The Long Run

It had rained a little bit last night but had stopped by the time I woke up.  I went to the Y, warmed up on the bike, did some  crunches on the ball, then did a quick one mile warm up on the treadmill (1.1 miles @ 8:50 pace).  I wanted to get outside before the sun went up too high.  Had decent cloud cover, so the warm humid air didn't feel too bad.   Ran 4.1 miles outside at 7:41 pace.

Went back inside and got back on the treadmill.  I started out easy and then decided just for the fun of it to try out a run I used to do when doing the Body for Life program, where you run intervals based on perceived level of effort (on a scale of 1-10).  After a warm up you run one minute each at 6-7-8-9, then repeat 3more times (4 times total), followed by 1 minute at "10", then a cool down.   For simplicity I equated this into miles per hour of 7,8,9,and 10 respectively, with the "10" being 11 mph.  The last time I tried this I chickened out when it came time to do the final 10 effort.  This time I made it through all 4 intervals and even did the last minute at 11 mph.  I probably won't do this run again for a while but it was good to find out that I could now do something that I wasn't able to do in the past.

  Average pace for 4.1 miles on the treadmill was: 7:19

Tomorrow will be another Inflict workout after the run

I went over to the Y this morning to run with Raj at 5:30.  He assured me that he would be there "rain or shine" this time, and he was.  Tim was also there.  Tim also brought a friend with four legs who was very eager to run.  We set out at an easy pace.  Tim's friend stopped a couple of times but was really good at catching back up.  Finally, after 3 miles, Tim's friend said that it was far enough and laid down for a bit, so they headed back to their car at an easy pace.  Raj and I continued on.  Our first few miles were kind of slow.   We got going a little bit faster, but nothing faster than 8:00.  Ended up with 8:43 average.  This was fine with me as it was the perfect opportunity to slow down.

I headed back home.  Jenny had just finished her run.  She had run around the neighborhood with the other Jenny and her friend Laura.  They went a little bit faster than she is used to but was able to hang in ok with them.  They averaged an 8:32 pace for 7 miles.

And since it is Tuesday, I did my 5th Inflict workout.  Some new exercises but similar to the other workouts.  About a half hour more of sweating and getting a good workout.

I got going a little bit later today.  I was awake at 6:10 but wasn't actually running until just before 7:00.  I thought this would not be a big problem as I thought I was getting used to the heat, but for some reason it kind of got to me today.

I ran from my house, down the old road to Trinity Blvd then in through Trinity Oaks neighborhood to the end of Wyndtree and a little bit onto a side street there to get up to 5 miles.  Just after the turnaround I was starting to feel a bit warm.  I was carrying some accelerade in my water belt and was sipping from it so that helped a lot.  With about one and a half miles left to go I stopped briefly at the water fountain on the golf course so I could splash some of the chilled water on me, that helped a ton.  Continued on home then quickly got into the pool to cool off.

It wasn't really any warmer today than it has been but there were less clouds so maybe that was it.   It was a little bit discouraging that it got to me but it was still a pretty good run overall.

Average pace: 7:53

I ran with the Striders this morning.  We met over by the Longleaf pool about 5:30ish, then started out by 5:45.   It was a smaller group than last week, but still pretty good (maybe about 10 of us).  I started out slowly then caught up to Keith, Nelson, Dixie and Keisha.  We stopped briefly at 2.8 miles for water.  Dixie and I continued on to the 4 mile point and then headed back.  We kept the pace nice and easy with the return trip just a little bit faster.

Average pace: 8:28

 Today's run felt much better for a number of reasons: it was still dark out, pace was slower, running with other people.

 Did another Inflict workout today (about 30 minutes), this is the sixth one I have done, 3 weeks of Inflict (end of one series).

Jenny was up before me to run with her friend Cherise, she was out the door before 6:00.  I slept in until 6:20, fed dog #3 who hadn't gotten up for breakfast then got myself ready to run.  I looped around the neighborhood on the bike for a warm up.  Jenny and Cherise were just finishing up their run as I was heading out.  Everything was a little wet from the light rain we had and the temp was a little cooler.  I ran a loop around the neighborhood and then a short out and back to get just over 6 miles.  Stopped for water twice but I was pretty quick about it so I didn't stop my watch.   Probably could have skipped the water but it was there and I was supposed to be taking it easy.  Felt pretty good overall on the run.

Average pace: 7:54

Lucked out this morning with some pretty nice weather.  Anything below 75 degrees this time of year is a gift, this morning it was 73.  I showed up to the gate of Starkey park at 5:45 hoping to get an early start but it was closer to 6:00 when they opened it up (official opening time is 6:30).  A bunch of us set out as a group and mostly stuck together for 5 miles.  A number of people turned around and a few kept going until 6 miles.  Keith's friend Dave was pretty easily talked into going with me until 7.5 miles out so we could run 15.

Dave and I picked up the pace steadily.  On the way back we stopped at the 4 mile stop and decided to pick up the pace a little more for the last 4 miles.  The sun was higher but the temperature was still pretty comfortable especially when in the shade.  Last 4 miles were at 7:22, 7:05, 7:05, and 6:05.  I'm a little suspicious of that last mile and think it might not have been accurate but it was probably at least 6:30 pace (but part of me wants to think I ran a 6:05 mile at the tail end of just over a 15 mile run).

Average pace: 7:51

 As usual, stuck around for a bit for social hour.  Barb brought a small cake for Keisha's birthday and Eric's (whose birthday is tomorrow).  I tried to pour a small cup of Jorge's coffee but was too late as there was literally just a few drops left.

I made my mileage goal for the week with one mile to spare.  I think I'll try to stay at this mileage for a few weeks.