training day.  30 minutes on bike, followed by weights, stretching, pull-ups and some ab work.

Next 4 days running, get some good quality runs for a total of 48 miles this week.

My alarm was set for 5:00, I woke up at 4:30, fell back asleep and dreamed that I overslept until 7:50.   So, when the alarm did go off at 5:00 I was happy that I did not oversleep - good to start the day on a positive note. 

Dixie was up for a run this morning and we were both up for a change of scenery, so instead of starting out from the Trinity Y we started out at the Lansbrook Y.   Weather was back to normal for this time of year which is about 80° and 90% humidity.  First 2 and a half miles felt sluggish.  Stopped for water at the lake park then got going again, felt a lot better at that point.  Hit a couple of miles right at marathon pace then we were soon at the high school where they have some water fountains outside with nice chilled water. 

Return trip was about an 8:10 pace.  We had made some wrong turns along the way so the planned 9 mile run turned into 9.9 miles.

Overall it was a good run.  Average pace 8:11

When I got home I jumped in the pool for about 10 minutes to help stretch out. 

(Glycerin: 20.3) 

Tempo run today!

I was a little bit worried about it. I haven't done very many tempo runs, last one I did was two weeks ago when I tempo'd for 4 miles. That time, the first three and a half miles were miserable, with only the last 0.5 feeling good.

The weather was fairly decent this morning at 78° and 84% humidity. I spent a good amount of time warming up and doing some stretching, then headed outside. My goal was to do 5 or 6 miles at between 7:00 and 7:10 pace. I ran 1.8 miles as a warm up at about a 9:00 pace, then took a powerbar gel and stashed my accelarade and got going. To my surprise the first mile was not miserable, probably due to having done a good warm up. I was running at a pace which felt about 7:00 (turned out to be 6:59). I kept going with about the same effort with slightly faster times (6:57 and 6:58). At the start of the 4th mile I still felt pretty good thinking if all I did was this then it would be pretty good run - that mile was 6:54. Kept going and hit the 5th mile at 6:56. Now just one mile left. At this point I was feeling pretty pleased with my times. I sped up a little bit towards the end and decided to go an extra 0.2 miles and call it a 10K practice run - last mile at 6:47 and final 0.2 at 1:22.

Then I slowed down, grabbed my accelerade which I drank along the way and jogged back to the parking lot, another 1.2 miles for a total of 9.2 miles.

Some days my runs go better than other days, today was a better day.

Average pace of 7:37

 A bit late for this but I might as well start (based on a guess):

Asics Gel 300

A very light day today.

Warmed up on the arc trainer for about 10 minutes. Did some light lower body work and ab work then ran 2 easy miles on the treadmill at about 9:00 pace. It seems like forever since I've been on the treadmill.  Yesterday afternoon, seemingly out of nowhere my left knee was a bit sore when I walked.  It felt better this morning (didn't bother me at all while running) but I'm keeping an eye on it. 

I started kind of late since I slept in until 6:30 (I remember when that used to be early).

With tomorrow's 16 mile run I'll be right where I want for mileage this week.

I woke up at 6:00 this morning. However, the night before I did not have everything all set out and ready to go so I was fumbling around for a while getting everything I needed together. I got out of the house a 5 or 6 minutes after 6:30. Up until when I left home I had not made up my mind about where to run, I finally chose John Chestnut park/Lansbrook over Starkey Park. Starkey has a great path with lots of water stops but also has some nasty deer flies (they do make you run faster though). Keith and Dixie were going to San Antonio (FL) to do some hills (there aren't many places around here to do them), and I didn't get in touch with David to see when he was running so I was running alone today.

The weather was pretty good with 77° temp and 84% humidity to start.

It was almost 7:00 when I got to the parking lot. Little bit of warm up and stretching and then started at 7:03.  Today, I borrowed my wife's water belt which holds 2 10 oz bottles instead of mine which holds 2 20 oz bottles.  Her's felt lighter and more comfortable, hardly felt like I was wearing it.

Took the first mile really easy at 9:22 (I was worried about my knee although it felt ok this morning). Next mile at 8:29, then 8:24. Stopped at Lake park at 3.4 miles, had a power bar gel and some water. Now I felt warmed up. Next mile at 8:02. Pace naturally picked up - 7:49, 7:35, 7:44, 7:38 .... and on it went. Made 2 more stops, once at east lake hs on the way up and then on the way back again.

Now it was starting to get warm and the last few miles were a little bit harder.

Last full mile was 7:33 and final 0.6 miles at 7:25.

Overall pace (mostly not counting breaks): 7:53

Except for the end, if I saw my pace was 7:45 or 7:50 I resisted the temptation to speed up to hit "marathon pace" and just kept going trying to hold a steady pace.

No knee problems today!!

Glycerin: 36.3

Dixie offered to run with me again today.  We met up just after 6:00 for a 9 mile run.   Temp was 81°, humidity was 84%.  We started out slow with 9:22 for the first mile, gradually speeding up to 8:15 for the third mile.   We ran from the 7-eleven, up the east lake trail, looped around the high school, with a short water stop there.  Came back through some neighborhoods to the lake park in Lansbrook where I refilled my water bottle.    As it got lighter, the humidity dropped a little bit and a small breeze picked up, although the temp went up slightly it felt a little more pleasant at the end than at the start.    Finished strong with the last mile at 7:35.

Average pace: 8:05

Asics Gel - 309

This is going to be a cut back week for me, which mainly means I won't be doing a long run this weekend, want to get 40 miles this week, then next several weeks will climb up in mileage from these past few weeks with my first venture into to 50+ mile range. 

Also, for the past few weeks, since I've cut back a lot on weights I had been doing pull-ups at home.  Jenny read something in a magazine about a technique called "greasing the groove".   You start out figuring out what your max number of (whatever you are trying to do, in this case pull-ups).   Then for four weeks, mon-fri you do three sets per day, you do the sets at least one hour apart.  Mon you do 70% of max, tue 80%, wed 90 %, thu 70% and fri 80%.  The article said you could improve 20% in 4 weeks.  I started out at 20 pull-ups for my max.  This morning I did 30!   Jenny also did this but with push-ups and pull-ups.  Her push-ups went from 40 to 50 and pull-ups from 4 to 5!   Looks like this really works.

