The Long Run

Wow!  I was very pleased with today's race.  The weather was great and the course was beautiful and the race was very well run, and I met my goals and felt good.  I had signed up for this race about a month ago.  Jenny was going to watch the kids while I ran, but her friend and running partner Kathryn said they were coming down to watch me race - thanks Kathryn!  that was above and beyond especially since you guys were up early yesterday.   So, Jenny signed up for the 5 mile race because she has been itching to run again since Disney marathon last week.

The cold snap we had been having had eased up, so it was high 40's at the start.  Both the  half marathon and the 5 mile started at the same time - 7:05.  The course started on a very slight uphill before heading over to the base of the Clearwater Memorial casuseway bridge.  Base of the bridge on the way out is about 0.8 into the race with the 1st mile at the peak of the bridge.  I felt good starting out which doesn't always happen, so I felt like I was going to have a good shot at a PR today.  Hit the first mile in 6:53.   Downhill on the bridge felt great, made the second mile in 6:35.  Stayed in control but was a little bit afraid it would catch up to me later.

The course flattened out and I settled into the race.  Third mile was feeling a little bit hard.  One of my driving goals was to run at least 8 miles at 6:52 pace since I have down that before and then hopefully get one more mile to break that record.  In the early miles it continued to be a struggle.

At about mile 4 was the second bridge, the Clearwater Pass bridge, about the same height as the first bridge (about 75 feet) but I think this one is longer.  Held my own on the way up the bridge and then "enjoyed" the ride on the way down.  The course then looped through Sand Key park for about a mile before exiting.  Continued south until close to 8 miles before the turn around.  I was starting to feel better about making 9 miles.  It also helped that there was a man and a woman ahead of me about 150 feet who seemed to be going at the pace I wanted.

I hit the 9 mile marker still doing ok, but up ahead of me was the Clearwater Pass bridge again.  I focused on the man and woman ahead of me again and didn't lose too much time.

Back on Clearwater beach now, starting to approach the causeway, there was a curve in the path and I almost turned too far to the right into a parking lot off of the course!  (fortunately a policeman pointed me to the correct route, thanks!!).

Ok, now I was feeling it and was starting to rationalize with myself with things like "you are still on track for a great PR" and "you made 10 miles at this pace" and things like that.  A runner came up behind me and slowly passed me so I hung on behind him.   The man and woman who I had been following had now increased the gap so I was determined to hang onto the new guy.

Finally, mile 12.  But shortly after that was the base of the last bridge.  It was pay back time for that 6:35 mile at the start.  The one nice thing about bridges is that they have light posts, which I can convince myself to at least run to the next one.  Hit the top of the bridge and mile pace had slowed down to 7:23.  Fortunately it was mostly downhill now, with a short flat stretch at the end.  Going down the other side of the bridge, there is a helix shaped pedestrian walkway.  Picked speed back up on that, then shortly after that was the 13 mile marker.

At the start of the homestretch, Jenny and Kathryn were there cheering for me.  I couldn't tell if I was going to make it under 1:30 or not.   Then I saw the clock, 1:29:2x, kicked it in and finished at 1:29:37.

Jenny had also done very well with her 5 miler, 40:01, a 5 mile race PR and also a faster pace than her fastest 5K so far.  She had a dream the other night that she would get 41 minutes and I would get 1:29 something.  It's nice when dreams do come true.

Here are the splits:

1 - 6:53

2 - 6:35

3 - 6:44

4 - 6:53

5 - 6:51

6 - 6:50

7 - 6:51

8 - 6:48

9 - 6:45

10 - 6:50

11 - 7:01

12 - 7:04

13 - 6:50

       0:41 (0.12 @ 5:48)

It was a pretty tough run this morning.  Quads still sore from Sunday.  Plan was to meet Dixie at the Y at 6:00, but he was running a little bit late.  That was ok since it gave me some more time to warm up - by that I mean sit in my car with the heater on.  The thermometer said 50 degrees but the wind was whipping pretty good.

Finally got moving but at a slow pace, I think it was clost to 10:00 for the first mile.  Left quad was sore, but felt more normal after the first mile.   Stopped at the lake park just after 4 miles, felt even better after starting again.  Finished up with a couple miles in the low 8's.

Average pace: 9:00

It was good to get this over with, hopefully legs will be back tomorrow.   Windy and 33 tomorrow morning, so probably at least do first half of run on the treadmill.  (People running in the single digit temps please forgive the whining!)

One more easy run, legs feeling one notch better.  Maybe back to normal completely tomorrow.  It was cold this morning as advertised but didn't feel as bad as I thought it would.  But still, I went to the Y, did some elaborate pre run warm up before getting onto the treadmill.    Did 4.15 miles at about an 8:20 pace.  Then, I headed outside.

It was a combination of being warmed up completely and wearing just the right amount of clothes: shorts, two shirts, hat and gloves, that made 35 degrees feel pretty good (except when the wind blew).  Did another 3.92 miles at 7:58 pace.

Went home, did some more stretching and a few sets of push-ups on the "perfect push-up" (as seen on tv), which Jenny gave me for Christmas and I love very much.

Chilly run this morning.  Possibly the coldest since when I lived with my parents in Rochester, NY.  29 degrees this morning, frost on the windshield and on the ground.  But still, it actually wasn't so bad.  There was no wind and I seemed to have dressed appropriately.   Met up with Dixie at 6:00 at the Y near me.

We pretty much did the entire run at an easy pace, with an overall average of 8:38 and just a little bit of sub 8:00 at the end.

A little bit warmer outside this morning and I am getting used to the colder weather.  It was right at 32°.  But still, I decided to do part of the run inside before heading outside.   I went to the Y, warmed up on the bike, followed by stretching and core stuff.

Got onto the treadmill and did 4.15 at just under an 8:00 pace.

Then, it was time to brave the cold.  I wore shorts, hat, gloves, and two shirts.  The air was nice and crisp and the sun was starting to melt the frost.  Did 3.13 miles at 7:41 pace.

Running short on time, but headed back inside for a couple sets of leg extensions since I missed those on Wednesday.  These seem to keep me from getting knee problems which have crept up from time to time.

Met Keith and Dixie at Starkey park this morning.  They were planning on 17 and I was going to do 18 miles, so I would just tack one more mile onto the run.  It was cold again this morning, was supposed to be in the 40's but mid 30's again.  I think it is finally going to warm up tomorrow morning.

We set off at a slow pace for the first mile and then settled into an 8:30ish pace with a few miles near 8:00.  The run went by pretty quickly.  When we got to the trailhead for the Suncoast parkway, the gate was locked, so we had to crawl through it.  They had not unlocked it yet from the night before, it's usually not locked but they were having a hog hunt from 4:00 pm to 4:00 am, I guess they were starting to get out of hand.

With 4 miles left to go we decided to split up.  I put in some faster miles for the last 4.  Was going to do 7:00~7:10 pace but found myself settling into a 6:50ish pace so I held that.  Felt pretty good.  Jogged a bit after hitting the 18 mile mark then slowed down and walked a bit to cool down.

Overall pace: 8:07

Caught up with several running friends afterwards and enjoyed some coffee and snacks.