The Long Run

3.12 + 4.31 +1.49, about 9:50ish average overall

Broken up run, last day at sea after leaving Haiti, running on the ship's running track.  Pretty happy with the vacation miles, glad the track was a pretty good length (2.4 laps to a mile or just over 0.4 miles each loop).

18.52 mi, 2:56:16, 9:31 avg, HR 134 bpm

Afternoon noon after getting back from the cruise.  Kind of worried I wouldn't get started in time.  Weather was great, mid 50's I think.  Ran from my house, over to the new trail heading north towards 54, then across to Starkey Blvd and then ran into Starkey Park until I reached a water stop. But, the cooler was mostly out of water, although I managed to top off my bottle by tilting the cooler back, so had enough water to wash down the gel.

It was an easy pace but I felt really slow and clunky at first, not sure I'd even break a 10 minute pace, but it did get better and second half of run was low 9:00's and a few high 8:00's

Longest run since the marathon.  This did top off a 70 mile week (if you count to Sunday) after getting about 50 miles while on the cruise ship.

4.3 mi, 42:03, 9:46 avg, HR 129 bpm, elev gain 147 feet

Run from Westlake Village, out to Nebraska, up Omaha and back onto Alderman, then two loops around the Westlake Park stopping twice at the pull-up bar for some pull ups.

Trouble getting started, wanted to skip so opted for a better than nothing run along with some route variety.  Nice cool morning again but overdressed with a long sleeve top that had me sweaty by the end of the run.

Trying to be consistent with a blog entry on each run day instead of falling behind and never quite catching up.

6.49 mi, 1:03:15, 9:44 avg, HR 130 bpm

Still felt very unready to run so decide I'd just go out as slow as possible.  This got me going, at first it was like a 12:00 pace but it slowly got faster with less effort.

Slightly new route but not really.  From Westlake, out onto Alderman, left onto Omaha, and then right onto Columbia near PHU H.S., then over to Pinellas Trail and south.  

I did do better at not starting so late (out the door before 8:00) and back before Jessica and Sophia left, and then not into work too late.

5.39 mi, 50:20, 9:20 avg, HR 134 bpm

Square loop around from Westlake Village, down Belcher to Nebraska, then up Omaha back to Alderman, and finished up with small loop on part of Village Way.  Started out slow again but not as slow as yesterday.  Garmin rewarded me at the end with +1 on my vo2 max, back to 54, it had been holding steady at 53 after having come down from a peak of 56 at the end of marathon training, so maybe the 70 mile week helped.

Massage after the run which also helped make me feel ready for next weekend's big race.

6.57 mi, 58:16, 8:52 avg, HR 142 bpm

Ran from my house over to the Lake Dan trail, heading south almost all the way to Keystone.  Was hoping to get in at least 5 miles but went a little bit farther once I got out 2.5 miles.  I guess the massage yesterday helped.  Starting out I was still not feeling very fast, but my first mile, although slow was a little bit faster than a lot of my slow first miles.  After the second mile I was running faster than 9:00 pace, but not really looking at my pace, only saw it when my watch beeped each mile.  It was nice and peaceful on the trail.

Andy had some coffee leftover from what he had made, so grabbed some to go on my way to work.

12.02 mi, 2:08:10, 10:39 avg, HR 136 bpm

Preview of the Longhaul Ultra marathon (100 miles), one week from today.  This year's course is 10x10 miles.  Cypress Creek Preserve, one mile out from the gate to "the hub", 1.5 miles south, out and then back, a little bit on the paved road, then north on the "hall of pines", then a little bit farther before turning around and heading back to the paved road.  The third spur starts out like last year but does not have "the crop circle" loop, but is just an out and back instead.

Still a few small fires burning from the proscribed burn.  Not sure if I'm really ready but I'll get through this somehow.   Time limit of 30 hours to qualify for Western States Lottery, 32 hours to be an official race finisher, and 24 hours for the new 24 hour belt buckle this year.

13.45 mi, 2:20:27, 11:11 avg, HR 133 bpm

Longhaul preview part 2 - went back to the Cypress Creek Preserve.  There was a small group running here today, starting at 8:00 am,  to preview the race course, race director Andy and about 10 or so other people.  I got there too late for the start but saw them coming up from the first spur, so I was able to run over and catch up with them.  It was a nice and relaxed easy run with a few walk breaks here and there.  Stopped for a quick group selfie as we got back to the paved road, then continued on to the last spur.  Since I skipped the first spur at the start of the run, ran that by myself and then since I was close to 48 miles for the week, ran about an extra mile or so.

Weather was nice, not too warm and a little bit of cloud cover.

3.52 mi, 41:02, 11:39 avg, no HR data

Run was delayed a little bit due to waiting on washing machine repairperson (repairman in this case).  Once it looked like it would be a little while longer, went for a short run sticking close to the house and carried my phone.  It actually started out as a walk but it slowly turned into a run/walk with mostly running at the end.  

For a run that almost didn't happen, it was better than nothing and maybe what I needed.

5.38 mi, 1:01:07, 11:21 avg, HR 122 bpm

Easy running from Foxwood to the Lake Dan trail.  Today's goal was to practice recharging my garmin while it is in use.  That has been hit or miss in the past, today was a success.  Tucking a USB battery into my running belt and attaching the charging cord after loosening the watch.  Went from 18% to 68% during the run.

Did a little bit of walking here and there to simulate race day.

7.0 mi, 1:13:35, 10:30 avg

First run since the 100 miler.  I'm not sure the last time I took an entire week off of running.  There may appear to be some longer gaps in my blog here and there but those are mostly times I fell behind on blogging.  On Friday, I came close to running but the walk never turned into a run, a little of 2 miles in the neighborhood.  Saturday I slept in a little bit and ended up taking Aubrey to elementary school beautification day which involved some exercise.

So, this morning I met up with Jamie in the neighborhood and we headed toward Trinity Blvd and eventually saw Cynthia (she was running from her house).   We took the new trail north towards SR54 , crossed and went up Starkey about a mile before turning back.  I was the slow person today, slightly behind the ladies although I did keep up overall as they went a little bit faster toward the end.

Jamie was getting new furniture, so after the run I went with Andy to her house and loaded up her love seat in the back of the truck.  So, finally replaced the sofa that Stella chewed up a while ago.  Jamie and Chris were glad it found a new home.

3.28 mi , 38:22, 11:41 avg, elev gain 82 feet

Second run after the big race. Did loop through Westlake Village and onto Belcher and Alderman.  Felt like doing a loop as opposed to an out and back, just a small loop there.

My legs felt ok but not great, I would end up feeling worse later in the day.

I have to be into work earlier than usual tomorrow to do customer training and it seems like a good time to take an off day from running, so no running tomorrow.

4.16. mi, 55:59, 13:26 avg

Still did not feel like running today, so decided on run/walk with Stella because I knew she'd appreciate getting outside.  Ran the new trail, not quite to the end on SR54.  Stella saw lots of storks wading in the trailside water.

5.1 mi, 55:29, 10:53 avg, HR 128 bpm

Another attempt at running and this time finally put in a new battery into the heart rate monitor strap.  Similar route to yesterday, but without Stella and went a little bit onto 54 without crossing (just stayed on the sidewalk a bit until I got just past 2.5 miles out).

It was at least a little bit faster than Monday's run (but not quite as fast as Sunday's run with Jamie and Cynthia).

10.02 mi, 1:39:52, 9:58 avg, HR 138 bpm

Ran from Westlake Village, to the Pinellas Trail and then out to the Dunedin Causeway as far as the place that does kayak rentals.  Stopped for a quick pit stop then turned around, headed back to the trail (saw Jessica finishing up her causeway walk, but she had to go meet Aubrey quickly), then headed south a bit, turned right onto 580 and then ended the run when I hit 10 miles.  Just "happened" to stop near 7th Sun Brewery.  Stopped for some rehydration and then Jessica came to pick me up.

3.43 mi,  36:53, 10:44 avg

Did a loop running part of the way through Westlake Village and the rest on Belcher Rd and Alderman Rd to get back to the house.

5.1 mi, 49:17, 9:39 avg, HR 141 bpm

Ran from my house to the Lake Dan trail, out a total of 2.5 miles and then back the way I came.  Ran a little bit faster than what I had been running.  Trail was peaceful this morning.

5.17 mi, 1:06:35, 12:25 avg, HR 113 bpm

Thought I would try walk/run with 3 minutes of walking followed by 1 minute of running.  Brisk walk and then a not too slow but not too fast run.  Ran kind of a big loop dissecting Westlake Village, a little bit on the Pinellas trail and the rest on Omaha St and Alderman Rd.  For mostly walking, it was not a bad pace.

3.23 mi, 34:17, 10:37 avg

Running slump continues, made the most of it by taking Stella for a short run.  This has two benefits (maybe more) - 1. she needs the exercise and stimulation getting out of the house and yard, and 2. her pulling on the leash helps me get going - it's kind of like the assist when running on a treadmill with no incline.

We ran from my house, to the new trail and north a little bit before turning around and coming back.  Wore the crocs LiteRide again which are really growing on me.

9.05 mi, 1:28:20, 9:46 avg HR 145 bpm

It was a good run today.  Slept in late which can be dangerous for actually starting a run but it was nice and cool this morning, still in the high 50's when I started.  Ran from my house, to the new trail and then north, across SR54, then turned right into Starkey Ranch from Starkey Blvd, far enough to get 4.5 miles, then turned around the way I came.  

First mile was pretty slow, like 12:30ish.  Thought I'd be stuck at a 12 minute pace, but the last two miles were finally in the 8's.  I'm not sure why I have such a problem starting out a little bit faster.

5.3 mi, 51:12, 9:39 avg

Ran two loops around (inside) Westlake Village.  Steady pickup througout the run, the up and down of the neighborhood hills made the run not boring.

In the evening, saw Tom run in the meet at River Ridge, he ran a 4:51 in the 1600.  He's been feeling stuck at that pace.  Still, glad I had a chance to see him run.

7.55 mi, 1:07:35, 8:57 avg, Elev gain 153 feet, HR 153 bpm

I've gotten really bad again about blogging.  The runs do get recorded on Strava but it's not quite the same thing.  I hadn't done a nice out and back from Westlake Village for a while, either been doing loops or going back to Trinity and doing out and back runs there.

Headed over to the Pinellas Trail and ran north to around Wall Springs Park.   Was a very nice morning.  Started my run at 7:45 which is pretty good for running on my own.

I ran a little bit faster than usual even though it pushed the heart rate up higher than where I thought it should be for this pace.

But, overall it was a good run.

Had a massage afterward which I think has been helping.  I think I'm still feeling cumulative effects from the 100 mile race in January.

5.27 mi, 56:02, 10:38 avg, HR 131 bpm

Ran from my house, to the new trail north and a little bit onto SR54 enough so I'd get over 5 miles.  Taking it easy today, doing a 3/2 run/walk with the run pace and the walk pace both getting a little bit faster (run got into the 8:30's, walk pace just under 14:00).

Cool out this morning which was nice.

Sammy is staying at the house while Jenny is out of town.  He's looking older and a little bit sunken down but still a happy dog despite the age.  

7.25 mi, 1:14:12, 10:14 avg, HR 132 bpm

Ran with Joe and Cynthia from LongLeaf.  We did an out and back running into Starkey Ranch neighborhood past Cannon Lake.  My legs felt a little bit better today, it was a nice morning and good to run with friends.

