The Long Run

5.13 mi, 45:55, 8:57 avg

After last week, where I only ran 5 miles and probably overindulged more than I should have (but I did do a lot of walking and climbing!), today's run was better than expected.  Westlakd village run, down Lakeview Drive to Nebraska Ave for a bit then onto less busy Pennsylvania Ave which has a few small rolling hills.  Then turned around the way I came.  Last mile was 7:46, bringing my overall average just below 9:00.

6.49 mi, 58:00, 8:56 avg, elev gain 120 feet

Ran a similar route to yesterday but went out a little bit farther on Pennsylvania until I hit the Pinellas Trail and ran south a little bit.  On the way back took a longer way on Village Way back to Lakeview.  Felt pretty good overall, second good run in a row.

Lutz Independence Day 5K

I'd wanted to do this one for a while and thought it would be a good chance to see if I could improve a little over my last race.  Before the race it almost felt cool, but after warming up realized it was going to be a warm one.

First mile was pretty good, coming in at 6:40 it was nice to not be struggling to stay just under 7:00.

But, the next two miles started to go that way, with second mile at 6:51, but still better than RAP River 5k.  Third mile I felt like I was really slowing down but somehow managed to get a little bit back and then had a pretty good kick.  Managed first in age group and felt like it was a step in the right direction back to sub-20:00

5k's sure are hard.

Fun morning though.

6.05 mi, 56:50, 9:23 avg

Ran in Foxwood with Joe and Jamie, 6:45ish start time.  Usual route from neighborhood and along the golf course.  Pretty nice 75 degree weather.

3.35 mi, 31:02, 9:16 avg, elev gain 79 feet

Shorter run this morning.  First, ran a little over 2 miles easy.  Stopped back at the house before Jessica left for work.  I was going to drop off Aubrey at a friends house on the way to work so didn't want to be far from the house, so ran some 20-25 second strides up and down the street near the house, ran 7 of them, missed sub-6:00 on a couple of them.

Glad I added in some strides, made the run feel a little more productive.

15.15 mi, 2:22:53, 9:26 avg

Ran from home, kind of a late start at 8:26 by the time I finally started my watch.  Earlier in the morning it had been raining pretty heavily with enough lightning to keep people in bed longer (like myself), although probably would have been safe to start running about 7:15 or so rather than almost 8:30.

Left from my house with a 20oz handheld filled with gatorade, out to SR54 then onto Starkey Blvd.  There was a little bit of coolness left over from the rain which made it feel not so bad at first.   I had a slow first mile (11:02), and then was in the 9:00's for most of the run except for 3 of the miles which were in the 8:50's.  

I'd wanted to get enough miles to make it over 40 miles for the week.  So, I decided I'd run out a little over 7 miles which would take me to the park shelter where if nothing else there is a water faucet with water that is not ice code or delicious but manages to do the job of water.  As I approached the park entrance I saw Craig and Diane heading south (had just seen Tom and Jenny a little bit before that).  They said they'd leave the drinks out for me.  So, I turned around at exactly 7 miles (or pretty close to exactly) without reaching the shelter and the ok water.  Detoured to Diane's house and refilled 20oz with gatorade and drank one bottled water along with a gel.

Started out again, felt ok at first but then started getting tired legs.  Stopped at the bridge to stretch a little bit before continuing on until reaching the Circle K.  I had a soggy $5 bill on me, so went in and bought a polar pop, lots of ice, powerad and mountain dew.  Quite refreshing and did the trick to get me almost home.  A little bit after hitting 15 miles, with still about a half mile to my house, decided to just walk it in.  I'd already done more than the 14 and would have over 40 for the week.  A little walking would not hurt.

Felt kind of wiped out for most of the day.

For dinner, later that night,  had the "di parma" pizza at Fireside Pizza in Palm Harbor (prosciuto and arugula) - no problem finishing it.  Jessica was out with Amy (from Ohio) who was visiting for the weekend and doing their girl's night out, but met up with them after dinner for one drink at Peggy O's.