The Long Run

5.21 mi, 42:26, 8:08 avg

Easy paced run in the neighborhood, still nice and cool.  Need to get a few more miles in tonight.

PM

3.12 mi, 25:56, 8:19 avg - Plan was to take the boys to swimming at the Y and then zone out on the treadmill to get to 9 miles.  Swimming was canceled so ran from home, caught a little bit of rain but almost got in what I set out to do.

9.05 mi, 1:09:35, 7:41 avg

Ran at the Y with the Striders.  Felt pretty easy going to start, not sluggish at all.  Cooler temperatures were still holding as well.

8.06 mi, 1:03:12, 7:50 avg

Ran in the neighborhood and after a slower first mile stayed pretty steady.  I originally was planning on a tempo run today but decided to postpone by one day and run easier today.  Felt pretty good and once again enjoyed some very cool (for June) weather.

Last day of school today for the boys so for the summer I won't be on such a tight morning running schedule so no more excuses for running out of time.

9.15 mi, 1:07:52, 7:25 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders.  I forgot to set my alarm, which should have been for 4:52.  However, I woke up on my own at 5:08 a little bit confused.  Got going and out the door almost on schedule.

Did about 2.5 easy miles for warm up and then started the tempo portion.  It was warmer today than yesterday - almost 75 degrees.  First mile was pretty good, second mile was harder and at about 2.6 miles I paused for a few seconds to regroup mentally.  Got going again and fought my way through it.  Finally with 0.45 miles left I crossed paths with Jenny who was out with her dog, so I stopped to say hi and then continued on.  So, not actually a non-stop tempo run but seemed pretty close.

Splits: 6:50, 6:52, 6:49, 6:52, 6:58, 6:44

9.27 mi, 1:21:26, 8:47 pace

Ran with Jamie in the neighborhood.  Steady conversational pace throughout which gradually increased as we ran.  Cool air was gone but it's not yet hot.  Run went by pretty quickly and it was good to have the company.  A running week can get long if I do all of the weekday runs by myself.

18.04 mi, 2:35:09, 8:36 avg

I started out at Longleaf at about 5:30 with Jamie and Cynthia.  I felt good at the start of the run, usually I feel slow and clunky for the first few miles.  I actually didn't sleep too well last night.  When I came home for work I had a Baja Blast Mountain Dew with dinner - I don't drink very much soda and can't remember the last time I had a Mountain Dew (a Dr. Pepper now and then is more likely).  By about 10:30 I felt too jittery, went to bed had some trouble falling alseep and woke up a few times.  Didn't feel tired when I woke up and felt like I was already warmed up.

 Anyway, kept the pace pretty easy but I kept finding myself in front of the group.  Picked up Renee and Craig and Diane's house (which is also Craig's house), ran into Starkey Park for a bit until we got to the power lines and then turned back.

On the way back, with about a mile to go to get out of the park I told everyone we should do indian drills.  They reluctantly agreed be we kept on it for about a mile and a half and was kind of fun.

At about mile 13.5 I stopped and stretched briefly while Cynthia ran ahead.  Got going again and picked up the pace and was able to focus on her in the distance until catching back up and passing her.  Mile 14 was 8:02, and then the last 4 miles were 7:04, 6:54, 7:16, and 6:56.

So, although a good part of the run was at an easy pace (bonus that it also felt easy), had a pretty good fast finish.

It was a relatively cool morning at the start but pretty warm at the end.

Had a chance to have coffee with several other runners at Havana Dreamers, then headed home and cooled off in the pool.