It seems similar to running in that if you run consistently at a slower pace than what you are capable of, after a while, one day you go to a race and can all of the sudden run a lot faster.

Jenny has started a blog also which is at :

http://www.jennyruns.blogspot.com

She has started running more now that her obstacle course competition has finished, with a 10K time of 54:53 back in March (a PR).  She's training for the Disney half marathon in January.
 

Non-running day today.   But, not a day off from exercise.   Got to the gym about 6:45 but ran into a couple of my running friends, stopped and talked for a few minutes.   Did the rowing machine for 10 minutes, the bike for 25 minutes, then did about 20 minutes of lower body weights and some ab work.  I've found that the ab work is very important for me when I am running.  Back in December I kept on blowing it off and ended up having problems which resulted in the need for about 10 sessions of physical therapy.  Don't want to do that again.

Looking forward to the rest of the week of running. 

..second try at this, first one was lost, couldn't seem to find it in the browser cache, oh well that is the first time I've done that.

Met up with Dixie at the  Y this morning at 6:00.  Weather was nice with 77° temp and decent humidity.  Started out at 8:45 pace for the first mile and gradually picked up to about an 8:00 pace by the time we got to 4.7 miles where the water was stashed.  Got going again and did the next few miles at marathon pace.  At about 8 miles we spotted one of the cross country team members who had slowed down a bit.  Dixie yelled at him (in a nice way) to start running again and follow us back, which he did.   As we neared the end of the run I saw that the pace was at 8:00 exactly for the run so I picked up a little bit faster until it clicked over to 7:59.

Did some strides in the grass afterwards - I've never done those before so I just followed along with Dixie.

Glycerin : 45.35

Easy run today at a reasonable pace. Started out with a few slow miles between 8:36 and 8:50. Had one mile in the middle that was a 7:36 pace, and the rest were between 8:05 and 8:15.

Ran with Dixie. We met up at 6:00 at the 7-eleven, got moving finally about 6:15. We ran up to the lake park, then just past it a little bit and reversed the route back.  We did not ran through the high school campus as school has started now, although it was probably still early it might have been ok.

We were making a conscious effort to stay at a comfortable pace which we manged to do pretty well.

Weather could not have been better, start temp was 75° 

Average pace: 8:15

Asics Gel - 318

Easy day run. Ran without the Garmin at a relaxed pace. Calculated how far I went later, turned out to be 4.2 miles in 35:46, or about 8:30 pace.

Slept in late until 6:30. Went to the Y, warmed up inside, then did my run. Back inside, stretched out and did about 20 minutes of weights, some lower body and some upper body. Came home and did a set up 20 pull-ups to hold onto my recent gains.

Glycerin - 49.55 

 Short run for a Saturday but not too short.  Just a little bit over 10 miles at a reasonable pace.  Met up with Joe and Randall at the Y.  We did the horse farm route with a loop through the Grey Oaks neighborhood.   First few miles were kind of slow.  After the turnaround at the horse farm there is a slight downhill where we picked things up a bit faster and kept the momentum for a good part of the way back.   Weather was great and it was nice to run with others.  Hadn't run with Joe for a while - he's the one that got me started running with this group.

At the end of the run I felt like I had a lot left over and that I could have run another 10 miles if I needed to which is good since next Saturday I am going to do just that.

Average pace: 8:05

Glycerin - 59.7

9 miles at an easy pace this morning. Met up with Dixie a little after 6:00 and ran through the Lansbrook neighborhood. I had my new water belt today which I bought yesterday - it's just like the one that I had been borrowing from my wife. I hardly notice wearing it. Dixie had a lot to talk about this morning so we talked the entire run which seemed to make the run go by pretty fast even though we were at a slower pace than usual. I also let the timer run through the water stops. With the slower pace and stops the average pace came out to 8:49. I think the fastest we got up to was about an 8:00 pace. This isn't too bad considering I'm going to be going up in miles this week for my first ever 50 mile week.

Weather was good at about 77°, I'm hoping it holds out and we don't go back to 80° starts.

Asics  Gel - 327

Today was a cross-training day.  I did the stationary bike for 25 minutes and some lower body weights, stretching and ab work.  I ended up on the treadmill to stretch my legs with some fast walking which quickly turned into a jog, then a run, then back to a jog.  I got off before this turned into a running day.

Today was another tempo run. The goal was a bit more ambitious than my last tempo run. I wanted to do 8 miles at a 7:10 pace. I had some doubts as to whether I should do this or not as my right knee has been a little bit bothersome recently. When things are bothersome they either get better or it turns into a pain of some sort. I'm trying to stay away from the pain route. So, I figured I would run until there was any hint of a problem.

Warmed up inside on the arc trainer for a bit then headed outside. Ran about 1.6 miles at an easy pace, took a power bar gel then started off on the tempo.

First mile felt good and came in right around 7:00, miles 2 and 3 were also pretty good. I ran past the cross country team and said hi to the coach. At the end of Wyndtree I turned around and then ran past one of my running friends and said hi to her. Mile 4 was harder. It felt like I was putting out the same effort but my pace was slowing. I picked things up and finished that mile at 7:10. Now I thought about my knee, it still wasn't hurting which was good. I also thought that running just over 28 minutes at a tempo pace counts for something and it might be a good idea to come out ahead and slow down before my knee hurt at all. So, mile 5 was not run at a tempo pace but more of a regular pace (I'll have to check later what it was). I drank some accelerade which probably helped - I was carrying my new water belt which might be part of the reason for the need for extra effort in today's run. For mile 6 my pace had naturally picked back up to about a 7:30 pace. By mile 7, I was feeling good again and finished that mile at about 7:00.

I slowed down then as there was just a little over a mile left to get in 10 miles which was my goal for total mileage for today. Backed down to about an 8:00 pace. There was one road to cross with a traffic light which was green for me if I hurried, so I picked up the pace to make the light. Momentum carried me back to close to the parking lot, finally slowed down with a little bit left to go for a cool down.

