The Long Run

1.27 mi, 12:24, 9:46 avg

(catch up entry on 4/2/19)

New Year's Day better than nothing, get off the couch and go for a run, ran on the trail that goes along the Westlake Lake, good to get out for a little bit - warm 79 degrees.

5.21 mi, 44:02, 8:27 avg, elev gain 66 feet

(catch up entry 4/2/19)

Ran big squarish shaped loop in Palm Harbor, coolish 68 degrees with 94 percent humidity.

It was a pretty good run, I tried the "run gum".  The boys got me a gift bag full of running things for my birthday, one of them was run gum - basically some caffeine and other stuff.

5.06 mi, 50:00, 9:53 avg, elev gain 87 feet

4/1 run/walk practice while wearing the new camelback.  Out and back run from Westlake Village north on Belcher Road and then back the same way. Another sort of cool/warm (72 degrees) with 94 percent humidity.

5.5 mi, 50:00, 9:05 avg, elev gain 150 feet

More 4/1 run/walk practice, pretty much same route as yesterday but I ran faster so went farther and ran on a couple of more hills.

I liked today's run.  Tomorrow is the Croom Zoom 50k.  I'm using it as my long run for the 100 mile Long Haul race coming up.  Probably should have a longer long run but it's a pretty tight schedule and at this point going longer might do more harm than good (they also have a 100k tomorrow which would be ideal if I already had a more recent 50k under my belt).

13.7 mi, 2:58:30, 13:02 avg, flat

Checked out the trails I will be running on next week for the Long Haul 100 mile race.  Course is a 12.5 mile route which is repeated 8 times at the Cypress Creek Preserve.  There is a paved road in the middle of the preserve which we will be on for short time each "loop".  First, there is a spur running south, out and back a little over 3 miles each way, then head east on the road to a trail going north 1.4 miles out and then back to the road, head west almost to the start and go north a half mile and then run a circle about a half mile in diameter and then back to the start.

But, since it was not race day I had to guess a little bit.  Was following an old course using a trail app on my phone, did not go far enough south.  Stopped here and there and backtracked a little to get back on the course.

When I got to the second spur I went too far north and a few times the trail "disappeared" and sometimes would reappear but other times I'd realize I was off the trail and I would cut straight through the woods to get back to where I needed.  This led to some slow miles (like 19 minutes for the slowest).  I was taking it easy and although it was cool out the sun made it feel a little warmer and I was running low on drink from my 20 ounce bottle.  Last two miles were in the 9:30ish range.

Fortunately, on race day the trails will be marked well and I won't have to run the overgrown trails I ran on when I went too far north.

It was a pretty fun day.  I'm not as prepared as I want to be but at least I checked this off my list.

5.3 mi, 50:00, 9:26 avg, elev gain 80 feet, avg hr 137

4/1 run walk, south through Westlake, past the Y, and over to the Pinellas trail for a bit. a 61 degrees and cloudy.  Wore the HR monitor but did not look at the display while running.  HR probably slightly high for an "easy" run.

Trying to keep it easy all this week.

4.2 mi, 43:35, 10:23 avg, elev gain 85 feet, avg HR 125 bpm

It was a pretty good run for an easy run, felt easy and heart rate stayed fairly low.  I wore the new camelbak dart to see how it would ride, felt pretty comfortable.  Weather was a very nice 50 degrees.  Ran a square loop around Westlake, Palm Harbor HS, and the Y.

4.43 mi, 50:00, 11:17 avg, elev gain 66 feet, average hr 124

South down Lakeview drive out of Weastlake, past the Y and over and down a little bit onto the Pinellas Trail.  Garmin said my fitness was not as good as yesterday, not sure why.  Sticking with the easy heart rate stuff this week to feel rested for the big run this weekend, 100 miles!

Today was nice and cool at 46 degrees. Wore my Poconos Run For the Red Marathon shirt which is red.

4.73 mi, 50:00, 10:35 avg, elev gain 68 feet, average hr 128

Woefully behind on my blog updates, keep meaning to get caught up once I write my Jacksonville marathon race report which I need to do very soon before I forget everything.  Did 4/1 run/walk while keeping heart rate in aerobic zone.  Yesterday, the garmin decided my zones needed to be adjusted higher.  Headed south out of Westlake village, past the Y and then toward the Pinellas trail and turned around at Tampa Road.  It was in the 40's when I first headed out the door but had warmed up to mid 50's during the run and felt a little bit warm in the long sleeve shirt (MCM long sleeve).

LONG HAUL 100 ULTRA-MARATHON RACE REPORT

Hard to say where to begin, but I completed my third 100 mile race.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around what an amazing experience this was. 

The Start / Loop 1 - 

(13.5 miles, 11:45 average)

Just before dawn, runners, friends, family, and race officials gather just inside the gate to Cypress Creek Preserve's Pump Station Road (multi use recreational as well as utility access road).  Jessica came with me to see me off and helped me bring my stuff (two bags and a small cooler) to the drop off area so the race volunteers can bring it to the hub.  She snaps a picture and puts it on Facebook.  This helps because I'm carrying my phone and look at it briefly during walk breaks and it's great to see the support.

There's a countdown and the race starts with the usual ultra-style cheering where we all start running - not fast like at a 5k start, but probably faster than what we will be running in the middle of the night.

1 mile on this pave path and we get to "the hub", where we will turn right and head south for about 3.5 miles before turning back, reach the hub again. 

As I reach the end of this first out and back I'm greeted by Patrick Bene' who shows me where my stuff is - a prime spot on the corner under a canopy, easy to get to each time I pass through.  Today Patrick is volunteering but at any given race he could be running out, volunteering or somehow doing both - or he could also be pacing if not running, he's going to do some pacing today for Andy "A2" Barrett.

Next, head east for 0.6 miles, leave the pavement and head north on a beautiful and easy to run 1.4 mile off road trail line with tall pine trees known as "the hall of pines", before reaching another paved road for a short distance to the "unmanned" aid station.  Then turn back, reach Pump Station Road again, another 0.6 miles back to "the hub" before heading north onto the third spur of the course which I started calling "that awful lollipop".  0.5 miles north, turn right completing half of a circle, crossing the trail we just ran north on and complete the second half of the circle before heading south down the "stick" of the lollipop, 0.5 miles back to the road, take a right and then a couple hundred feet cross the timing mat.

I was wearing my new Camelbak dart and carrying a small handheld bottle.  Plain water in the Camelbak and V-8 energy drink in the handheld.  Weather was cool for the first lap.

I also probably ran too fast for the first lap, averaging 11:45 which included some walking because there's going to be some walking sooner or later, the sooner I start, the more running I'll end up doing.  A pace of 14:24 would give me a time of 24 hours which is a good benchmark for a 100 mile race.  But, I hadn't really been training much specifically for 100 miles.  I'd been running, and did complete a 50k a couple weeks ago and knew I could finish in 32 hours (cut off), but beyond that wasn't sure what to expect.

Loop 2

(26 miles total, 12:11 average pace for this 12.5 miles)

I dropped off my camelbak at my spot in the hub and grabbed my 20oz bottle filled with Hammer's Perpetuum drink.  Still on the cool side but I know it's going to get warmer.  I decide to start slowing down a little more on purpose.  Not too much though, because I want to get in some good miles during the daylight.  I run slower at night and there's also a very high chance of rain coming through.

I finished the first out and back and as I went by where my drop bag was I remembered to stop and grab a piece of fudge.  Jenny had made a batch of "never fail" fudge from a recipe on the back of a jar of marshmallow fluff.  So, the joke was if you eat this you can't fail at whatever you are doing.  I continued on the loop, eating the fudge and I felt a little pick up.

Loop 3

(38.5 miles, 13:29 average for 12.5 miles)

The start of loop 3, just under a marathon for distance, so not even yet in the ultra-marathon range, still pretty early in the day.  Sun was getting warmer.  There were a few miles here and there where I decided I was just going to walk the whole mile and see what kind of pace I could get.  After a few minutes I'd change my mind and run for a minute and then go back to walking, so it was kind of a reverse ratio walk/run instead of run/walk.  Didn't really lose that much time and then the next couple of miles after that I could go back to the 4/1 run/walk and felt a little recharged.

Finished up loop 3 in pretty good shape.  As I went past the aid station on the way to the timing mat, I dropped off my camelbak for a top off.  Abba's "Fernando" was playing and for a moment I felt good and forgot I still had about 100 more kilometers to run and that we were due for up to a "few hours" of rain with possible squalls and thunder.

Garmin mileage was starting to drift a little bit but still within a mile, maybe about a 1/2 mile off (I had it in Ultratrac mode to try and make the battery last.  I also had a USB battery I was going to try to recharge with while running).

Loop 4

(51.0 miles total, 14:37 average for 12.5 miles)

So, on this lap I would lose a little bit of time toward making a 24 hour race, but it still seemed doable even though it wasn't really my goal, it kind of was.

Set out down the southbound trail.  I was looking forward to getting into the 40's for mileage, because once you hit 41 miles there's only about 59 miles left to go which is kind of like just running 50 miles.  The first out and back went pretty smoothly, got back to Pump Station Road for the 0.6 miles of pavement and headed north through the "Hall of Pines".  But, before that, as I passed through "the hub" I saw Chris Coffin who told me that I had just missed Cynthia.  Cynthia would be pacing me for lap 7 but I told her that if she had a chance to come out while it was light out so she'd be familiar with the area and so that she could get the signing of the waiver out of the way.  She texted me, had started to head back at the car but realized she could catch up to me.  I was doing a fast walk with a little bit of running and was looking back to see if she was getting close.  Then after a few minutes she texted to say she gave up.  But a little after that I could see someone running.  She caught up to me and we chatted for a couple of minutes before she turned back and I continued on.

The trip north through the hall of pines was pleasant and I was feeling pretty good knowing I'd soon be at teh halfway point of the race.  At some point I had a 10:32 mile, or it may have just been a garmin glitch.  Made it out to the aid station, turned back.  Reached Pump Station road.  The road is raised up a bit, so from the trail back to the road is an embankment which would get a little harder to climb.  Reached "the hub", turned right onto the lollipop trail, then back toward the timing mat.  I was looking to see if Jessica was around, she was hoping to get out to see me around this time.  Made it back around and grabbed my camelbak, kindly filled by one of the volunteers.  Stopped by my drop bags to make sure I had two lights.  Started to get going again and posted a progress update to facebook for anyone following.  Saw that I had missed Jessica's text by ten minutes.  Was bummed that I missed her and wished I'd checked my phone sooner or had told her to look for me at the corner of the hub where my drop bags were, but it was good to know she had come out and tried to find me.

Loop 5

(63.5 miles total, 16:44 average for 12.5 miles)

Here's where things would get a bit slower.  The sun had set already and heading south down the trail, the last bits of light were vanishing.  The mosquitoes were coming out.  Earlier in the day I had sprayed on some "Bullfrog" combination sun screen and bug spray mainly for the sun screen.  But that had been a while and most of it had probably been sweated away.  I knew the mosquitoes wouldn't be bad for that long but it was not a great way to start the loop.  Negative thoughts were getting in my head.  I wouldn't have a pacer until the 7th lap, and it might be even later than that depending on what time Cynthia could make it out.  Rain was on its way.   Sometimes you see those forecasts where there's an hour window and it's like 70% chance of rain, and then it's 50% chance, and so on.  But this forecast said "100%", and that was for a few hours before it tapered off.  There was no way we'd miss it.

I was beginning to worry about making it through the night.  Then I got a text from Daisy.  She'd been seeing my facebook updates and said she could run with me for some of it.  She said she didn't have a light but would use her phone.  There's not too many people who will offer to meet out in a park in the dark.  We exchanged a few texts figuring out what time to meet, she was out to dinner with her husband, but could probably come out after that.

Made it past the log with the sign that said "Tonight this log will be a gator".   Fortunately it was still a log.

Finished the out and back, and then back on Pump Station Road for another 0.6 miles of pavement.  Jenny had texted me asking for a location update.  Then she said Tom had just gotten back from volunteering and she was going to bring him out to say hi.  Yesterday, I had texted Tom and Andy inviting them out to stop by if they were bored and wanted to check out the race.  I'd pretty much hardly planned out anything about this race and Andy already had plans to meet friends out.  Told Jenny I had to finish the round trip to Aid Station 3 and would then be back at the hub.

Made it back to Pump Station road, made it to the view of the tent city at the hub and as I approached the intersection, I saw three people standing there.  Jenny, Tom, and Joe.  Joe was a complete surprise.  He was a "maybe" for showing up for the last lap, nothing definite at all.  Joe was there to pace me for loop 6.  Jenny and Tom were there to say hi so they came along with me while I did the "awful lollipop".  I was doing some walking and a little bit of "running", although all Tom had to do was lengthen his walking stride a little to keep up.

Came back around to the timing mat where Joe was waiting.  Thanked Jenny and Tom for coming out and then headed onto the south trail with Joe for loop 6.

Loop 6

(76.0 miles total, 17:23 average for 12.5 miles)

It was good to have Joe and his positive attitude.  It becomes a brand new race once you have a pacer along.  Western States was like that, and then I relearned it at Oil Creek.  There had been some sprinkles earlier and I knew the rain was coming soon.  I had a rain poncho in my drop bag but Joe had two with him ready to go so I didn't dig through my bag.  I think we made it to the southern aid station and started back north when we the scattered sprinkles turned to a steady rain.  Kept moving along, made it back to the road and then north through the hall of pines.  At some point around there, we were on a walk break that had been over extended.  It was raining and I did not want to be here.  Joe said "do you want to start running again".  I said no.  He kind of ignored that and we were soon back to running a couple of minutes and walking a minute or so.  It was slow but we were making steady progress.  We made it to the northern aid station, also known as the "unmanned aid station" even though it was staffed.  We were out of the rain for just a little bit which felt nice.  Can't remember what I ate, maybe some pickles or some broth or a sandwich quarter.

I had been trying to charge my garmin.  I had a portable charger with me but, either because of the rain or because I had brought the imitation charging cable I could not get it to charge.  My garmin was not going to make it.

Headed back out onto the road and soon could see headlamps of runners on the trail in the woods parallel to the road - we had missed our turn off, but not by too much and just backtracked a little and cut back onto the trail.

Still raining.  My plan was that once the loop was finished I was going to wait under the canopy where my drop bag was.  Wait for the rain to stop or it to get light out.  I'd still have enough time to finish.

But, as we got closer to the end of loop 6, the rain was becoming less and less and it had probably been stopped for about 30 minutes by the time I was back at the canopy.  I decided I'd keep going.  But, first I'd sit for a little bit.  I had Joe text Cynthia to give her updates and how to meet up with me, to try and catch me after I did the out and back on the southern trail.  Joe said I could borrow his garmin for the rest of the race.  Besides mine running out of battery, the other problem I was having is that the rain was making it switch displays.  Joe's garmin only has buttons.  I have buttons and swipe.  The swipe was getting activated by the rain.

Loop 7

(88.5 miles total, 18:00 average for 12.5 miles)

I think I only sat for about 10 minutes or so.  The rain had stopped and I was feeling much better.  It looked like Cynthia would make it out by the time I finished the first out and back.  With the sitting and getting myself ready for the next loop, the first mile of loop 7 was 30 minutes long - slowest mile of the race, but not bad considering I was thinking of sitting down for a few hours.  The next few miles I was actually feeling really good (at least relatively for it being near the middle of the night), two miles in a row in the 14's - 14:43 and 14:24, then 16:12, 17:09, 15:52, and 14:12.  Sometime in those miles, as I was heading back north toward the hub, the rain came back, but this time it soon started dumping and there was some lightning.  I was counting the time between the flashes and the thunder, and after a couple of close ones (2-3 seconds), they started getting farther away and soon were gone, rain was maybe about 15 minutes long this time.  

I think it was on this loop (or maybe it was on loop 5), coming north on the southern out and back, I looked to the left and was startled to see a dead horse laying on its side on the edge of the trail.  No, wait, not a dead horse just some dried palm fronds in the shape of a horse.  I didn't fall for the log alligator but was caught off guard by the palm horse.

As I approached the hub, was checking for messages from Cynthia.  Saw a slew of messages between Joe and Cynthia with directions and updates and the last messages saying she had just parked, was getting her running clothes together and heading to the hub.  I didn't want to stop but went a little slower while figuring out how to meet up.  She soon caught up to me and we started back to run/walk although with the slowdown this mile would be about 23 minutes.

Even though I was now halfway into the 7th out of 8 loops it still seemed like the race would take forever and that it would be dark forever also.  Both of these were far from scientifically accurate but that's what it felt like.

Made it out to the northern aid station.  On the way out I told Cynthia we needed to make sure we didn't miss the turn off from the road back to the trail.  On the way back we missed the turn off, but this time by less than the last time and were soon back on the correct trail.  Rest of the loop was good and 7 of out of 8 was now done.

