The Long Run

4.35 mi, 40:09, 9:14 avg

Shorter, but not as short easy run.  First part was out and back to the water fountain near the golf course.  Then, after Stella walk and saying goodbye to Jessica and her kids I added a short strides workout, 7x20 seconds with 40 seconds rest between.  I didn't get moving very fast but it was faster than the first part of the run.

Of note: no soreness at all from Saturday's 20 mile run!

Post run - push-ups: 25,30,35 - pull-ups: 10,12,14

So, the pull-ups really do seem to be getting better.

7.12 mi, 56:57, 8:00 avg

Ran on Starkey Blvd starting from the little Longleaf church.  No drinks or gels with me for the run but a few sips of gatorade before and after the run, cloudy and about 70 degrees.

First mile 10:15 as I warmed up and then transitioned to a faster 8:32 mile.  I also had music with me today, a new bluetooth headphone set with built in mp3 player so it works with or without a phone.  This one works pretty good but it only plays things alphabetically - no shuffle, no playlists, but for less than $50 not a bad device.

So, I think the music lets me run faster ( I wore this headset during the recent half marathon and I didn't slow down until headphones battery died).

Next 4 miles were 7:44, 7:36, 7:29, and 7:20

At the end of the 7:20 mile things were feeling harder than they should have so I decided I'd just push until the end of that mile. Kept my word and stopped for a break.  I gathered myself back together and decided to push it less and just stay under 8:00 (thinking 7:55-7:59).  But starting back up the pace didn't feel as hard and without trying I was in the low 7:00's and then with about 0.2 to go pushed the pace a little more to get down to 6:57.

I was a little disappointed that this tempo feeling run was not the tempo paces I considered to be tempo paces traditionally (anything below 7:00 pace for 4 to 8 miles).  But I was happy to find that after I thought I was done I found one more fast mile, faster than the miles I had just done.

5.49 mi, 52:28, 9:33 avg

Made pancakes for the Jessica's kids for Valentine's Day breakfast, along with some bacon and sliced strawberries.  They headed out just before 8:00, then I started my run at 8:15 heading over to meet Jamie.  Ran the usual route, nice coolish 66 degrees morning.

In the evening, went to the track meet and watched Thomas run the 3200m.  He PR'd with 11:16 (about 33 seconds faster than old PR).  He had a good strong start running side by side with the team's fastest senior for the first 4 laps, slowed down a little for the next 4 but did not fall apart.   Very impressive start to new season of track.

Later that evening did Jacob's pull-up routine with Jacob but added one more set, it was 5 close grip on the perpendicular bars, 5 front facing, 5 rear facing, 5 switch grip, and 5 switch grip the other way.

6.6 mi, 53:59, 8:11

Trying to get back up on the horse.  Need to get back into challenging myself mode.  On Tuesday, fastest mile was 6:57 which felt really hard.  For the "Say no to Drugs" 5k, overall pace was slower than 7:00.  I know I can do better but need to work on it.   I've mostly cleared up my dead legs, knee is back on track, and upper body and functional strength is improving.  So, today's challenge and goals was not to have a boring run or a slogging run.  Run 3x1 miles, all at least under 7:00.  No unrealistic goals but make it a challenge.

Ran from my house to Fox Hollow sidewalk, easy pace, a couple of short strides to get ready for the pace.

Mile 1 - 6:46

Mile 2 - 6:35

Mile 3 - 6:42

Mile 1 felt impossibly hard and difficult to keep it below 7:00 at all but pulled things together more in the last quarter mile.  Thought to myself no way can I do 2 more, but also that I say this all the time.  Mile 2 was surprisingly faster and made me happy I did not quit.  Ok, gut it out for just one more.  3rd mile was a roller coaster with a fast start, a slump in the middle and picking up a few seconds near the end to prevent it from being the slowest.

Nice and easy return trip back home.  One small challenge done, on to the next one!

5.42 mi, 55:59, 10:20 avg

Easy run with Jamie in the neighborhood, nice 63 degrees coolish.

11.77 mi, 1:48:30, 9:13 avg

Ran with Jamie and Cynthia and some on my own.  I missed getting up in time to meet them at Diane's house but met them in Starkey Park (Cynthia texted me wondering where I was, that was my second alarm).  So, we ran together from the shelter out a couple more miles then I turrned around with them and I ran almost to Diane's house before I turned around again and ran back to the shelter in Starkey Park.

I was feeling pretty good on this run.  We weren't going fast but sometimes that still feels hard if battling chronic dead legs which today I was not.  The easy pace felt easy.

When I turned back for the solo return I picked up the pace a little bit until finally doing 7:44 for the last mile.

A pretty good week running wise.

Next, I drove out to King High School in Tampa to watch Thomas compete.  He ran the 3200m and was able to beat his old PR from Wednesday by another 9 seconds.  He went out at 1:12 for the first lap which was 7 seconds faster than his first lap on Wednesday and was still able to pick up two additional seconds.  Last lap was 1:22 which was about 5 seconds faster than his last lap on Wednesday. New PR of 11:07!  So proud of him.

Next, I drove out with Jessica to Orlando to watch Sophia compete in gymnastics, glad I was there to cheer her on.

We wrapped up the day by stopping at the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa on the way back - I did not gamble, just had dinner and listened to the band they had that night (Stereo FM).

Long but good day.