The one big boost about today's run is that the average pace for the 10.2 miles was 7:34.

I had to keep moving as I had a dentist appointment which I could just barely make if I took a very quick shower.

Gycerin - 69.7 

Today's run felt refreshingly good for some reason. It wasn't my fastest or longest run. There wasn't too much remarkable about it which is possibly what made it feel good. I had run into one of my running friends yesterday who said he would probably be running this morning at 5:30. However, last night I made the decision to sleep in an extra 45 minutes since it was just a "probably" for the others.

I showed up at 6:30 and 3 of my running friends had just finished their run, oh well. I didn't have high hopes for my run today, just finish 8 miles at a reasonable pace. I set out and right away I noticed that my legs felt "fresh" which I was not expecting since I ran hard yesterday. So, I continued on. First mile was slow and easy, but not too slow. For a change I set the Garmin lap distance on 0.25 instead of 1 mile just to try it out. Maybe this helped as I did not obsess about my mile pace. After about 1.5 miles, the 0.25's were pretty much between 2:00 and 2:03. Eventually the run was over. My average pace was 8:13 which was pretty much exactly what I wanted for today's run. I stopped very briefly twice, once to drop off the accelerade and once to pick it up.

Asics gel - 335 

Various cross training and a little bit on the treadmill today.  Did 15 minutes on the elliptical, 10 minutes on the bike, some upper body weights and finished up with 2 easy miles on the treadmill.

Big run tomorrow! 

Today's run went pretty well for a 20 mile run. I was ready to start running just after 6:00. I was supposed to meet up with someone but he had said that if he's not there by 6:00 then start without him, so I did, which was good since he decided not to show up. This is understandable since there was some thunder but it seemed to be far enough away. Temp and humidity were not too bad, not ideal for running but certainly tolerable.

Started out at a pretty easy pace, 8:45 - 9:15 for the first few miles. My garmin was still on 0.25's for the splits. I decided to leave it that way for a while. The first few miles were not difficult. This is nice when that happens because those are oftentimes very difficult.

I stopped at the lake park for some water and powerade gel, then continued on towards the high school. Drank the accelerade I was carrying on my belt and refilled with water at the high school. At about mile 8 I was feeling pretty good. I did two loops through the neighborhood at the corner of east lake and keystone. There are a couple small hills in there, not too tough but a little bit of variety to break up the flat monotony. After this I was on my way back. I did a few miles at marathon pace.

I was running low on water so I looped through lake park on the way back, drank some water and refilled my bottles. After I left there, the Garmin said I had done 16.02, less then 4 miles left! Felt really good about that and did the next mile at marathon pace. I slowed down a little bit for the next mile as my average pace was right where I wanted it to be. But the next mile I felt it was getting harder to keep my pace, even my slower pace. I didn't want to slow down too much. Finally just one mile left to go. I wanted the run to be over at this point. I had to go 0.5 miles past where I was parked - which is tough psychologically when you have to loop past the "finish line" and then come back. I finished the last mile at 7:58. I might have been able to go faster - although it would have been very hard - but there was not much point to doing that.

Average pace was 8:13

I ran into a few of the other runners who were doing long runs and had some gatorade, grapes, and a soy joy bar. Legs felt kind of tight but not bad. Knees did not hurt during the run. I got home, stepped the wrong way and felt some pain in my right knee. Took a quick ice bath - although there wasn't that much ice. Then I got into the pool for a bit to loosen up. Iced the knee and took some advil, feels ok now.

Glycerin - 89.7 

Today's run started off slow and sluggish. I didn't mind because I had just run 20 miles the day before and was glad once again that I was ready to run after a long run with just one day off. I had planned on doing 12 miles this morning. Since today is a holiday I wasn't on a tight schedule, my only constraint was to start and finish before the sun was out in full force. Woke up at 6:25, fed the dogs, tried to get myself moving. I decided to just start running from my house.

Finally got moving at a bit after 7:00. First mile at about 9:30, second mile at 8:50. For the 6th mile I finally had a mile under 8:00. I was carrying my water belt, filled with accelerade which I drank now and then. After 6.5 miles I stopped at the Y to refill my water bottles, then continued on. The next mile was pretty good then I finally picked things up, finally no longer feeling sluggish. I did the next 4 miles at marathon pace. It felt about the same effort as the first few slow miles that I did. By the time I reached the entrance to my neighborhood I had already gone 12.5 miles. I thought about walking back, which I started to do, then I figured why not just run back slowly, it was getting hot and walking would have taken longer. So I ran slowly - faster than when I started but slower than the last 4 miles.

Average pace: 8:09

Asics gel - 335

Today was cross training day, which was good as I did not get a lot of sleep last night.  For some odd reason I woke up at 3:30 wide awake, fortunately got back to sleep, then my youngest son runs in the room at 5:30 saying he had to throw up, fortunately he did not.  At 6:00 the dogs told me they had to go out, it was the oldest dog who asked - I've found that if I ignore her request there is a good chance of an accident, so I let them out.  Got back in bed for another 20 minutes and then finally got up.

Went to the Y, did some time on the arc trainer and some time on the rowing machine, followed up with some lower body weights and ab work.  A fairly light day.

Planning on another 50 miles this week - possibly 51 or 52. 

Another "easy" 11 miles today. Ok, 11 miles isn't quite easy yet, although 9 is, but at least it is no longer hard!

Met up with Dixie at the 7-eleven near John Chestnut park and got moving at little bit after 6:00. Started out at a comfortable pace, didn't pick things up much until there very last mile which was at a 7:29 pace. Run felt good overall. Weather was decent, about 76° - each degree cooler really seems to help with the runs. Saw a family of deer in the lake park where I had seen them last Monday. We spent the second half of the run talking, at times arguing about some financial product he is going to sell. It certainly seemed to make the run go by faster.

Average pace: 8:29

Glycerin - 100.75

I woke up about 3:30, and half-dreaming I thought it was Friday today and that I had done my speed work already, then realized it was Thursday. Fortunately able to get back to sleep and up at 5:15 when the alarm went off.