In the afternoon, saw Tom run in the meet at Cypress Creek High School.  Did not go well for him, splits were similar to Wednesday but 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lap each one second slower, giving hime a time of 4:55 for the 1600 (there was a bit of wind, but that wasn't the main problem - just feeling worn down I guess).

Did get to have dinner with Tom and Andy at the local Japanese place (actually they have Chinese, Japanese, and Thai).

5.64 mi, 53:11, 9:25 avg, HR 140 bpm

Ran from Longleaf, up and down Starkey Blvd bike trail (and about 0.2 miles into Aristida).  I had to drop off something for Tom before school, so since I was right there it worked out to run from there.  Nice cool morning again.

6.52 mi, 54:37, 8:22 avg, elev gain 363 feet, HR 144 bpm

Did not feel like running this morning and wasn't sure how far I'd end up running, but decided to run in the neighborhood (Westlake).  I like starting at the neighborhood lowpoint which is just down the street and around the corner so I can run up slowly, it feels like an easier warm up than running downhill or flat.

Anyway, did one loop around the inside of the neighborhood, then ran to near the clubhouse for hill repeats up Sandy Hook.  It's about a 1/4 mile (maybe just a little over).  Ran up, paused a little bit, then ran back down.  Initially, the downs were faster than the ups, but by the 5th time the up was faster (5th one up was fastest of any of the repeats).

Finished up with about a mile, long way back to the house.

Glad I did hills today, made the run go by faster and felt like progress.

In the evening, saw Sophia at her second track meet (middle school) running the 1600.  She improved from 8:29 down to 8:13. 

7.53 mi, 1:23:19, 11:04 avg,  HR 125 bpm

Run/walk 3/2 from Westlake Village over to the Pinellas trail up to Wall Springs park and then back the way I came.  It felt tedious at times sticking to the run/walk but it was overall easy on my body and gave me a good, low enough heart rate.

4.05 mi, 40:02, 9:52 avg, HR 137 bpm

Ran from my house this morning, out and back to the new trail, but not quite all the way to SR 54.  Faster pace than yesterday by over a minute but still kind of slow.

Got to talk to Andy for a bit after my run about his school project, it seems similar to what I do for work as far as figuring out embedded systems but he's taking it a step further with VHDL and programming FPGAs.  I've so far been able to avoid that but wish I knew more about it.

5.15 mi, 52:04, 10:06 avg, HR 132 bpm

Mostly easy run around inside of Westlake Village, one main loop, one run out and back the Woodcutter/Lakeview hill, and a little loop around Lakeview Terrace.  Enough variety to keep from getting bored while running inside a relatively small area.

8.05 mi, 1:17:08, 9:35 avg, HR 131 bpm

Met up with Joe and Cynthia just after 7:00 at Longleaf.  Did a similar route to last week running into Starkey Ranch to and around Cannon Lake (clockwise), then back the way we came.  It was another nice morning.  Saw Tom finishing his run as we were about to start, later saw Jenny and Maria, Diane and a new person not sure his name, and Claudia was out by the lake when we stopped there briefly.

4.07 mi, 39:02, 9:35 avg

Easy out and back from my house to the new trail, heading north for a little bit before turning around.

  Went to 8:30 dentist appointment (cleaning), and then stopped at Jenny's house to pick up Sammy so I could watch him while she took the boys out of town overnight (but later wisely decided to cancel due to circumstances).  I'd bring Sammy back to her house later that evening but first served him dinner with some leftover cut up steak pieces on top.  It was Sammy's first time staying at Palm Harbor, Stella liked the company.

6.41 mi, 53:30, 8:21 avg, elev gain 364 feet, HR 150 bpm

Ran in Westlake Village, did one big loop around the inside of the neighborhood and then 5 times up and down the Sandy Hook Hill.  Trying to  keep my legs strong.

7.42 mi, 1:21:00, 10:55 avg, HR 133 bpm

Out and back run from my house, onto the Lake Dan trail down to Keystone Rd for a little bit and then turn back around.  It was a pretty good morning.

4.36 mi, 41:55, 9:26 avg

Ran to Publix on Alt 19, then back to the house.  Jacob was at the end of the driveway getting ready to go for a short run as part of his home assignment wrestling workout.  Ran with him up to the top of Woodcutter/Lakeview hill and then back down, just past the house to the neighborhood low spot.

9.02 mi, 1:25:20, 9:30 avg, HR 146 bpm

Did a big loop, 9 miles.  There was some talk of doing 10 miles, Jacob wanted to repeat the run we did one time with him and my friends, doing a 3/1 run/walk which was a lot of fun that day.  His friend Reese was going to join us.  But, it was a bad night for him with allergies keeping him up.  So, just me.  Stopped at conservation park for a drink of water.  

Steady pickup on pace from 10:57 first mile to 8:46 last mile.

10.04 mi 2:05:27, 12:29 avg, HR 119 bpm

Did a long slow run, heading south out of Westlake Village, down Belcher Rd to Curlew and then over to the causeway and up the Pinellas Trail.  As I approached Curlew from Belcher kind of had to go to the bathroom but thought Publix was just around the corner, but it took longer than expected.  Made it, but it was kind of close.  While I was in Publix I walked down the paper products aisle just for "fun", pretty bare, but at least the pasta and rice area was not bare.

 Continued on the run.  Actually was doing 3/2 run/walk but on the run part keeping HR below 125, but on the walk part added in just enough running here and there to keep HR over 112 bpm.

Lots of people on the trail.  With fewer and fewer places to go, people are walking, but at least are not congregating.

3.34 mi, 33:57, 10:09 avg, HR 132 bpm

Ran in Westlake Village, with one big loop and then up and down Lakeview Dr to get just over 3 miles.

In the evening, stopped by my parents house to drop off a gift for my mom's birthday.  Was originally supposed to be her sister and husband, along with my brother and his wife, my kids and Jessica's kids, but things changed of course.  Glad I could stop by.  Sat at the far end of the table and had a slice of cake and a couple small glasses of sauternes.

5.86 mi 50:57, 8:42 avg, HR 141 bpm, elev gain 234 feet

One loop inside Westlake Village, and then a few hill repeats up and down Village Way hill near the clubhouse (instead of up and down Sandy Hook hill just around the corner).

4.44 mi, 51:07, 11:29, HR 127 bpm

Ran from Foxwood nbhd over to the new trail going north, almost to SR 54, and then back the way I came.  Slow pace to keep heart rate down to make sure it really was an easy day and not an "easy" day.

5.16 mi, 47:21, 9:10 avg, HR 147 bpm

Out and back run on Starkey Blvd bike trail, out and back run north to past the bridge but not quite all the way to Alico Pass.  Run felt pretty good, easy feeling although heart rate said otherwise.  I'm just going to try this out for a little bit until I throw back in some lower heart rate runs where I will probably need to so some walking.

3.58 mi, 33:31, 9:21 avg, HR 144 bpm

Did three loops in Westlake Village, but they were smaller loops from the house, left onto Pine Terrace until it became Village Way, back to Lakeview and by the house again.  The shorter loop was kind of nice in a way.

7.31 mi, 1:08:40, 9:23 avg

Ran from my house over to the Lake Dan trail heading south, reached Keystone Rd and went far enough so I'd have at least 7 miles.  There were a good number of people walking and riding their bikes, everyone keeping their distance for the most part.

Run was good, another cool morning.  I forgot my heart rate monitor today, probably would have been in the mid to high 140's I'm guessing.

While I was driving to my house, Andy texted to see if I had any paper towels, so I gave him the extra roll I usually keep in the back of the car.  On the way to work stopped at Walmart for some things.  One roll of paper towels left (well, actually those blue shop towels, which I later read that they make good material for a temporary DIY mask according to an article (actually multiple articles on different sites about a boutique clothing place that was making these after testing various possible DIY materials).

10.24 mi, 1:45:40, 10:19 avg, HR 139 bpm

Easy-ish run from Westlake Village, down through downtown Palm Harbor, onto the trail heading south, until about a mile south of Curlew and Alt19.

Trail was fairly crowded with people biking, hard to maintain distance when there was a lot of traffic in both directions.  It stayed fairly cool for most of the run even though it was late in the morning when I started.  More and more people were wearing some sort of mask today.

4.33 mi, 49:23, 11:24 avg, HR 121 bpm

Kept my promise to go slow enough for easy heart rate, goal of MAF  -5 beats

Out and back run from my house onto the Lake Dan trail then turned back around.

6.25 mi, 1:08:52,  11:01 avg, HR 123 bpm

Ran from Longleaf to just a little bit inside Aristida neighborhood via Starkey Blvd bike trail.  Nice relaxing run, keeping heartrate almost at MAF-5.  I took a few small random walk breaks when heart rate would hit 128, except for last 1.2 miles where I went fast enough that my heart rate ended up at 140.

Trying to alternate between running the pace I feel like and running a slow enough recovery pace. 

It was a nice peaceful morning, 65 degrees, high humidity but a little cooling breeze

5.07 mi, 46:58, 9:15 avg, elev gain 209 feet, HR 148 bpm

Ran 4 loops around my new favorite loop in Westlake Village.  I guess I like it because there are not lights or intersections. It seems tedious during the first loop and part of the second loop but then it seems kind of nice (start seeing more familiar people).

7.51 mi, 1:17:14, 10:17 avg, HR 136 bpm

Ran from my house to the new trail going north, then across SR54 onto the Starkey Blvd bike trail until reaching the entrance of Starkey Ranch before turning around.  When I was running by the little pond near the church I saw a couple of people stopped to take pictures.  Saw they were looking at a little alligator (less than 2 feet long) headind toward the pond.  

Run felt pretty smooth, heart rate for the pace was reasonable.  Wasn't really looking at it until after the run, just trying to take it easy and get some miles.

4.28 mi, 39:25, 9:12 avg, HR 146 bpm, elev gain 210 feet.

Ran in Westlake Village, just up and down the street from the low point to the high point and then back a few times.  Simple run, goes by quickly, plus it was shorter miles.  Will do something longer tomorrow.

12.46 mi, 2:24:53, 11:38 avg, HR 121 bpm

Longer run today and purposely slow and easy.  No set run/walk schedule, just threw in some walk breaks here and there to keep the heart rate lower but most of the time tried to keep an easy pace where the heart rate would stay around 120, took a break when it hit about 126.

Went from Westlake Village, zig zagged over to the Pinellas Trail and then went north.  Past the primate sanctuary, across Klosterman and a little bit into Tarpon Springs finally before heading back.  Had not been that far north on the trail since the Pintellas Trail challenge (use turn back before crossing Klosterman because it's kind of a long light).

Run felt kind of tedious, went  a little bit faster the last mile, ditching the heart rate discipline in exchange for stretching out my legs.

After I got back to the house I saw that I was just shy of 40 miles for the week, so ran another 0.31 miles running the small loop on Park Court.

3.2 mi, 35:02, 10:55 avg, HR 131 bpm

Ran from my house to the Heritage Springs gate and then back home.

Partly cloudy, 80 degrees. I started at 9:16.  Just a short run today.

6.06 mi, 1:02:48, 10:22 avg, Elev gain 236 feet, HR 138 bpm

Ran in Westlake Village, doing my favorite loop of about 1.25 miles.  Ran about 4 loops (4 and then enough to get back to the house).

