The Long Run

Chilly run this morning (low 40's), ran alone from the Y after doing my usual warm up routine inside.   Last night before I went to bed I forgot to mentally prepare myself for the morning run.  Fortunately this did not mean a bad run, it just took longer before I felt organized.    The miles went by pretty smoothly.  First mile was at 9:02 which counted getting stuck at a light for at least 15 seconds, so that was pretty good for a first mile.

I finally got home at 8:40, which meant I was a little bit late and also that it took me too long to get ready for run for one hour since I had woken up at 6:10.  I need to cut down on some of the unnecessary overhead.   The run itself was good. 

Average pace: 8:04 

I woke up at 6:06 this morning. I looked at the temp outside and decided to wear one short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve shirt and shorts. I was going to run from home this morning so I started my warm up inside along with the usual morning dog care and eating my pre-run snack. I was soon out the door and did a little more warm up using some dynamic stretches. Then I was on my way.

The objective this morning was a medium long run at a steady and reasonable pace. I started out slowly, it felt very slow but comfortable and easy also (that is not always a given). But it turns out that the pace wasn't that slow, it was my usual first mile pace of 8:59. I went out the neighborhood, onto 54 then onto Starkey Blvd. where they have a pretty nice bike trail. This was at the 2 mile point and I was feeling a bit warm like I had overdressed. About a 1/2 mile onto Starkey I ran into a fog bank and the temperature felt like it dropped 10 degrees with the air chilling me to my bones despite my layers. I kept going and got used to it. It was a really nice morning out with rays of light streaming through the tall trees. There was no one else at all on this trail. I continued on to Alico Pass and took a right onto it for another 1/2 mile before turning back. My pace had picked up a bit so I slowed down a little bit here and there so it wouldn't be a steady pick up all the way back.

When I finally made it back to 54 there was some wind and a lot more cars. I slowed down a little bit going against the wind. I crossed 54 with no problems and headed back towards my neighborhood. I had run almost 1 1/2 hours so I overshot my house a little bit to round things off.

It had been a while since I did a good medium long run on a Tuesday and it felt great.

Tempo run tomorrow at 5:20 with the guys.

Average pace: 7:59

Another early morning tempo run this morning. We were meeting at 5:20 so that Keith could run with us. Ironically, Keith overslept and could not make it this morning, so we'll all give him some grief next time we see him. When I rolled out of bed at 4:45 this morning I felt a bit fumbly although I thought I was doing a pretty good job keeping down the noise. It turns out I did not receive very high marks on that from Jenny, although part of it is not completely my fault. Sammy (the dog) has this habit of flinging open the door very wide and exposing the bedroom to the light and noise of me getting ready.

So, we met up at the Y. It was Nelson, Randall, Dixie, Raj, two of Raj's friends, and myself. We started out nice and easy for the first 1.5 miles, crossed Mitchell Blvd. then started the tempo. First mile felt pretty good, second mile still felt strong, for the third mile I looked forward to finishing it so I could count down the last mile, and the last mile came in a little bit faster.

Splits were: 7:04, 6:57, 6:59, and 6:52

I was pretty happy with this run because I did almost exactly what was planned and got to run with some friends.  However, part of me is thinking how was I able to do 7 miles at 6:49 pace this past summer?  Today's run certainly didn't feel easy.  I'm not sure what level of fitness I would need to be at to make today's run feel  easier.  At the same time I also realize that just because 4 miles at this pace didn't feel easy doesn't mean that 7 or 8 miles at this pace would be any harder.

Average pace for entire run: 7:55

Went inside and did a little bit of cross training cardio and weights.

Today's run was great. I loved it. After yesterday's morning run a bunch of guys there said they were up for another run the next day (today) but at an easy pace. Dixie called last night to say he couldn't make it but I figured I'd show up anyways. I woke up just after 5:00 which felt like sleeping in compared to yesterday's 4:45. I showed up at the Y but no one was there. Oh well, at least I got an early start. I decided to do my big production indoor warm up and then head outside. I did see David and Jenny who had just finished up their run and chatted with them for a bit. Then I was off, it was now just after 6:00.

The first few miles felt pretty easy and I felt good. The weather was nice. Cool and comfortable enough for sleeveless shirt and shorts. Before I knew it I was halfway done. At mile 7 I felt like going fast for a little bit, so I did. I went really fast but just for a short distance, maybe about 0.2 miles at just under a 6:00 pace. Slowed back down and ran back towards the Y. I went inside and cooled down a bit on the treadmill walking then headed home.

Average pace 8:03

Today was mostly a cross train and weights day with a little bit of running on the treadmill.  They have replaced all the tv's at the Y with new big screen flat panel screens which are easier to see.  I did some upper and lower body weights, stationary bike, and rower.  Pretty much my usual Friday routine.  Tomorrow will be a long run but not too long, probably about 12 miles, then next weekend is the half marathon with Jenny and Kathryn.

Today's run was great.  I loved it.  I was supposed to meet a bunch of people at Starkey park to run on the bike trail there.  Some of the people were there, but some had gotten there earlier for their run.   I didn't get the memo.  The weather.com desktop said that it was 51° outside but it felt cooler.  My truck said it was 45 out when I got in but as I drove to the park it dropped to 39°.  I was a little worried because I had on only one long sleeve shirt and shorts, but at least I had my hat.

I started running with Kevin, Nelson, David, and Jenny.  I felt so cold at first.  Jenny was dressed much smarter than I was, she discarded one of her layers after about a mile, a gray sweatshirt which I was eying, but I resisted saying anything as I don't know her that well.   We kept on going and I slowly felt less cold.  David and Jenny turned around at 3.5 to head back.  At about 4 miles we saw Keith and Dixie on the way back from 10 miles.  At 5 miles, Kevin and Nelson turned around to head back.  Shortly after that I saw Bob coming back from doing 19 miles, I turned around for a bit and ran with him to chat.  He is training for the Boston marathon.  He has entered through a charity - a cancer research center.  So, he doesn't have to train and get a certain time, but he is training as if he did.  At this rate I think he'll be able to qualify for next year's Boston marathon while running there this year!

I turned around and continued out to turn around just after 6 miles.  Now I felt warmed up and the cold air felt good.  I picked up the pace a little here and there and was alternating faster miles with not so fast miles.  I got to the last mile and felt like picking it up.  I wanted to run to where it felt like about a 7:00 pace or just faster.  But then, the "Popcorn" song came on which made me run faster.  I looked at my pace, it was 6:23.  I cooled down for the remainder to get back to the parking lot and enjoyed some coffee and half a dunkin donuts muffin.

Average pace: 8:16