Made it to the Y by 5:45, Dixie was already there. We warmed up with 2.5 easy miles then headed to the track. It was a new challenge for me today. I wanted to do 4 1600's at 6:28. My previous best was 3.

The first one felt hard, but it was doable and completed in 6:27

Second one felt better at 6:28. Third one was at 6:25.

At this point I told myself that I should be able to do the 4th one. The speed was not a problem and my endurance was up. Dixie decided to end on a high note and just do 3, since last time he had to slow down on the 3rd 1600, so completing all 3 on pace was good enough for him. But he did offer to do the last 800 on my last 1600 with me, so that sounded like a good deal to me. I completed the last one in 6:16. I felt like I could have done one more if I had to.

The Garmin kept on measuring short, it displayed one mile complete each time when we were about 50 feet or so I think from the finish. So I had to add on the seconds between the Garmin mile and the track's 1600 finish to get the above times. If I had been running just off of the Garmin I would have had really good times, with the last Garmin mile at 6:08. Well, I guess that is what the track is for.

Cooled down with an easy 2 miles or so to get in at least 10 miles for the morning.

Asics gel - 345

Easy run today.   Three miles around Kinsmere, no Garmin, but I did bring the watch.  Time was 26.06, so about 8:42 depending on whether it was more or less then 3 miles.

Warmed up inside on the arc trainer, before heading out.  Started out very slow and didn't go too  much faster.  Felt a bit stiff at the beginning of the run.  Much better at the end of the run.

After the run did about 20 minutes of upper body weights.

Another big run tomorrow although not quite as big as last weekend's big run. 

Today's run made me feel pretty good since I didn't feel like fading out at all at the end of the run. A good strong finish can be a great confidence booster.

I had some company for the beginning of the run. Joe, Keith, and Nelson were at Starkey park just before 6:30. Keith and Nelson were only going to do between 6 and 7. So, we all started out together at a nice and easy pace for the first three miles, between 9:00 and 9:20. Keith and Nelson said good bye and turned back.

It was a beautiful morning, about 74º with the sun just coming up over the trees. There was one near disaster on the way out, we almost ran into a huge spider web. I'm not sure how it was connected because it was in the middle of the path, centered about 5 feet above the ground and parallel to the direction of the path instead of straight across it. I would have missed it except for the large spider in the middle of the web, it's body was probably at least one inch in diameter, with it's legs making it even larger. I would have hated to have the web and spider wrapped around me. After that the other guys talked about who had seen rattle snakes on this trail and how one person had even seen a gator farther out. Fortunately, we didn't run into any of those today.

Joe and I continued on, to the end of the Starkey bike path and turned left onto the suncoast bike path for another 1.5 miles. Pace was picking up slightly.

Turned around at the 8 mile point. Pace continued to pick up gradually. Just after 10 miles, Joe said he wanted to slow down but insisted that I continue at my pace. So, I kept on going with my pace continue to pick up. It felt not hard at all. At this point I decided I'd try to hold marathon pace for the return trip, which I was able to do. The last mile was at 7:04. I felt like I could have gone farther but was glad that today's run was just 16.

Stopped back at my truck, grabbed a recovery shake then walked back towards the trail, just in time to catch up with Joe as he finished his run.

Average pace - 8:08 

This wraps up my highest mileage week so far. I've got one more big week next week, then start tapering off for Chicago. I can't believe how close it is now.

Glycerin - 116.81

Last night, Noah, my six year old son decided that he wanted to run.  He was very insistent.  How can anyone turn that down?

Later, I found out that his real motivation was that I had left out some sport jelly beans which I hadn't used.   He wanted those and figured that going on a run was one way to get them.  Well, whatever gets you motivated I suppose! 

So, this morning we did one loop around the neighborhood.  It was about 8:45 and the cool morning weather was starting to disappear.  We walked a couple hundred feet then I let Noah lead the way.  He kept a pretty consistent pace, had speed up to about an 8:50 pace at one point.  Had to stop and retie his shoes - I should have double knotted them.   At 1.2 miles he announced "Walk Break!" so we walked about 1 minute, then continued on back to the house.

After the run we both hopped into the pool to cool down. 

We averaged 12:11 pace. 

Good Monday morning run. Met up just after 6:00 with Dixie. Started out at a nice and easy pace for the first few miles. Weather was great. On the way back the pace had picked up by itself, with one mile at marathon pace, then the next mile started out that way but we slowed it down a bit. Finished last mile with 7:48.

Average pace: 8:16

 Asics gel - 355
 

I'm aiming for a mile or two more this week then last week, then I'll start backing it down.

Cross train/take it easy day.   Felt a bit wiped out this morning, maybe something that has been making its rounds through my family.  Not terrible though.  Thought about doing nothing, went to the Y did some walking on the treadmill with varying speeds and inclines for about 10 minutes, then 20 minutes on the rowing machine.  I definitely felt better afterwards than I did before so doing something proved to be the right choice.

Needed to head back so that Jenny could do her run before the kids had to go to school.

Going to try and take it easy today and get to bed early tonight. 

6:00 run starting at the Y with Dixie and Randall. Pretty good run with a slightly faster start than my usual slow 9:00+/mile starts but not too fast. Fairly consistent pace with a slight pick up at about 7 miles before we decided to back the pace back down because this was supposed to be an easy day.

Average pace: 8:14

Glycerin - 127.84

I barely listened to my ipod except for a little bit towards the end. Chicago marathon says absolutely no ipods or other devices this year, so I'm planning on going without music. The music got a bit annoying towards the end of my last marathon so I shouldn't miss it, plus there is supposed to be tremendous crowd support at Chicago.

I had dental appointment cloud hanging over my head for this morning's run. One of my teeth was chipped so that needed fixing. In the past week I chipped another tooth. The first one I attributed to bad luck but after the second one I'm suspicious of maybe too much sports drink, so I've been trying to rinse with plain water after drinking sports drink. Ok, both teeth are fixed now although the appointment turned more complicated and longer than I had anticipated.

