The Long Run

I ran with my brother Jim this morning which was great.  He is staying with my parents for the week but made it over here this morning at 6:30.  His longest run before today was just 5 miles.  With the humidity it was a little bit tough this morning and we took a few walking breaks but he did pretty good considering the 25 hour straight drive they did to get down here on Saturday.   The last 0.2 miles he wanted to go fast so we ran in at a 6:00 pace.

Maybe we will get one more run in together this week and then hopefully we'll get to do a 5K in Tampa this Saturday before they have to drive back.

Average pace: 9:38

Tempo run with Dixie this morning.  Met up at 5:30 near John Chestnut park.  It felt very chilly and damp this morning although the temp wasn't too bad, quite different from yesterday morning.  We decided to start out slow and do a 3 mile warmup followed by 4 miles of tempo then a 1 mile cool down.

Splits for tempo were: 6:55, 6:38, 6:51, 6:57

Last mile was a bit slower due to dodging more cars.  We'll need to pick a route on a wider road next time.  Felt really good.

Average pace: 8:13

Ran with a new pair of New Balance 825's.  Well, they were almost new, I got them from Keith who had just worn them a few times.

I had to be back home by 7:25 so I ran from home and picked a course that I thought would be about 7 miles.  I woke up early enough but by the time I actually started running it was 6:25.  Oh well, should be plenty of time.

I started out slowly but it turned into a really slow mile due to various obstacles.   Second mile was also slow, it was as slow as what my first mile is usually.  Third mile saw included some time being stuck waiting for traffic to clear, but it was slightly faster than the second mile.  Now I was getting into a loop and would soon start heading back home but my times were much slower than usual I was starting to worry if I'd make it back in time.

4th mile was normal finally at 8:25.  Then I started feeling a bit faster and picked it up to get back home exactly on time with the final miles at 7:38, 7:42, and 6:50.  That felt good to finish strong and get back home on time! 

Usually I try not to worry about pace when a run is not going so great but sometimes running  changes from exercise to transportation, like when you are out on an out and back course.

Average pace:  8:22

Today was a pretty busy and somewhat stressful day at work, but I did get in a good run before my work day started.  I just didn't get to write it down until much later.  Jenny says that when there is too much time between the run and the blog the blog entry turns into something like "I ran  10 miles this morning, it was good."

I got a pretty good start without too much time wasted.  I started out slowly and felt like I had picked things up but it turned out I was going slower than I thought I was.  It felt like I was moving at the usual pace but the Garmin said otherwise.  I thought that maybe the Garmin was wrong.  When I got to the turnaround point I turned off the Garmin then turned it back on to see if that would help.

Well, I think the Garmin was accurate because the return trip was the exact same distance.  However, I did end up doing the return at a significantly faster pace.  The miles felt good.  I did one of the miles in 7:18 then backed it down slightly as I turned onto SR 54.  This is the least nicest part of the run but it goes by quickly.  Fortunately crossing it was not an issue, a huge gap opened up and both sides were clear so I went for it.  It wasn't at the light but it was so wide open I figured that was better than going to the light and possibly getting hit by an impatient driver trying to make it through.

As I got into the neighborhood I started feeling really good, my pace had picked up.  Instead of backing it down I held the pace and finished the last mile in 6:39.  I ran past the house a little bit for my cool down then back for an extra half mile.

Average pace: 7:57

An easy run which I kept at an easy pace.  I just ran around my neighborhood.  I didn't feel like doing the same loop twice so I ran the loop once but ran into several cul-de-sacs to stretch out the run a little bit.  It was a nice uneventful run.  Weather slightly warm.  Did not run with music.  I think I am going to do a 5K tomorrow.  It was kind of spur of the moment decision but it should be fun.

Average pace: 8:16 

This was a pretty good race for a number of reasons, although I did fall short of my goal.

My 5K goal (for a while now) has been to break 20 minutes, and I might have been able to do it except for a number of reasons. Those reasons really aren't too important. More important were the lessons learned.