Kept the run kind of easy, but in the next few days decided to try and run it a little faster each day.

6.29 mi, 55:24, 8:49 avg, elev gain 232 feet

Did a similar route as yesterday's,  about 1.25 mile loop in Westlake Village, no busy street crossing, just a simple loop.  Ran 5 loops this time, running by feel, but wanted to go faster than yesterday.  The terrain variety helps my legs not feel stale.

5.17 mi, 43:22, 8:23 avg

Another similar run to yesterday, 1.25 mile loop in Westlake Village, run 4 times (but not stopping, yesterday was 3 loops, break, then 2 loops).

A little bit faster than yesterday.

4.72 mi, 42:49, 9:03 avg

Ran from my house, south down the new trail to just past Lake Dan and then turned around and came back.

AM -  9.76 mi, 1:34:15, 9:39 avg

Ran from my house, up the new trail heading north, crossed 54 and then into Starkey Ranch until I reached the building at the lake.  When I started the run I thought my big problem would be that it would get hot (started at 8:41), but the cloud cover was nice and then it got a little darker and then there was a light rain.  Used the water fountain and waited a little for the rain to die down which it did after a few minutes, so got going again to head home.

Then the rain returned, and with just over a mile to go to get to Longleaf it really started to come down hard.  Then there was thunder and I could tell the lightning strikes were getting too close for comfort.  Ran pretty fast, made it to Starkey Blvd just as I saw lightning and nearly at the same time heard the thunder.  Texted Andy for a ride back but wasn't sure if he'd see it so I also texted Tom and Jenny.  Jenny was getting dropped off at the bike shop by Sean, so he gave me a ride back to my house.   Was hoping for 12 miles but ended up just short of 10 miles.

Will try to do a couple miles later in the evening.

PM - 2.65 mi, 22:15, 8:23 avg

2 loops in Westlake Village, 6:32 pm start, still kind of warm but hint of coolness after a nice day.  Finally got a handle on the pool situation, swapping out the filter again (braved the bee hive successfully after asking Jacob to do it for me yesterday.  Bees should all be gone soon hopefully).

5.0 mi, 44:38, 8:55 avg, elev gain 208 feet

Did two slightly larger loops in Westlake Village, actually looks a little more like a figure 8.  Instead of going right at Village Way, turn left and then right on Woodcutter and then back to Lakeview, and quick left on Village Way.   Felt a little sore from yesterday even though I didn't really run, but kind of did when I raced Jacob and Aubrey from the park back to the house.  Jacob won but I was gaining on him going up the hill but not close enough to catch him.  Aubrey sprinted out to a good lead, but I was able to pass her, but it sure wasn't easy.

Rain was coming (and maybe more lightning), but finished in time to not get wet.

4.27 mi, 46:41, 10:55 avg

Ran from my house to the new trail and north for just a little over 2 miles.  Took Stella with me.  I thought it might be a run walk because I was sore and she was a little hard to manage, but once we got onto the trail it got a little bit easier.

On the way back I saw one of those small painted rocks that people leave sometimes.  This one was white with red cursive lettering which said "You are God's masterpiece.  Ephesians 2:10"  I showed it to Stella, she seemed to agree.  I later looked up the verse and it didn't seem to say those exact words but I think I liked the rock better.  I wanted to take it with me but thought maybe someone else needed to see it also.

After the run, moved my laundry to the dryer (it's mainly running clothes I have here) and talke to Andy and Catty for a few minutes before heading to work.

6.67 mi, 59:29, 8:55 avg, elev gain 288 feet

3 loops (almost a figure 8 shape actually) inside Westlake Village steady pick up with mile paces from 10:17 to 8:20 at the end.  The little rolling hills help me warm up a little bit better.

Going to try and run a little bit faster for a while before going back to a mix of easy runs and scheduled workouts.

5.34 mi, 44:55, 8:24 avg, elev gain 206 feet

Did 4 loops and a little extra around Pineview Terrace, Lakeview, Village Way about 1.25 miles each loop.  Pickup for the last 0.3 miles down to 7:14 pace

Trying this run a little faster thing for a while, no formal speedwork or easy days for now.

5.01 mi, 43:23, 8:39 avg, elev gain 178 feet

Did two bigger loops of about 2.4 miles, then added a little to get over 5 miles.  This loop crosses over Westlake Blvd for a little bit and then comes back.  It feels a little harder than the closer 1.25 mile loop which doesn't cross any streets.

10.03 mi, 1:22:33, 8:14 avg, elev gain 337 feet

Ran in Westlake Village.  Kind of a later start but it was still coolish (at least at the start) and much of the route is shaded.  Did 4 loops, not quite the longest loop I could make, but one with the least sharp angles, just under 2.2 miles per loop.

Did the first two, took short beverage break, did one more, then decided to do one more after that.  At the start of the run had not decided on exact number of loops.  But, with the little bit I added on after the 4th loop, reached 10 miles and decided that would be reasonable - plus it was finally starting to get a little bit hot.

4.43 mi, 8:41 avg

Ran from Foxwood, south on the new trail until just past Lake Dan, then turned around and went home.  Shorter run with a faster mile for the last one (7:53).

6.31 mi, 53:19, 8:27 avg, elev gain 287 feet

Ran in Westlake Village this  morning.  Modified my 1.25 mile loop into a figure 8 with a cut through on Lakeside Terrace.  I don't think I liked it quite as much.  It was a little more elevation but it also didn't flow as much but at least I tried it.  Otherwise it was a pretty good run, sticking to my running faster plan for now.

8.25 mi, 1:10:30, 8:33 avg

L-shaped route from Westlake Village, west on Alderman and then up the Pinellas Trail until almost at Klosterman, then turn back (about 4 mile point) with quick stop at Conservation Park for water and gel, then continue back to the house.  Nice morning, kept a pretty even pace and then a pickup for last mile at 7:39 pace.

4.68 mi, 39:14, 8:22 avg, elev gain 186 feet

Looped around inside Westlake Village doing 3 full loops of the 1.25 mile route and then added a little bit more but not quite a full fourth loop.  Pretty good steady pickup from start (9:39 pace) to finish (7:35 pace).

6.22 mi, 51:07, 8:13 avg

Out and back run from Foxwood, heading south down the new trail also informally know as the Lake Dan trail which you can see over to the east a little bit (you can get there too but not directly, need to run several miles to the preserve entrance, still haven't made it all the way to the actual lake yet).

Nice Friday run and start of the month of May, grateful to still be running and life for the most part being somewhat normal (at least the new normal).

5.21 mi, 43:46, 8:24 avg, elev gain 218 feet

Two loops and a little more added on to get over 5 miles inside Westlake Village.  Nice morning, still 73 degrees despite the slightly later start.

5.81 mi 46:23, 7:59 avg, elev gain 356 feet

Westlake Village up and down the street.  Actually, a couple of times up and down Pinewood Terrace (crossing Westlake Blvd) and then rest of the time was run south down Lakeview Drive then back north a few times.

Start time - 9:16 am

Weather - 73 degrees and sunny

4.61 mi, 39:06, 8:29 avg

Friday (Lake) Dan run from Foxwood down the new trail to just past Lake Dan.

Nice run, it's a peaceful stretch of trail even with the uptick in use.

15.2 mi, 2:12:13, 8:42 avg

I saw that I needed 14.5 miles to hit 40 for the week.   I had a terrible time sleeping again last night, mostly awake from 2:00 to 6:00, but instead of sleeping in got up early enough to drive to Longleaf and start running before 7:00.  I thought I'd be slow and sluggish, but after the first mile at 10:34, the rest were between 9:04 and 8:03.

Headed north up Starkey Blvd and into the park.  Dropped off my water bottle for the last 1.5 miles of the out portion, so 3 miles total with hands free.  Glad I went with the 17 oz bottle as there was no water in the coolers due to COVID (I had some back up plans in case I felt dangeroursly dehydrated but it was cool enough that 17oz was enough).

When I got back to the church, there were a few Striders who had met up for a socially distanced run.  I saw Clark who gave me a gatorade from the cooler which I was grateful for.  

This might be my longest run since the Long Haul 100 in January.

2.39 mi, 19:56, 8:20 avg

Was pretty tired this morning when I woke up and it was dark out (about to rain).  I went to bed before 12:00 but woke up about 1:45.  Jessica's kids were all up but she fell asleep in their room on the floor.  2:30 everyone had settled down but I couldn't fall asleep, moved some laundry, watched 15 minutes of tv then eventually fell back asleep.

Waited for the rain to stop and did just one loop around the neighborhood in Westlake and then ready to start the day.  Actually, had already started work, sat at the computer catching up while waiting for the rain to slow to a drizzle. 

7.35 mi, 1:00:39, 8:15 avg

Out and back run from Longleaf little church into Starkey Ranch and a little bit past Cannon Lake with a quick water stop there on the way back.  Steady pickup just looking now and then at the average pace.  First mile was 9:33 and last mile was 7:53.  It felt like it might get hot when I started out but the cloud cover held on and it was more or less pleasant.  I felt pretty good on this run.  My pace averages are slowing ticking up but I know I can't make progress like this forever.  At some point I'll have to switch to something more structured with easier easy runs and some harder runs.  But kind of enjoying this for now.

6.71 mi, 51:33, 7:41 avg, elev gain 258 feet

Did three loops in Westlake Village.  Was pushing the pace a little bit, not looking at the lap pace, just the average pace.  I've been putting all of my miles down as "easy" miles for simplicity but today that was harder to justify with pace of 7:06 and 6:47 for last 1.71 miles and the three miles before that between 7:22 and 7:40.  Weather was comfortable again.

Also, last few runs I've been wearing the Crocs LiteRide Pacer.  They are comfortable, a bit too roomy (size 10, I usually wear size 10.5 running shoe) but I've gotten used to them.

Had some of my usual problem with sleeping, after getting in bed, woke up at 1:50 and up for the most part until close to 7:00, then had a good hour of deep sleep from 7:00 to 8:00.

9.39 mi, 1:17:54, 8:18 avg, elev gain 269 feet

I had an idea.  After running the 2ish mile loop in Westlake Village I feel pretty warmed up possibly because of just the right variety of little ups and downs.  But, I wanted to run farther without doing a lot of loops.  So, one little loop first inside Westlake Village then the bigger loop where I go from Alderman, north on Belcher, left on Klosterman (up and over the Mt Everest of Klosterman), down the Pinellas Trail, quick stop for water in Conservation Park, then continue down the trail but exit just before going through the old train tunnel.  Run along Alt 19 for a little bit and then left through Eniswood and back to Alderman then back to the house.

Pace range was from 8:51 for the first mile to 8:00 for the last mile.  Kind of warmer today and a little bit humid but course was mostly shaded (ran in the counter clockwise direction for the big loop to get the stretch north on Belcher out of the way first because that does have some open sections).

4.32 mi, 36:48, 8:30 avg

Friday (Lake) Dan run.  Temperature is creeping up (didn't help that I started so late).  I must have looked like I was running with purpose as a few people asked what I was training for.  I usually only get a 'hi' here or there.  First mile 9:02, last mile 8:23.

2.27 mi, 22:35, 9:55 avg

The run that almost wasn't.  The morning got late.  Was trying to help Jessica scan something, failure.  Very unmotivated and almost did not run at all but convinced myself one loop was better than nothing, especially since I skipped yesterday's run - except for about two minutes of running during my walk which I decided not to count.