Another good tempo run today. Dixie was going to do it with me but he called at 5:37 saying he could not make it because had been up late with clients. It would have been nice to run with someone else but it also meant I didn't have to rush to meet anyone. So, I took my time a little bit and didn't get out the door until 6:00 instead of 5:45.

I got to the Y, warmed up inside a little bit on the arc trainer for 6 minutes, then stretched a little bit and headed outside. Today's goal was 7 miles of tempo at 7:01 ~ 7:07 range, with a total of 10 miles including warm-up/cool down. Ran about 1.75 miles at a 9:30 pace or so, then dropped off my bottle of acclerade and took a power bar gel. I was trying to follow the steps of another successful tempo run I had recently.

I took off and wanted to get into a pace that felt like tempo as soon as possible, it was a little faster than 7:00 but it seemed to feel ok so I thought I would stick with it. As I knocked off the miles I still had to keep bargaining with myself - e.g. ok, mile 4, this is the minimum, mile 5 - try and get this one because I slowed down here last time, mile 6 - ok getting close, mile 7 - countdown to finish. I got 6:55, 6:49, 6:53, 6:51, 6:40, 6:54, 6:40.

I think between now and the marathon I'm going to focus on finishing my remaining runs, slow down and take it easier as the "getting close to the race something might happen to me paranoia" is starting to set in.

The pace for this run when projected to a 5K beats my 5K PR. I know those mileage predictor charts don't apply equally to everyone but hopefully there is some correlation. There are lots of things that can happen on marathon day so I'm going to hope for the best conditions I could hope for and go out and do my best.

Average pace - 7:37

Asics gel - 365 

Mainly a cross training and weights day.  I did some time on the arc trainer and rowing machine.  Then I did 2 miles at an easy pace on the treadmill, followed by about 20 minutes of upper body weights.

Getting prepared for a nice and easy 20 mile run tomorrow, the last big long run before the marathon. 

Last big run before the marathon. Next weekend runs are 12, 8, and then marathon.

When woke up this morning and let the dogs outside I found that the heat and humidity had come back. It wasn't completely miserable but not as nice as it has been recently. Starting conditions were 79° and about 90% humidity.

I met up with Dixie and Joe at the Suncoast pkwy trail at 6:00. Joe was going to run about 15 or 16 and Dixie had signed up for the full 20 miles. We started out at an easy pace, 9:30 for first mile and then 8:40-8:50 for the next few. It was still dark for a while which was nice except for a good number of bikes on the trail zipping by. We turned off the suncoast trail and made a left into the Starkey park trail. After 7 miles Joe turned back. Dixie and I continued on until we had done 10 miles then started back. We still had the pace nice and easy with nothing really faster than 8:15. We stopped a few times to keep our water bottles filled and take some gels, so some of the miles were slower.

When we got back to the Suncoast trail, I had to take a left to retrace the route and get the full 20, about .35 miles up before heading south. Dixie was starting to fade so he took a right. With his head start it took me a while to catch him. I found out that although he was fading, there was a big guy that Dixie wanted to stay ahead of. I eventually caught up. We ran along side for a short time. With one mile left to go, my "reward" for not going fast (it was an 8:36 average pace). I wanted to see if I could do the last mile at marathon pace. So, I picked up and got into a pace, I looked at the Garmin and it said 7:06, so I figured I would hold onto that if I could do so without an all out effort. I pretty much did that, finishing the last mile at 7:08. Total distance was 20.12 at this point.

I drank some water, then walked back on the trail until I met up with Dixie then jogged the last 0.2 miles in with him.

The temp at the end was 86° but the humidity had dropped to 78%. Not ideal but a little better than miserable.

The run felt pretty good overall. I did end up with a blister but I don't think it should bother me too much. I didn't feel completely spent at the end. Part of my brain said no way could you do that ending pace for another 6.2 miles let alone an entire marathon. Another part of my brain said otherwise.

Glycerin - 148

I ran alone this morning. The humidity was way up but fortunately the temp wasn't terrible. Our new bed arrived yesterday. I was warned it might take some time to get used to - I did not sleep too well. I ate out at a Mexican restaurant - I didn't stuff myself but it's not ideal food before a run.

So, the run did not start out too well. I started out slowly with about a 9:30 for the first mile. Things usually start picking up after that but they did not pick up too much, just under a 9:00 pace for the next few miles. This was not good but I have learned not to panic in this situation - just keep moving, don't force the pace, just wait for it. It's supposed to be an easy day. Eventually I shook it all off and finally picked up for the sixth mile, seventh mile was 7:28, then I backed off slightly and kept it a bit under 8:00 (about 7:45~7:50) for the rest of the run.

On an interesting note, my pickup coincided with turning off my music.  At about 5 miles my right ear piece had become so sweaty it stopped working and I was having trouble keeping it from falling out.  So, I took the headphones off and practiced doing "association" while running.  Sometimes music can keep me motivated, but if it becomes a nuisance then it's better to just switch it off. 

Average pace: 8:23

Asics gel - 375

Non-running day today.   Did the arc trainer and rowing machine.  Stretched.   Did some lower body weights and ab work.  Nothing too heavy or hard.  I feel like I worked out some kinks and loosened up.   Ready for a good run tomorrow.

The weather was a bit nicer this morning. A few degrees cooler, a very slight breeze. Met up with Dixie, got moving a little bit after 6:00. Taking it easy as usual for the first mile, gradually getting faster for the next two miles after that. Took some time to feel fully warmed up. Stopped at the lake park at 3.4 miles, drank some accelerade then got moving again. Now, the legs felt warmed up and much lighter. Pace increased some more but not too much. The easy pace felt easy now.

Last 1.5 miles at about 7:45/mile pace. Felt very good.

Average pace: 8:14

When I race a 5K I usually run slow for two miles or so before the race to get warmed up. But I'm worried about warming up too much before a marathon, burning off too much glycogen before the race has started. I'll have to figure something out so I can start the run with my legs feeling awake and ready to run.