Loop 8

(101.0 miles total, 16:00 average for 12.5 miles)

Still seemed like a long way to go.  Cynthia could stick around for the out and back, giving her one complete loop.

Half way down the southern trail, the going got really sloppy.  Cynthia kept on looking for ways to hop from dry spot to dry spot but it was soon futile.  It was either mud or puddles.  I think the slop was about a mile and a half long.  Approached the aid station for the last time.  Asked Cynthia if she could hear the guy hollering.  She didn't at first but soon did.  What is that? she asked.  One of the volunteers there, all day and through the night would let out a series of yells as each runner approached.  Not sure how he didn't lose his voice, but it was appreciated.

Leaving the aid station I had to call back for Cynthia, she had thought it was a turn around point.  I wished it was, had to get through some extra sloppy slop before getting back to the section heading north.   Eventually made it through the slop, and then back on solid ground.

Hints of light were starting to show up in the sky.  We were getting closer to the hub and its tent city and then we were there.  Said goodbye to Cynthia and headed east on the road and then north through the hall of pines.  I approached the last aid station for the very last time.  One of the volunteers said "nice shuffle", couldn't tell if it was a compliment or a good natured insult, she asked what I needed and I said "nothing, just tagging the base", then I turned around.

Then one last trip through the "awful lollipop" which this time was not awful at all, and then finally the timing mat for the very last time.

I cross the finish line and see the race director Andy and I say something corny like "that's a wrap" and then he hands me my finishers buckle.  Jessica texts me and says she's close by and asks if I finished yet, I look down the road and see her heading my way, just missed me.  We walk over to my drop bag area and I sit down for only the second time in the past 25 hours, it feels good to sit, I hold up the buckle and get a picture.

BACKGROUND

In 2013 I ran my first 100 mile race, after being very lucky to get into the Western States 100.  I qualified to enter into the lottery at the Croom Fools Run 50 mile race, a race that I ran after switching my entry from the 50K.  Race director Andy Matthews (aka Andy Croom) has always been supportive and encouraging of me even though he easily has 100's of people running his various races, maybe even 1000's but somehow treats everyone like they are the star of the team.

So, the Western States rules changed and the Croom Fools Run 50 miler was no longer a qualifier.  Finding the nearest qualifier would mean going to Alabama, Georgia, or North Carolina.  So, Andy and his wife Amy decided they'd bring back a qulifying race to Florida.  100 miles, at least 100 finishers.

So, in July I signed up for this race, hoping to be 1 out of at least 100 finishers.  But, there was a slight problem.  I was trying to get my marathon run training back on track by following a structured plan and targeting a race in December.  There is some overlap between marathon training and ultra-marathon training but to do your best at either one means not doing the most ideal training for the other.  But, I was pretty sure I could do this.

With less than ideal training but with the knowledge that I could do this I went in with low expectations.  It was difficult at times during the low points when legs were tired and there was still halfway to go but with a little help and encouragement from friends and families I was able to do the job.

5.25 mi, 53:08, 10:07 avg, HR 134 bpm

(catch up entry)

Ran south from my house, through Fox Hollow area and then south on the new connector bike trail to just past Lake Dan.  57 degrees and humid, looks like it was a pretty standard run.

4.67, 51:53, 11:07 avg, elev gain 101 feet, HR 126 bpm

Easy paced 4/1 run/walk south through Westlake out via the cut-through and past the Y, 16th Street to Florida Ave to the Pinellas Trail before turning around.

33 1/3 mile trail race tomorrow so keeping it easy

1.11 mi, 11:49 avg

Stop, sniff, shake off the rain, charge ahead, repeat with Stella.  I had skipped yesterday's run - one more recovery day from the 33 1/3 mile run on Saturday.  Started walking Stella and decided to run her.  Rain started and she kept on stopping to shake off the rain, then she'd try and charge ahead and I'd have to pull her back.  I stopped the watch at one point and we walked while some dogs went by the other way.  So, even though we completed the full 1.7 mile neighborhood loop I only recorded 1.11 which is still more then 0.  And Stella seemed pretty happy despite the rain.

7.41 mi, 1:09:15, 9:21 avg, elev gain 218 feet

First in a series of "hills with Joe".  Joe is running Boston this year, and due to a scarcity of hills around here he came down to Palm Harbor to run the small rollers in Westlake Village (lowest elevation 19 feet, highest elevation 78 feet).

We ran one loop around the perimeter at an easy pace, and then did 4 repeats of 400m uphill at 6:50ish pace, short rest, then back down the hill at 7:20-7:30 pace.

Good run to wake up my legs and nice to have the company.  Chilly and almost cold at 43 degrees.

6.6 mi, 1:02:00, 9:24 avg, elev gain 128 feet

Did run/walk at 4/1 from Westlake heading north onto Belcher up to Klosterman for a little bit before turning around.  55 degrees, low humidity, nice!

Another catch-up entry, working my way back toward the beginning of March.

5.51 mi, 54:30, 9:54 avg, HR 138 bpm

Ran in Foxwood and along Fox Hollow golf course, on the classic t-shaped route, sometimes called the "trout", although it's more shaped like a Y.

This is a "catch-up" entry so I don't remember much more, but apparently it was 60 degrees, so that sounds pretty nice.

3.28 mi, 34:58, 10:40 avg, HR 127 bpm

Horribly and terribly behind in my blogging due to getting backlogged on race reports starting with the Jacksonville Marathon on Dec 15, Croom Zoom 50K at beginning of January, Holloway Trail Half Marathon, and finally the Long Play 33 1/3 Ultra on 3/2.

So, not much time to run since I had to mess around with the pool equipment trying to get that back on track before heading to Clearwater HS to see Thomas at the track meet.  I've been trying to run easy to get my heart rate down hopefully indicating a more solid aerobic base and to give myself a break from the races between December and March - over 200 miles (although all but one of them at slower ultra pace).

Thomas ran the 3200 and 1600m races with the 3200m race being first presumably to let the longer race go in the cooler morning weather.  His previous 3200m race had a very impressive negative split 5:40 and 5:21 where he went from about 12th place and finishing in second place.  It was also the debut race for the new pair of Nike Vaporfly 4%.

So, this morning was another negative split, this time 5:20 and 5:19 for a new PR of 10:39, finally a reward for the hard work after getting much smaller increments on the order of less than 1 second improvements.

1600m race was later in the afternoon, about 4:00 pm, second heat.  After hanging back a little for the first lap, moved out into the lead and held it up until the final 50m or so with two kids squeeking by, giving him 3rd place.  But, this was also a new PR of 4:45.39 (about 2 seconds faster than old PR).  Big accomplishment with two significant PRs

But probably the biggest accomplishment was sticking with it through the practices and meets when it didn't look like things would get better.

1.21 mi, 12:42, 10:28 avg

Very little running this morning (was up way too late for work trying to figure out a problem for something that needed to be solved by morning).

So, combined the Stella walk with the run.  She does get easier to run the more she runs with me

4.35 mi, 44:31, 10:14 avg, HR 131 bpm

Started out running with Stella for 1.4 miles, then did the rest on my own.  Ran in Foxwood with one big loop around the neighborhood, 1 loop on the park path, and then some up and down the street.

8.55 mi, 1:18:12, 9:09 avg, elev gain 269 feet, heart rate 141 bpm

Joe ran with me in Westlake.  He has Boston marathon coming up and wanted to do some hills. We did an easy paced loop around the perimeter of Westlake and then headed over to corner of Lakeview and Village Way to do repeats up and down Sandy Hook Rd, 0.25 long, 6:50-6:55 pace on the way up, easy jog for 45 seconds at the top, then run down at 7:30ish pace then 1:30 easy jog, repeat 6 times.

We then cooled down with about 1.5 miles easy.

I was pretty happy with the heart rate, thought it would be higher with the repeats but the easy running helped cancel some of that out.  Was good that Joe could come down and hopefully helps him out as there aren't many hill options around here.

5.62 mi, 56:26, 10:02 avg, HR 134 bpm

Ran the Y shaped route from my house, trying to keep my splits pretty even and in the range of what I thought "easy" should be based on heart rate feedback.  I was aiming for about a 10:00 pace.  I ended up with a 10:02 average and heart rate not too far off from recommended "Mafetone" pace which would have been 128.  But I didn't want to stare at my heart rate the whole time because I think that can create a negative feedback loop.

It's a pleasant feeling to really run an easy pace and not worry about going too slow at the same time.  It takes a little more time so I'll have to set aside more time if I want to increase my miles.

Watched Thomas run at the track meet in the evening at Mitchell HS.  He was running the 1600m and 3200m but plan for 3200m was to to try and pace a teammate to break 11:00.

1600m went really well.  One of his teammates was trying to run 4:39 or better, so Thomas was going to stick with him as long as possible and then hang on.  The plan worked.  Stuck pretty close to teammate Paul for at least the first two laps, there was a little more of a gap in the third lap but not too far, then more gap in the 4th lap but by then, Thomas was already on his way to a PR, running 4:48 for a 6 second improvement and Paul ran 4:38.

3200m race went well, although the runner he was pacing was not holding on so they told him to go ahead, so he picked it up the pace and finished with a 10:47 while running a negative split again.  He placed high enough to score some points for the team.

5.76 mi, 1:01:01, elev gain 147 feet, HR 132 bpm

Ran from Westlake house to Alderman and then north onto Belcher, out and back.  Was running 4/1 run/walk and trying to average heart rate around 130 or so.  Pace for the heart rate was a little bit slower than yesterday but yesterday's route was flatter and still not sure what is better for pace/heart rate, steady running or run/walk?

Weather was good, cool and sunny.

8.01 mi, 1:19:19, 9:54 avg

Ran from Longleaf along Starkey Blvd bike path meeting Cynthia and Joe at 7:10 (originally planned for 7:00 but not too far off).  Joe had already done 9 miles and was going to do some faster miles at the end but stuck with us for nearly two miles before he took off.  Shortly after Joe left saw Tom coming back from his run.

We ran to the end of Alico Pass and then made a quick stop at Diane's house for refreshments.

We were mainly running right about a 10:00 pace but did 8:42 for the last mile, bringing down the average.  Did not look at heart rate until the end and happy to see 129 average bpm.  Seem to do better when running with others as far as effort.

5.15 mi, 49:27, 9:36 avg, elev gain 127 feet, HR 132 bpm

6:00 am run with Jacob, out and back in Westlake Village.  He hadn't run since the weeked we did 10 miles with Jamie and Cynthia.  Went out slow and took it easy until approaching the last mile.  I let him go ahead a little bit but still finished last mile in 8:15.  Overal heart rate was very good for the pace, 1 minute per mile faster at same heart rate compared to Friday's run.

5.28 mi, 51:37, 9:46 avg, HR 133 bpm

Ran in Foxwood, starting out as a Stella walk, and then ran with her for about 1.3 miles before dropping her back off at the house.  Then, did an out and back to Trinity Blvd via RTJ Blvd.  It was nice and cool with a very light rain off and on.  I picked it up for the last mile to 8:33 after having run slow enough to keep my heart rate in the low 130's.  After the 5th mile, ran in the 6:40's for a tenth of a mile and then cooled down for a little bit longer.

I've been neglecting upper body, so did 25 push-ups on the "perfect push-up" things, and then 5 pull-ups because I've forgotten what those feel like.

After yesterday morning's run, my garmin rewarded me with "new Vo2 Max detected - 52"

8.22 mi, 1:12:36, 8:50 avg, elev gain 228 feet, HR 141 bpm

Ran with Joe in Westlake.  He came down to run some hills.  We looped around the neighborhood at an easy pace for about 4 miles, and then did 3 repeats where we ran up a hill for half mile at about 7:00 pace, recovered a little bit, and then ran back down a little slower (7:20-7:30 pace) and easier effort because it was downhill.  Nice morning with low 50's for the temps.

7.08 mi, 1:13:22, 10:22 avg, HR 128 bpm

Ran the Lake Dan simple route with Jamie.  Unexpected text from Jamie as she was about to start her run in case I was going to run as I was getting ready to run.  Ran from Foxwood, across to Fox Hollow area, through the neighborhood with the gate you can contort through, onto the construction road to the new trail extension that should be officially opening pretty soon.  Run/walk at 5/1 which felt pretty much as easy as 4/1 but average pace slightly faster with seemingly the same effort.  Good average heart rate for the pace, inching my way down to doing sub-10:00 pace with sub 130 bpm heart rate.

Near the turn around point, saw a bunch of 9 mm spent shell casings on the ground, not sure what was up with that.

2.27 mi, 20:10, 8:54 avg, elev gain 53 feet

Quick run in Westlake Village, out and back from the house to the top of the highest point on Lakeview Dr., slow pace out at 10:04, and faster back at 8:19 pace, although the return trip was more downhill.

1.16 mi, 12:09, 10:28 avg

Run/walk with Stella in Foxwood, she was a happy dog and pretty good running on the leash today.

Later in the evening, took the boys out to eat at Outback.  Hadn't been there in quite some time.  Made sure to get a Bloomin Onion

13.01 mi, 2:17:47, 10:35 avg, HR 125 bpm

Ran with Jamie from the neighborhood out and back, across 54, up Starkey Blvd and to the end of Alico Pass with a quick fluid stop at Diane's lemonade stand.  Picked up Cynthia at Longleaf, so she did about 8 miles with us.  Jamie's back from her Asia trip and squeezing in a few long runs before she's off to London for her final Majors.  Did run/walk today, but 5/1 instead of 4/1 (second time now, did 5/1 for first time earlier in the week).

Average HR was surprisingly good even though my legs were feeling a bit lethargic it was not taxing my heart rate.

Managed to fix a couple of things - a toilet with a leaky seal causing on and off running, and the gate to the backyard which was falling apart.  Bought a new cordless drill which made the job a whole lot easier.

3.31 mi, 30:31, 9:14 avg, elev gain 61 feet

Did several small loops in Westlake.  First, did one on Park Ct, then did Pinewood to Village Way to Lakeside Terrace, then a loop in the park around the lake, then finally a bigger loop on Pinewood to Maple Ridge and a short out and back up the Lakeview hill, then back to the house.

Legs were very sluggish at the start but felt woken up after running all the turns and the small hills.

5.51 mi, 54:24, 9:53 avg, HR 136 bpm

Classic t-shaped route (actually more of a Y) in Foxwood and along Fox Hollow area.  Kind of sort of trying to run heart rate around 130 average but started looking at pace instead and ended up doing neither one very well, but then again not too far off from where I wanted to be.  Still in the ballpark of easy but not too, too slow.

Walked Stella after the run but did not end up running with her this morning.

In the evening, went to Anclote HS to watch Tom at the track meet.  First meet back after being off for break last week.  Fast freshman Paul was supposed to run the 1600 with Tom but was a little bit hurt and playing it safe.  Gulf HS runner John J ran but was also not fully up to speed.  Race started and not too far into it (but not the very start), Tom moved out front (can't remember if it was the first lap or into the second lap) and slowly opened up a bigger gap on the number two runner - also named Noah (Tom's real first name).  Down the last straightaway, Noah from River Ridge closed some of the gap but did not get dangerously close and Tom won the heat with 4:52.96, his second best ever time, and fastest time while winning the heat.

It was a nice night to watch the meet.

4.56 mi, 44:04, 9:39 avg, elev gain 138 feet, HR 134 bpm

Ran loops in Westlake with Joe to cover the rolling hills.  Started out nice, then gradually the rain started and it seemed like it would be ok for a while.  It started to come down heavy and thought about stopping by the club house to get out of the rain, but then changed our minds and just ran back to my house since it was only another 0.25 miles away.  Pretty drenched by the time I got back to the house.

Run was cut a little short. I thought about going back out once the rain had died down but by then I was feeling chilly from the rain and decided it was enough.

5.42 mi, 57:16, 10:34 avg, HR 127 bpm

Ran with Joe and Jamie in the neighborhood, run the y shaped route.  I felt a bit lethargic but fortunately I could just follow along.  Jamie was doing 5/1 run/walk in preparation for London coming up pretty soon.  Joe had already run about 8 miles before meeting up with us so he headed back a little early.

3.18 mi, 3041, 9:38 avg, elev gain 72 feet

Short run in Westlake.  Around Park Ct, then Village Way to Sandy Hook until at the top of the Lakeview Dr hill, then back the way I came.

12.02 mi, 2:09:58, 10:48 avg, HR 128 bpm

Met Jamie and Cynthia at the Trinity Y, then headed out through Trinity Oaks over to Trinity Blvd and then south to East Lake, and left on Keystone until we got to the new section of bike trail until coming back up to Fox Hollow.  Got some water at the fountain and continued on back to the Y.  It was about 10 miles at that point which was all Cynthia had signed up for so she walked from there and when I got back to the Y, drove back to get her while she had continued on at a walking pace.  Jamie did another 2.4 miles and with the miles she had before meeting us at the Y finished the morning with 18.

