The Long Run

This morning's run was very challenging.  I did some simulated hills on the treadmill.  Goal was to do at least 10, 12 if I was feeling up for it.  It was actually a very pleasant morning outside, high 60's for the first time in a while, but most of my run was going to be in doors.  I went to the Y and did the usual warm ups, bike, ball crunches, stretching.  Got onto a treadmill and ran at a mostly easy pace for 20 minutes (2.45 miles), grabbed some water real quick then got back onto the treadmill.

Put the incline to 7%, and the speed at 8.8 mph for the first one, did intervals just over a minute long each one, with a little over a minute rest.  I backed down the speed for the next couple and was feeling really beat after doing just 3.  It was going to be a tough morning.   Took them each one at a time.  Made it 8, and then took the last two a little bit faster.  It took everything to finish the last one.

Headed outside and did another 2.35 miles at about an 8:10 pace, still nice out for running.

Went back inside but decided not to do too many weights, just a few sets of leg extensions and some bicep curls.

P.M. - did my Wii yoga routine as well as a few other  other yoga exercises I don't do very often for some variety.

Just an easy run this morning.  Weather was cooperating again which was nice.  Plan called for 50-60 minutes at recovery pace.  I'm hoping this plans works because it's been kind of nice so far, although there is some tough stop coming up.

Average pace: 9:01

Did various weight exercises in the evening (about 30 minutes) as well as playing about 15 minutes worth of Jenny's new Wii game "Just Dance", I'm a terrible dancer but the game is a lot of fun and kind of felt like cross training.

Another pretty nice morning for running, I'm hoping this holds for a few more days (5 mile race on Saturday!).  Mostly an easy run, except for the 10-12 strides I had to do.  Strides can be pretty easy when doing just 2 or 3 of them, 12 of them is harder, although it wasn't nearly as hard as the treadmill hill repeats I did on Monday.  It was good to get the legs moving quicker and feeling the turnover.  

I ran with Jenny for the warm up part, we stopped quickly to grab some water, then I did the strides by myself, before catching back up with her.

Average pace: 8:31

Nice, pleasant run with Jenny this morning around the neighborhood.  This week is feeling pretty easy so far, I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

Average pace: 8:42

I slept in this morning, until 6:42!

Weather was still pleasant enough when I started running just after 7:00.  Plan called for 30-40 minutes "easy".  So, I ran out twenty minutes, then turned around.  Went a little faster on the way back (2:15 faster).

I don't really feel completely ready for tomorrow's race, but I don't feel not ready either.  We'll see what happens.  It's going to be a pretty big race, unlike the last race I was in.  It will also be my first 5 mile race.  I'm hoping for a pace of 6:16 or faster, 6:00 would be awesome, not sure if I'm there yet, though.

Average pace: 7:52

My first ever 5 mile race.  Went pretty well.  The weather couldn't have been much better for May.  The whole family went with me to the race.  Race was held at the USF campus which is also near where the Moffitt Cancer Center is located.  I warmed up for almost 2 miles with a few strides thrown in.  I had been trying to get myself feeling motivated, although was having a slightly hard time doing so.

I lined up near the front.  The wheelchair race started, then five minutes later the rest of the race started.  There is a guy, Matt,  that started running with our running group recently who was also at the race today.  He was going to go out at a 6:00 pace.  I knew that a 6:00 pace was going to be a stretch for me but I wanted to see what would happen.   Matt was way up in front of me.

First mile felt pretty good actually, and came close to 6:00 (6:01) according to my garmin, although it was slightly short of where the sign was, but not too far.  They had water at each mile marker which was nice.

Second mile I was still feeling pretty good and was in the 6:0x's for most of it.  Slipped off pace just a little bit but was still happy with a 6:11.  However, now I was way off from the mile marker and hit the lap button when I actually did pass the sign ( 0:21 ). 

 Third mile was slightly hilly, and I usually have a hard time with the middle miles it seems (6:32).  Sometime during this mile I caught up to Matt but he wasn't too far behind me.

Fourth mile I was able to bounce back a bit to a 6:20 pace.  I was feeling better about the race at this point.

For the fifth mile my legs were starting to burn a bit but I really wasn't suffering.  But somehow I let my pace slip.  I'm a little disappointed that I didn't push a little harder for the final mile.  At the end of the 4th mile I had been trailing a girl who I finally passed.  Then, there was no one in front of me (except for some guy who was very far in front of me).  Jenny and the boys were cheering for me about a 1/4 mile from the end and I tried to pick it up as best I could.   When I was about 20 feet from the finish line some guy cruised right past me, I sure wasn't expecting that, he must have really hammered it because I don't remember seeing him at and point during the race.

So, while I might have been disappointed a little bit with the last mile, I did accomplish my goal of going out at 6:00 pace and seeing what happened, and I didn't totally fall apart.

Ended up with 2nd place for my age group.  They had these polished rocks with the race logo and date as well as age group award markings for the prizes.

Matt was about 40 seconds behind me and ended up with 1st place male in the cancer survivor category.

After the awards we went to Busch Gardens since it was just five minutes away and we have season passes.  We found some things there to cool us off.

As the ride Sheikra comes down, it skims through some water and throws off a good spray, here it is just beginning to spray:

The people on the ride don't get wet, but if you stand near it you do get wet, it's a pretty popular spot with kids who want to get drenched:

**Official results posted: I was 2 seconds faster and moved from 26 to 20th place!