The Long Run

2.22 mi, 20:32, 9:15 avg

When I first thought about running it was still raining out, cleared up eventually so headed outside.  Ran to the gate and back and did a few random intervals up and down the street with the last one 0.25 miles, running at a 6:43 pace.

After the run, push-ups: 25, 25, 30 and pull-ups: 10, 10, 15

6.11 mi, 53:15, 8:43 avg

Ran at Longleaf from the church, out and back on Starkey Blvd bike path.  It was chilly, high 40's.  No drinks needed.  First mile about 10:30, felt like I'd never run faster again.  Last mile 6:50, felt great to get moving again.  However, that 6:50 felt like what a 6:10 should have felt like.  I'll have to try and run one to find out.

10.29 mi, 1:28:15, 8:34 avg

I set out from my house thinking that this would be a long and very slow run, which was true for the first mile and part of the way into the second mile.  I carried a 10 oz bottle with me and one gel which I took at the little church and dropped off my bottle.  I was listening to music but it was turned down pretty low and in the background, it was some sort of meditation music which I guess helped.  Pace picked up and stayed pretty steady with the last 3 miles averaging a 7:40 pace.

This run felt what I think running should feel like (at least as far as training runs go).

8.18 mi, 1:10:44, 8:39 avg

Earlier in the week my plan was to get two days in a row of 10 plus miles, but I was running too late on time and decided to cut back the mileage.  I still wanted to make it challenging so I settled on 8 miles by running to the end of Trinity Blvd which always seems much longer than it is and includes a little over 4 miles run on the grassy shoulder so it's a little bit trail like.  I wasn't aiming to run fast and would have been happy somewhere in the 9:15-9:30 range.  But, my first mile wasn't as slow as they are are sometimes and some of the grassy miles were faster than expected, so instead of 9:15-9:30 avg it was 8:39 - only slighter slower than yesterday's average.  So, despite not doing 10 miles I felt good about the long stretch of the same road.

In the evening, went to see Thomas run at the track meet, hosted at Mitchell HS.  My parents also came as well as Jenny and Andy.  He ran the the 1600m and 3200m.  Previously, for his old 3200m it was his only event for that meet but tonight he would be doing both.  He had not broken 5:00 since his first time but was coming in close.  But, tonight he nailed it with a time about the same as his PR but 0.08 seconds faster.  This time he had a really good 3rd lap compared to his other 1600s, still had a good 4th lap but not faster than the 3rd lap - he usually gets back at least a second or two faster in the 4th lap compared to the 3rd lap. 

Then, in the 3200m he ran 11:07 - nearly tied with his 3200m, but this time on 1600m race legs - also scored some points for the team with 6th overall.

I was glad my parents had a chance to see him race tonight. 

5.43 mi, 55:44, 10:15 avg

Easy paced run with Joe and Jamie.  Intentionally wanted to cut back on distance and speed compared to the last two days in order to get ready for longer run tomorrow.  Usual neighborhood and along Fox Hollow run.

23.01 mi, 3:39:33, 9:33 avg

I woke up at 2:00 dealing with repercussions from the chilli-mac I had for lunch and feared it was something even worse.  Dogs woke me up two hours later.  I got back to sleep for a little bit and then figured I'd still give the run a try, wanted to run 22 with some of it on trails.  I met up with Joe, Jamie, and Daisy at Longleaf.  We ran up Starkey Blvd to the entrance of Starkey Park where the others turned around and I continued on.

Stopped at the shelter where the Striders had set up and had two doughnut holes and half a cup of coffee, then headed onto the off road trails.  Ran near the horse corral and then out on the orange trail to where it branched slightly left and then out to the power line road.   Turned onto the bike path and ran about 1/4 mile to the water cooler to top off my bottle.  It was still kind of chilly out, glad I wore my hat but it was starting to feel comfortable.  Ran back to the power line road and turned north and headed up that was for a few miles until almost 12 miles total since I left (knowing I'd head back a slightly different way, I wanted to go past exactly 11 miles).  Part of the raod starts with baseball sized rocks, so I had to pretty much walk over that section but it was only a few hundred feet long.  

The rest of the road was nice, saw some dear crossing the path and a few Sandhill cranes flying overhead making their squawking noise (I tried to get some video of them but was too slow).

Took the detour back to the water cooler on the way back (soon had to take off my hat with the sun out), then continued south on the power line trail back to the orange trail.  Trail miles on the way back were about a minute/mile faster than on the way in.

Finally, back to Starkey Blvd and I thought it would feel like it would take forever but it wasn't so bad.  I picked up a little more speed and chugged along, finishing up the last mile at 8:15.

So, hopefully the Croom Fools Run will be not so bad now that I've gotten some distance and a little bit of off road, but will see what happens.