We did 5/1 run/walk.

We had tried a more direct route for this loop but it only saved us a mile, could use a cooler drop somewhere along the route next time.

In the afternoon went to see Tom running in the track meet at Steinbrenner HS.  He was running the 1600 today which ended up being at 3:30 in the afternoon, by which time it had heated up.  He was in heat 1.  Ended up with just over 4:52 (4:52.09 I think), which was almost one second faster than Tuesday's meet but a few seconds off from his PR of 4:48 on 3/14.  Splits were 1:09.7, 1:12.3, 1:14.4, and 1:15.3 (according to my unofficial timing).  I was standing next to his coach and he thought it looked like Tom had acclerated going around the curve after the start of the 4th lap but slowed just a little some point after that.  

Great effort I think but I know he's got his sights on something a little faster.

3.24 mi, 31:15 , 9:38 avg

1.45 mi, 11:54, 8:13 avg

Ran in Foxwood - in the front park and mainly up and down my street.

Part 1 was an easy run, some of it with Stella, some on my own.  I went back out and did a few strides - 8 x (about) 25 seconds each.

5.61 mi, 58:03, 10:21 avg, HR 131 bpm

Started off running some with Stella, then dropped her off at the house and went back out and started to get rained on.  Stayed pretty steady for most of the run but I think finally died down sometime during the last half mile.

Ran on the new trail to about where Lake Dan is and then turned around.  Was trying to keep heart about 130ish (ideally 128), also, once I got onto the trail was doing 5/1 run/walk (but did not use the interval feature on the watch, just sort of approximated).

I was pretty wet by the time I got back to the house but it was one of those good rains.

2.13 mi, 21:02, 9:53 avg, HR 140 bpm

Very short run this morning.  Some of it was with Stella, then I decided to see what I could do in my current shape for 400m (or 0.25 miles per Garmin).  The neighborhood streets were recently paved and there's a nice straight section.  It went a little bit better than expected and I think I might have even accelerated toward the end - 1:24.7 according to Garmin, and Strava said 400m time was 1:23, so someplace around there.  Should really go sneak onto a track sometime soon.

In the evening was the SAC West track meet.  Thomas was doing the 1600m and 3200m races.  He gave it his all but he wasn't happy with his time of 4:53 and 5th place. 

He looked better in the 3200.  Jarod took off early and got out in front. Thomas was 4th or 5th for a while with teammate Logan sticking right behind him.  Before long, Thomas and Logan were 2nd and 3rd with a runner from another school sticking right behind them (just a few feet).  Eventually they shook the other runner with about two laps to go, Tom widened the gap from Logan and then really took off in the last lap going 6 seconds faster than the previous lap.  Tom ended up 20 seconds ahead of Logan, and Logan was 8 seconds ahead of the runner from the other school.  This gave Mitchell 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (10:39, 11:00, 11:21) places.

Can't believe the season is almost over, districts next.

3.42 mi, 34:56, 10:12 avg, elev gain 76 feet, HR 138 bpm

Short run this morning for fun with one goal.  I was going to try and get an improved time on a Strava segment called "Alderman to Dove Hollow Zombie Run" which has a -1.2 percent grade for 0.7 miles.  I warmed up and then picked it up on the section of road where I thought the segment was and ran a little bit past where I thought it ended, running 0.78 miles at 7:26 pace.  It turned out that it only counted it if I ran on the other side of the road (even though my previous time for this segment was on the side I ran today).  Not exactly sure why it wasn't counted but I'll try again sometime soon.

6.07 mi, 1:00:00, 9:53 avg, elev gain 91 feet, HR 138 bpm

Did 5/1 run/walk, going north onto Belcher and then back the way I came.  Started out keeping the HR around 130, but after a few Run/walks picked it up a little and then decided to come back faster on the return trip.

Miles have been kind of light this week but I'll ramp back up once I figure out what I'm training for next.

10.0, 1:44:01, 10:24 avg, HR 133 bpm

I was dragging on this run.  However, I did one pick-up after warming up, ran the old Striders Tuesday interval #1.  The rest of the run was pretty slow but did not feel easy.  Was doing 5/1 run/walk with Jamie and Cynthia.  We ran from the Trinity Y, through Trinity Oaks and then over to the new almost opened bike trail.  Ran down there for a couple miles and then turned back the way we came back to the Y.  My legs felt heavy but was glad when it was done.

5.05 mi, 43:26, 8:36 avg, elev gain 56 feet, HR 151 bpm

Jacob wanted to run before school, so I woke up at 5:45, called him and we were out warming up at 6:00 and started running at 6:05.  Wanted to get in 5 miles before he had to get ready for school, so I dispensed with the slower running I've been doing and after the first mile at 9:55 (which is slightly fast for me for a first mile), we ran in the 8:05-8:55 range for the rest of the miles.  Some of the route was not well lit so I wore a headlamp.

I need to get back into the habit of running at 6:00 or earlier.

My heart rate was a bit higher than I would have liked but not too horrible.

Jacob's been doing wrestling instead of track but needs to make weight this coming weekend so is going to add back in some running.

4.14 mi, 44:49, 10:49 avg, HR 131

After some walking with Stella, ran with her for 1.3 miles, dropped her off at the house and ran some more by myself, running through the front gate, passed Brick Oven and over to the entrance of the section of new trail heading north which I did not go on, still has some work left on it.

Cutting things short a little today since there are customers at work I will be meeting with (which also means I have to wear long pants).

I slept in late today, I fell asleep early(ish) last night feeling exhausted.

I will at least get my 13000 steps in today (ended up with 13,787).

I guess I needed a day off.

6.18 mi, 1:06:56, 10:49 avg, HR 131 bpm

Out and back from my house on the new trail and past Lake Dan, keeping heartrate near the mafetone range although seem to be stuck recently at 10:49 average, was able to eventually get into the low 9:00's last time I was consistent with heart rate training.

I picked it up a little bit for the last mile (not much though just 9:52) to get out of the 10:00's

But overall it was a pretty good run on a nice Thursday morning. 

3.07 mi, 30:00, 9:46 avg, HR 139 bpm

Two loops inside Westlake Village, through the park trail and Village Way.  Was doing a run/walk 4/1 trying to target a 10:00 avg pace to see what my heart rate would end up with for an average.  Went a little bit faster overall, was hoping for a little lower heart rate for a relatively "easy" pace but happy that it was at least under 140 bpm.

13.08 mi, 2:18:36, 10:36 avg, elev gain 136 feet, HR 130 bpm

Run/walk 5/1 with Jamie from Westlake house, out the south entrance, through downtown Palm Harbor and then onto the Pinellas Trail until we were about 6.5 miles out.  Slight detour into Hammock Park in Dunedin following a sign for bathrooms and a butterfly garden, which we found neither one (just missed them), but did run on a board walk and a nice trail before exiting onto Michigan Ave and then back onto the Pinellas Trail.

Heart rate was pretty decent for the pace. Overall, a fairly relaxed run.

2.32 mi, 26:19, 11:21 avg, HR 125 bpm

Short and easy run up and down the street in Foxwood.

In the afternoon (early evening), watched Thomas at the District Meet where he ran the 1600 with a time of 4:51.45 (his second fastest).  He also ran his fastest 400m in a 1600 with the first lap at 1:06.  Teammate Paul ran a 4:41 to get 4th place and moved onto the regional meet.

Missed my run today.

6.85 mi, 1:06:19, 9:41 avg

(easy part 6.05 mi, 1:01:52, 10:14 avg, HR 141 bpm)

Ran out and back a little past Lake Dan on the new trail, targeting a 10:15ish average (ended up with 10:14), while doing a 5/1 run/walk and hoping for a heart rate around 130 or so.

Finished the first part of the run at 10:14 average but with 141 heart rate, a bit disappointing.

Then to shake off the slow feeling, ran some strides, stopped my watch on the rest/jog breaks to see what my stride pace was, averaged 5:36 running 0.8 miles worth of strides up and down the street in front of my house.

7.46 mi, 1:18:50, 10:34 avg, elev gain 128 feet, HR 137 bpm

Ran the Alderman, Alt19, Klosterman, Belcher loop.  Did a cut through of Eniswood to shorten the loop a little bit, trying to run MAF zone which I mostly did which I did until turning right onto Belcher Road.  At that point I decided to pick up the pace for the stretch back home.  There are little rolling hills with one last bigger hill up to the top of Alderman.  I had a lot of trouble picking it up at all at first, but gradually was able to increase my speed but not much faster than 7:30's.

4.35 mi, 50:51, 11:41 avg, HR 128 bpm

Strict MAF run - these don't seem to go well, maybe because I keep staring at my heart rate.  Ran in Foxwood and Foxhollow, standard y-shaped route.  Kept lap heart rate right at 128 bpm.  It was slow going but maybe I needed to go slow today.

Tomorrow I'll just run.

9.9 mi, 1:24:08, 10:19 avg, HR 135 bpm

Ran with Jamie in Starkey Park on the bike trail doing 5/1 run/walk.  This was her last long run - one week out from London Marathon, her last one to complete the 6 majors.

Today's run was faster, although with a higher heart rate but did not look at it until after the run was over.  Very nice morning in Starkey, had not been there for a Saturday run for a while.

5.77 mi, 1:00:40, 10:30 avg, HR 128 bpm

5/1 run/walk from my house to the new trail, a little bit past Lake Dan.  Heart rate was in the mid 120's for most of the run, I ran a little faster for mile 5 (10:07 pace, 132 bpm avg) and then picked it up for the home stretch to get my overall average pace faster.

Strides - 0.18 mi @ 5:06 pace

Then did three quick strides in front of my house 0.18 mi @ 5:06 average pace

5.88 mi, 1:02:00, 10:33 avg, HR 132 bpm

5/1 run/walk from my house to the new trail down a little bit past Lake Dan and then back.  For the last 1 minute walk break at the end, instead of walking I ran fast - 6:18 pace for 1 minute, and then jogged home as I had overshot my starting point.

So, mostly just an easy paced run.

6.34 mi, 53:31, 8:27 avg, HR 150 bpm

Started out as an easy run, heading down onto the new trail.  Reached to about 3.1 miles which puts me next to a house that seems to be out there by itself.  Stopped there for a minute and then decided to run fast.  Picked it up and finished that mile in 7:31 and kept going until reaching the county line which was another 0.85 miles.  This section was 6:41 pace.  Hit the lap button and backed off the pace but stayed away from slow, with the next mile in 7:30, and then once I went through the Foxwood gate picked it up one last time to finish up mile 6, and then finally a cool down for the rest of the way.

6.72 mi, 1:07:52, 10:06 avg, HR 126 bpm

Ran with Joe and Jamie in Foxwood, with Joe leaving us a little early since he had to be someplace.  Heart rate for the pace was good, it's always a little better when running with friends.

At the end of the run I noticed that I had put my shirt on backwards, it felt a little tight in the neck.

6.02 mi, 1:00:00, 9:58 avg, HR 139 bpm

Ran on the treadmill at the Palm Harbor Y as it was raining out.  I tried out the indoor running feature on the garmin which just uses the accelerometer.  Treadmill said 6.02 miles and the garmin was not too far off at 5.81 miles.  Wanted to get my heart rate recorded as well.  A little bit higher than yesterday's run.

Got back to my house and did a few strides up and down the street, 0.53 miles at 5:44 pace average (only counting the fast portion).

11.2 mi, 2:05:51, 11:14 avg, elev gain 273 feet, HR 131 bpm

Big single loop in Palm Harbor, east onto Alderman, south onto Belcher, across Nebraska and Pennsylvania avenues to the Pinellas Trail and then north up to Klosterman and south down Belcher.  Kept it easy for the first 6 miles (i.e. slow, almost too slow), so went a little faster for mile 7 and 8, back to easy for mile 10, and a little faster for mile 11 (9:49, so still not fast).  Stopped and took some pictures by the water, nice relaxing run overall, getting in some miles doing heart rate training.

4.45 mi, 45:15, 10:10 avg, HR 133 bpm

Ran in Foxwood, slightly shortened y-shaped route.  Easy paced, at the outer edge of maf+5 range.

4.67 mi, 47:58, 10:15 avg, HR 130 bpm

Tuesday morning run on Starkey Blvd to try and catch the tail end of the Strider's run.  Ran with Stella, she helped pull me along.

Back to the house and did a few strides

0.58 miles of strides, 5:16 avg pace, ran up and down Tecoma Drive.

11.97 mi, 2:00:38, 10:05 avg, HR 144 bpm

Sort of an adventure running to the Lake Dan Preserve.  

When running down the new trail connector to the Pinellas Trail, off to the east is a lake which I had always thought was on private land (trail is fenced off on both sides).  It turns out it is part of an 11,000 acre preserve.

So, I ran down the paved trail to Tarpon Ave, turned left, running along the road a bit (kind of a busy road but a decent amount of shoulder to run on).  Turned left ontoTyler Ave, to Tyler Run, to Huckavalle Rd, finally reaching the Lake Dan preserve main entrance which has some signs, maps, a small playground about 8 parking spots.  I ran into the entrance and across a board walk over some water, onto an unpaved trail.  This was about 5.5 miles so far.  Turned left at a Tee intersection (not quite sure which way to go), which brought me to a smaller entrance, an official entry point to the preserve but nothing else (was at the dead end of a dirt road (Tyler Road, down to one lane).

It was already kind of late in the morning so I ditched the 5/1 run/walk at a low heart rate and picked it up, from 10:30~11:00 pace, to 10:00, and finally 8:50ish pace.

My goal had been to make it to the fishing pier on Lake Dan but did not make it this time, but did get to see some of the preserve.

4.55 mi, 56:00, 12:18 avg, HR 118 bpm

Experiment with walk/run (more walking that running), 3 minutes of fast walking followed by 1 minute of running.  Considered something like this for an ultra race 50 miles or longer, or even 100 miles.  Would be a good pace for a 100 mile race for me.

Pace wasn't as slow as I thought it would be and heart rate was good, at the very bottom of the Mafetone range (118-128) and I never felt like I was shuffling, was either walking briskly or actually running.

Course was two figure eight loops in Westlake Village.

4.17 mi, 45:28, 10:54 avg, HR 131 bpm

Short out and back run from Foxwood, followed by 5 strides for another 0.39 miles

8.42 mi, 1:31:00, 10:50 avg, HR 128 bpm

Ran in Starkey with Cynthia, taking it easy with 5/1 run/walk.  Out and back a little bit past the 4ish mile water stop.

2.84 mi, 24:04, 8:27 avg, HR 166 bpm

Followed up with solar system sprint trial (about 1 mile following signs from Sun to Pluto to scale of relative distance.  6:35 for the mile, plust some warm up and coold down.

Easy - 5.01 mi, 58:36, 11:41 avg, HR 124 bpm

Ran in Foxwood, neighborhood y-shaped route trying out 3/2 run/walk.

This might have been one of the better pace vs heart rate run strategies.

After the slow and easy stuff, did about 8 strides up and down the street in front of my house, just counting the running portion did 0.77 at 5:21 average pace.

3.11 mi, 25:32, 8:12 avg, HR 156 bpm

Did not get to run this morning due to appointment (although did get in a brisk (13:15 pace, maybe my fastest walked mile so far) one mile walk in the afternoon.  So, did a quick 3ish miles, going to just past the drinking fountain and back, at night, 9:00 pm.

Just ran.  Pace felt kind of hard, not impossibly hard, just harder than usual.  Little bit afraid that all of the slow running might make me slow even though I know better than that.

6.06 mi, 58:41, 9:40 avg, HR 150 bpm

I just wanted to run at a moderate feeling pace without regard to heart rate but was still curious what that would come out to.  Ran in the neighborhood and near the golf course on the standard y-shaped route.  High 70's for temps.  First mile was 10:21, hr of 135, trying to stay out of the too slow range but not trying to push it either.  Ran onto Trinity Blvd a little bit so I'd get 6 miles by the time I got back to my house.  miles 1-6 were between 9:25 and 9:47.

Strava told me this effort was harder than usual and garmin demoted my vo2 max by one more down to 49, thanks guys.

7.29 mi, 1:20:30, 11:03 avg, HR 133 bpm, elev gain 119 feet (garmin) or 203 feet (strava)

Still trying to tweek what's best for easy run to get the fastest pace at a heart rate average at or near 128.  Ran in Palm Harbor looping through and then a big square around the outside of Westlake Village with a short run in Eniswood neighborhood.  Trying 3/2 run/walk, but not really monitoring heartrate, just figuring it would work out to around the rate I wanted.  Druing the last few miles I started running the run portion a little faster, trying to get the average away from the 11:30 area that it was hovering - run, see the average get faster, walk see it get slower, rinse and repeat.

