The Long Run

Disney Princess Half Marathon -

I went out to Orlando with my family and Jenny's Mom (Cindy) and sister Amy on Saturday.  We woke up bright and early and were heading into Epcot just after 5:00 am.   The weather was very reasonable, just slightly cool but was going to be warming up.  Jenny, Amy and their mom were going to run this race together.  Jenny's mom ran the Disney half marathon last year.  It was her first half marathon and a year prior to that had not ever really run much before.  Last year she ran into some fueling problems and came pretty close to having to drop out, but managed to finish just under the three and a half hour time limit.

This year went much better.  Goal was to come in under 3 hours, but any significant improvement would be a success.  I saw them at the four mile point and had seen that as of the 5k point, they were a little bit a head of schedule.   The 10K update showed them losing some time.  The boys and I saw them again at about 8 miles and Jenny's mom was looking a little more tired.  Then, I received the 15K pace alert and it showed them making some time back up and were on track for 2:57!  

The next four miles were a bit tougher for them.  Jenny and Amy did a great job keeping their mom motivated and would not let her slow down (well, at least not that much!).   They were able to stop and take pictures and really enjoy the race.   The race was not officially closed to men but there were less than 200 men running, about 5900 women.  Jenny's mom said that was kind of nice to not have to deal with men doing things that guys often do on race courses.

The boys and I staked out a spot at the 13 mile marker and waited.  I was watching the clock but I didn't know exactly when there start time was.  At about 3 hours I saw them coming around the corner, we gave a big cheer and watched them go by.  Cindy was able to pick it up and run to the finish - a big difference from last year.

Official time was 3:01:22, just missed 3 but it was a 26 minute PR, and she ended up with 8th in her age group.  Great job Cindy! and to your pacing team of Jenny and Amy!

Since we were going out to dinner late that night at the California grill and then spending the day at Hollywood Studios the next day, I was a bit worried about getting in a 12 mile run on Monday morning.  So, I did 6.1 on the treadmill and would do the rest on the next day.

Ran on the treadmill at the hotel.  Second half of the 12 mile run.  Hot and sweaty since the room did not have great ventilation, but it was good to get it done.

Average pace about 8:20

Back home today, back into routines.  First outdoor run since start of daylight savings time.  It was actually nice to run a good part of it in the dark.  Running from darkness, to dawn, to the sun up (but not too high).  Left from home and did the out and back route up Starkey Blvd and part of the way into Alico pass.  For some reason I thought I was supposed to be doing 12.  I started out thinking I would just do 10 (to trick myself into getting out the door).   When I got to the 5 mile point I thought why not go out another half mile?  I might have gone a little bit farther but I had to get back in time to be on time for my dentist appointment.

Run felt comfortable and easy.  Averaged 7:47 pace.

Busy day today - 11 mile run, dental appointment, and then massage! and lots of work to try and catch up between that stuff.

Made it through the day ok taking one thing at a time.  Of course, having the massage to look forward to made things a lot easier!

 My sister-in-law Amy posted a great race report about the Disney Princess half marathon, with pictures and everything!

Finally catching up with my blog.  Joe and I headed to the track to do 1600 repeats along with warm up and cool down for a total of 10 miles.   I hadn't been to the track in quite some time (probably not since September).

It was dark and foggy at the start.  Breathing was harder than normal.  I ran into this at the 5K that I did in December.   First repeat was a few seconds slower  than I wanted but the other ones got better - 6:18, 6:14, 6:12, 6:11

I think on a better day I might have been able to go faster and not felt so labored but it's good to try this every so often just to see where I am at.  Great confidence booster.  Today, I got the job done.

It was great to have Joe along for the company.  This was his first time ever going to a track and he did very well, finishing each repeat either next to me or not too far behind.

A good thing happened to me this morning (I need to watch the use of the word "good" my ten year old son has been on my case about it telling me that it is not a very descriptive word).   This "good" thing was that I wanted to run.  I didn't have to push away any thoughts of "here we go again (in an Eeyore voice), another 11 miles"  

I went to the Y, warmed up on the bike then did some crunches and stretches on the ball before getting onto the treadmill.  4.25 miles at about 8:05 pace average then headed outside.

Earlier this week, Eric sent an email to Joe and I recommending a section of trail with some hills on it.   It's on the Suncoast trail, but about 30 miles north from where we usually run.  So, Joe and I decided to try it out for our 20 mile run.  Joe picked me up about 5:30, and a little bit after 6:00 we arrived at the trail entrance.   It was still pretty dark but there was some light from the moon.

We got moving and the first thing you run over is a pedestrian bridge going over the road, short and steep going up and down.  Continuing on the trail we could tell it was rolling terrain, not too bad, but more than what we usually run on.   Started out kind of slow, and gradually got faster, by mile 5 we were just at a 9:00 pace.  I was wearing a blinking red led light on my arm in case there were bikes out for an early ride, but we didn't see a single one for quite some time - not until it was light out.

There was a good size hill at about 7 miles then it seemed to flatten out slightly, but still with some more hills , just spaced out farther.   Finally, made it to 10 miles.  I went just a little bit farther to see what was over the next hill.  I saw a  Hill sign, which was odd since this hill didn't seem any different than any of the others.  On the highway, I could see a sign for the last exit.  I was tempted to keep going, thinking there might be a place to refill the water bottles, but that would have extended the run to 23 or 24 miles.  Turned around, wondering how my legs would continue to hold up.   Still feeling good at 11 miles.  Maybe about 14 miles I could feel some fatigue setting in.  It didn't seem to slow me down, but I could feel it.

A little bit before 14 miles we saw the first runner we had seen, it was Eric, out for a 12 mile run.   He turned around and continued back with us.   It was light out and we could see all the scenery that we missed when it was dark.  I wished I had my phone so I could take some pictures, it was different from what I am used to around here with the rolling landscape.

With about 5 miles left to go I was a little worried I might start having a hard time.   There was no water along the trail, just what you could carry.  I had two 10 oz bottles with accelerade so I was trying to stretch that out to make it last.   If it had been any warmer out I would have needed more.

At mile 18 I started to feel good.  I didn't even notice the hills anymore.  Hit 19 miles, still good, then made it to 20 just before the pedestrian bridge that we started out crossing.  Finished up with 20.3 miles because I had gone a little farther.  It was great to run with Eric and Joe.   I knew that at any minute Eric could have easily taken off and picked up the pace a lot but instead decided to stick with us. 

Average pace: 8:11

Hung out for a bit in the parking lot, trying to loosen up before getting back into the car. This trail head was pretty nice, with lots of parking and a real bathroom with chilled water fountains and sheltered picnic tables.  Definitely would come back here again.