It wasn't until earlier this week that I decided I was going to run a 5K this weekend so it was a "come as you are" race, which is a pretty good way to gauge where you are at. The race started at 8:00, the drive was about 45 minutes and I needed to still sign up for it. We left a little bit late and I got slightly lost and ended up parking not very close (I don't do very well navigating in downtown Tampa). We got there about 7:30, signed up and had a little bit of time for a warm up. I usually like to run slowly for 1.5 to 2 miles as a warm up with a few strides thrown in. I think I ran about .75 miles altogether but I wasn't measuring it so that is just a guess. The temperature was fairly warm, about 75°, but with heavy humid air. Just before the race started the sun came out from behind the few clouds which made it feel warmer.

At this point I was feeling pretty warmed up and ready despite the less then smooth pre-race rituals. At the starting line, I looked down and noticed that my right shoe was not double knotted, so I quickly fixed that. We were lined up near the start as there were no chips for timing. I was with my brother Jim who was shooting for a 24:30. The race started and the first thing I realized was that although I had double knotted my shoe it was very loose. Oh, well not much to do about it, just try and be careful. I took off at what felt like my usual 5K pace but it was faster than normal. In fact this would be both good and bad. I finished the first mile in 5:55. This was a new record for me, I had never finished a mile in less than 6:00. The bad part was that it was too fast. The second mile quickly became tough. Now I was hot and the sun was hitting me hard. I was hanging onto a 6:40 pace but just barely. I was thinking that wasn't so bad for the second mile, I could get back on pace for the third mile and still make my goal.

At the start of the third mile my legs were starting to burn, this is the first time I had felt this in a 5K. It wasn't terrible but made it even harder to hold onto the 6:40 pace. As I approached what I thought was the finish line I realized that it was not the finish line. The 5 mile race had a finish line at the entrance to a tunnel. The 5K finish had been moved to the other side of the tunnel. I gave it all I had and could soon see the finish clock. I could see that the first number was a 2. And maybe for that reason I didn't quite go completely all out for the last 100 feet or so. I went through the chute and saw a time of 20:35. Shortly after I realized I had not stopped my Garmin. I stopped the timer and it said 20:53 with a distance of 3.25 miles giving me an average pace of 6:26 which would have been fine if the distance was correct. I looked at a couple other people's garmins and they all measured what I had. The course is not certified, but that doesn't really matter I suppose.

I filled out my race card and dropped it into the male 40-44 box, my card was the first one in so I had some hope of getting 1st for my age group - later I found that I actually got 2nd. Not sure yet of my overall place or what my "official" time was.

This was the first 5K out of the last 5 where I did not get a PR. I knew this day would come as it is nearly impossible to always get a PR (short of never running again after getting a PR).

This was the first 5K where I went out too fast and paid a price for it. I had been meaning to do this at some point (although didn't specifically plan on it today) to see what it would feel like. I usually can't go out too fast, it just seems to take me longer to build up a good head of steam or to fight my way through a crowd or something like that.

This was my first ever sub 6:00 mile. When I saw that my first mile was going to be under 6:00 part of me thought maybe a could get a huge PR today, I just needed to hang on. This was probably just being greedy, but part of me was glad that I tried.

The entry fee included a free ticked to the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game that night against the Boston Bruins. I'm not a big hockey fan but thought it would be fun. My brother was heading back up north so he gave his ticket to my Dad and we saw the game together.

Jim got about a 25:20 something. Not a PR for him either and short of his goal but still a good effort for him.

Jenny's friend Kathryn was also there with her whole family. She just missed 3rd place for her age group and should have gotten up except for a mix up with how they handed out the race cards.

Shortly after the race it rained, pouring down.  Now it made sense, the air had that oppressive feeling that it gets just before the rain comes down and cools everything off. 

If nothing else, this was a good speed workout in preparation for my 10K coming up in 2 weeks. Hopefully we'll have better weather for that. It is a known course for me which makes it easier and it is even flatter than this race was (mostly flat except for some bridges).