In the end it probably would have been about the same if I had just shuffled along looking at the heart rate.  

The one thing that makes the most difference is running with other people or even with Stella, seems to keep it lower for faster paces, with averages as low as the 10:15 range or even 9:39 one time while running with Joe.

Overall, I don't seem to be making much progress but I won't really know until I test myself in a race of some sort.

Good news at least is that Garmin gave me back my lost 1 point of vo2 max and strava said that today's run was consistent with usual efforts.

8.05 mi, 1:37:34,  12:07 avg, HR 126 bpm, elev gain 180 feet

Determined to stay within a lower heart rate today, did 5/1 run/walk and tried not to let my current heart rate go above 128 while running, although if it went a little bit higher I'd give it a little bit to see if it would go down without having to take a walk break.  I had a couple of times, mainly toward the end where I had to take a short walk break before the scheduled one minute walk break.

Overall, it was a pretty pleasant feeling run, nice morning out and a scenic route, took the short cut out of Westlake to Pennsylvania Ave and cut across to Pinellas trail going south, with goal of reaching the pedestrian overpass going over Alt 19.  And then since I was almost there, a little bit farther south to the water fountain to wash down the Gu I brought with me before turning back around.  Went a little bit faster on the way home and got a little sloppy with heart rate and ended up with 129 average for mile 7.  Then, for about the last 0.3 miles near the house, stretched out my legs a little bit to bring down the average pace.

More miles and more patience.

10.5 mi, 1:56:48, 11:07 avg, elev gain 175 feet, HR 135 bpm

For the most part this was a repeat of yesterday's route but a little farther south (and a small jog through Hammock Park) before turning back.   Also, instead of run/walk intervals it was all "run", however at a slower pace and trying to keep it around 128 bpm without actually monitoring it too closely.  It felt harder and heart rate was a little higher than I wanted.  As I got closer to the end, I was tired of running slow, so went a little faster compared to what I had been running, went back to taking it easy for the 10th mile, and then went faster for the last half mile.

It did cap off a decent 40ish mile week of mostly easy running, hopefully a good base I can build onto.  It was also a nice scenic run with views of the gulf, streams, inlets, parks, and lots of people enjoying the day on feet, bike, rollerblades.

No running today, but did manage to get over 13,000 steps for the day with various activities.  Met with Jessica's parents for brunch at East Lake Cafe, then went kayaking with Jess and her kids.  Before dinner took a walk through the park and stopped at the pull-up bar.  I could outdo Sophia on pull-ups (although she's making some good improvements), but she put me to shame with leg raises.

For dinner, went to Fireside Pizza.  This time I had the Sardinia pizza (meatballs, sausage, and ricotta) which I could not finish - saved two slices to take home.

5.61 mi, 1:03:03, 11:14 avg, HR 128 bpm

Ran from my house to the new trail past Lake Dan and then back. Did 3/2 run/walk with faster running portions, but not so fast that it wasn't easy to recover heart rate during the walk portion.  Ended up with exactly 128 bpm average.  Pace was about where it has been for the effort but maybe improving just slightly.

0.68, 3:55, 5:46 avg

After the easy part, did a few strides and an attempt to beat my last 400m, but just missed with 1:24 (a second too slow to tie).

4.65 mi, 51:23, 11:02 avg, HR 125 bpm

Drove to Longleaf and parked near the church.  Arrived a little after 7:00.  Had originally meant to get there by about 6:30 to see some more of the Striders at the end of their Tuesday run.   Karen and Regina were still there, Stella and I said hi.  Got started and ran into Beka and Melanie, got going again and saw Joe who said I had just missed Jenny and Tom.  Then, after that no more people.  Stella was pretty good on the run.  I was using the bungie-like leash that wraps around my waist.  Saw several rabbits which she did not chase but she really wanted to go towards the fence where last time there were cows (but none this time).

Turned right into Starkey Ranch and kept going to just past the Huckleberry Shuffle (a Strava segment).  

Despite the extra supervision of Stella this was one of the better recent heart rate runs, almost back in the 10's with heart rate in mid-120's.

Was going to run some more (a loop around my neighborhood) but ended up chatting with my neighbor Mike.  He had just won an award at a car show for the little hot rod he's been restoring, wasn't expecting to get anything, so those kinds of awards are especially nice.

8.24 mi, 1:13:20, 8:54 avg, HR 148 bpm

Warmed up with 4 easy paced miles (about 131 bpm for HR average for those miles).  I had run from my house down the new trail to Keystone Road almost to the point where it crosses over Keystone.  Turned around and picked up the pace.  Wanted to try and run the northbound section of the trail from Keystone Road to the county line at a pace under comfortably under 7:30 (i.e. I didn't want to have to pick it up at the end to try and get under 7:30).  I was in the 7:15 range and approached close to 7:00 pace, finishing that mile in 7:05, next mile in 6:56, then it was about another half mile to the end of that segment when I was running in the 6:40's.  Stopped briefly and was going to jog it out the rest of the way home.  Then I ran into Stacey, sitting down on the trail (she was waiting for the pesticide people to finish up and go away), chatted with her for a little bit and then got going again.  Despite the stop, found it easy to get back onto a low 7:00's pace for the remainder of the mile, then made it a 5K by doing one last pickup for about 0.14 miles.

Then slowed it down and jogged the rest of it out back home (about another mile).

Felt pretty good that I was able to run near a 7:00 pace for 5k with all of the slower running I've been doing (apart from the strides).  I'm going to try and get some more speed and tempo runs in over the next few weeks before the RAP River Run 5K (June 8th).  Would want to at least beat my time from last year, or better yet, pick up where I left off with 5k's (Turkey Trot this past November with 20:12)

7.11 mi, 1:16:34, 10:46 avg, elev gain 190 feet, HR 135 bpm

Today's experiment was 2/3 run/walk.  2 minutes of running to 3 minutes of walking, where I would run the run portion at a faster pace (a pace that in the past I would call my easy pace, like 8:30 to 9:15 range).  The time that I tried 1/3 run/walk my average pace was faster than I thought it would be for doing so little running and my heart rate was much lower than  I thought it would be due to all of the walking (it was like 12:15 pace at 118 bpm hear rate).

Results were a little bit different today than what I had hoped for, but to be honest I did not stick to the plan the entire run.  I took on the challenge of running the Strava segment called "the Everest of Klosterman" which is about 0.6 miles on Klosterman Rd between Alt US 19 and Belcher Road.  The hill is about 45 feet of climbing, so not that big but enough that it stands out in the otherwise flat terrain.  So, while running that portion I skipped the walk parts.  

After that, my heart rate stayed a little bit higher and my pace was just a little bit faster for the remainder, except for one of the miles where I was able to back down the pace and HR for a bit.  So, even though 135 bpm was higher than planned, I'd still count it overall as an "easy" run.

6.15 mi, 1:10:11, 11:24 avg, HR 127 bpm

Another HR run.  To and from my house in Foxwood and along Fox Hollow.  Kept the heart rate low and the pace stayed kind of slow with an 11:24 average.  Just getting in some miles and time on my feet.

12.09 mi, 2:14:48, 11:09 avg, HR 122 bpm

Ran from my house and met Jamie at the back gate, we then continued down to SR 54 and over to Starkey Blvd.  Nice and cool morning.  Saw Tom heading south on his bike.  We continued to Alico Pass, which would have made 10 miles total if we turned around there but instead we continued onto Diane's house.  She had just taken down her stand but was still outside so she offered us some gatorade and water.  Chatted with her for a bit, thanked her and headed back the way we came.

Were doing 5/1 run/walk.  This was Jamie's first run since the London Marathon.  She was up for 10, 12 was a little bit of a stretch but since we were taking it easy wasn't too bad.

Happy with the slightly faster pace than yesterday and significantly lower heart rate.

6.26 mi, 1:07:41, 10:49 avg, HR 128 bpm

Ran in Foxwood, easy pace, regular running (no walk run), first 4 miles were pretty slow, all between 11:00 and 11:30, with heart rate between 119 and 127.  Began to get impatient, sped up just a little bit for 5th mile, and 6th mile a little bit faster than that at 9:54 with 139 average heart rate for 6th mile, and 7:40 pace for last 0.2.   Before I started picking up the pace, average pace was about 11:08, the little pick up at the end brought it down to a less embarrassing 10:49, still slow but at least out of the 11:00's but not so fast that I was able to still get a 128 average (mafetone goal).

There's a certain amount of humility required for this slower running, hoping it will pay off.  I know that I can still run faster, legs seem to still work.

As I was getting ready to go to work, my neighbor was tuning up his hot rod, adjusting the fuel/air mixture so it idled better.  He asked if I wanted to hop in for a quick ride.  No doors, just climb over, watch the exhaust pipe.  Tight squeeze and very basic inside.  Running better when he slowed down, it no longer ran rough, then he stepped on the accelerator.  It felt pretty much like you are riding on just an engine.  Fun to drive I'm sure.

7.0 mi, 1:10:24, 10:03 avg

2 part run.  1st part was at Longleaf on the Starkey Blvd trail.  Originally was trying to get there about 6:30 but didn't get there until a few minutes before 7:00.  Saw Joe and some of the Striders as people were packing up to go home.  Started running and then ran into Jenny so stopped and talked to her for a few minutes. Got going again and saw Tom and said hi as I continued on.  Originally was going to do about 7 miles here, but as it was getting later than planned, just did 4.3 miles, easy pace (11:03), heart rate 127 bpm.

Got back to my house, let Stella out, then did part two.  Warmed back up with 1 mile easy and then did 2x1k at goal of 4:00 each (6:26 pace).  Was thinking about doing 3.  First one was very hard and I missed the 4:00 time with 4:02.  Rest/jog for 2 minutes, then did the second one.  It didn't feel as impossible and I actually ran it a little bit faster in 3:56.  Probably should have done a third one.  Encouraging that I could do the second one faster.

I'll try 5 next time just to see what happens.

5.17 mi, 56:37, 10:57 avg, HR 126 bpm

Ran 4.4 miles with Stella, from my house, to the new trail and then south until we hit 2.2 miles then turned around and came back.  It was already low 80's.  Stella did well, especially once we turned around, she seemed to have a new spring in her step.  Despite the heat it was a pretty nice morning.  Was a slight breeze.  We got back to the house, I dropped her off, and then I ran to the end of the street and back to get over 5 for the day.

8.03 mi, 1:10:18, 8:45 avg, elev gain 184 feet, no HR data

Ran from the Westlake house, to Belcher Road, to Klosterman to the Pinellas trail down to Crystal Beach Ave and then back via Alderman.  I left my heart rate strap at the other house so I figured now was my chance to go faster.  First mile was slow, second mile was a little bit faster (just under 10:00).  After the 4th mile, started picking up the pace.  Stopped at Wall Springs for some water, then finished out that mile at about 8:00 pace.  Next was a 7:20 mile, pulled back a little bit to 7:52, then back to going fast at 7:27 for the final mile. So, about 7:40ish pace average for last 4 miles.

I will slow down tomorrow.

6.2 mi, 1:00:09, 9:42 avg, HR 132 bpm

Ran with Joe in Foxwood.  Happy with the lowish heart rate at 9:42 average pace.  Always seem to do better with heart rate when running with other people, still not sure exactly why.  Medium late start at 8:00, ran the usual y-shaped route.

1:37:31, 10.17 mi, 9:35 avg, elev gain 184 feet, HR 141 bpm

5/1 run/walk from Westlake Village, down to Curlew Rd and Alt 19 water fountain, and then added on a little extra once I got back to get over 10 miles for the day.  Let myself go a little bit faster (i.e. didn't stare at heart rate, actually did not look at all until finishing).  Had to be back at the house in time to meet with the alarm guy, finally broke down and got one installed for the times that Stella is not there to protect us.

Another 40+ week for mileage.  Thinking about moving up into the mid 40's.

8.12 mi, 1:33:12, 11:28 avg, elev gain 185 feet, HR 131 bpm

Memorial Day run from near the end of the causeway back home.  Jessica wanted to spend some time near the water and I did not get an early start for my run, so parked near the start of the causeway, walked out about 2/3 to where they rent kayaks, then I started my run, going out to the entrance of Honeymoon Island park, then turned back.  Started out nice and slow.  It was pretty warm already but there was a little bit of seabreeze.  Made it back to the start of the causeway then got onto the Pinellas trail heading north.  About halfway through the run I was slower than a 12 minute pace (would stop to walk if my heart rate got too high).  Finally, just started running, although still a pretty easy pace.

These one way runs are kind of nice sometimes and was good to get some walking in with Jessica.  Causeway was pretty packed with people.

5.39 mi, 55:19, 10:15 avg, elev gain 166 feet, HR 134 bpm

Ran in Westlake Village, zig-zagging through the neighborhood and also running past the Y

6.1 mil, 1:02:53, 10:18 avg, HR 127 bpm (for first 4.64 miles)

Ran with Stella, out and back from my house to the new trail, a little bit past Lake Dan.  Stopped briefly at the turnaround to give her some water.  She seemed a bit hot, but after the water and getting going again had the bounce back in her step and was pulling me along lightly.

After the Stella portion, did 8x25 second strides with 50 second rest between each while running up and down the street in front of my house.

8.24 mi, 1:17:20, 9:23 avg, elev gain 183 feet, HR 146 bpm

Ran the Alderman, Belcher, Klosterman, Pinellas Trail loop going counter-clockwise.  Stopped briefly in Wall Springs Park and then ran the mile south from there at a picked up pace (7:14 pace for the segment).

146 bpm seemed a little high for 9:23 average pace, but I think that is comparing it to my fitness 3 years ago, which until recently I thought was somewhat in the same ballpark.  But, then I could run maybe in the 9:30's and be well below 130 bpm.  

However, a more recent comparison, where I ran at a 9:40 pace on flatter terrain with a heart rate of 150 bpm, well, this is an improvement.

5.62 mi, 58:56, 10:28 avg, HR 137 bpm

Ran in Foxwood, easy paced, did the y-shaped route.

7.53 mi, 1:11:47, 9:31 avg, elev gain 203 feet, HR 142 bpm

Ran in and around the outside of Westlake Village.  A little bit pressed for time and wanted at least 6.5 miles to try and get my goal of 40 miles for the week, so ran a little bit faster.  Pushed the effort outside of Mafetone range but still in aerobic zone.

If felt good to run a little bit faster.

Later this morning was Sophia's Bat Mitzvah, she did a great job.  Tom and Andy came down for the ceremony along with Jenny.  Couldn't stay long but at least we did get a few pictures from the photography.  Party that evening was also a lot of fun.

6.31 mi, 1:11:12, 11:17 avg, HR 124 bpm

More walking than running, but no slow jogging, it was either a comfortable normal feeling run or brisk walk.  Ran in Foxwood, then over to the new trail, south almost to Keystone Rd, and then back the same way.  Overall a pretty good recovery type run.

7.23 mi, 1:15:16, 10:24 avg, elev gain 191 feet, HR 136 bpm

Palm Harbor, Alderman, Pinellas Trail, Klosterman, Belcher loop, with a short run through Eniswood.  No intervals, just easy running.  On the edge of true easy but still easy.

6.51 mi, 1:11:07, 10:55 avg, elev gain 139 feet, HR 125 bpm

Did 4/1 run/walk from Westlake, across Nebraska, then down the Pinellas Trail until reaching the top of the pedestrian bridge over Alt 19.  Turned back around the way I came.  Kept it very steady throughout with a very small pickup at the end to get under 11 minute pace

6.22 mi, 1:05:52,  10:34 avg, HR 130 bpm

Ran in Foxwood neighborhood with Jamie, a little bit of a later of a start.  Pace was conversational, temperature was a bit warm as would be expected.  Jamie had her watch set to 5/1 run/walk so we just went by her watch's beep.

7.22 mi, 1:17:37, 10:45 avg, elev gain  167 feet, HR 132 bpm.

This was similar toTuesday's run. 4/1 run/walk from Westlake to the pedestrian bridge near Ozona, but also added a little loop at the very end for just a little bit of a longer run

RAP River Run 5K

22:07, 28th overall, 1st Grand Master

It was rainy and humid before the race (low 80's).  The 10k starting at 6:30 was delayed by 10 minutes, so the 5k was going to start at 7:40.  But, then it started raining heavier, so they pushed the start to 8:00.  Between the rain I got in a pretty short warmup (only about a half mile total).  First saw Jenny and Andy, and then Tom.  Saw several friends, including Joe running the 10k and Daisy was back here on vacation.  I've not done nearly as much speedwork as I wanted and with the rain and various other things I didn't have right (like not having a Beet-it beet juice shot), wasn't sure how things would go.