1 Westlake Village loop.

8.12  mi, 1:10:21, 8:40 avg

Ran from my house and headed over to the south section of the new trail, aka Lake Dan trail.  Thought this was going to be a hot one, but fortunately a couple minutes of very light rain helped out a lot.  On my way out I saw Joe on the return trip from his run heading north.  Chatted with him for 2 or 3 minutes before moving on.  

Ran onto Keystone section for a bit until I got to the road crossing where I turned back.

Had an ice pop from the garage freezer.  It might have been the last one.  Time to buy more for the summer.

7.0-6 mi, 56:37, 8:01 avg, elev gain  279 feet

3 loops in Westlake Village, running the approximately 2.3 mile loop and then added on just a little bit extra to get over 7 miles.  First mile was 9:06.  Starting out, there is a small uphill, then a slightly longer downhill, turn left and then go up a steeper hill longer than the first one which once I get to the top I feel more warmed up and seemed to pick up speed on the next flat section until finally going downhill again.

The last two miles were 7:44 and 7:20.  I felt pretty good at the end but was pushing a little bit (or so it felt as the morning was warming up quickly).

5.17 mi, 41:12, 7:58 avg

Friday (Lake) Dan run. First mile at 8:49 which is a good first mile for me, the warm up period is getting less cumbersome.  Late start again today and temperatures getting kind of warm but between the shade here and there and the breeze when heading south it was not too bad.

I could have used an ice pop after the run, need to buy some more.

12.41 mi, 1:45:22, 8:29 avg

Common story, later start than desired which is getting harder to get away with now with rising temperatures.  Ran up Starkey Blvd into the park.  Before I started, chatted with Scott and Tara who had just finished their runs.  I had visions of running 15-16 miles but as I thought about it I told them I was going to run 13 miles today.  Also saw Dan and Zeke tending the beehive which they were trying to get the bees from an inground hive to try and relocate.  This is their first bee project (only two stings between the two of them so far).

Shortly after starting out saw Tom coming back from his 20 mile run.  My first mile was 9:54 and I was able to soon move into the 8's.  Still kind of questioning doing 13 miles, but thought at least 10 miles.  When I was almost 5 miles into the run, figured I could at least do one more mile which brought me just past the solar system signs.

Last mile was 8:06.  It was a bit warm, but just kind of powered through it and held a steady pace.

4.33 mi,  37:18, 8:37 avg

Shorter run but much better than what I did last Monday (0 miles due to staying overnight at a hotel).  Ran from my house to the new trail north to just past 2 miles then headed back home. First mile 9:11, last mile 8:24.

7.1 mi, 58:18, 8:13 avg, elev gain 279 feet

Just over 3 loops inside Westlake Village.  First mile was 9:33, last mile 7:33.

8.34 mi, 1:08:07, 8:10 avg

From my house onto the new trail, south down to Keystone and then turn around at the entrance of Brooker Creek Preserve.  Pretty steady feeling run with first mile at 8:51 and last mile at 7:46.  Weather was 78 and cloudy, didn't feel bad at all.

7.14 mi, 59:47, 8:22 avg, elev gain 287 feet

Another day of 3 loops inside Westlake Village with steadily increasing paces.  Light rain for most of the run, just enough to keep it cool but not nearly enough to make puddles that soak your feet.

5.17 m, 42:26, 8:12 avg

Back to Foxwood and a run down the new trail past Lake Dan on a Friday morning, or in other words the Friday Dan run.

12.16 mi, 1:37:56, 8:03 avg, elev gain 462 feet

5 loops inside West Lake Village, slept in a bit so didn't start until 10:20 am, but there was some rain keeping it cool but not enough to soak my shoes.  Ran each loop a little bit faster.   I'm not sure how many more loops on one run I could do (unless maybe running with some company).

But, good to get in enough miles to be back in the 40's for mileage (44.2 miles this week).

3.33 mi, 27:58, 8:24 avg, elev gain 222 feet

Short run, not feeling motivated so I liked doing this run where you are never very far from the start.  Up and down the street (Lakeview Dr) in West Lake Village going from the neighborhood low point to high point.

7.12 mi, 55:37, 7:49 avg, elev gain 250 feet

One bigger loop (Alderman to Belcher and back in Westlake Village) and the smaller loop inside Westlake Village.  Pushed the pace a little bit after having a good first mile (8:12 pace - getting better at those).  Good run today but I will dial it back tomorrow and see what 9:30ish pace feels like.

8.35 mi, 1:18:16, 9:22 avg

Goal was to run even, steady, and hold back.  9:25 first mile, 9:13 last mile, slowest mile was 9:29.  Out and back down the trail past Lake Dan preserve, onto Keystone Road and then turn around at the entrance of Brooker Creek Preserve.  It was 81 degrees and sunny and a slight breeze for a little bit of cooling.  Warmer air and humidity did not bother me today.

Glad to make my goal of running steady, and even though I didn't feel like I needed a break from running faster, I probably did.

5.16 mi, 40:07, 7:46 avg

Ran in Westlake Village, did not want to do loops today so started doing "up and down the street" on Lakeview Dr, but then I added in a small loop running up the Sandy Hook hill.  Hadn't been up that in a while, not since last set of 400m hill repeats.

Pushed the pace a little but was doing fewer miles today, last mile was 7:11

7.22 mi, 1:00:13, 8:20 avg

Ran from my house in Foxwood and onto the trail past Lake Dan.  Ran to Keystone Road and far enough on that so I'd get over 7 miles for the day.  Started out kind of easy paced, but got a little faster as the run progressed.

It was warm up but either the breeze or maybe a little less humidity (and a few clouds) helped make it a decent run.

13.66 mi, 1:52:06, 8:12 avg, elev gain 280 feet

Saturday morning long run enough to get me over 40 miles for the week.  Heading out of town later today so started out from Westlake Village.  First, did a 1.25 mile warm up loop in the neighborhood, then headed onto Alderman, cut through Eniswood to Alt19 then onto the Pinellas Trail.  Headed north until just past the Tarpon Tavern to almost where the trail turns to the East.

Turned around and headed back the way I came.

Quick shower then got onto the road to go to New Smyrna Beach for a couple of nights with Jessica, her kids, and Jacob's friend Corbin.

1.36 mi, 11:40, 8:34 avg

This run was almost 0 miles.  Drove back from New Smyrna Beach, went to work and then after work went up and got Stella.  Had time for one short loop before it got dark, glad I made it out for just a little.

9.1 mi, 1:16:53, 8:27 avg

Ran from Foxwood, over to the Lake Dan trail, down to Keystone Road and then a little bit inside the road to Brooker Creek Preserve before turning around.

This was my longest out and back on this route.  I should've gone a little bit farther to make it to the preserve's visitor center where there is a fountain and bathrooms, maybe next time.

7.11 mi, 55:35, 7:49 avg, elev gain 269 feet

Ran 3 loops inside Westlake Village.  Wasn't originally going to run this fast, but the first two loops felt really good and then it looked like if I pushed a little more I would have an average down faster than 8:00/mile.  Legs felt pretty good today.  74 degrees so pretty comfortable also for this time of year.

10.58 mi, 1:30:21, 8:32 avg, elev gain 286 feet

Started off with smaller 1.25 mile loop inside Westlake Village, then headed out onto Alderman, cut through Eniswood to Alt 19 then onto the Pinellas Trail.  Stayed on the trail until Klosterman where I hung a right, conquered the "Everest of Klosterman", left at Belcher until Curlew Place then back down to the trail.

When I got back to Klosterman some people were already waiting to cross so the light had just changed and I had the walk sign.  As I was running a cross, a lady was doing a "right on red" despite the two signs, one that said "No Right on Red" and the sign on the traffic light with a circle and line through a right arrow.

A little bit longer of a mid week run for me but allowed some make up miles for the very low mileage Monday.

5.32 mi, 47:35, 8:57 avg

Recent Friday morning tradition, run from my house onto the new trail, at least a little bit past Lake Dan and then back the way I came.  Overall easy pace with a small pickup at the end.

15.18 mi, 2:11:26, 8:40 avg, HR 155 bpm

Saturday morning adventure long run.  Start time at 8:45 from the sprayground/kayak launch in Tarpon Springs.  Headed east on the Pinellas Trail, underpath beneath US19, followed the trail until it paralles Keystone Road.  Stopped at the new fountain at the corner of Keystone and Eastlake for a handheld bottle top off.  Crossed Eastlake onto the trail extension with goal of visitor center at Brooker Creek Preserve but I wasn't sure exactly how far it was.  Inside the park the road splits with the road to the left (for exiting vehicles) taking slightly farther to get to the parking lot.

I think I was at about 7.8 miles by the time I got to the visitor center to use bathroom and cold drinking fountain.

Trip out of the preserve slightly shorter.  Definitely a bit warmer for the return trip.  Crossed Eastlake and another quick stop at the fountain (not so cold but still gets the job done).  Now just over 4 miles back to my car.  

Got the job done.

Spent a good part of the afternoon relaxing and in the evening had dinner at Fireside Pizza and of course had the personal size parma (prosciutto di parma and arugula) then had time for a quick walk to Pop Stansell park to see the remains of the sunset.

5.11 mi, 40:58, 8:00 avg, elev gain 179 feet

Two loops inside Westlake Village and then just enough to get over 5 miles.  I didn't think this run would go well at first but the very slow start of the first mile quickly improved to finish at 9:07 pace and then the rest of the miles were faster.  Warm 82 degrees but a little bit of cloud cover, some breeze here and there, and the old neighorhood trees help out a lot.

7.32 mi, 1:07:37, 9:14 avg

Purposeful easy run from my house down past Lake Dan and a little bit onto Keystone before turning back.  All of the miles were between 9:29 and 9:04 (but a very small pickup to 8:40 pace for the last 0.32 miles).

Can't do all of my runs faster and at least this slower pace is slower than the other runs but still faster than what I was doing for my average runs a few months ago.

7.11 mi, 55:35, 7:48 avg, elev gain 268 feet

Three loops inside Westlake Village.  First mile right at 9:00, second mile about 8:00, then the remainder between 7:23 and 7:41.

Not too bad for 84 degrees (the trees help out a lot).

This was my second fastest 3 loop Westlake Village run.

6.06 mi, 49:47, 8:12 avg

Similar to my usual Friday Dan run but today is Thursday.  Going to stay overnight at the Fenway hotel for 3rd wedding anniversary so ran from my house this morning and dropped off Stella.

0 miles today

Jessica and my anniversary yesterday so stayed overnight at the Fenway Hotel in Dunedin so took day off from running (also planning to run Sunday this this is also day off early)

13.54 mi, 1:48:37, 8:01 avg, elev gain 540 feet

Ran loops inside Westlake Village, enough to get over 13 miles.  Did both the 2.3 mile loop and some of the 1.25 mile loops.  Had a pretty good pace going.  First mile 9:17 and last mile 7:39 and then just a little bit faster for the last half mile.

When I woke up my watch time was frozen.  Had to do a hard reset but then I couldn't get a blue tooth connection.  Took me a while I had to connect using the app and not the general bluetooth settings on the phone.  Thought it was dead, glad it was not.

Going to run with Jessica and Cynthia tomorrow for the bikini vs mankini virtual run fundraiser.

