The Long Run

Nice Monday morning run to start the week.  It had been a busy weekend and it always feels like an unknown as to how Monday's run will be.  Today it went well.   I went to the YMCA, arriving a little bit before 7:00.  Warmed up on the bike and did some core work and stretching then hopped onto a treadmill, for 4.14 miles at about an 8:05 pace average.

Headed outside where it was starting to get a little bit warm, but there was some cloud cover so it was blocking the full brunt of the sun.  Did another 4.1 miles at a 7:36 pace average, then headed back inside for a cool down on one of the cardio machines followed by a few sets of weights.

Yesterday we all went to the "I Love Mother's Day 5K" race in John Chestnut Park.  Temperature was nice.  We almost didn't go because Jenny had strep throat and Andy was a little bit sore from his belt test on Saturday.  Jenny decided she was good enough to run it but not race it and we convinced Noah to run in Andy's place.  This was Noah's first ever 5K without Andy.  It took some convincing for him to step up to the plate.  Finished in 31:11 (almost a PR for him).   Andy and I ran the last 0.4 with Noah and Jenny.  It was a fun morning out and a big accomplishment for Noah.   All the Mom's received a free pair of X-Loop sunglasses (as well as top 25 men).  Jenny won a door prize for free entry into the "I Love Father's Day 5K" which I hope to race in with at least one of the boys, although it will be one week after the Estes Park Marathon.

I ran with Tim and Dixie this morning, Raj was going to run but had to canceled this morning.  It had been quite some time since I last ran with Dixie.  We did a route which this time was just over 7 miles, last time I underestimated and we had to add some on at the end to get to 7.

Starting temp was 71 degrees, not too bad.  First mile was was 8:47, then we gradually picked things up.  4th mile according to my garmin was 6:44.  I'm a little suspicious of that one, although the overall average pace matches up to the time and distance.

Average pace: 7:39

Going to go for 10 miles tomorrow, probably split it up with 6 outside and 4 inside.

Same temperature as yesterday, but a little bit more humidity.  I was going to meet Dixie at the YMCA at 6:00 after having gotten there early to warm up first on the stationary bike inside.  Instead, I decided to just ride my bike there instead for my warm up (about 15 minutes).  Arrived right after 6:00 (6:01) and got going.  We went slower than yesterday on purpose to try and make this a truly "easy" pace.  Ended up with 6.25 miles @ 8:03 pace.

After Dixie left, I went inside and did 4.1 miles on the treadmill at 7:59 average pace.  I kept the pace pretty steady with only minor variations.  It felt good to be out of the humidity.  My feet felt very light, almost floating, which is something I wish my feet felt like all of the time.

Did some weights after the run and then biked back home.

I was going to just do 8 or 9 miles this morning with 4 or 5 at about a 7 minute pace, but the morning slowly evolved differently.  I had another night out with customers but was more sensible about what I ate and drank.  Since this was also the third morning in a row of 5:00 wake up I decided to slow things down a little bit.  Also, I was going to be running with Dixie this morning and he is just now starting back up after some time off.

Anyway, I warmed up with about 0.8 from my house to the parking lot where I met Dixie right about as planned at 5:40. Then we started out and did two easy miles.  I offered to him why don't we do 7:00 minute miles with a short rest between, maybe about 1 minute.  The recovery times between the miles were a bit longer than the planned one minute, and by the 4th mile Dixie was dragging a bit but did his best to hang on.  The pace felt really good to me and I think it ended up working out ok with a slower overall average but more miles than planned.   On the second fast "mile" there was a garmin mishap which led Dixie to stop at 0.7 instead of 1.0, which is why it is 3.7 marathon pace miles rather than 4.

Average pace: 8:25

Temperature was pretty good but humidity was a bit high.  It was nice running at this time as I was able to see the sky go from dark to barely light to sunrise.

Ran out at Starkey Park this morning.  The morning started out nice and cool at 69 degrees but with a good amount of humidity.  I started out with Mike and Eric, and after about 2 miles caught up to Keith and Dixie.  I hung back with Keith and Dixie and stayed with them until they turned around after 5 miles.

I went another mile at the same somewhat easy pace, then started, what I hoped to be 10 miles at between 7:00 and 7:09, or until I couldn't hold that pace anymore.  As I approached 6 miles, part of me did not want to pick it up, the temperature was already starting to climb and the sun was getting stronger.  I was thinking that I should not start this late anymore for long runs (started at 6:45) - should probably start an hour earlier.  Anyway, I did start the faster pace and it felt pretty good at first.

Actually the first two miles felt pretty good.  I came up to the turn around point for the run.  At this point I was running along the Suncoast Parkway, where it is not very shaded.  I was hoping it would feel a lot better once I turned back into Starkey Park.  Third mile still felt pretty good.  As I made my way into the 4th mile I was feeling a bit overheated, holding the pace was beginning to be a struggle.  So, I promised myself I'd back off the pace after finishing 5 miles.

7:03, 6:44, 7:01, 7:04, 6:46

Those 6's might be in error as the pace seemed to be holding steady at about 7:00, but jumped all of the sudden as the mile was about to finish.

After a brief slowdown, I got back onto about a 7:40 pace for the next mile.  I stopped at the 4 mile water stopped and splashed a little bit of water on my arms and face which helped a lot.  I didn't stop my watch here, so this mile came in at 8:48.

Next 3 miles were pretty good, with the last mile back on pace at 7:06.  But, it felt like that was all I had.  Sun was way up now, temp had hit about 80, but felt hotter out in the open.

Average pace: 7:39

I spent some time talking to the other runners in the picnic shelter and gulped down a bunch of ice cold gatorade that they had brought.

I had hoped to be able to hold the pace, but the conditions weren't right today for that and I was pleased in a way since I ended up feeling like I had pushed harder than I had in quite some time despite this not being my fastest run ever.  I was glad to make my mileage goal for the week and for the day today.  Next marathon is coming up soon!

We went to Andy's belt ceremony at Tae Kwon Do, where he received his black belt.  I could tell he was very proud and I was proud for him.

Later that afternoon I helped Jenny to put together a small solar oven.  We were going to try and bake a cookie to try it out.  It started to heat up nicely but then the clouds rolled in, oh well, maybe tomorrow.  At least it is finally raining now!