Race started and felt ok, the line thinned out quickly and for a brief time I could see Tom up near the front and then he was too far a way to see.  (just two years ago I was just a little behind him for most of the race and then snuck past him in the last mile).   Robin Patterson was in front of me for a little bit but I was able to catch up to him (he's pretty serious about his 5k's and looks pretty much the same at 69 as he did at 55).

I was just sort of hanging on and I didn't have a specific pace in mind, although I was hoping to try and at least tie my time from last year.  But, I was also just trying to enjoy the race.  So, I just kept on trying to pass up the next person I could get to.

Got to the finish line and saw that the clock was down due to the rain.  It turned out that Walter from the Striders was right behind me by 4 seconds (he's 57 and just retired from the Air Force), so I guess I had to work to win the over 50 award.

Saw Tom and then found out his time, 17:02 and second overall (beat by a 24 year old guy running 16:27), big PR.  The last 6 weeks of heart rate training have really helped.

Went back to my house and did another 4ish miles.

So, overall it was a pretty fun morning.

5.34 mi, 1:01:06, 11:26 avg, elev gain 132 feet, HR 124 bpm

Interior and exterior loop of Westlake Village.  Leaving through the southern cut through, then across to Nebraska, up Belcher and then back in via Alderman.  Apparently I did a pretty good job of keeping my heart rate in check.

9.25 mi, 1:39:07, 10:42 avg, elev gain 216 feet, HR 130 bpm

Northern loop in Palm Harbor, north on Belcher and over to the Pinellas trail but did not go onto Klosterman this time.  Instead I crossed Klosterman and Belcher became Disston, then took that to E Curlew Place, then over to the Pinellas trail making this route a little longer and 14% more interesting.  Quick stop inside Wall Springs Park to replenish my water bottle.

8.21 mi, 1:20:50, 9:50 avg, HR 125 bpm (for 6.18 miles with Joe)

Ran with Joe in Foxwood, we did an easy pace and as usual my heart rate vs pace was better than compared to running alone with 10:07 average pace and 125 bpm average heart rate.

Joe said I can bring Stella to his house so she could hang out there, so I stopped by my house and leashed her up.  She was just too excited to pay attention to the run, that after only 0.2 miles I stopped the watch and we walked the rest of the way until we could hand her off to Joe.

For the third part, did 10x25 second strides with 50 second jog between.

8.14 mi, 1:22:26, 10:07 avg, elev gain 182 feet, HR 137 bpm

Solo run from Westlake Village, to the corner of Alt US19 and Curlew Road where there is a drinking fountain.  This is a nice run with a pedestrian bridge crossing which was reopened not that long ago.

Half way through I slowed down enough to get my heart rate back under 128, which brought my pace down to 11:19.  I got tired of running slow, so then sped up to 9:25 for the next mile, slowed back down to 10:19, then finally ran it in with 8:06 and a short 0.1 at 6:33 pace.

Anyway, mostly easy with a little bit faster at the end.

8.4 mi, 1:32:29, 11:00 avg, HR 128 bpm

Run/walk out and back from the house to the new trail, past Lake Dan, then onto Keystone Road for a bit until reaching the entrance of Brooker Creek.  Thought about running to visitor center but that was another mile from the road.  Maybe next time.

It was a pretty fun run.

11.12 mi, 1:50:29, 9:56 avg, HR 133 bpm

I felt really good on this run.  Ran on Starkey Blvd to Alico Pass, to the end, and then a stop at Diane's house to top off fluids.  Back down Starkey to Long Leaf and a little out and back on Towne Ave to reach 11 miles.

First over 50 mile week in a little while, feeling good with no dead legs, keeping the running easy.

8.16 mi, 1:16:58, 9:26 avg, elev gain 195 feet

Southbound out and back run from Westlake Village to the Pinellas trail (via Nebraska-ish route) to the drinking fountain at the corner of Curlew and Alt 19.

I had been warned about low battery in the chest strap but figured I had a little bit. Nope.  Two days and then it quit.  

So, today was a just run sort of run.

8.18 mi, 1:23:14, 10:11 avg, HR 134 bpm

7:15 start, left from the Longleaf church, headed up Starkey Blvd and into Starkey Ranch.  Detour out and back on the Huckleberry Shuffle, and then continued on, looping around Cannon Lake and a little bit beyond until I was out past 4 miles, then turned around back the way I came except without the Huckleberry shuflle detour.

Ran pretty steady and easy, nice morning out.

7.13 mi, 1:10:30, 9:53 avg, 

(5.34 mi, HR 128 bpm easy part)

Ran with Joe and Jamie in Foxwood.

After the run with them did 10x25 second strides with 50 second easy in between.

8.26 mi, 1:25:27, 10:21 avg, HR 143 bpm, elev gain 197 feet

Did the loop north of Westlake, north up Belcher to Klosterman, then south down the Pinellas trail and back to the house via Alderman.  Did not pay attention to heart rate while running, seemed to feel easy but rate ended up being a little higher than I wanted.  Still, a pretty good run overall.

6.22 mi, 1:09:23, 11:09 avg, HR 127 bpm

Ran 4.11 miles with Stella, out and back on the new trail.

Dropped her off back at the house then another 2.11 miles with a loop around the neighborhood.

13.15 mi, 2:21:56, 10:47 avg, HR 128 bpm

Ran with Jamie, meeting up by the back gate and then running over to Starkey Blvd, heading north to Diane's house and then turning back.  We just missed the beverages but I've got and open invitation to use the hose.  So, cooled down and filled up water bottle for the run back.

Brief stop in the Circle K. and then finished up with enough looping in the neighborhood to get over 13 miles for the morning.

2nd 50+ mile week, good job Mark

6.23 mi, 1:04:45, 10:23 avg, Elev gain 178 feet, HR 135 bpm

Loops inside Westlake Village, felt easy effort and heart rate to match.

6.24 mi, 1:05:33, 10:30 avg, HR 126 bpm

5/1 run/walk with Joe and Jamie in Foxwood.

Today is Jessica's and mine 2 year anniversary.  Going to stay at the Fenway Hotel in Dunedin and dinner at Bob Appetit nearby.

Took one day off, haven't done that in a while except for scheduled Sundays off.

8.22 mi, 1:34:08, 11:27 avg, Elev gain 208 feet, HR 127 bpm

New standard out and back 8 mile run, from Westlake Village, past the Y, over to the Pinellas Trail until reaching the corner of Curlew and Alt 19, and then back the way I came.  1 minute running, 3 minutes "easy" either jog or walking, with slightly increasing paces as the run progressed.   Time on feet.

8.78 mi, 1:15:16, 8:34 avg

Part 1 - 1.25 miles with Stella.  We saw Joe and Jamie, Stella was very excitied.  While running back towards the house, the strong pulling seemed to strip something inside the retractable leash so it would no longer retract.  Poor retractable leash, it used to belong to Chelsea.

Friday Lake Dan run

Part 2 - went back out, onto the new trail down to Keystone for a little bit before turning back, picked up the pace and did two faster miles at 7:25 and 7:15, and then backed it down to 8:02 for the last mile, overall pace of 8:10.

16.17 mi, 2:27:07, 9:06 avg, HR 150 bpm

Started out from Longleaf near the little church, wanted to get some distance in and intended to do mainly heart rate mafetone range, but stopped looking at heart rate after the first mile.

Ran into Starkey Park to the shelter near the bike parking to say hi to some of the Striders and grab a gatorade and some ice.  Continued back out onto the main trail until about 8.5 miles out total and then turned back.  Skipped the detour back to the shelter and stayed on the main path.  Miles 9-16 were mostly between 8:00 and 9:00 pace.

Hadn't done 16 miles in a while and overall the run seemed to flow nicely.  Good finish to the week.

8.15 mi, 1:20:50, 9:55 avg, Elev gain 191 feet, no HR data

Did not have my heart rate strap so did easy pace "by feel" and breathing.  Southern route out of Westlake Village, past the Y, over to the Pinellas Trail until reaching the corner of Curlew and Alt 19, and then turned around and came back the same way in reverse.

6.38 mi, 1:01:31, 9:38 avg, elev gain 273 feet, HR 139 bpm

The AC guy was here for maintenance, so was literally running up and down the street for a couple of miles and then did 10x100m strides.  Then after he left, did another couple of easy miles.

5.54 mi, 56:31, 10:11 avg, elev gain 143 feet, HR 133 bpm

Relatively short run today, from Westlake house to the Palm Harbor Y, stopped in for a drink of water, small loop around the parking lot and then back the way I came.

Going to run the Kiwanis July 4th Midnight run 10k tonight.

Kiwanis Midnight Run 10K

34th male (35th overall), 1st age group - they had nice age group plaques (and they went 5 deep and for under 18 years old they had 2 year age groups, so lots of awards).

I've done very little speed or tempo runs and probably would not have signed up for this race due to fear of running a race without being prepared, but Jacob wanted to run it (Kudos to him since he has pretty much not been running except here and there with me and whatever they are doing in wrestling practice).

Weather - hot and humid and dark, as it usually is near midnight in July in Florida.

User error - I thought the race started at 12:00, actually started at 11:50, so my warmup was pretty abbreviated.  Also user error was not verifying equipment was working.  I had a headlamp for the very dark portion inside the park, but it was flapping around if I wore it on my head (it was supposed to stay at a set angle, but it was bouncing up and down instead), so I carried it instead.

My goal was to beat my time from 3 years ago, not that I'm faster now, but three years ago you could run the 5k and 10k.  Ran the 5k in 2016 in 21 minutes and a few seconds and was pretty wiped out, so did a moderate effort on the 10k with a 7:32 pace.

So this year, wasn't sure what kind of pace I would get on, but ended up with 7:14 for the first mile.  Ok, that's good, just hold onto that or at least don't slow down much.  Next mile was 7:21.  Ok, I think I can do this.  Mile 3 was 7:23, almost at the turn around, glad I had the headlamp in my hand.   Turnaround, mile 4 7:25.  Ok, a little bit slower but still holding.  Mile markers are getting a little bit off.  I think there was some weaving.

Mile 5, 7:23, felt very hard but I didn't slow down but really wanted to.  More weaving.  The 10k started at 11:50, the 5k started at 12:00.  So now, we are running into the slower 5k runners, had to run into the oncoming lane to get around some of the groups.  Tried a few "on your left" shouts but did not help.  Not a big deal, just part of the race experience.

With just over a mile to go was still looking pretty far away.

Mile 6, 7:20.  Ok!

But the finish still looks a little bit far.

The last I looked at the clock it said 46:07.

Finish time was 46:13.

Last 0.31 mile was 6:53 pace, I really wanted to get through that finish line.

Garmin pace was 7:20, but the official pace was 7:27, still beat 3 years ago time!

Jessica was at the finish with Sophia and Aubrey.  Scott was also there looking for Jacob. Grabbed some water and want back to the corner to look for Jacob.  He was hoping for about 50 minutes, came in around 55.  Was running with one of the CC girls from his high school.  They were together for the start, then he got ahead and was ahead until last quarter mile when she caught him and gained an extra 10 seconds on him.  He got 4th age group.

We stayed around for prizes.  When I got my AG plaque, the lady told me to also pick a prize from the door prize pile - I took a small hibachi grill.

It was after 2:00 am when we left.

Also, happy birthday Sophia!

7.55 mi, 1:19:12, 10:29 avg, HR 126 bpm

Ran with Joe and Jamie in the neighborhood.  Jamie had her watch set for 5/1 run/walk so that's what we did most of the way.  Usual y-shaped route and then finish up with a loop in the neighborhood.  Stopped twice at the golf club to use their water fountain inside.

Pretty happy with pace/heart rate, good easy run (not "easy")

11.76 mi, 2:04:37, 10:35 avg, HR 134 bpm

Started out from Longleaf near the little church.  Saw Tom running down Starkey with Lee looking like they still had a few more miles to go as the headed onto Towne Ave.  Got going and in a little bit ran into Melanie and Jason, said hi to them briefly and then kept on going.  Ran into Aristida neighborhood, down Diane's street to the end and then stopped at her house on the way back for some drink refills, glad she still had her stuff out.

Next, headed north a little more, into Starkey Park until a little over 7 miles completed, back the way I came, down Starkey Blvd but skipping the detour to Diane's house.

For mile 10, slowed it back down enough to get 128 bpm for that mile, needed to do some walking (12:32 pace), but then finished off the run going at a steady pace with a little bit of a pickup for the partial mile after 11.

Decent miles this week and a race (at night nonetheless), going to get out of the slow rut (but still go slow on the easy days).

9.38 mi total

1.0 mi run to Y

Treadmill - 6.12 mi, 60:00, 9:48 avg, HR 128 bpm

2.26 mi run back from Y

It was looking like ran so I ran to the Y, ran indoor on the treadmill and then ran back taking a longer route, some rain on the return trip but it was pretty light.

10.21 mi, 1:53:08, 11:05 avg, elev gain 167 feet, HR  133 bpm

Out and back run, from Westlake Village, over to the Pinellas Trail via Georgia Ave, then over to the causeway for a little bit.  Stopped in the Dollar General on the way back to top off my water bottle.  On the causeway was a group of about 30-40 older people on Segways on some sort of tour.

7.3 mi, 1:05:31, 8:58 avg, elev gain 224 feet, HR 156 bpm

First workout run of the new plan that Tom wrote for me based on Jack Daniels. I haven't picked out a marathon yet but thought I'd get the ball rolling by following a plan, even though I've started the week a little off plan.  I've been running mainly Mafetone runs or close to that slower pace and think it's time to build on that base.

Ran in Westlake Village which is not the easiest but the little rolling hills would make a good workout.  Basically statyed on a 2ish mile loop.  Warmed up with two miles and then did the 3x1 mile repeats with only 1 minute rest in between.  The rest is good and bad, it helps break it up but it breaks the flow, but it is serving a purpose.  Goal was 7:25, stuck pretty close to plan with 7:17, 7:17, and 7:19.

8.23 mi, 1:25:51, 10:25 avg, elev gain 136 feet, HR 136 bpm

"Easy" 8 miles, out and back from Westlake Village to the Pinellas trail and head north until 4 miles was covered.  For the first time I stopped in "Conservation Park" which adjoins the reclaimed water processing plant.  The little park is actually very nice and they have a hidden gem - a chilled water drinking fountain (I'd normally stop at Wall Springs and use the non-chilled ground temperature fountains).  The water was quite refreshing, this will come in handy if I use this stretch for tempo runs.

6.63 mi, 1:06:37, 10:02 avg, HR 135 bpm

Friday out and back run from my house onto the new trail to a little past Lake Dan, and then back home.  Finished up with 6x100m strides.

14.28 mi, 2:13:29, 9:21 avg, HR 141 bpm

Long run to finish off the week.  I felt really good, not beat up at all.  Wandered away from mafetone pace and did more of "E" pace based on Jack Daniels.  Started from my house, over to SR54 and up Starkey Blvd.  Did a detour into Alico Pass but was too late for supplies from Diane's house.  I'd be ok, as I was going to stop at the Circle K on the way back. Continued up a little farther north until I knew I'd have at least 14 miles by the time I got back.

Back to 54 and grabbed a mix of powerade and Mountain Dew voltage with lots of ice.

Miles 1 and 2 were in the 10:00's, 3-10 in the 9:00's, then 11-14 in the 8:00's, felt like a pretty solid run and overall have not felt beaten up at all this week.

Jessica's friend Amy from Ohio was in town so they were off doing various activities, so I took the boys to Fireside Pizza in downtown Palm Harbor (went last year by myself), Tom and I both had a Parma Pizza, Andy had the Italian Sandwich (served on pizza dough crust).  I gave Andy a slice of my pizza and we had a buffalo shrimp appetizer.  I had no problem finishing the 5/6 of my pizza, probably could have finished the whole thing but might have been a challenge.

6.22 mi, 1:04:53, 10:26 avg, HR 132 bpm

Scheduled for 7 miles plus 6x100m, but did a little over 6 miles including the strides.  AC guy was coming to put in new dampers and Stella had a 9:00 appointment.  Could have gotten a little bit earlier start but wasn't moving fast enough.

Run was good, feeling fully recovered from last week's miles.

7.15 mi, 1:01:05, 8:32 avg, HR 152 bpm

Workout from the plan, 2 mi warmup, 3@7:28, 2 mi cool down.  Ran at Longleaf on Starkey Blvd, not quite an early start but not terribly late (7:51), nice and easy first two miles, then out 1.5 miles and back for 3 miles.  I didn't want to struggle to maintain the pace so I did a quicker start, although I didn't back it down much, I did however resist the urge to go sub-7:00 because I need to be patient, ran 7:13, 7:16, and 7:06.  Last two miles were easy feeling due to the tempo miles but faster than usual easy miles.  Glad to get this one checked off.

8.2 mi, 1:29:44, 10:56 avg, elev gain 129 feet, HR 136 bpm

Out and back run from Westlake Village, over to the Pinellas Trail and north until about 4 miles out.  Nice and easy for the first 5 miles (keeping it MAF), but got a little antsy and picked it up a little, still easy pace, but no longer MAF (9:00's).