Glycerin - 157 

I woke up this morning just before the alarm was supposed to go off. I went over to the Y and talked to some people I know. Karen had just gone to Chicago for a 20 mile training run as part of a program by New Balance - the pace group sponsors. She said the weather was great, nice and cool in the low 50's.

This morning it was 73° which felt "chilly", it was slightly humid but overall very nice. I warmed up with two easy miles then headed to the track. I did 4 1600's with 800m recovery jogs between them. No Dixie today to follow behind. I knew what to expect, that the first one would not be easy and I'd think "how can I do three more of these". I got past all that and did each one pretty consistently. It wasn't easy but it was not as hard as last time. I did 6:25, 6:26, 6:25, and 6:24.

After that I did a bit over 2 miles for the cool down and so I'd have 10 miles for the day.

Felt really good when I was done.

Asics gel - 385

Easy day today.  Warmed up on the arc trainer, then did some light stretching.  Did an abbreviated full body weight routine.

I then headed outside for a run.  The temp was nice, it was warmer than yesterday, a part of me at some point might miss the hot weather, some morning maybe when I go out and it's in the low 40's.

 No garmin on my run, just went out at what felt good.  Easy pace was easy, ran for 28:56.  Later mapped the run and it turned out to be pretty much 3.5 miles on the nose, which meant an 8:16 pace.

I'm going to do my Saturday run on Sunday since we have to leave early to get to the zoo for Jenny's 5K Zoo Run Run
 

Starting on Thu. night I felt like I was coming down with something, felt a little bit better on Friday morning, and a little bit worse on Saturday morning.  Sat. morning was Jenny's 5k race at the zoo.  She did great with a new PR of 26:28.  The first mile was outside of the zoo, the next mile went through the zoo past all of the outside animal exhibits and also through the indoor portion of the manatee exhibit.  Lots of sharp turns and up and downs.  After we got home I felt wiped out and run down so I took it easy most of the rest of the day.

I let myself sleep in a little bit later today as I was not meeting up with anyone.  The weather hasn't been too bad so I wasn't worried about beating the heat.  I arrived at Starkey park about 7:15, it had just started getting light out.   I started out the first mile taking it easy with a 9:14 pace, it felt pretty good.  Sometimes the first mile of the day can be difficult even at a slower pace.  The next mile I thought I was going faster, it felt good, but then I looked at my pace and saw I was going slower, about a 10:15 pace halfway through the mile.  I kept it easy but went a little faster with a 9:34 for the second mile.  After that I felt looser and lighter and settled into an 8:30ish pace.

At 7 miles my pace had picked up so I figured I would try out my legs with a mini tempo run.  I held the pace pretty well and averaged a 7:17 pace for the last 5 miles.  Went slow for the next 0.25 miles to get to the trail turn off to the parking lot which I walked.

Average for the run was 8:08 pace.

When I got home, Jenny had already run with the boys around the 1.7 mile neighborhood loop so I didn't do the kid run today.

I still felt a bit sluggish this morning when I woke up, but I got moving, warmed up and started my run.  Once I got going it was not too bad and I even picked up a little bit for the last two miles but nothing too fast.  The weather was warm (but not hot) and humid this morning.  Actually not bad weather to run through when one is not feeling so well.

Average pace: 8:17/mile 

Fortunately I don't have a demanding running schedule this week so I can get fully recovered rested and feeling on top of my game for the marathon. 

Today was a rest day.   I did not go to the Y to cross train.  I did take Sammy (my dog) on a walk around the 1.7 mile neighborhood loop.  It was a great morning for a dog walk.

For breakfast I made a bowl of cream of buckwheat cereal.  It was pretty good.  I had been looking for buckwheat in the stores but could not find much.    My wife had grown tired of me talking about buckwheat all of the time - about how Sasha eats buckwheat and is very fast.  So, when she was near a health food store she bought cream of buckwheat cereal, buckwheat maple cereal, and some buckwheat groats.  We haven't tried the groats yet but hope to soon. 

I didn't sleep great last night.  My lower back was hurting.  For some unknown reason on Monday I had spent too much time slouching in my chair at work, I think I was concentrating on something too intently, until finally I had realized I was slouching and straightened up.  I should be able to get rid of it soon. 

Ran around my neighborhood for the first time in a while.  I did this for several reasons.  One of the reasons was for some drinking practice.  I set out some cups of endurance formula gatorade on the tail gate of my truck.  

I grabbed a cup after the first loop (1.7 miles), then another cup on the next loop.  It went pretty well, I was able to drink it all without spilling any or breaking my pace.   After the second loop I added on some side streets and a smaller loop off to the side so I wouldn't have to do 4 of the same loop.  For the sixth mile my slowness had worn off and the pace picked up almost by itself.  I backed it down a little bit for the last mile, although it was faster than the first 5 miles.

Average pace: 8:11 

I didn't try to get up extra early in hopes of meeting up with some of the 5:30 guys, instead I slept in to 5:55.  Headed over to the Y and did some warm up on the arc trainer of about 12 minutes.  Always make starting out on the run so much easier and I wanted this to be an enjoyable run today.

Started my run with a usual starting up, not in a hurry to get anyplace pace.  Second mile was faster but still easy.  So, it didn't take too long this morning before the slow feeling wore off. 4th mile was just under 8:00 pace, then 5th, 6th, and 7th felt like what I want to run for the marathon, a bit slower than the comfortably hard pace of a tempo run but faster than "easy" training race pace.

Added a little bit at the end for a cool down, then went back inside for some more cool down.

Average pace: 7:53 

I think my back problems are mostly cleared up now.   Still a few remnants left from my bout of run down-ed-ness which started last Thursday night.  

Walked Sammy around the neighborhood loop.

Then did an easy 2.5 run around neighborhood, running the 1.7 mile loop plus an extension out to Trinity blvd. and back.

Left the Garmin at home, just took a watch and had mapped out the route before hand.

Average pace: 8:16

Felt better at the end than at the beginning.

Biked with the kids to school so that Jenny could get her run in.

Unfortunately her run did not go so well - hit by a bad side stitch.  Anyone have ideas on how to prevent side stitches?  She's tried pretty much all of the "published" remedies.