5.49 mi total

1.01 @ 10:35 - warm up

3.12 @ 8:31 - Bikini vs Mankini Virtual Race

1.36 @ 7:43 - short loop in Westlake Vilage

Went with Jessica to the Dunedin Causeway and met Cynthia there.  We had signed up for the Bikini vs Mankini virtual 5K to raise money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.  Idea was inspired by a runner who had receieved some not so nice comments about the shorts she was wearing during a race so we figured we'd get a bunch of people to do some good.  

I picked the causeway as we wouldn't really be too out of place, however I probably stuck out the most.  It was just a speedo type swimsuit (red, white, blue, stars and stripes).  Jessica and Cynthia both wore bikinis.  We gave Jessica about 15 minute head start as she'd be needing about an hour to walk it, and then we'd see here as we headed out and came back and then cheered her on as she finished.

It was fun but I probably won't be wearing that swimsuit out any place soon.

3.21 mi, 26:37, 8:17 avg, elev gain 191  feet

Up and down the street in Westlake Village.  Short Monday morning run but just enough to start the week without a 0.0

5.18 mi, 46:31, 8:58 avg

Wrap up run for June, from my house down the trail a little bit past Lake Dan and then back home.

6.69 mi. 56:43, 8:28 avg, elev gain 187 feet

Did a short loop in Westlake Village and then out and back to Conservation Park via Eniswood neighborhood.  Run was pretty good, grateful for the nice cold water fountain they have at the park.

9.4 mi, 1:27:54, 9:21 avg, elev gain 359 feet

Ran 4 loops in Westlake Village.  Got a pretty early start today, 6:23 am.  Jenny and Tom came down to run some loops.  I ran two loops with Jenny while Tom ran in the opposite direction.  Ran the next two loops by myself.

Afterward, we had some donuts that Jenny brought.   It was a pretty fun morning.  Dropped of Sophia at the temple for volunteer work before I headed to work.

6.62 mi,56:10, 8:29 avg

Slept in a little bit more than usual because it was a day off.  Ran from my house down the new trail out and back past Lake Dan.  Had a little bit of a pickup the last couple of miles after a reasonably slower start.

10.15 mi, 1:26:49, 8:33 avg, elev gain 359 feet

More loops in Westlake Village.  This time I did a slightly longer loop, roughly in the shape of Texas.  3 full loops and then an out and back to the clubhouse.  That final out and back felt kind of rough as the heat was getting to me, but at least there were some clouds.

In the evening took Jessica, Aubrey, and Sophia to dinner at Whiskey Joe's in Port Richey for her birthday.  Saw Evan there and said hi.  Looking out on the water, we could see a couple of dolphins as they surfaced a few times.

No official fireworks displays, but on the drive back to the house there were a good amount of private displays that we could see all along either side of US19.  There were also plenty of fireworks in Westlake Village and surrounding neighborhoods as well.

3.15 mi, 29:06, 9:14 avg, HR 145 bpm

Short run, just one loop and a little more in Westlake Village. I've been ignoring my heart rate for some time now while running the "fooling myself this is my easy pace" runs.  I wore it today  finally, end result was not good, reported VO2 max of 44.  Last I could remember it was about 50-52.

I looked back over history and saw a peak of 52 in March, a low of 49, and just a couple weeks ago on June 20 a value of 51

This morning was particularly a little hotter and humid. In fact, stepping outside felt like hitting a wall of discomfort.  I've gotten used to running on warmish and humid mornings but this was a notch above this morning.

5.18 mi, 57:09, 11:01 avg, HR 130 bpm

Decided to go back to basics today and run closer to where I should be for heart rate.  Stuck by it for the first three miles and got a little bit above for last two with mile 5 at 135 bpm (instead of 127 where I should try to be).

Out and back from my house to just past Lake Dan

VO2 max same as yesterday, 44

4.38 mi, 38:21, 8:45 avg, elev gain 192 feet, HR 138 bpm

Did three of the short loops (1.25 mi)  in Westlake Village, miles 2 and 3 were a little slower than mile 1 on purpose - wanted to get into a groove and then back off, and then finally mile 4 was about the same pace as the first mile.

VO2 max up 1 point to 45 (good to know not stuck at new low of 44)

3.25 mi, 27:49, 8:34 avg, elev gain 246 feet

One quick loop through Westlake Village, and then a little bit farther out and back into a second loop so I'd at least get over 3 miles.  Vo2 max up one more point to 46.  Slowly coming back up.

8.7 mi, 1:20:16, 9:13 avg, HR 144 bpm

One loop inside Foxwood (1.7 miles about), then down the new trail, past Lake Dan until reaching Keystone Rd.  This was much longer than yesterday and at an overall slower pace.  4th mile was the slowest where I went slow enough to keep my heart rate at 127, which turned out to be an 11:16 pace (after running the previous 3 miles around a 9:15 average pace).  After the slower mile went back to 9:15 pace, then a couple miles fater than 9:00 with final mile very close to 9:00 (9:02).

Vo2 max at 47 today

11.76 mi, 1:53:53, 9:41 avg, elev gain 182 feet, HR 152 bpm

Start time: 8:54 am

This was a very hot run.  Wanted a long run or at least a longish run but no set distance, just anything at least 10 miles.  For variety I started at Anderson Park.  For a warmup, I ran up the hill towards shelters 2 and 3 and back down to where I parked, then left the park going north on 19.  Ran to Keystone Rd and crossed over at Jasmine Road to the wide sidewalk which soon merged up with the East/West portion of the Pinellas Trail.  Not much shade here, and for a while no breeze.

Forecast called for some rain, so I was hoping for a light sprinkling, but it wasn't  happening.

Just past mile 4, I reached the (warm) water fountain at the corner of East Lake and Keystone, topped off on water and headed north to a little bit past Trinity Blvd.  Found a tree shaded parking lot to stop and cool down.  I had been running paces between 9:11 and 9:21, except for mile 4 which was 11:13 because I walked some of it while taking a phone call.  After the turnaround, I had three miles over 10 minute pace, before picking back up a little for the last two miles.  Reached my car and cooled down with the ice I had brought and some big gulps of the cold gatorade I had been dreaming about.  Then reapeated up and down the hill that I had warmed up with.

As I was leaving, some people getting into a car near me were giving me some strange looks, was wondering why.  As I started to pull out, one of the guys came toward my car.  I had left my hat on top of my car and it fell off.  Glad they told me, it was maybe my second favorite hat.

5.0 mi, 40:14, 8:02 avg, elev gain 220 feet, HR 157 bpm

Shorter Monday morning run (but not too short).  Two loops around inside Westlake Village and a little more up and down the street to get to 5 miles.  8:55 first mile, 7:06 last mile with a steady push trying to get the heart rate up.

Reported vo2 max at 49 today, up 2 from Saturday

7.85 mi, 1:09:11, 8:49 avg (no HR data today, strap not working)

Was going to do a much slower paced run today (but not too slow), with a goal to average between 9:10 and 9:20.  Ran from my house, south down the new trail until Keystone Road, kept on going to where the trail crosses the road, but turned back there instead.  First 4 miles were very steady - 9:07, 9:07, 9:02, and 9:02 - although all sligthly faster than goal.

Pace picked up a little while not watching it and finally decided to keep the trend going.  So, instead of the 9:10 to 9:20 goal it ended up being 8:49 but at least the first half was relatively close to the goal.

It felt overall like a pretty controlled run.

6.24 mi, 51:06, 8:11 avg, elev gain 326 feet, HR 154 bpm

2 loops (not the same each time) and a little bit of up and down the street for just over 6 miles inside Westlake Village.

Vo2 max one more notch up to 50, pretty much back to the range I was in during the spring up to June 20th.

7.06 mi, 1:04:47, 9:10 avg, elev gain 285 feet, HR 144 bpm

Eased back on the pace a little bit today.  Ran the short 1.25 mile loop several times in a row, then made a bigger loop by venturing out of the neighborhood (through the cut through past the Y), and back inside via Westlake Blvd south entrance and finished up with a little up and down the street near the house to get over 7 miles.

Vo2 max holding steady at 50 despite the slower run (but with slower heart rate as well)

6.35 mi, 57:26, 9:03 avg 

Friday Lake Dan run, slightly faster than yesterday's pace and no hills so pretty much a similar effort.

Temperature 80 degrees and mostly clear but did not feel horrible, some breeze

12.03 mi, 1:45:11, 8:44 avg, elev gain 295 feet, HR 154 bpm

Long run in Palm Harbor/Tarpon Springs, started just after 8:00am.  A good part of the route was shaded, the non-shade section was at the start so got that out of the way first.

Did a little warm up loop around Park Ct so I could run hands-free for a few minutes, then headed out onto Alderman, up Belcher Road to Klosterman and kept on going until turning left onto Curlew Place and over to the Pinellas Trail. Ran a very short distance going north to get to the drinking fountain (non-chilled) on the trail near the entrance to the hospital.

Headed south, with a quick stop in Conservation Park to get some of the nice chilled water from the fountain.  Back onto the trail and south until almost in downtown Palm Harbor, then back towards Westlake via Pennsylvania Ave.  Instead of going straight back to the house ran the partial loop of Sandy Hook to Village Way back to Lakeview so I'd be able to get 12 miles.

This run felt better than last weeks almost 12 mile run.  

5.16 mi, 43:16, 8:23 avg, elev gain 225 feet, HR 147 bpm

2+ loops inside Westlake Village.  I felt sluggish starting out but otherwise not bad and no dead legs feeling.  So, the first mile was a little bit slower but I made up for it eventually with a pickup at the end.

Reward today was one more notch up on vo2 max to 51

7.35 mi, 1:06:23, 9:02 avg, HR 147 bpm

Ran from my house down the trail past Lake Dan until Keystone Rd and then maybe about 0.2 miles on Keystone before turning around.  9:25 first mile and 8:44 last mile. Other miles were right around 9:00 pace.

7.53 mi, 1:00:38, 8:03 avg, elev gain 285 feet, HR 158 bpm

Ran a few loops through Westlake Village, each one similar but slightly different from the others.  Was pushing it a bit more on the last full mile, down to 7:22, and then just a little bit faster for last half mile.

6.67 mi, 59:28, 8:55 avg, HR 143 bpm

Ran in Palm Harbor but didn't want to do a lot of loops or a big out and back.  So, instead I did one short loop inside the neighborhood (1.25 miles), then headed onto Alderman and up Belcher before turning back just after the school, then west on Alderman until almost at Alt 19, then back to Westlake Village and finished with the loop I started with.

First mile was about 8:40, next three miles I ran progressively slower trying to keep the heart rate down.  On the final return and finish loop started to pick the pace back up doing the final 0.63 at a 7:18 pace.

4.43 mi, 36:58, 8:20 avg

Quick shorter run from my house to just past Lake Dan and then back.  First three miles were somewhat easy pace with the remainder about a 7:30ish

6.27 mi, 55:03, 8:47 avg, 148 bpm

Similar to yesterday's run, but a little bit farther and was 8:47 pace rather than 8:20, so not so much like yesterday's run except maybe the route.

This was supposed to be my long run day but as has happened a lot did not get a very early start.  This time, I couldn't just suffer through the late morning or early afternoon heat.

Tom's graduation was today at 11:00 am (after having the time and place moved a few times).

All things considered it was a nice ceremony.  They had groups of three chairs (graduate and two guests), six feet of space in either direction, out doors (football/track field).