8.15 mi, 1:16:54, 9:26 avg, elev gain 197 feet, HR 147 bpm

Out and back run from Westlake Village, south through the cut-through then over to the Pinellas trail and then continued south until Curlew Road for the drinking fountain, then back the way I came.

6.54 mi, 1:07:55, 10:23 avg

Two part run.  First, ran with Stella out and back on the new trail for a total of 3.74 with her.  It was a little bit shorter than usual and we stopped for a couple of water breaks because she was getting hot.

Got back home, dropped her off and then was doing a loop in the neighborhood when I ran into Jamie who had herself gotten a late start.  We ran together for a little bit and then I roped her into doing the 6x100m at the end of my run.

16.1 mi, 2:26:35, 9:06 avg, HR 149 bpm

Long run, out and back up Starkey Blvd and into Starkey Park until reaching just past 8 miles and then turning back.  Morning started out feeling a little bit cool although it was not really, just not hot, kind of humid.  Maybe it was the slight breeze.  Felt easy for the first few miles, then I was just sort of locked into a slowly increasing pace.

The schedule said last 4 at 7:57 pace but I did not look at it closely and instead though last 3.  7:52, 7:53, and 7:46.  Last mile was kind of tough but at least got the job done.

Another good 50+ mile week done, although not quite as easy as the last one.

7.62 mi, 1:11:30, 9:23 avg, elev gain 236 feet, HR 142 bpm

7 mile EZ run through and from Westlake Village, past the Y and up Omaha until almost to Alderman, and then back the way I came.

Finished up with 6x100m strides.  Overall it was in the E pace range according to some sources but too fast for Mafetone.  But I did feel pretty good after the 6x100m which go by fast and are fun.

Unfortunately, later in the day was a little sore.

8.15 mi, 1:22:28, 10:07 avg, elev gain 129 feet, HR 138 bpm

I was supposed to do 2x2 @7:25 pace but legs were tired and would have felt beaten up and I have a big run planned for later this week so I've put the current schedule on temporary hold.

Today's run was pretty good.  Kept it kind of easy while keep myself moving at a pace where I didn't feel like I was purposely slowing down and not speeding up.

Run was out and back from Westlake, west on Alderman, zig zag to Pinellas trail and then north until 4 miles out.  I did not stop for water at all and did not stop to reflect at the turnaround and the couple of traffic lights were also cooperative so not even really a break there.

6.22 mi, 1:11:19, 11:27 avg, HR 126 bpm

Easy out and back run from home to the new trail past Lake Dan until reaching about the 3 mile mark and then return home the same way.  Kept the pace easy enough so I'd get an average HR below 128 so that this would really be a recovery day.  Big run later in the week, not sure if I will get in a run tomorrow due to travel.

4.22 mi, 44:59, 10:39 avg, elev gain 110 feet, HR 130 bpm

Shorter, out and back run in Westlake Village.  Was supposed to do more but cut it a little bit short due to busy weekend after the big run in North Georgia.  The shorter easy run definitely helped as I felt much better at the end of the run compared to the beginning.  50% less clunky.

8.59 mi, 1:14:17, 8:39 avg, HR 157 bpm

Workout of the day is 2x2mi repeats, goal was about 7:25 pace.  Started off from my house, headed to the new trail, ran out a little and then dropped off my water bottle at the start.  It's about 2 miles to Keystone Road.

I didn't want to miss getting my goal paces so decided to run just a little bit faster.  First two miles were 7:15 and 7:09.

Rested a little bit (slow jogging), then returned with next two miles faster at 7:05 and 7:04.

It had really warmed up by now so glad to find my drink bottle still very cold inside.  Easy jog back to the house for the remainder two miles.

6.3 mi, 1:05:13, 10:21 avg, elev gain 157 feet, HR 137 bpm

Simple, easy, out and back run from Westlake Village, over to the Pinellas trail and headed south for a little bit then turned around and came back.

6.72 mi, 59:00, 8:47 avg, HR 149 bpm

2.21 mi, 20:30, 9:15 avg, HR 158 bpm

5x1k workout with goal of 4:16 (6:51 pace) per repeat.

Ran on Starkey Blvd from Longleaf, warmed up for 2 miles, then started repeats from the bridge, leaving my drink bottle there so I didn't have to carry it while I ran.  Thinking back to my past these times should have been easy, but today I had to put some work into it, but no way was I going to to not do the job.

Splits: 4:12, 4:09, 4:12, 4:09, 4:06

When I stopped to get my drink bottle, accidentally saved the run so had to hit start again to finish the cool down, so this showed up as two runs. 

6.83 mi, 1:12:45, 10:39 avg, HR 119 bpm

Ran with Jamie in the neighborhood (Foxwood).  It was just slightly cooler but I think the humidity was lower also.  After the regular running part, finished up with 6x100m strides.  Heart rate was surprisingly good today.  Maybe due to combination of: 1) running with someone else, 2) run/walk, 3)lower temperature and humidity.

Tom and Jenny had run here earlier so there were some donuts left over but none of Andy's coffee.  I'll have to ask him to save some for me next time.

19.13 mi, 3:04:35, 9:39 avg, HR 145 bpm

Started out solo from my house, heading over to Longleaf where I met up with Jamie and Cynthia so I could run a few miles with them.

Next, we headed up Starkey Blvd (saw Tom as he was returning from his run) and then into the park and over to the shelter where we talked to some of the Striders and I got the last gatorade.  As we headed down the side trail to the shelter I noted my mileage of 7.3.  Since I wasn't going to take the detour on the way back I'd have to go out a little more than 9 miles to get 18 miles total.

Said goodbye to Jamie and Cynthia and headed further into the park.  My math was a bit off.  I think I went out to about 9.8 miles which would end up making my run too long.  Picked up the pace a little bit.  Weather was getting warmer and I was looking forward to an ice cold drink from Circle K.  Arrived there at 17.3 miles total.  Went inside and got my favorite mix of Powerade topped off with a little Mountain Dew Voltage.

Made it home ok, a little over a mile more than planned for the total run, not too far off from a 20 mile run which I'll do soon.

6.52 mi, 1:00:43, 9:18 avg, elev gain 185 feet (no HR data)

Today's run was 6 miles easy followed by 6x100m strides.  I did not have the heart rate strap with me today so no data.  Ran in Westlake Village, out the southern entrance, then west along Nebraska and Penn. Ave. until going north for a little bit onto Omaha and then reversing the route back.

Did the strides on Lakeview down at the bottom of the little hill.

7.12 mi, 1:10:47, 9:56 avg, HR 126 bpm

Ran with Joe and Jamie in the neighborhood.   Was going along with Jamie's 5/1 run/walk.  When we got back to my house (but I still had 1.7 miles to go), stopped and had an Ice Pop with Joe (Jamie had a water).  Really hit the spot.  Then I did one loop around the neighborhood in order to get 7 miles for the day as per Tom's training schedule.

Very happy with heart rate today, maybe it was just slightly cooler out this morning or something.

10.24 mi, 1:33:39, 9:08 avg, HR 137 bpm

Left from my house and met up with Joe at the back gate of Foxwood.  Only one harder run this week, and this was it.  

Running along 54, it started to rain.  We briefly stopped in Havana Dreamer's so Joe could grab some water.  The rain had stopped and now it was not so oppressive feeling.  Ran up Starkey and a little into Alico Pass until I was about 5 miles into the run then headed back.

At the 6 mile point I tried to shift into the next gear and go a little bit faster than 8:00 (schedule called for 7:57).  But I felt stuck, it was like the speedometer was stuck between 8:15 and 8:20.  So, a half mile in I said I was stopping.  Regrouped mentally, got going again and was able to get under 8:00.  Joe told me to go ahead.

Got back home and went just a little bit farther to make up for the start/stop/start (last mile was a bit too fast).  7:51, 7:32, 7:27, 7:19

I'll try to keep it more even next time but didn't want to risk slipping off my pace this time.

7.26 mi, 1:13:49, 10:10 avg, elev gain 131 feet, HR 138 bpm

Easy paced out and back run from Westlake Village, over to the Pinellas Trail and then north until about the park near the reclaimed water place.  Did a pretty good job keeping heart rate in control without going too, too, slow.

6.62 mi, 1:04:20, 9:42 avg, HR 142 bpm

Mostly relaxed run out and back from Foxwood to the Lake Dan trail, gradually increasing pace. A bit warm out this morning.

Finished up with 6x100m up and down the street near my house.

12.38 mi, 2:14:59, 10:45 avg, HR 134 bpm

A shorter long run than the last few long runs.  Met up with Cynthia about 7:30 at Longleaf.  This was going to be a hot and humid run.  Several people were finishing their runs as we were starting.  Saw Tom finishing up his run.

We were on a pretty easy pace.  About 4 miles into it and Cynthia said we could run/walk on the way back.  Figured it was a good time to start now, so she started tracking the 4 minutes of running and time to walk.  We made it to the side trail to the shelter area (at about 5.1 miles), so I said I'd run out until 6 and she could hang out at the shelter.

Fortunately, there were still a couple of cold bottles of gatorade which I gladly accepted one of.  Headed back out.  At about 10 miles, I went ahead and picked up the pace a little bit.

While waiting for Cynthia I went into Trinity Cyclery and bought a packet of Recoverite and then bought a fountain drink next door to get some ice and water for my bottle and also a root beer.

Stuck around long enough to see Cynthia get back ok, then headed home and cooled down in the pool for a little bit.

8.78 mi,  1:36:17, 10:57 avg, elev gain 228 feet, HR 143 bpm

8ish easy miles plus 6x100m strides at the end.  Headed south out of Westlake Village and over to the Pinellas Trail, then south until Curlew Road.  Was trying to keep it easy and relaxed but heart rate up a little bit higher than I wanted.  When I got to Curlew Road I thought I'd go into Publix to see if they had a water fountain.  Did not see one so just used the one outside on the trail near the street corner.

8.17 mi, 1:09:07, 8:27 avg, HR 151 bpm

4 mi tempo run with 2 mile warm up and 2 mile cool down.  Ran on the trail next to Lake Dan preserve.  Goal was 7:36 pace.

Able to hit each of my splits (7:26, 7:22, 7:19, 7:16) and slightly faster but also resisted thinking I should run them much faster.  It was challenging as-is.  Run was pretty good overall.

9.07 mi, 1:32:13, 10:10 avg, elev gain 192 feet, HR 131 bpm

Out and back run, from Westlake Village to Conservation Park just north of Wall Springs Park.  Took Pennsylvania Ave over to Pinellas Trail and headed north.  Shortly after getting on the trail saw a streak of lightning ahead with an almost immediate boom.  Got off the trail and found some shelter outside someone's garage.  Waited for a minute, didn't see anything else and it seemed to be passing.  Made it up to the park, rain started coming down steady for a little bit and then stopped.  The air cooled down a bit.  Waited a little bit, got going again.  

Made it to the underpass where a couple of cyclists were hanging out, thought about stopping again.  Got to Wall Springs.  More lightning, so found some shelter and waited for a bit.  It finally seemed to pass, so kept going and eventually made it back home.  

It was a little bit more excitement than I wanted!

9.48 mi, 1:24:07, 8:52 avg, (no heart rate strap today)

8x800m workout with 2 mile warm up and 2 mile cool down.  2 minute rest/jog between repeats.  Goal of 3:25 (6:50 pace).

Ran from my house to the new trail near Lake Dan preserve, warming up for 2 miles.

Ran two repeats going south, two heading back north, and then repeated for a total of 8.  Did this so I could grab a sip of gatorade if needed.  Was able to make them all within goal but not much faster (which is ok), splits ranged from 3:18 to 3:23

It's been a while since I've done 8 of anything  (last thing I can remember was doing 8 (or more) 400's while training for Jacksonville Marathon.

Got the job done today.

7.46 mi, 1:16:32, 10:15 avg, HR 127 bpm

Rainy morning run from my house out onto the trail next to Lake Dan preserve, then back the way I came.  Finished up on the street near my house with 6x100m strides.

Good morning run, happy with heart rate.

18.19 mi, 2:51:43 , 9:26:41

Long run and first Beer Mile

I had 18 miles scheduled and Escape Brewery was having their first ever beer mile which was at 9:00 am.  So, I made an adventure out of it.  Left the house in Palm Harbor at 5:50 am, heading north on Belcher until Klosterman, then over to US 19.  This was probably the worst part of the run but it wasn't that bad.  Traffic was still light and the sidewalk is set back pretty far from the road.  But some of the sidewalk was uneven and there were lots of parking lots to cross where someone might not have seen me although I was wearing a headlamp and green safety vest.

Also, mindful of my time, I did start out easy but slowly worked my way toward a 9:30 pace.  

Turning east onto Keystone Road, there were hints of light.  The sidewalk is extra wide and then I was on the Pinellas Trail which was even nicer.  Crossed over East Lake with no problems, and soon I was turning north onto the new trail along Lake Dan preserve.  Felt like I was almost home.

I swung by Escape to make sure race was at 9:00 and not 8:30.  Still had 2.5 more miles to do so stopped by my house to grab a gatorade, did a loop in the neighborhood and then back to Escape.

Got my bib, waited a little, warmed up a bit.  The race was very, very casual.  Original plan was for 4 laps around the little strip plaza but they couldn't do that for some reason, so they changed it to 8 laps in the front parking lot.  They had a table set up with little dixie cups of beer (those little 3oz ones, filled maybe 2/3 so about 2 ounces or maybe a little less).

I ran a little faster than expected, about a 7:31 pace, not bad for making 9 stops.  When I finished the 8th lap my garmin said 0.89.  I asked the guy in charge if I should do one more lap, he said if  I wanted to.  I might have won the race but no one was keeping time or places, it was all for fun.  I think there were about 25 of us.

We each got three tokens good for $1 off.

After the race, it started to rain heavily.  Earlier in the morning there were some light sprinkles.  The rain had held off.

Headed back home, showered and then got a ride from Andy back to Palm Harbor and we also grabbed lunch at Grain and Berry.   So, it was a pretty fun morning.

7.69 mi, 1:17:51, 10:07 avg, HR 127 bpm

Easy run day, 7 miles (supposed to do 8 but running late so compromised a little).  Out and back from Foxwood to Lake Dan preserve trail.  Peaceful run with good heart rate.

10.41 mi, 1:27:49, 8:26 avg, HR 153 bpm

The workout of the day is 3x2 mile repeats with goal pace of 7:25, plus two wam up and cool down miles.  2 minute jog/rest breaks between sets, so not a full recovery but not a straight 6 miles either.

Used the Lake Dan path.  It's about two miles from where it crosses the golf course down to Keystone Road, so a nice and quiet stretch.  I would do the first repeat going south, do my rest break on Keystone, then back north for the second repeat.  With the third repeat a 1 mile out and 1 mile back.  I could keep my drink bottle on the fence so I didn't have to carry it.

Repeats: 7:22, 7:19, then 7:13, 7:13, and finally 7:11, 7:04 for the last set

It was a little bit faster than goal with the last repeat maybe being a bit too fast but I didn't want to risk slowing down too much once I was on pace.  But I also did resist pushing the pace even farther.  I need to train where I'm at if I want to get back to the faster paces.

9.09 mi, 1:31:59, 10:07 avg, elev gain 221 feet, HR 134 bpm

Ran a big loop north of Westlake Village, up Belcher to Klosterman, back down the Pinellas trail, then back on Alderman with a short loop in the neighborhood to get the last mile.  Kept it fairly easy with heart rate not too far off from MAF.  This Wednesday run was much less scary than last Wednesday's run.

8.08 mi, 1:22:29, 10:12 avg, elev gain 189 feet, HR 138 bpm

Another easy paced run, getting in some miles for the week.  South through Westlake, a tiny bit on Nebraska, then took Georgia Ave over to the Pinellas Trail, south a little for 4 miles out, then turned around and came back.  Was pretty even for pace, with last two miles in the 9:00's instead of 10:00's

7.56 mi, 1:13:04, 9:39 avg, HR 137 bpm

Easy run from Foxwood to the trail along Lake Dan preserve, down to Keystone Road and then back the way I came.  Finished up with 6x100m strides using the mysterious 100 meter marking on my street (with 50m half way marking).

Lake Dan has filled up from the rain, and a channel of water I had not noticed before extends to the trail, then forms a little whirlpool going into a pipe under the path and then over to the other side where a stork and a white egret were fishing.

No run today - moving it to tomorrow.

Went to watch Tom and Jacob run in the cross country meet in Lakeland at Holloway Park.  They both ran this one last year - the Jim Ryun Invitational.  Last year it was Tom's second meet of the season, after having run a small "quad" meet at Gulf HS where he did well but was a bit pale looking at the end.  But, at Jim Ryun 2018, he collapsed during the homestretch, was able to get back up and finish the race but not feeling well at all.