Easy pace, not very far run today.  Met up with Joe in John Chestnut park at 7:00.  Ran at an easy pace for pretty much the entire run.  It was a nice morning for running.  Spent some time socializing and talking about Chicago marathon with some of the other runners that are going to be doing it.

Average pace: 8:40 

No run today.  I felt a little bit guilty since this is the first Monday that I had missed in quite some time.  This is my taper week and my right knee was acting up a bit.  After Wed.'s run it had felt like I had twisted it slightly.  Thu. and Fri. felt ok, Sat. wasn't bad but it felt like if I had pushed things I could have made it worse.  I'm going to take it easy this week but still get in a few runs before Sunday.

I did walk Sammy around the 1.7 mile neighborhood loop. 

A little over 3 miles at an easy pace.  Ran along the Trinity river in Ft. Worth near TCU.  It was very dark but there were quite a few runners on the trail, some of them going pretty fast.  Some bicyclists but they all were using lights.  It was a little bit warmer and humid than I had expected.

Knee felt ok. 

This morning I did some light cross training.  10 minutes on the arc trainer, 11 minutes on the rower, then 2 miles on the treadmill at an easy pace.

Everything felt pretty good, knee ok still. 

Pretty good run this morning. It was surprisingly warmer and more humid than I thought it would be but that's ok since Chicago is not going to be as cool out as I thought it would be based on this weekend's forecast. So, with it being warm here this morning it will seem a lot cooler at Chicago, or at least that is what I'm hoping.

I warmed up on the arc trainer about 10 minutes inside before heading out. I ran the first 1.75 miles at an easy pace. I wanted to see if I could easily switch into a higher gear - I was able to do that ok, doing the next mile in about 7:20. I backed it down a little for the next mile, but my pace started going up on its own back to a 7:44, the next two miles where in the 7:20 to 7:30 range (forget the exact pace). I was nearing the end so I jogged it back in for the last half mile. I went back inside and cooled down some more walking on the treadmill.

Glad I was able to get in six miles with some of it at a faster pace without any adverse affects. I was careful not to push too much but I didn't want Sunday's race to feel like a complete shock to my body.

Average pace: 8:03

Glycerin - 191

Ran with Jenny in Chicago.  She needed to get one more run in for the week and I wanted to do a run also to get loosened up for tomorrow.  It was in the low 70's when we ran, it didn't seem too bad.  I could could not get a signal with the Garmin until we were away from the tall buildings and on Lakeshore dr. so we are not sure exactly how far that was but guessed at around a mile.  Ran along the lake.  Jenny was doing two 1600's at 8:35 pace, we did those, then worked our way back towards the hotel.   We were a little bit farther away when we finished so the return trip was a little bit longer.

There were lots of people out running.

Later that day I decided to get a new garmin that could supposedly keep the signal through the marathon course.  Jenny had been wanting one because my 201 with the cloth strap was always smelly and sweaty after I ran, so we figured it was a good time to get one.  They were all sold out at the expo so we stopped by the big Garmin store downtown. 

I got to the corral extra early, about 6:20, to make sure I could get a good spot. Despite the weather predictions going up each day I was still holding some hope that somehow the temps would not go up too high. With the corrals pretty much empty it looked reasonable that maybe I could quickly dart over to the 3:20 pace group in the next corral.

As the corrals filled up with people they suddenly started looking larger and larger. By the time the pace group leaders showed up they looked very far away. I was chatting with a woman who wanted to do 3:15, she was from Houston so I thought maybe the heat might not bother her too much. I would see her throughout the course, passing and being passed. The race announcers said to adjust your time goals. I adjusted from a hoped for 3:15 to see if I could still get 3:20 or at least 3:20:59.

Jenny was able to hang out with me just over the corral fence. So we chatted and hung out. There was a skyscraper nearby which had left office lights on so that the building spelled out "Go Cubs Go". A bee kept on trying to land on me. I have an irrational fear of bees so I kept on trying to run away from it, looking like a fool in doing so, but I got my warm up out of the way.

The race started and we inched towards the starting line, 02:27 after the race started I crossed the start mat and continued to walk as the throng of people was extremely thick. The walk changed to a shuffle then picked up as people started to spread. I didn't want to weave very much, but had to a little bit here and there. The garmin pace seemed screwy and later I'd realize I had not let it lock in properly to the satellites because it had been taking too long.

Since the Garmin paces don't mean too much I'll mainly just talk about the 5K splits that the chip recorded.

First 5K was in 24:01 - most of it was much faster due to the first minute or so being walking/shuffling. I was already feeling warm. My left ankle felt a little bit tight as it often does early in a run (even when starting at a slow pace). That seemed normal and would work itself out eventually. I saw my parents about my 2, they looked very proud and happy to see me looking strong.

Next 5K was in 23:41. Crowd was getting thinner by mega marathon standards. I was trying to get to the 3:20 pace group, it seemed very reasonable at that point but I could never quite see them so I'm not sure how far away they were. But I kept going, mainly running by feel for the pace.

By the time I was approaching the 15K mat it was getting a bit harder, I was feeling warmer and warmer. I knew lots of people were tracking my run and I wanted to have a good pace at the 15K point.

That 5K was a 23:20.

Next 5K was in 24:00, pace had slowed down slightly.

I reached the half marathon point at 1:40:01, I had sped up slightly between the 20K point and the half way point. I wanted to get under 1:40 but figured this was pretty good considering the conditions.

Sometime just after mile 14 I started getting my first calf cramp. It was a very small one but still was there. I had gotten a bad calf cramp at Disney at mile 14. I wanted to avoid them this time. I was determined to take Gatorade at every water stop. I had successfully done that so far, grabbing one cup at each station and drinking it without breaking my pace. So, this was one of my goals accomplished, however now it seemed like it was not going to be enough. After all, it was a bit warmer than Disney (which started at 66° and ended in the upper 70's). Now it seemed that one cup of gatorade per stop plus the two energy gels were not enough. I'd start taking two.

