The Long Run

I had fun at this race and felt a little bit of redemption after my slower than hoped for time last week at Utah Valley.  I had asked the boys to run with me but Andy was volunteering at the hospital and Thomas had met and exceeded his mileage goal for the week before (and wasn't very eager to go), so I figured I would enjoy the race myself.  Instead of t-shirts they had these really nice beach towel sized towels with the race name printed on them.  I had to wait until after the race to get mine because I was doing race day registration.

This race takes place in John Chestnut park which is very shaded.  I've done a number of 5k's here and I think they pretty much use the same route each time (one small loop about a half mile, and then a bigger loop for the rest).

Splits: 6:18, 6:28, 6:42, 0.04@5:42

Now, I know those don't really look like splits or distance that work out to a 19:42 5k, and at first I did think that the course was short.  But after talking to other people the consensus is the course really is 5k but the heavy shade can mess up the gps signal.  People using their iphones for watches measured 3.2 miles, and gps people came up a little bit short but the RD said the course was accurate.  Also, while I was running, I'd notice my lap pace for the second mile would fluctuate wildly.

I'll just have to run another 5k soon to see if I can repeat or beat this time. It's a good bit faster than my last 5k and a few seconds faster than the one before that which was run on a cooler day and was the one where I was trying to win a large jar of raw local honey (which I did).

Sasha's advice to me last week was to concentrate on 5k's for a while.  So, that was another reason to want to race this one.  While I was running the race it occurred to me maybe he meant more concentrating on training for a 5k, but maybe also did mean to run more.  5k is a short enough distance where running enough of them is pretty good training.

8.28 mi, 1:20:41, 9:45 avg, Avg HR 126 bpm, Max HR 134 bpm

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders.  Went out nice and easy and kept HR within MAF range of 121-131 avg for each mile.  Run felt pretty good.  Due to my distance and slower pace I almost missed the coffee.  Clark and Cindy were pulling out with their stuff all packed up, but when they saw me they poured me a cup before driving off.  Nice service!

So, another pretty good HR run.  These things take patience but wondering when I'll see my pace improve while staying in MAF range.

AM - 7.87 mi, 1:05:20, 8:18 avg

Ran with Andy's cross country team at their practice.  They were doing 2 x 2 mile repeats with easy mile warm up and an easy mile between sets.  Goal pace was in the 6:40's.  I kep up ok sort of in mid pack of the group.  It was a lot of fun and I was glad I could basically keep up.

My splits ended up being: 6:47 and 6:52 for the first one, and then 6:43 and 6:45 for the second one.

After the two by two, we did 6 x 100m strides.  Now, on those I was way behind.  I think I might have kept up with one of the girls on the last one.

PM - 4.11 mi, 37:59, 9:15 avg

Ran with the Striders at Longleaf for the weekly "Humpday Hustle" which is a short run followed by meeting up at a nearby pizza place.  This was my first time participating although I had been meaning to for a while but I'm either staying too late at work or I have the kids and can't make it on those weeks.  

They had just changed the time from 6:00 to 7:00 which worked out for me, but main reason is because it's still pretty hot at 6:00.  Actually 7:00 was still pretty hot (low 90's) but it felt almost reasonable for running.

It was a nice way to break up the mileage for the day and be social at the same time.

10.25 mi, 1:42:19, 9:59 avg, HR 126 avg, 140 max

This run ended up feeling really long.  I was doing heart rate training and it started out feeling normal, with usual slow first mile with lower heart rate (below maf range), then miles in the low 9:xx's   No water at the water stop so turned back and decided to detour to the Longleaf pool which has a fountain outside.  After doing a couple more miles decided to go back to the starting area to be social for a bit and then finished off the last of my miles with an out and back.  Left hip flexor started feeling "tired" where it was slightly sore and just didn't want to lift my leg.  Stop and stretched using the new section of fence and then finished off the run.

AM - 7.77 mi,  1:24:02, 10:49 avg, HR 127 avg, 139 max

Ran from my house to SR54, to Corporate Drive, to Trinity Blvd to get to the new park and did a few laps around the lake there.  Was having trouble keeping my heart rate even with slower running, so I started to periodically walk to get my heart rate where I wanted.  Air was warm and humid but there was some cloud cover and a hint of a breeze.  The walking breaks actually felt good because my running pace was faster and my overall pace was pretty much the same.

PM - 3.21 mi, 30:38, 9:32 avg  (no HR data)

Since I had decided to not do all 10 in the morning I brought my run running shoes and a pair of shorts to work and would head to the Dunedin causeway.  This ended up being quite enjoyable since it prevented me from working too late and the scenery was a nice change.  Ran from first parking lot over the second bridge and close to the park entrance before turning back.

17.1 mi, 2:37:40, 9:13 avg

Ran starting from Longleaf, just before 7:00.  Solo run today with goal of steady miles with no stopping.  Ended up at least with almost no stopping.  First 10 miles were basically pretty even (except for slower first mile as I warmed up slowly).  However, for some reason mile 9 felt harder than it should have felt and I just starting feeling really slow.  Saw Rob heading back from his run and stopped for just a bit to chat with him.  Just passed 10 miles I turned around and then suddenly felt a lot better.  I picked up the pace a little bit to get out of my perceived funk.

When I got to 14 miles, I decided to do the rest as a fast finish run.  Mile 15 was a 7:52 which I held myself back on slightly because I thought what I'd try to do is pick it up more each mile.  Went faster on mile 16 but was starting to feel off.  So, one more change - pick it up even more, finish under 7:30 and then take the last mile as a cool down. So, that's what I did - last two miles 7:27 and 8:45

Felt a bit tired and beaten up for a while, however I'd bounce back and would end up feeling pretty good by Sunday morning.