This year was a different story.  New cross country PR of 17:57, much more relaxed before the race, and then did a 3 mile cool down after the race.

Due to some injuries on his team, Jacob's coach put him with Varsity (good thing especially since it heats up by the time JV boys get to run).

Jacob finished his race with 22:29 (a course PR by about 1 minute 30 seconds).

Good day for both Tom and Jacob.

16.12 mi, 2:33:44, 9:32 avg, HR 138 bpm

Doing my Saturday long run on Sunday because of yesterday's cross country meet.  So, Friday will be my day off and I'll take a little bit easier on Monday and hopefully be ok with the schedule switch.

Ran 10 miles at easy pace with Cynthia, starting from Longleaf, heading up Starkey Blvd, into the park a little bit and then turning around back the way we came.  Actually, at 4.5 miles, Cynthia stopped for a bit while I ran out to 5 miles, turned back and joined back up.  She only wanted to do 9 miles and wanted to finish a little stronger.  For the 10th mile, went a little bit faster so I'd be ready to transition into the 7:50ish pace after having run in the 10:00's for the  first 9 miles.

Although we had gotten an earlier start, it was getting later now and I was a little worried about the last 6 miles.

First two miles were a little tough and just at the slow end of what I wanted (7:56 and 7:55), but I slowly got a little faster and did better at the next 4 miles - 7:49, 7:44, 7:49, and 7:30.

7.1 mi, 1:10:24, 9:55 avg, elev gain 218 feet, HR 135 bpm

Westlake Village run, looping south through the neighborhood, out onto Nebraska and Pennsylvania Ave and curving up Alt 19 for a bit, then heading back.  Not quite slow enough for a heart rate run but not too far off so I can call this one easy.

I've got a big run coming up this weekend!

9.06 mi, 1:17:07, 8:31 avg, elev gain 158 feet, HR 151 bpm

Tempo run with 2 mile warmup, then 5@7:39 pace, followed by two mile cooldown.  I'd offered to take Jacob to school so started early enough to be back by 8:00.  Headed out from Westlake Village, then Alderman over to the Pinellas trail (cut the warm up slightly and made it up on the cool down once I realized I would be back in time).

Trouble getting going but then felt pretty good and made decent splits with the last two miles a bit faster: 7:37, 7:26, 7:29, 7:18, 7:12

From Crystal Beach Ave to Klosterman it's almost exactly 2.5 miles (had to go just a little bit onto Klosterman).  If I needed to go longer I could start a little south of Crystal Beach Ave because that road isn't all that busy.

Got back to the house in time.

3.12 mi, 31:02, 9:56 avg, HR 130 bpm

Ran up and down the street in front of my house while waiting for roof guy to finish up, then did one loop around the neighborhood.  This was a cut back from today's planned mileage of 9 miles but I'll make up for it this weekend with the PTC (46 miles).

8.99 mi, 1:21:30, 9:04 avg, HR 156 bpm

Today's workout was supposed to be 6x1k @4:16 (6:51 pace), with 2 mile warm up and 2 mile cool down, 2:30 between repeats.

I started out a little bit too late and it had gotten a bit too hot out for speed work.  I did the first 4 ok with the last one maybe a second too slow.  But then I felt way too beat up and overheated and decided it wasn't worth it.  I had the workout preprogrammed into my watch so when the 5th one beeped to start I did pick it up a little and went faster than if I had really quite.  For the 6th one I went a little bit faster so it was at least in the ballpark of my goal.

Splits: 4:05, 4:11, 4:13, 4:17, 4:46, 4:22

In retrospect, maybe it wasn't the heat but the first two, or a combination of both.

Did the repeats on the Lake Dan preserve trail, going out and back so I could grab my drink bottle on the jogs if needed.

6.72 mi, 1:09:22, 10:19 avg, elev gain 209 feet, HR 131 bpm

Easy run starting in Westlake Village, out the south entrance, then onto PA Ave, and up Omaha until reaching 3ish miles before turning back.  Then ran 6x100m on Lakeview Dr on a relatively flat stretch.  Today's run was 1 mile shorter due to big run tomorrow - 46 miles on the Pinellas Trail.

46 mi, 10:34:39, 13:48 avg, elev gain 552 feet, HR 135 bpm

Quick summary.

Joe and I

Plan was to go out easy, do run/walk with Joe at 4/1 and settle into splits around 11:30 pace with the walk breaks.  Rode down with Joe to his brother's house and then got dropped off at the start line area.  Race starts at 6:30.  It was a pretty good sized crowd considering the uncertainty from Hurrican Dorian, although by this time it was moving very slowly and would not likely direct hit Tampa, but still nothing was really certain.  Additionally, they had to reroute the course which normally runs the entire length of the Pinellas Trail from downtown St. Pete to John Chestnut Park in Palm Harbor.  However, John Chestnut Park was going to be used for sandbag distribution.  So, the plan was to turn around at the Tarpon Tavern in Tarpon Springs, and run back to Weaver Park in Dunedin, still a length of 46 miles.

So, the first couple of miles were slower than 12:00 pace, it already felt hot and humid with still air.  After about 5 miles we started running with a guy who somehow realized that I was the guy who's race reports I had read.   He knew all about how Joe dropped out after 26 miles the first year, went and had lunch and then later met me along the way for support and at the finish line. He said he and his wife had even nicknamed Joe "fish and chips"

Joe, Tom, and I

Sometime after we crossed the long pedestrian bridge going over Long Bayou, and then passing the St Pete/Madeira Beach with those log cabin looking cottages we started running with a guy named Tom.  I told him we were doing 4/1 and he was good with that.  Nice to have another person along.  I forgot to mention (and almost needless to say), it was pretty hot out already.   The first few miles were warm and humid with very still air.  There was a short time when it was just warm and the air was less still, but soon the temps climbed some more.

We got to an aid station where I loaded up my bandana with ice (that Joe's sister-in-law had loaned me).  I instantly felt good again (it lasted until a little after the ice melted).  I would reload the bandana several times throughout the race.  This is a free race, but there are a good number of aid stations, all with helpful and enthusiastic volunteers.

We continued on.  I remember texting Jessica when I was at mile 16, she was going to try and meet me around mile 26.

Around mile 22, in Clearwater, was the aid station with our drop bags.  I had a muscle milk and a Reign energy drink. They also had ice pops there which always help.  I went out of the aid station first, needed to keep moving.  Joe and Tom soon caught up with me.

We made it to Dunedin at "the Boxcar".  Joe's wife DeeDee was there and Joe stopped to change his shoes and take a break.

A little bit farther north was Weaver Park, where the race would finish after doing the 10 mile north to Tarpon Tavern and then back.  Andy Matthews and his wife had a table set up with some refreshments.  Between the bigger aid stations were several of these smaller ones, always nice surprises.

Jessica was outside Weaver Park also (same place she saw me in 2014), she had a bag with some snacks and drinks including a V-8 Energy.

Cassidy, The Marine, Tom, and I

After Weaver Park it was just Tom and I. But, we kept on catching up to and passing a guy and a 20 something woman running together.  The guy looked like a Marine and that he spent a lot of time in the gym.  The guy's name was Gabriel (a former marine) and the woman was Cassidy.  She had a bluetooth speaker clipped to her belt.  She invited Tom and I to join them.  They were running 2/2, which I didn't mind switching to. It was a nice break and overall we were actually averaging about the same.  It was also nice that she was the one calling out the walk breaks so that was also a nice break.   It wasn't that far past Weaver Park that we saw the first place guy.  He looked a bit bedraggled so we thought he was dropping out, but no, he was actually finishing, running a 7:57 pace for 46 miles on a hot Florida day.

Thune, Tom, and I 

There's a good sized aid station in downtown Palm Harbor.  Gabriel needed to sit down (he'd only ever run 3 miles at a time except for one marathon while in the marines a long time ago).  I loaded up my camelback, my ice bandana, my drink bottle.  Had several slices of watermelon with the last slice dipped in salt.  Left the aid station without Gabriel and Cassidy but soon met up with Thune.  He said he had been running with Rob Fulton until he had to call it a day and now was alone.  Invited him to run with us doing 2/2.  He had been random running until needing a break, then walking.  Said it was good to now do it on a schedule.  We stayed together for a few miles but lost him when he met up with his wife.  

We also ran into a woman on a bike who asked if we needed anything.  Tom asked if she had sunscreen which she did not but said she lived nearby and would ride home and get it.

Tom and I  

With Thune gone, it was Tom and I again.  The woman on the bike caught up to us again with sunscreen.  Tom was running shirtless and was getting a bit crisp.  I reapplied to keep from getting burnt.  Still had about 5 miles or so to Tarpon Tavern.  It was a long slow and steady run/walk but little by little we got there.

I love the Tarpon Tavern and it was even better this time because it was the turnaround.  Loaded up on more liquids and some random food.  Had two cups of coconut water and one cup of coke.

Got going again, feeling a little bit better but still a long way to go.  Pace average was now 14:01 for me which seemed so slow considering the 100 mile pace in January was 14:59 and that included all the middle of the night walking.

But, not too far south from the turnaround we finally got some rain.  Came down pretty heavy and there was a little bit of lightning.  It didn't last long but it also did drop the temperatures.

Now, we were running a bit faster, bringing the average slowly into the 13:nn's finally.  As the day seemed to keep getting slower my original goal of breaking 9 hours turned to breaking 10 and then breaking 11.  So, as the miles counted down breaking 11 was safe and started even eyeing 10 and a half hours.

On the way back, the Palm Harbor aid station was a bit raucous with the volunteers enjoying much merriment. I'm grateful to see volunteers having such a good time, they are having fun so keep coming back to support us, I'm glad to give them a reason to come out and have fun.

Crossed the pedestrian bridge over Alt 19, then after making it through the light at Curlew, felt really close.  I was itching to run it in, Tom was sticking to the 2/2.  He said it didn't matter much with no one close in front of us or behind us, so he was right, but I did go ahead finally within the last mile.

Jessica was at the finish line to greet me and get some pictures.  Finished 10:34:39, my slowest PTC so far but it was also another good comeback.  2016 was the fastest and easiest, we had a lot more rain throughout the day that year and I was probably in better shape as I was putting in miles for Oil Creek 100 and running a series of local 5k's.

Waited around as one by one the cast of characters finished, Tom, Joe, Thune, Cassidy and Gabriel, the guy that read my blog and of course the woman that ran the race dressed like a squirrel.

I had not preordered a shirt this year but they had a few extras available for sale for $15.  No free shirt but also no entry fee so that's still a really good deal!

6.06 mi, 58:49, 9:42 avg, HR 143 bpm

First run after PTC and felt surprisingly OK.  Ran from Foxwood and up and down Robert Trent Jones, aka the "T" shaped route.

5.48 mi, 52:03, 9:29 avg

Roof guy was coming so I did a slightly abbreviated run.   Short out and back of a few miles, then up and down the street while getting a tarp put on my roof, then finished up with the 6x100m strides.

Plus, it's still kind of recovery from PTC but feeling a bit better and I think ready to train.

10.41 mi, 1:30:26, 8:41 avg, HR 144 bpm

Back to some faster running, feeling pretty decent since PTC.

Scheduled run called for 5 miles easy followed by 5@7:45.  Ran on Starky Blvd and a little into Starkey Ranch.  Two out and backs.  I felt kind of sluggish during the warmup but was able to switch gears and get into the faster paces.  Warmup started at 11:16 for the first mile and went down to 9:19 for the 5th mile.  Then, picked it up and ran 7:44, 7:30, 7:27, 7:28, and 7:17.

Ok, must not have been a completely straight out and back because somehow I had to run another 0.41 miles to get back to my car.  

There were some clouds and a good breeze that helped.

7.2 mi, 1:12:41, 10:06 avg, elev gain 188 feet, HR 134 bpm

Easy run which felt hot, ran from Westlake, then cut through Eniswood over to Alt 19 and then onto the Pinellas Trail for a bit with a stop at Conservation Park for some water, and then back the way I came.

12.11 mi, 1:49:36, 9:03 avg, HR 152 bpm

Long run a day early so I won't have to worry about pushing it to Sunday.  Thomas has a meet tomorrow in Brooksville.

Kind of hot this morning but wanted to push through and get it done.  Ran from my house, starting with a loop around the neighborood, then over to Fox Hollow.  I did three out and backs so I could drop off my bottle and not have to carry it.  First one was to the end of RTJ Blvd to Trinity Blvd and back, and then down the new trail to Tarpon Ave, then back up and final leg over towards Heritage Springs.  It felt pretty easy, kind of flowed but the higher temps were pushing up my heart rate a little.

3.54 mi, 38:51, 10:58 avg

1st part of the run was running around McKethan Lake before the meet started and a little bit after, then part two was a run back at my house with Stella.

Watched both Thomas and Jacob run for their schools in today's meet.  Temperatures for the morning had finally dropped, so instead of over 80 degrees, it was right around 70 degrees.

Saw Thomas at the 1 mile point, coming through at about 5:08 and he was pretty far up near the front.  Waited for Jacob and saw him come by about 6:35.  

It's a two and a half loop course around the lake and there's a cut through over a bridge to get quickly to the two mile point.  Thomas was still around his same place and had run about 5:25 for the second mile.

Rushed over to the finish chute and saw the leader come in a little under 16:00 (about 15:54 I think).  Then number two, three, and I could see Tom's orange shoes first then he came by and crossed in 16:30.

Jacob also PR'd with 20:50.

It was great to see all the hardwork pay off.

Stuck around for awards then I went with Jenny and the boys to breakfast at the Florida Cracker restaurant in Brooksville.  We were trying to meet up with Jacob, Aubrey, and his dad but they had to get Aubrey to her game althugh we caught them just as they were leaving and was able to get a picture of Andy, Tom, and Jacob.

Got back home and took Stella for a little over a mile run, to just past the gate and then back.

9.53 mi, 1:29:41, 9:25 avg, HR 135 bpm

Run from my house onto the new trail past Lake Dan and a little bit onto Tarpon Ave until the crosswalk then turn back, then a little bit past the golf club building (about 1/2 a mile), before heading back to home.  There was a light fog while running on the new trail, nice and peaceful, it made it feel cooler but it was still 79 degrees so not really that cool.

Finished up with 6x100m strides when back at my house.

10.08 mi, 1:26:27, 8:34 avg, elev gain 152 feetl, HR 152 bpm

Goal workout 2 warmup, 6@7:43, 2 cooldown.

Run went pretty well, headed out from Westlake over to the Pinellas Trail via Alderman and headed a little bit south so it would be about three miles to get to Klosterman (didn't want to have to either wait for the light or take a right and go up hill).  The warmup miles were pretty slow, like 11:00 and 10:00 something miles.  Loosened up a bit and prepared myself to shift gears.

Helf pretty consistent paces on the way up: 7:35, 7:36, 7:36 and then managed to go a little bit faster for the return trip with 7:30, 7:26, and 7:25.

It felt pretty hard but not impossibly hard and wondered what would happen if I tried to push harder but this was already a little faster than scheduled, trying to stick to the plan.

The two cooldown miles to get back to the house were pleasant now that the workout stress was over with.

10.17 mi, 1:38:47, 9:43 avg, elev gain 224 feet, HR 137 bpm

10 mile Wednesday run from Westlake Village, out the south entrance, then over to the Pinellas Trail via Pennsylvania Ave and Alt 19.  Headed north until reaching about 5 miles then turned around.  I thought this run would feel very long but it wasn't too bad.

10.91 mi, 1:35:51, 8:47 avgt, HR 152 bpm

Today's workout was 10x800m repeats with a goal time of 3:25.  This sounds a lot like Yasso 800's for a 3:25 marathon but that is just coincidence (I think).  Regardless, wanted to do well but also not try and race these.  It's not a sure thing at all that this predictor will work but it is one of those things where you should be able to at least do this.

2 mile warmup from my house out to the trail near Lake Dan, I ran three repeats going south, 3 going back north, then 2 south and 2 back north.  Able to make the splits, but certainly not easily: 3:20, 3:18, 3:18, 3:21, 3:18, 3:22, 3:22, 3:17, 3:21, 3:21

The two mile cool down back to my house was nice after completing the hard part.

5.76 mi, 55:39, 9:39 avg, Eleve gain 156 feet, HR 132 bpm

Today's run was a bit tough to fit in and I was not able to get in all of the miles on the schedule.  Traveling today to Viriginia/DC area with Jessica and her kids.  Woke up at 4:45 and started running at 5:01.  Out through the south entrance of Westlake, left onto Nebraska and then left onto Belcher until it was 5:30 then turned back. Back in the door before 6:00.