Next 5K was in 24:52, slower but still an 8:00 pace.

I saw Jenny at about 16 miles. She had seen me earlier on the course but I did not see her. She was making a tireless effort to get from spot to spot to cheer me on, probably putting in a total of 7 miles of very fast walking. My pace picked up slightly upon seeing her.

Next 5K was in 27:00 minutes, now at the 30K mark. Cramps were getting worse and worse in frequency and intensity. Both legs were cramping as well as my right arm. At some point I was hit with a pretty bad side stitch, which temporarily slowed me down to a near walk until it passed.

There were so many good and kind people along the course. People with lawn sprinklers turned on , people passing out bottled water. At one point I passed an open fire hydrant which I thought would be good to run through. Note to self: don't do that again, wet shoes weigh a lot more. I could feel a huge blister forming on my left foot, but I didn't care too much about it right now.

As I was approaching 20 miles I was looking forward to it. I knew that the last 10K would be no picnic but I wanted to get through it. I got to 20 miles at 2:41, only 1 minute off of an 3:30 pace. I tried to speed up (as I had done few times recently), but the calf cramps would hit me hard when I tried that, as if a giant hand was gripping me.

I completed that 5K in 28:12, the 35K mark, 21.7 miles, less than 5 miles to go. I had told myself it was ok to walk through the water stops, but I didn't quite do that. I'd walk a couple steps to take the first gulp of gatorade, then go back to a shuffle, returning to a run as I finished the cup. One stop had ice, which I held in my hand to cool myself off with. At the next water stop I asked for ice but the did not have any. There was lots of gatorade but it was all warm at this point. I later found that I was lucky to have gatorade as people after me would find empty aid stations.

The next 5K was my slowest at 28:32, to the 40K mark. Ok, now I at least had the finish line to pull me through. Despite the slowdown and muscle cramps I did not have the hopeless feeling I had at Disney during most of the last 10K. I was a bit thirsty but didn't feel like I had an unquenchable thirst. At some point around here there was a bank's time and temperature sign which displayed 98°. I knew that was probably inflated but it was still discouraging.

I saw the 25.2 mile marker. I hit the lap button on the garmin so I could count down the last mile. It had been not very helpful until now. I fought off calf cramps the best I could. It must be someone's idea of a bad joke that the only hill on the entire course is close to the end. I knew about the hill from reading about the course. It looked long and high but the course notes said it was not as bad as it looked. I ran up it and held my pace. Just past the hill was the last turn to the final 0.2 mile stretch, it looked a lot longer than what 0.2 miles usually looks like. Jenny and my parents both said they saw me running, but I looked too focused for anyone to think that I would actually see them.

I was far off my original goal but I didn't feel bad about it at this point. Later, I'd feel even better when the full extent of the problems became known. I grabbed my medal, had a picture taken, and then grabbed cup after cup of gatorade. Stepping out of the runner area my right calf seized up, a stranger had to help steady me. I kept on walking to the reunion area until I found my wife and parents.

Throughout the rest of the day I would run into people who did not get to finish. I had a lot of friends there. There were strangers who asked me "Did you get to finish"? One man was making his comeback marathon, first one in 20 years, when he was told to stop running and walk when he was just a few miles from the finish. I couldn't believe all the stories. I realized how lucky I was and felt guilty about grumbling to myself about warm gatorade! There was one woman from the Tampa area who I know of but don't know personally. She was written up in the local paper, she finished with a 3:09, an amazing feat, but she was also close to a tragic end with a body temperature of 107° at the finish line, fortunately they were able to cool her off.

I think I might have shaved a few minutes off by running a "smarter" race and doing the first half a little bit slower, but in the first half a 3:20 still seemed possible.

I'm going to recover and try again, maybe in Jacksonville this December. The person who finished in 1372nd place last year ran a 3:08.

Decided to start getting back into my routines.

No running today, but I did get myself to the Y for 20 minutes on the rowing machine.

Biked the kids to school so Jenny could start her run earlier.   Did an extra loop around the neighborhood to look for Jenny and keep her company but I did not see her. 

Last time I went on a run too soon after the marathon and ended up injured, so I'm being a little extra careful this time. 

One more day of no running.  I did 2.7 miles of dog walking, one in the morning of 1.7 and a 1 mile walk in the evening.

I was tempted to run this morning.  Joe was going to run and I thought about doing 5 or 6 but decided not to due to some residual soreness in the calves.

I'm going to try and not wait too much longer.

I figured that one full week with no running was enough.

Jenny returned from her 8 mile run this morning and it was still quite nice outside.  I decided to give it a try.  I was going to run with the kids, they didn't feel up to a run but agreed to bike alongside me.

 I did an out and back course for a total of 2.26 miles.  I kept the pace very easy.   During the return trip the back of my left calf started to hurt so I slowed down to where it did not hurt.

If my calf is not hurting tomorrow, I'll try a little bit farther.

Average pace: 10:33
 

After yesterday's short run I decided to take one more day off from running.

Did some cross training instead.  21 minutes rowing machine and 10 minutes on the arc trainer.

I'll try for another run tomorrow. 

I ran a little bit farther today than on Sunday.   My left calf started hurting a little bit, but then at 2 miles it was feeling better.  Pace was faster than on Sunday but still at an easy pace.

I'll try a little bit farther next time. 

Average pace: 8:48 

Non-running day.

10 minute warm-up on the arc trainer, followed by upper body weights.  I had not done those for quite some time, felt good.

Didn't go too heavy or try to do too much.

 I'll run tomorrow.
 

I feel like I am getting back to normal finally.

I wanted to do at least 5 miles today, a small increase from my last run. About a mile into the run I thought that at least 5.5 would be good. On the way back I took an extra turn to add a little bit more onto the run to end up with a little bit over 6 miles.

My easy pace feels like it is getting back to normal.

There was still some residual soreness in my left calf but it is bothering me less and less and shows up much later in the run. Not speeding up definitely helps, so I'll have to not go any faster until it is all gone.

It was still somewhat warm out but in a nice way, about 75°, not bad even when in the full sun.

Average pace: 8:34