After graduation, I installed the new kitchen faucet to replace the old leaking and falling apart, now I just need to fix the rot from the water.

But, overall it was a good day.

2.45 mi, 20:58, 8:33 avg, elev gain 109 feet

I had an early morning conference call that lasted a few hours which fortunately counted for work from home hours.  After lunch I ran one loop inside Westlake Village to make sure this was not a goose egg for the day.  But, it was a pretty nice run.

6.33 mi, 56:50, 8:58 avg

I did not need to do the early morning call so I slept in a little bit, drove up to my house and did the Lake Dan trail run, out just past that house sitting by itself before you reach Keystone Road.

I could not find my heart rate monitor strap so no HR data.

This was a pretty good run.

3.33 mi, 28:10, 8:27 avg, HR 149 bpm

Another early morning long conference call where I rolled out of bed and started my work day.  Went into the office for a bit in the afternoon and then did my run once I got home.

I walked a little bit with Jessica, and then ran 3 loops of about 1 mile each.  New loops, partially through the Westlake Park and finishing on Park Ct.  I wanted to stop at the end of each loop because I've started to get into that habit but these were such short loops I resisted the urge.

Another low mileage day but better than nothing as well as variety in time of day and route.

5.41 mi, 46:02, 8:30 avg, HR 153 bpm, elev gain 250 feet

Similar work and run pattern to yesterday.  Went back to doing the longer loops covering most of the neighborhood, so just two loops to get 5ish miles.

6.34 mi, 1:03:04, 9:57 avg, HR 152 bpm

Friday Lake Dan run but it wasn't as relaxing as usual, a bit frustrating with heart rate running like I was doing about an 8:30 pace.  I guess the week caught up to me with the mixed up schedule.  It'll get better.

11.49 mi, 2:09:45, 10:57 avg, HR 143 avg

Wanted to do a longer run, was going to do a longer out and back, mabye about 15-16 miles.  Later start than I wanted and decided to try something new.  Instead of a handheld or camelback, I'd put plastic bags of ice in a Northface fanny pack I had used in Georgia, which also had room for a 10 oz handheld, I could still reach it and the ice would be nice to have.

I exited from Westlake Village from the south entrance, going west on Nebraska, going nice and easy.  I soon realized the ice was not going to last long and it was starting to feel annoying, so I turned right at Omaha and decided to do loops (instead of heading to the Pinellas Trail).  Got back to the house was going to refill the small water bottle and just use that, hit save by accident.

Headed back out for the second loop (these were about 3.7 miles long).

For the third loop, put on a bandana filled with ice around my neck.  That made a huge difference keeping my nice and cool for at least two thirds of the third loop.  Extended out the last loop a little bit past 4 miles.

Heart rate averages for each of the loops: 136, 142, 150

My Vo2 max sank back down again (back down to 46 after holding at 51 for a bit)

5.3 mi, 48:45, 9:11 avg, HR 152 bpm

Start time of 9:33 am, ran from my house down the trail past Lake Dan then turned around and came back.  Wanted to run not too slow but still easy, but heart rate seemed to say otherwise.  But, still not a bad run for start of the week.

6.0 mi, 59:26, 9:53 avg, elev gain 302 feet, HR 139 bpm

Ran in Westlake Village doing a mix of easy miles and then 4x400m with 400m rest in between.  I ran those on a loop where I go up Sandy Hook Rd, the lap ends almost at the top and instead of turning around head towards and then down Village Way to the corner of Lakeview back where I started.  So the first 400 is going uphill but it gradually shifts to downhill and a mix of both since this loop is just over a half mile long.  Just trying something different.

I kind of struggled on the faster sections with paces of : 7:16, 7:04, 6:52, and 6:36

At least I got faster on those (but that was partially due to the changing terrain).  Need to do more interval work. 

6.27 mi, 1:10:20, 11:13 avg, elev gain 256 feet, HR 129 bpm

Kept it nice and easy running some loops inside Westlake Village, a couple of short loops, then a long loop followed by a short loop.  I took a few walk breaks here and there but for the most part could go a little bit faster than a shuffle, maybe around a jog.  Jogging can be relaxing.

5.18 mi, 57:17, elev gain 263 feet, HR 129 bpm

Another easy run in Westlake  Village.  But this time instead of loops I did up and down the street going from the low point on Pinewood Terrace, and then the length of Lakeview all the way to Village Way (instead of turning around at Woodcutter like I usually do).  Mostly did an easy jog with a little bit faster downhill and keeping my heartrate down in the maffetone range.

7.32 mi, 1:18:21, 10:42 avg, HR 137 bpm

Friday Lake Dan run, actually past Lake Dan and a little bit onto Keystone Road.  Still, fairly easy pace but not sticking as close to MAF as the last two days.  It was a bit warm but going an easy pace helps to get through the humidity.  Felt better on this route than last Friday.

10.77 mi, 1:39:43, 9:15 avg, Elev gain 220 feet, HR 147 bpm

I started running in Westlake Village and realized it would be tight to be back by 11:30 to go with Jessica to Tires Plus, so after just over a mile, came back and decided to drop the car off a little bit early and switch cars.  So, started my run for a second time from Tires Plus, headed over to Pinellas Trail, then north to Conservation Park for some cold water, then back to Westlake Village.

Just short of 41 miles for the week.

2.53 mi, 24:07, 9:32 avg, elev gain 115 feet, HR 135 bpm

Decided to do a short run to top off the week (which for Strava ends on Sunday).  This will be a busy week.  Going to the hospital with Jessica tonight at 7:00 to get ready for Monday morning inducement for the baby.

Today was the big day.

Checked into the hospital with Jessica last night.  Things seemed to be at a standstill for much of the day today, waiting and waiting.   At about 3:30 I went for a walk outside of the hospital to stretch my legs, just over a mile.

Got back and about 5:30ish I ordered some dinner (cafeteria is closed so they are allowing all guests to order room service).  Had a feeling I should eat something in case I didn't get a chance later.

I think sometime around 6:00 or so one of the nurses assured Jessica that should would definitely have the baby tonight.

A little bit later, things began to happen, they called her doctor to come back. 

Then at 7:22 pm, a new little baby girl arrived (name would arrive on Wednesday!).  Nearly 8 lbs of baby (7 lbs, 15.6 oz)

2.36 easy paced miles (9:20 pace) (one loop in Westlake Village) and then 0.78 miles worth of strides (6:40 pace) up and down Lakeview Dr.

I didn't think I'd get a chance to run today, but things were pretty quiet this afternoon so I went home for a bit to shower and go for a quick run before heading back to the hospital.

I 

4.33 mi, 37:05, 8:44 avg, elev gain 135 feet, HR 144 bpm

Jessica, Danielle, and I are back at the house as well as her three kids.  Things pretty calm so took the chance for a quick out and back run in Westlake Village running in the shape of a bent paperclip.

6.71 mi, 1:05:14, 9:43 avg, elev gain 157 feet, HR 142 bpm

Out and back run from Westlake Village, through the cut through past the Y and then south a bit down the Pinellas Trail with a quick  stop on the way back at Pop Stansell Park to see the water and use the water fountain (which is closed now unfortunately, but at least bathrooms are open).

AM - 2.5 miles, one loop in Westlake Vilage (shoe shaped loop), 10:27 average pace

PM - 1.35 miles, little loop in Westlake Village, 9:00 pm , average pace 10:31

14.21 mi, 2:12:45, 9:20 avg

I can't believe I was able to do this, was expecting about 0 long runs after the new baby for a while.  But, I was up early and could not go back to sleep, got outside and started before 7:00.  Able to catch a nice sunrise.  Took Alderman straight over to the Pinellas Trail and then south to the Dunedin causeway, out almost all the way to Honeymoon Island before turning back (thankful for the cold water drinking fountain outside the bathrooms near where they rent kayaks and standup paddleboards).  It was still early enough when I got back to the house that most everyone was still asleep including Dani.

3.13 mi, 27:52, 8:54 avg, elev gain 124 feet, HR 147 bpm

Run around Westlake Vilage, one shoe shaped loop and then up and down Lakeview enough for a 5k worth of distance.

6.45 mi, 56:55, 8:49 avg, elev gain 147 feet, HR 154 bpm

From Westlake Village, out through the cut through near the YMCA, and then northbound up the Pinellas trail with a stop a Sutherland bayou boat ramp to look at the water and then continued on back to the house.

7.35 mi, 1:06:04, 8:59 avg

Ran from my house, down the new trail south past Lake Dan and a little bit onto Keystone Road and then back the way I came.  First mile 10:01, last mile 8:20.

3.82 mi, 31:43, 8:17 avg, elev gain 189 feet, HR 149 bpm

One loop around Westlake Vilage, kind of the figure 8 shape and then finish off with up and down the street on Lakeview to the top of Woodcutter hill.

6.36 mi,  56:13, 8:50 avg, elev gain 225 feet

I was on my way to Foxwood, running a little bit late, and then found myself stuck on traffic on 19 heading north.  Was close to the entrance of Anderson Park so decided to run there for a change.  Ran three "loops" (actually kind of a Y shape) around the park.  It's kind of hilly with some short but steep ones, constantly changing.  A little bit like running in Westlake Village but different because it's a park.

4.56 mi, 38:29, 8:26 avg, elev gain 165 feet

Did not get to run in the morning - had a photographer over to do a photo shoot with Dani, so ran later in the day once the sun wasn't on full.  Extended out the big loop and then did the short 1.25 mile loop to finish up.

Glad to get at least a few miles in after missing the morning window.

6.85 mi, 1:03:55, 9:20 avg

Out and back run from Westlake Village over to the Pinellas trail and headed south for a bit before turning around.

This run took place during the great Garmin ransomware attack of 2020 resulting in runs not syncing to Strava for a while.  Not that 2020 didn't already have enough going on. But despite all of that, at least there is Dani.

6.34 mi, 57:15, 9:02 avg

Out and back run from my house, down the new trail, past Lake Dan, almost to the end onto Keystone but not quite before turning back.  Nice relaxing run overall.

7.09 mi, 1:02:05, 8:45 avg, HR 151 bpm

Ran from Westlake Village, out onto Alderman and then cutting through Eniswood neighborhood (they have been subject to sign vandalism in the past), onto Alt 19 and then onto the Pinellas Trail heading north for a little bit.  Quick stop at conservation park, and then south down the trail to the crossing a few blocks from Pennsylvania Ave, up 16th street past the Y and the little cemetary and then through the cut through back into Westlake.  Kind of a loop I guess.

6.63 mi, 1:09:32, 10:29 avg, HR 136 bpm

Took it a little bit easier today, some loops around Westlake Village, heart rate decent but didn't feel like I was slogging through it, mainly in the 10:30's but last mile 9:37

5.16 mi, 48:20, 9:22 avg

Friday Lake Dan trail run from my house.  A little bit faster than yesterday and flatter.

8.27 mi, 1:35:59, 11:36 avg, elev gain 325 feet, HR 128 bpm

Slowed it down even more.  This was my "long run" consisting of some loops and up and down the street on Lakeview Dr. inside Westlake Village.

3.13 mi, 28:56, 9:14 avg, elev gain 150 feet

Shorter run this morning, basically one loop plus enough up and down the street to make it to 5K

5.34 mi, 50:02, 9:22 avg

Monday morning run from my house, down the south new trail to a little bit past Lake Dan but not quite all the way to Keystone Road.  Welcome September.

