The Long Run

5.5 mi, 52:04, 9:28 avg

Ran with Joe in the neighborhood, 6:45 start, kept it easy.

4.29 mi, 35:25, 8:16 avg

Out and back run from my house, started at 8:30.  Last night was a bit of a late night due to minor emergency which fortunately turned out ok (painful but not as bad as it could have been!)

7.05 mi

Ran with Joe and Jamie.  I was a few minutes late coming over from Jessica's house but they saw me driving in so knew I was coming.

Run felt good today, weather was decent and it was an all around good run.  Stopped for water a couple of times.  With just 0.7 miles to go, my garmin band finally fell apart with a break at a second spot.  Fortunately, I already have the spare band which I ended up putting on later with no problems.  There is also a broken seal some place and the display fogs up sometimes now so it won't be long before more things stop working.

3.25 mi, 29:00, 8:55 avg

Short, evening run to make up for my missed run in the morning.  Out and back from my house to a little bit past the golf course water fountain.  Succesfully avoided getting 0.0 miles, run felt pretty good, a bit warm (82 degrees) and humid but not horrible.

5.18 mi, 42:25, 8:11 avg

This was based on the run that I would have done yesterday morning if I had run with Jamie. It was based on doing 5 minute repeats at 10k pace which would have been her 10k pace, but I did these paces anyway, just fast enough to shake my legs awake.

I think the run worked and I felt a lot less sluggish in my legs after reminding myself I could run faster.  Pace range was 7:05 to 7:26.  I just did 4 repeats.  Made the workout go faster.

5.62 mi , 43:55, 7:49 avg

I did not run until later in the afternoon.

I watched Thomas's first cross country meet of the year held at Lake Holloway in Lakeland (where they have a pretty cool permament cross country course with markings for 3k, 5k, 8k, and 10k.  Course winds back and forth so you get a chance to see the runners at several spots).

Weather was overcast and a little warm but not hot.  He's put in a ton of miles this past summer, although once school started the coach switched to all afternoon workouts which made for a lot of slower and difficult runs.  Andy came out to watch as well as another former cross country member from last year and of course Jenny was there (drove Tom, Andy, and Dan).

Saw Tom at first mile, looking strong and coming in at about 6:08.  He was running just behind Spencer.  Saw him again at about mile 2.3 with everyone still in about the same lineup.  I then ran to the finish area.  Jenny went over to the spot where they come out of the woods and at that point he was just ahead of Spencer, but Spencer made up the time on the small horseshoe after the woods.  

Tom finished in 19:42 - a new PR for his cross country times (as well as beating his road PR of 19:53) and put him 3rd place for Mitchell varsity team after Zeke and Spencer.  His time was 5:16 faster than season opener last year at this same course.

I hung around a bit then headed home with a stop at McDonald's and a stop at the car dealership which was supposed to be just 10 minutes but was over an hour.

I finally ran about 4:45 in the afternoon. The overcast skies had cleared up and was warmer but I actually felt pretty good.  Just wanted something quick and at least 5 miles.  Legs felt much better than they had in a while and I ended up doing the last 0.62 miles at a 6:40 pace.