Wanted to leave at 6:45 and absolutely no later than 7:00.  Should have been 6:30/6:45.  Actual time pulling out was about 7:05, horrible traffic, arrived at the airport just after 8:00.  Split up, Jacob and I went to check our one big bag and told Jessica to take the girls to the gate.  We'd missed the 45 minute checked back cut off, gate agent said we'd have to go standby on next flight (via Charlotte).  I probably should have had Jacob get on the flight with Jessica but at least we all didn't try and go standby, would not have worked.  Jacob and I did get on the Charlotte flight as the last two standby seats.  We did not get on the Charlotte-DC flight standby (our ranking on the list would separate and as more important people got on the list we were pushed down the list).  Almost didn't get on the flight after that also, but fortunately for us they had to switch to a larger plane.  But the plane switching caused a delay and then there was weather rolling through.  We made it eventually to DC only to be greeted with the worst car rental check in line I've been in, so another hour or so.  Arrived at the hotel a little after 9:00pm.

We missed the dinner and Friday night service but did get a chance to hang out with John's friends and family in the hotel restaurant.   And, I almost ended up with a running partner for my 20 mile run.  John's friend's girlfriend training for Chicago and needed to do 20 and was also good with the pace I wanted.  

So, kind of a crazy day, glad I got some running in first thing in the morning rather than trying to get any miles in after getting to the hotel.

20.11 mi, 2:58:43, 8:53 avg, elev gain 587 feet, HR 144 bpm

Vienna, Virginia

20 mile long run while traveling, those aren't always easy (actually not sure if I've ever done a 20 mile run while traveling, but have done some long runs).  Yesterday's travel day was a bit crazy.  The evening ended with it looking like I'd have a running partner for 20 miles.

Met brother-in-law John in the hotel lobby along with Jacob.  Sarah was supposed to meet us, John called her after waiting a little bit and she had decided to cancel.  Drove over to the trail (Washington and Old Dominion rails to trail).  John and Jacob were going for a shorter run and headed east, I headed west.  I had told Sarah I was going to do a 9:30 pace.  Honestly, I wasn't sure if I was really going to be up for that, but now I was on my own so it didn't matter, but still I didn't want this run to take forever.

First mile was slow, right at 11:00, but the next 5 miles were in the 9's going from 9:56 down to 9:17.  Then for the rest of the run I was in the 8's.  The running started feeling easier.  It was a very nice morning, with starting temp at 69 degrees.  The trail was filled with lots of cyclists and a good amount of runners.  I liked the yellow stripe they painted in the middle to mark the direction lanes.

Just after 3.3 miles there was a water fountain, and also a pretty steep (but short) down and back up hill.  There were little rollers all along as well as some gradual inclines.  It turned out it was more up than down on the way out so net downhill on the way back.

Through one of the towns there was a small fitness festival going on.  Stopped there to refill my bottle on the way back.

With my overall pace at 8:53, I was more than happy since I had some doubts the night before how 9:30 would feel.  Maybe this training is starting to pay off.

9.63 mi, 1:33:06, 9:40 avg, HR 133 bpm

After being gone for the weekend, this run was not so bad.  Ran from my house towards Fox Hollow and then down the Lake Dan trail to Keystone Road until reaching the crosswalk, turned around and did a short out and back past the golf club so I'd have nine miles by the time I got back to my house, then finished up with 6x100m strides just down the road a little bit.

Day by day crossing off the runs on the training schedule.

1158 mi, 1:38:22, 8:30 avg, elev gain 159 feet, HR 150 bpm

Workout of the day, 2 mile warm up, 2x3 miles @7:25 pace, then one more mile @7:25 pace. This had the feeling of how am I going to get this one done combined with, oh come on you've run these paces before.  

Ran from Westlake, then Alderman to Alt 19 and over to Crystal Beach Ave, and a little bit south so I could do 3 miles before hitting Klosterman.  Ok, not quite far south enough, so I doubled back a little bit on the north end once I got past conservation park so I'd have 3 miles with the extra little out and back, then stopped for cold water during the jog/rest.  Then once going again, headed north again before turning south.

Reached back to my starting point, grabbed some drink, then did the extra mile.

2x3 paces: 7:20, 7:30, 7:28 then 7:09, 7:18, 7:14

Last faster mile: 7:07

Then, enjoyed the easy 2 mile running back to Westlake Village.

10.17 mi, 1:39:08, 9:45 avg, elev gain 198 feet, HR 132 bpm

Mid-week 10 mile run. Headed out from Westlake Village through the cut through, then PA Ave. to Alt 19 and onto the Pinellas trail, heading north until reaching about 5 miles, then turned around back the way I came.  Stopped in at Conservation Park on the way back.  10 miles didn't seem that long today.  Good run.

9.51 mi, 1:29:56, 9:28 avg (heart rate strap battery dead again)

Schedule called for 9 EZ miles plus 6x100m strides at the end.  Ran from my house, did a little out and back before getting to the Lake Dan trail, then ran to the end of the trail where it turns onto Keystone road, and just up to the crosswalk, then turned back and headed home.  Easy run that felt easy, couldn't ask for more. 

16.19 mi, 2:17:08, 8:28 avg, HR 146 bpm

Saturday long run on Friday so I can watch the cross country meet.  8 miles out at an easy pace, then turn around and come back at goal pace of 7:45.  It was a nice enough morning.

Started out slowly as usual, but that slow first mile is even getting a little bit faster, today it was 10:49.  Was running up Starkey Blvd from Longleaf, towards Starkey Park.  Mile 4 was 9:11, turning into the park.  Miles 6 and 7 at 9:02, and then for mile 8 I started to pick it up a little more so that when I hit 8 miles and turned around it wouldn't be a huge jump in pace.  Mile 8 was 8:24, turned around and got into a 7:30ish pace.  Mile 12 was 7:41, a little slower than the rest but still slightly ahead of 7:45 goal pace.  Finally, reached the last mile, which is always nice, finished that one at 7:22.

I've extended out my training schedule another week, so next week will be more or less a repeat of this week with maybe some minor mods.

9 mi, 1:27:49, 9:45 avg, HR 126 bpm

Ran in Starkey Park, starting about 6:45.  The High School cross country meet was being held here this weekend (hosted by Mitchell HS).  This was Friday's run, which I swapped (did long run yesterday).  Got some miles in before the meet, got to run with Tom (not my son Tom) and Jorge for a bit as they were on the bike path running with the Saturday morning Striders run.  I'd finish up the rest of the miles after the meet.

Had just enough time to run out to the one mile marker.  Able to hear the gun go off and started the stopwatch on my phone.  At about 5 minutes into the race, coach comes by on the 4 wheel drive buggy and starts the 1 mile clock.  I see the runners coming, Jarod is ahead of Tom by around 8 seconds, Tom comes through with 5:45 on the clock.

The course runs on a loop through the woods, I go back the way I came trying to get to the runners before the exit the woods, as I am reaching it I see runners go by but too far away to tell who is who, I think this is around 2.something miles.  Jenny texts me and says she sees Jarod and Tom pretty close to each other.  The finish the race, Jarod second overall with 17:43 and Tom 4th place overall with 17:52.  The two high places along with some other good placings from the team secures first place for Mitchell HS.

Last week was an off week, and this week was a pretty tough course.  It had been dry so the sand got pretty sugary.  It was an exciting race.  Great team effort.

I finish up my miles after the race.

8.59 mi, 1:19:26, 9:14 avg, HR 135 bpm

8ish miles easy from my house, out onto the trail near Lake Dan, down to Keystone until the trail crossing and then back the way I came.  Finished up with 6x100m just down the street from my house.  Reasonably good pace and heart rate.  I often want to skip the strides but then I think that would be like making a cake and skipping the frosting.

9 mi, 1:09:57, 7:46 avg, HR 156 bpm

The workout of the day is 1 mile warmup, 7 @7:45,  1 mile cool down.

This workout is challenging, I only have 1 mile to get fully warmed up and then shift gears to run sub-8:00 for 7 miles.  But, I remember that a lot of races I warm up for a mile or less before running whatever the race pace is.

Ran from my house and did the bulk of it out and back on the Lake Dan trail and then a little out and back on Robert Trent Jones Pkwy before heading back to my house.

Did the job.

8.12 mi, 1:15:57, 9:21 avg, HR 137 bpm, elev gain 190 feet

8ish miles, easy pace, out and back run from Westlake Village, south through the cut-through, then over to the Pinellas Trail via PA Ave.   Turn around was just before the old trail tunnerl under Alt US 19.

9.22 mi, 1:19:03, 8:34 avg, HR 149 bpm

Workout of the day, 6x1km plus 2 mile warm up and 2 mile cooldown, 2:30 jog/rest between repeats.  Ran from my house to the trail near Lake Dan.

The last time I tried this workout, I "quit" after 4 repeats (although I started again, did the 5th one faster than easy pace and the 6th one close to goal pace).

Goal pace again was 4:16/km or about 6:51 pace.

Able to hit each one: 4:10, 4:05, 4:07, 4:03, 4:01, 4:04

Edging my way back to sub-20:00 pace, maybe sometime after the marathon like at the Turkey Trot or the PHSC 5k.

It was a nice morning, and the jog back home after the workout felt great.

7.72 mi, 1:11:30, elev gain 167 feet, HR 131 bpm

Easy paced run from Westlake Village, cut through Eniswood to Alt 19 and then onto the Pinnellas trail until 3.5 miles out.  Stopped in Conservation Park on the way back for water, then continued back to the house.

Finished up with 6x100m strides at the bottom of the hill next to the Westlake Park.

Happy with the heart rate today, did not think I'd get back to the 9:00's

No running today, will do my long run tomorrow in order to watch the cross country meet held at Holloway Park in Lakeland.

This was a larger meet with more than just a regular set of varsity and junior varsity races.

Thomas and the Mitchell High School team were running in the "Race of Champions".  It started a little bit earlier than usual (7:20).  Race started and Thomas held back with plan for even pacing, which initially put him toward the back during the first couple hundred meters as they headed up the hill.  Saw him at the 1 mile marker, coming through in about 5:28 and was now much farther up than at the start.  Jarod came through first, maybe about 10 seconds faster.  Next went over to the 2.2ish area, Tom came through looking strong.  Jarod was now ahead by about 20 seconds.  Only had a short time to get to the finish line.  Saw Tom come down the stretch and finished with a time of 17:32 - 20 seconds faster than last week and 25 seconds faster than the last meet held on this course (so also a course record).   Jarod had come through in just under 17:00.

 Jacob's race was at 8:30, running in the "unseeded" boys varsity.  Everyone was lined up but Jacob and another teammate were missing.  Gun was about to go off and Jacob finally appeared, we were yelling at him to hurry up.  Gun went off and he was still just away from the start line, maybe about 4 seconds away.  We run up to the 1 mile point, he comes through at 6:22 (a new record for first miles for him).  He did slow down a bit later (threw up some point around mile 2), but came through with a personal course record of 21:11.   Tom and Jenny had also stuck around to watch Jacob finish before they had to get going.

Glad we had another chance to all be at the same meet.

18.12 mi, 2:37:24, 8:41 avg, HR 145 bpm

Yesterday's long run moved to today.  Bonus week on the schedule due to marathon being one week after the schedule ends.  Good weather this morning, not too late of a start for the weather, just before 8:00 am which allowed me to get enough sleep.

Started out in Longleaf, headed straight up Starkey Blvd and then into Starkey Park onto the bike trail until reaching about 9 miles into the run.  About a mile and a half before the turnaround I dropped off my handheld bottle at a picnic bench after filling it up.  I'd grab it on the way back without stopping and should be full enough to make it back.

Overall, the run went really smoothly.  First mile slow at 10:46, then three in the 9's, and then the rest in the 8's except for mile 18 at 7:56.  Good to be able to run this pace and still feel easy (although heart rate says this is more of a moderate run than easy, but whatever).

Saw several people I knew, especially early on and also saw a few dear.  This route is pretty peaceful on a Sunday morning.

5.53 mi, 53:35, 9:41 avg, HR 130 bpm

I ran a little less than scheduled today to make this more of a recovery run from yesterday's 18 mile run.   Legs felt decent, the easy pace felt easy.  Ran from my house, doing the t-shaped route, Heritage Springs to Little Road, and then back home.

10.12 mi, 1:25:52, Elev gain 169 feet, HR 146 bpm

Today's run was supposed to be 1 mile warmup, 7 miles @ marathon pace, 1 mile cooldown.  But, I had to rearrange things.  Jessica's car wouldn't start last night, dead battery, was able to jump start it, but wanted to get a new battery as soon as possible.  The gymnast had a follow up appointment for suspected broken toe (yup, turned out it really was broken), so I dropped the other two at school, then went to Tires Plus to drop off her car, then started my run from there.  Not an idea place to start running or do faster miles, too many cars to dodge.  So, I ran about 3 miles to get to the Pinellas Trail, headed north 2 miles, then came back running some MP miles.  Actually, did a little over 4 by the time I grabbed my water bottle, so then finished up the 5th mile staying on pace.  Did one easy mile, and then picked it up for one more faster mile getting me back to Tires Plus to get the car.

Faster miles were: 7:20, 7:23, 7:22, 7:18, 7:39 and then after one easy mile, one more at 7:40

Also, the freezer broke and everything started melting.

8.15 mi, 1:16:46, 9:25 avg, Elev gain 120 feet, HR 132 bpm

Easy paced run, from Westlake Village to Pinellas Trail via Alderman Rd.  Headed north almost to Klosterman, turning around near the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary.  Took a short break to take some pictures of the gorillas just to make the run memorable.

9.05 mi, 1:15:12, 8:19 avg, HR 159 bpm

Workout of the day 6x1k repeats @4:15 (6:51 pace)

Did this workout a few weeks ago, today's went better, it was less of a struggle to make the pace and I could even beat it if I wanted to, but for the most part held back except for the last one.  Warmed up about 2 miles, headed out to the trail near Lake Dan.  2:30 jog/rest between repeats, pretty strict about the 2:30 break (had workout programmed into my watch, can't argue with the beep!).   Splits were: 4:06, 4:04, 4:00, 4:05, 4:04, 3:54

I see some speed coming back that I wasn't sure if it would.  The last 5 added up is very close to a 20 minute 5k.  That would be a huge accomplishment if I could see those times again.  Need to go jump into some 5k's

The two mile jog back to my house was nice.

8.21 mi, 1:24:33, 10:17 avg, HR 118 bpm

Easy 8 mile run with Jamie.  Ran in Foxwood and down the trail by Lake Dan.  Finished up with 6x100m strides.  I was surprised by my heart rate, but the weather was nice and it actually was a conversational pace.  Feeling good about my training as it is wrapping up.

Tom has a cross country meet at Crews Lake Park tomorrow, he's been cutting back miles a little to try and get fresher legs.

10.25 mi, 1:37:45, 9:32 avg

Ran in Crews Lake park, doing 2.16 miles before the cross country meet, and then a little over 8 miles after the meet.  Original plan was to run more miles before the meet but there was some unexpected traffic due to an accident.  We were still early, just not as early.  On the second half of my run I got to see more of the park than I have, running as best I could the cross country route.  They have a mini-railroad here with a track that is 1 foot wide. I didn't see any of the trains but I heard they are big enough to ride on.

Tom's Grandma Cindy from Texas was at the meet and Andy rode over with me.  The Mitchell Team took first place with Tom running 17:18 (14 seconds faster than last week) which was a course record for him.  He was third place for the team with Jordan sneaking by him in the home stretch and Jarod coming in about 9 seconds ahead of him (much smaller gap than last week).  Proud of Thomas and the team.

3 years ago, both Andy and Thomas ran in this meet and Grandpa Tom was also here.  They always have a DJ at this meet, so it's a pretty fun atmosphere.  I'll miss coming here next year.  

5.56 mi, 48:33, 8:43 avg, HR 140 bpm

Taper week, today's run was 5 miles easy pace followed by 6x100m strides.  Ran in Foxwood out to the trail near Lake Dan, headed south for a bit then turned back.

Did the strides at the usual spot in the neigborhood where someone has spray painted a hash mark, 50m, and 100m.  Maybe someone training or maybe utility people.  Today's strides were significant.  A good average pace is maybe 5:30-5:45, with above average around 5:15. 

Today I was at 4:45. 

Not sure why I was faster, hopefully a good sign and not just a fluke.  When I'm running this fast I feel like I'm going to lift off the ground, so I have to concentrate on making the right contact so I'm not using too much energy going up and down vs going forward where I want the energy to go.

My garmin watch gives me some performance stats for vO2 max and lactate threshold which I have no idea how accurate they actually are, but I have seen steady improvements in both, with the reported lactate threshold going from 7:30 back in February (when I wore heart rate monitor for the Holloway Half) down to 7:00 and vO2 max which used to bounce around between 49 and 50 with a 51 every now and then, now holding steady at 55.