3.21 mi, 26:43, 8:19 avg

Ran in Westlake Village, one loop plus a little extra to get over 3 miles

4.43 mi, 38:29, 8:41 avg

Ran two loops in Westlake Village (although each loop was shorter than the one loop I did yesterday) - shoe shaped loop

2.71 mi, 32:37, 12:00 avg

Started off with a walking pace with Stella, turned into a run/walk and then finally last mile was mostly a run.  Late start again, did not feel like running so thought Stella would appreciate some exercise.  We ran north up the new trail and on the way back we stopped to look at some fish in the drainage channel running under the trail.  Rain had filled up the pond so there was a good bit spilling out.  Stella had fun.

9.41 mi, 1:37:36, 10:22 avg, elev gain 297 feet

It didn't feel like a long run, I mean I didn't feel like a long run, but I need something.  Left out of the north entrance from Westlake Village, across the street and then down the road I thought went into Autumn Woods.  But, it does not, it goes along the back of it and then onto Bee Pond Rd which is a disjointed road running parallel to Alderman.  There are some private drives off of it.  I went to the end of the road where there was a fence then turned back.

Got back onto Alderman and then into Autumn Woods looping through there and onto the road connecting to Eniswood, back out and then south down Omaha to Pennsylvania and onto Nebraska until going left onto Belcher north back to Alderman.  Then took a roundabout way back to Lakeview to add some more distance.  Still came up short of 10 miles.  So, no long run but at least it was long for a short run.

6.29 mi, 57:41, 9:10 avg

Ran from Westlake Village, out the north entrance, left onto Alderman, down Omaha and then cut over to the Pinellas Trail heading south for a bit.  Then back up north, cutting across Pennsylvania Ave working my way to the south entrance of Westlake.

5.15 mi, 47:57, 9:18 avg

Ran from Foxwood, heading down the new trail to a little bit past Lake Dan and then back home.

6.01 mi, 49:59, 8:18 avg

Out and back run form Westlake Village, but kind of zig-zag shap from Park Court around to Village Way, then working around to the south exit then onto Pa Ave to the top of the hill before getting to Omaha.  All miles in the 8's for pace except for the last one at 7:45.  I guess I was feeling a little bit faster today than usual.

5.33 mi, 1:04:52, 12:10 avg, HR 116 bpm

Did a walk/run, one big loop around Westlalke Village but going down a lot of the side streets.  Walked for 3 minutes, ran for 1 minute, repeated.  Just something different.  I went at a pretty good pace during the run minutes, felt good overall and probably a lower heart rate average than if I had just tried to slog through keeping my heart rate this low.

4.26 mi, 44:52, 10:31 avg

Usually Friday mornign run from my house down the trail running near Lake Dan.  Took Stella with me.  Started out walking, then run/walk turning into a run.  She did pretty well.  Need to tire her out more often.

7.11 mi, 1:01:37, 8:39 avg, HR 150 bpm

Ran through Autumn Woods and Eniswood, onto the Pinellas Trail up to Conservation Park, then back down the trail to Crystal Beach Ave, then back to the house via Alderman Road.

Met up with Tom and Andy at the Tarpon Tavern for lunch for Tom's birthday.  They have a  brunch menu now on Saturday and Sunday's in addition to the regular menu.  Had Huevos Rancheros.

4.21 mi, 38:09, 9:03 avg

Out and back run from my house on the trail to Lake Dan

4.12 mi, 33:49, 8:12 avg, elev gain 200 feet

Warm up on the 1.25 mile loop, then ran 2 miles with 7:20 goal pace.  First mile felt hard to get on pace but picked it up enough toward the end to get 7:18, then held the pace and picked it up some more finishing the second mile in 6:54.

Felt great to meet and exceed the goal.  I've been feeling slower where it feels like I'm going all out at the end of a run and seem to only be at about an 8:00 pace - but those times I didn't start out with a goal.  Importance of goals and having a structure to meet those.  Need to get onto a schedule and goals.  At the very least, with the lack of races available (although they are starting to pop up more and more), try a challenge run like this.

8.14 mi, 1:13:36, 9:02 avg

Nice and easy start, running from Westlake Village, cut through Autumn Woods and Eniswood again, and working over toward Pinellas Trail and then north up to Klosterman Road before turning back, heading back to the house on via the Trail to Crystal Beach Ave, then Alderman.

4.72 mi, 40:33, 8:35 avg, elev gain 245 feet

Up and down the street on Lakeview Dr.  Kind of an "I" shape with a perpendicular line at either end on Pinewood Terrace and Woodcutter Dr.   The uphill and downhill makes the run less boring for just being up and down the same stretch of road.

5.13 mi, 46:36, 9:05 avg

Friday usual run on the trail going by Lake Dan.  Good relaxing run, easy start at 10:29 pace for first mile and 6:37 for the last 0.13 for the homestretch.  Warm, 81 degree weather but some clouds so not too dreadfull.

10.15 mi, 1:35:47, 9:26 avg

Ran in Starkey Park for the first time in a while.  Jacob was running in the cross country meet.  It's one of the slower courses around due to a lot of sugary sand.  This year some of the usual trail was flooded so they re-routed it a bit but still slow, but at least sand wasn't as bad with the wetness.

He ran 21:51, which was 47 seconds slower than last week but I think kept him about the same finish place as usual.  Tom (and Jenny) came by also to see some of his old teammates from Mitchell run, Jessica and Dani were there also.

After Jacob finished I started my run, heading out on the bike trail a little bit past the "4 mile water stop" but it's actually 5 miles when starting from cross country parking area and there's not actually any water at the water stop these days due to Covid.

But, it was a good run, nice to be back here and good to make it over 10 miles for my "long run".

No running today, I can't quite remember why

4.49 mi, 38:28, 8:33 avg

Mini-speed work.  I had been thinking about trying a 2 or 3 mile time trial but opted for something faster and shorter. 400m split times were: 1:38, 1:31, 1:33, 1:28

Finally the 4th one felt good and was faster.  The first one felt a bit clunky but I'm asking my legs to do something they haven't done in a while.

Warmup was around the 1.25 mile loop in WLV and the 400m repeats were on a relatively flat section of Lakeview Drive, followed by cool down similar to the warm up.

9.15 mi, 1:50:59, 12:07 avg, HR 129 bpm

Decided to take it nice and slow today, see if running at less than 130 bpm heart rate will make for a good recovery.  Slowest mile 13:09.  Last mile I just wanted to finish, said goodbye to heart rate and ran 9:37 at 153 bpm, sad that 9:37 felt like pushing.

Headed south from Westlake Village, through cut through, past the Y to Pa Ave over to Pinellas Trail but north a little bit first on Alt 19 to get to the cosswalk light, then down the trail to Curlew Road, left onto Curlew for a tiny bit to reach 4.5 miles, then back the way I came.

4.22 mi, 38:58, 9:14 avg

Monday morning Lake Dan run , did not get very far down the trail but it was still a pretty good run.

I didn't run today.  I think I was stressed out or something and the morning got later than usual (stayed home with the baby while Jessica took A to school so she didn't have to load her into the car) and I thought about doing my run in the evening but did not.  Oh well, haven't done a non-scheduled off day for a while.

6.23 mi, 49:32, 7:57 avg, elev gain 278 feet, HR 161 bpm

Time trial, follow on from a couple of weeks ago when I did better than I thought I could when I was looking to just put together a couple of sub 7:30 miles which turned into 7:12 and 6:54.

So today, running about the same loop with some added on for the extra mile, was able to do 7:06, 7:00, and 7:07

I didn't push extra hard on the last mile because I made the times on I wanted on the first two miles, although I'm not sure how much faster than 7:07 I could have done.

After I finished the run and saved it, my garmin told me "new 5k PR" (since last resetting the watch) of 22:16.  Darn it, I should have just run through to 5k instead of doing a 3 mile time trial, might have been able to squeek in under 22:00.

It was good to see that two weeks ago wasn't just a fluke and I have some base fitness left in me, can build on this.

5.44 mi, 46:40, 8:34, elev gain 273 feet

Up and down the street on Lakeview Drive with spurs at eitehr end on Pinewood and Woodcutter

3.57 mi, 30:39, 8:35 avg

For a change, and for the sake of time ran from Long Leaf, up Starkey Blvd and into Starkey Ranch before turning back.  I only had a little over 30 minutes then needed to stop at Jenny's to get Tom's watch then meet Jessica at dr office to switch vehicles and take Charlotte Dani back to the house.  Weather was really nice.  Turned it into a progression run with 10:05, 8:34, 7:45, and then 7:25 pace for last half mile.

12.15 mi, 1:55:49, 9:32 avg, elev gain 206 feet, HR 150 bpm

Late start at 11:33 in the morning, this time not due to laziness but to go watch Jacob's cross country meet in Bradenton (about an hour drive) where they wanted us down there between 7:00 and 7:15.  Meet was good, Jacob ran 20:25 with his tightest splits so far this year.  He wore Tom's old Garmin 25 to replace the old 310 he had been using (with strap falling apart).

Ran north from Westlake Village, then through Autumn Woods and Eniswood.  I didn't want to slog through the first mile, so did a better job warming up and got onto pace and finished first mile in 9:04.  Decided to do the next mile more at MAF heart rate but that ended up being 12:18.  Then finally switched to and settled on about a 4 minute run, 1 minute walk.

From Eniswood, onto Alt 19 and then onto Pinellas Trail heading north until just past the Tarpon Tavern before turning around.  Felt reasonably good on the way back.  

First longer run in a while, going to start building back up with marathon plan.

7.05 mi, 1:07:43, 9:36 avg, elev gain 247 feet

Today is the first day of being back on a marathon training plan, 24 weeks long, possibly targeting the Tomoka marathon.  I did not want to run very far.  7 miles is not that far but it seemed impossibly far starting out.  But, one foot in front of the other, felt better after about 2.5 miles and slowly gained some movement (first half mile was like 11:30ish pace where I just felt stuck).

So, ending up at 9:36 average is not bad - training pace range for "easy" is 9:03-9:57 which is based on 3 mile time trial I did last week.

The weather was amazing.  Sleep was not so good, baby slept pretty well then I woke up startled at 6:25 when a vase accidentally got knocked off and triggered the glass break alarm (one of the kids was up early to finish homework).  Fell back asleep for a bit and then woke up feeling less rested.  

I did postpone strides to tomorrow as a compromise.  Without the schedule I probably would have only run 3-4 miles this morning.

7.49 mi, 1:08:37, 9:09 avg

Day 2 of the marathon plan week #1.  Another 7 miles "easy" followed by 6x100m strides which I was supposed to do yesterday but moved today.

Ran from my house, south down the trail, past Lake Dan, and then a tiny bit onto Tarpon Ave. to get to 3.5 miles.  First mile, slower but not too bad at 10:07, then the rest were in the 9's execpt for one mile at 8:56, felt pretty steady overall.  Weather was a little bit warm but cloudy and some breeze so overall pretty nice.  Got the strides average pace down to 5:42, a little bit better than what I thought I could do.

They are continuing to replace uneven/cracked slabs of sidewalk on Robert Trent Jones Blvd (which for the past few years have had orange paint to warn about the uneven spots), so had to run around onto the street on the latest section to be repaired.

5.05 mi, 46:30, 9:12 avg

Day 3 of the training plan.  It's probably mostly in my head but I'm already feeling more fit (even though it's not completely different than what I've been doing all along).  5 good miles, from my house and over to the trail running north until it gets to 54 which is almost 2.5 miles, so then a little bit more on the sidewalk so I don't have to cross the road.   Weather was great again today, fallish.

10.02 mi, 1:31:01, 9:05 avg, elev gain 229 feet

Day 4 of the program.  "Easy" pace 10 mile run in Palm Harbor, heading up Belcher, past Klosterman and left onto Curlew Place to the Pinellas Trail and then south.  Stopped at Conservation Park for water about 5.4 miles into the run.  Continued down the trail, crossing Alt 19 at the crosswalk near the Casa Ludivico and made my way back to Westlake taking the cut through by the Y.  Had to overshoot the house a little bit to get the last 0.2 miles.

Weather was good and overall the run went well but it was heading toward not being easy (although Whoop app says average heart rate was 138 which seemed surprisingly lower than I thought it would be.  Hmm, maybe it was the beet juice I took this morning).

7.50 mi, 1:06;43, 8:54 avg  (HR 133 bpm from Whoop app)

Day 5 of sticking to the plan, one more day this week to finish week 1

Ran from my house, south down the trail past Lake Dan, down to Keystone Road and just far enough to hit about 3.5 miles before turning around. Day was pretty nice, saw a gopher tortoise hanging out by the side, enjoying the day as much as a tortoise does.

Got back to my house, grabbed an ice pop and ate part of it (came back for the rest later), back down the street a little ways to where someone has a hash mark painted, then 50m, then 100m (painted by either a runner or maybe utility workers I guess).  6x100m with an average pace of 5:39.

This will be my biggest mileage week in a while, but it feels like mileage I should have been running all along (except for week of baby and right after, but things have settled down with almost near normal sleep at night now).

12.02 mi, 1:50:46, 9:13 avg, elev gain 251 feet

Day 6, end of week 1 of the plan.

Last week  I watched Jacob run at a meet in Bradenton so I didn't get to run until later.  I thought I would be running earlier, but it turned out I'd help volunteer at a race, glad I did.  Xanadu racing was doing a 5k/10k from Indian Rocks Beach starting at a place called Caddy's.  They were donating money to Aubrey's cheer team the Panthers and were asking for volunteers to help with the race.  Jessica, Charlotte and I left the house just before 7:00 and helped out from 7:30 to almost 10:00 when they said we could go.

Jessica drove me a few miles north to Sand Key Park where I changed, filled up my water bottle and got going.  North out of Sand Key Park, up and over the Sand Key bridge, through Clearwater Beach, across the causeway and up and over the bridge.  I stopped briefly in Coachman Park and had part of a cliff energy bar, it was good.

I was afraid the run would be horrible, as it was getting later in the day and I didn't get much sleep the night before.  But it seemed to be getting a little bit better each mile.

After going through downtown Clearwater, got on the Pinellas Trail going north and soon I was running in the 8's, had been thinking I'd be looking to stay any faster than a 10 minute pace.

I did have a reward in mind. I was going to finish at 7th Sun Brewery in Dunedin.  That kind of helped to keep me going.  But also, I felt kind of like some fitness was coming back.

Passed by Dunedin and kept on going north, almost to Curlew Road and then turned around, back south.  Made it to 7th sun but had to go a little bit farther to make it to 12 miles.

I'd made it, and felt pretty good.  Jessica, who had been walking on the Dunedin Causeway came by and picked me up in about 20 minutes or so.

Oveall, it was a pretty fun morning.

AM: 3.14 mi, 28:48, 9:10 avg

PM: 4.05 mi, 38:07, 9:24 avg

Did not get up early enough and wanted to go with Jessica for Charlotte (Dani)'s checkup, so started off the day with a run up and down part of Alderman and some of Lakeview drive for 3.14 miles.

Later in the afternoon, picked up Stella and drove her back to my house to stay with Andy.  While getting ready to run, Andy asked if I was bringing Stella, which I wasn't planning on but didn't have a good reason not to.  So, Stella and I ran two miles out, down the trail near Lake Dan and then back.  We did take a few sniff breaks but we kept a pretty good running pace while running.  She seemed pretty happy when we got back.  My arm was kind of sore from my flu shot this morning which I'm glad is out of the way.

I was supposed to do 7 miles plus strides.  This is week 2, day 1 of the plan.  It was a small deviation but the miles are checked off at least.

7.03 mi, 1:02:14, 8:51 avg, elev gain 248 feet

Did some loops in Westlake Village.  First up was a 2.5ish mile loop, followed by a slightly different loop around 3.1 miles, then continued on the original loop far enough so that when I turned back and arrived back at the house would have 7 miles.  I was able to do this run without almost no stopping at all (very brief stop about 0.25 mile into run but nothing after that).  With these Westlake Village loops I'm tempted to stop after 1 or 2 loops, even if they are the shorter ones.  Getting a little discipline added back in.  Although, the perfect weather didn't hurt.

Then finished up with 6x100m-ish strides 0.43 miles, 2:23, 5:30 average pace

Maybe strides are the key.

5.06 mi, 44:52, 8:51 avg, elev gain 170 feet

Week 2, Day 3 of the plan.  5 miles at "easy" 9:02-9:57, so this was a little bit faster than the easy range but nothing too crazy.  First mile was 9:25.  This is an improvement, going faster than 10:00 pace in the first mile (have sometimes struggled to do 11:00 or faster).  I need some warmup, any warmup better than nothing, so here's today's warmup, forward leg kicks, 10 each side, 20 jumping jacks, high knee drills, hurdle trail leg forward and backward 5 each side, and a little bit of walking.  It doesn't seem like much but it does make a big difference.

Ran a t-shaped route in Westlake Village with the t's hat run on Alderman and a little bit on Belcher and Omaha to make it a fancier "T"

10.01 mi, 1:28:03, 8:47 avg, elev gain 139 feet

Day 4 of week 2 of the plan, longer mid week run, did 5 miles from Westlake Village working my way over to the Pinellas Trail heading north.  I was carrying a 10oz drink bottle with water.  Stopped at Conservation Park and mixed the packet of Liquid IV into fresh cold water from the fountain.  This was my only stop (except for some street crossings waiting for cars which were almost not stops at all) about 4.2 miles into the run.

Continued north another 0.9 miles then turned back, holding steady with miles 5,6,7,8, and 9 all at 8:36 (this was without looking at my watch except each time the mile beeped), 10th mile was a little bit faster at 8:11.

A little faster than prescribed range, I'll keep it in range for tomorrow's run which will be ok to be slower as it will finish up with 6x100m strides.

Weather was amazing again, ran shirtless, was almost chilly feeling.

7.05 mi, 1:05:13, 9:15 avg

0.4 mi @ 5:30 pace 6x100m strides

Ran from Foxwood, some of the miles with Joe who I haven't run with in forever.  Calf was bothering him so he turned back early.  I ran down the trail heading south until Keystone and ran a little bit there to get to 3.5 miles.

Returned back and finished up with 6x100m using the mysterious 0-50-100 hash marks painted on the road.

One more day sticking to the plan (week 2, day 5)

12.03 mi, 1:45:47, 8:47 avg

Week 2, day 6 - 12 mile long run, goal pace 9:02-9:57

I pushed the pace a little faster to make sure I was back in time.  Jessica wanted to get to a 9:00 body combat class at the Y.  No reason I couldn't be back in time with 7:00 am start which is not that early and 12 miles isn't really that long but of course it's not nothing.

Decided on a southbound out and back route, starting out from Westlake Village, straight shot on Alderman, across Alt19 to Crystal Beach Ave to the Pinellas Trail.  The intersection of Curlew and Alt19 would be just over 5 miles.  To get to 6 miles I decided on a left at Curlew so I wouldn't be stuck waiting for the traffic light - although going right would be more scenic.

I didn't know how long it would take me to get locked into a pace.  First mile was 10:36, but next mile was 9:09 which felt pretty good, so I decided to stick around that effort.

Effort slowly crept up along with the pace with the remaining miles between 8:44 and 8:18 (mile 12).

Made just one stop to top off water bottle at the Alt19/Curlew water fountain while on the return portion.

Arrived back at the house well before 9:00.

AM:  6.06 mi, 53:22, 8:48 avg

Ran from my house, starting with one loop around Foxwood and then an out and back southbound on the new trail.  Once back at my house finished up with 6x100m strides.

Workout was supposed to be 8 miles easy +strides.  I had woken up feeling very tired and was later than usual so I cut the run a little bit short opting for a total of 6 miles including the strides.  That way I'd at least have most of the miles done and would have the strides so if I didn't complete the miles in the evening it would be better than better than nothing.

PM: 2.08 mi, 18:28, 8:53 avg

But, I did finish the miles.  After work, before dinner, ran a loop through Westlake Village and finished up the miles.  Evening was nice and cool, streets were kind of dark so I wore a light (more so the few cars on the road could see me).

8.06 mi, 1:09:28, 8:37 avg, elev gain 165 feet

Ran from Westlake Village, onto Alderman, through Eniswood, a little bit on Alt19 then onto Pinellas trail heading north and then far enough onto Klosterman to get 4 miles out (was to the top of the Klosterman hill), then turned back to retrace the route except for a stop at Conservation Park to use the water fountain.

Starting out my first mile was 8:48 which is faster than usual.  I usually start out a lot slower and then speed up a lot.  This time I sped up a little throughout the run except for the last mile where I slowed back down to keep the pace not too far off from prescribed "easy" range.

Weather awesome again, nice to get in all the miles at once unlike yesterday.

Week 3 , day 2 done.

5.05 mi, 46:31, 9:12 avg

Ran from Foxwood, onto Trinity Blvd and then north up the new trail until reaching SR54 and then ran just far enough to be 2.5 miles from home, then came back the same way. 

First mile was 10:03 and the fastest mile was 8:46 but overall the average pace was right where I wanted it to be.  Another perfect run in an unmremarkable way, the kind we don't always appreciate.

11.09 mi, 1:38:22, 8:52 avg, elev gain 123 feet

Week 3, day 4 of the plan, mid week medium long run.  It's been a while since I've done one of these.  Last weeks was 10 and there have been a few here and there but this one went up to 11 (these runs will max out at 12).

Got a 7:30ish start which is pretty good for me these days.  Trying to make it back in time so Jessica could get to her favorite exercise class and I'd stay home with little Charlotte Dani.  Goal range was 9:02-9:57.  If I wasn't feeling it I'd just try to keep it at the slow range which would still get me back in time.  But the run went along smoothly, first mile at 10:01, then 9:13 then the rest in the high 8's mostly, last mile pick up to 8:21

This was basically the same route as Saturday's 12 mile run but I turned back at 5.5 miles.  Route was Alderman to Crystal Beach Ave, to Pinellas Trail and a little bit onto Curlew Rd.  Quick stop on the return trip at the water fountain on the corner of Curlew and Pinellas Trail for water top off and a gel.  Had filled the bottle with Liquid IV energy.  Still some left so watered it down for return trip.

Miles clicked by and before I knew it was heading back onto Alderman and then back to the house in time for the handoff.

So, overall this was a pretty good run.  No new speed records and not quite as "easy" paced as it should've been.  I'll slow it down a little bit tomorrow for the first part (8 miles) and then stretch out the legs a little during the strides.