The Long Run

15.12 mi, 2:03:11, 8:09 avg

The BAA plan that I'm following called for 13-15 mile "Aerobic Long Run", with suggested pace of 8:00 if training for 3:15 marathon or 8:40 pace if training for 3:30.  I'm somewhere in between, so I decided I'd try and run all the miles at 8:40 or faster but not go faster than 8:00.  I ran from my house to SR54 to Longleaf and then up and down Starkey Blvd with a bit of it into Starkey Park.  Water refills would be at Longleaf pool's water fountain.  Mid 70's and cloudy, first mile was 8:46.  Had some miles between 8:15 and 8:30 and a few that dipped under 8:00 with mile 15 the fastest at 7:40 when I was not looking at my pace.

Before the run, this workout seemed daunting, but not something I couldn't do, just something that might be a struggle.  Fortunately, it all went pretty smoothly and I ended up right where I wanted to be for average pace and for how things felt.

This was the end of the third week of following the plan, maybe it is working.

8.78 mi, 1:14:56, 8:32 avg, elev gain 106 feet

Today's workout was 6x1km at 10k pace, 2 minute rest between and 2 mile warm up/2 mile warm down.

In ran in Westlake and ran a "horse shoe" out and back down Lakeview to Village Way, 1km out, 2 minute rest, and then 1km back so I could grab water/gatorade from my driveway so did not have to carry drinks.  Goal was about 6:45 pace, but ended up running them a little faster:

6:39, 6:41, 6:28, 6:30, 6:28, 6:30

The last time I did 1k repeats, I approximated by setting the lap distance to 0.65 miles since I could not set it to 0.62.  Today I programmed the 6x1k with two minutes rest on my phone and transferred it to the watch, I might have earned a badge for that.

Another fairly tough run, now I've got two easy days in a row to get ready for 2x2 mile repeats on Friday followed by 1 mile slightly faster than the 2x2 pace.

6.17 mi, 53:31, 8:40 avg, elev gain 104 feet

Mostly easy run in Westlake Village.  Schedule called for 4-5 mile run but I thought it said 5-6.  High 70's and cloudy so not too bad.

4.15 mi, 36:36, 8:49 avg, elev gain 66 feet

Another scheduled easy run today for 4-5 miles.  Since I did a mile extra yesterday , I kept it on the lower side today. It was a pretty good run overall.

9.9 mi, 1:19:05, 7:59 avg, elev gain flat

Today's run was a success.  Goal of 2x2 mi @HMP (7:05 goal) followed by 1 mile @HMP-10k (6:45ish).

Ran on Starkey Blvd.  Did not get the pre-sunrise start that I wanted, but it was early enough to avoid the full sun.  Warm up with 2 miles, plan was to go out and back and grab my bottle for start of faster portion. Trail was flooded in a couple of spots and the temporary section across construction was closed.  So, I adjusted a little bit so I could run the 2x2 with no obstacles.  Run was hard, but looking back at the 2x2 run I did a few weeks ago, this one was better, and this time I had one more mile thrown onto the end. 

Repeat 1: 6:48, 6:51

Repeat 2: 6:55, 6:55

Extra mile: 6:39

Felt good to get this run checked off.  Still feel like there's a lot of room for improvement and hopefully this plan will keep me going in the right direction.

4.15 mi, 36:07, 8:42 avg, elev gain 51 feet

Started off the morning driving up to Lecanto to see the cross country meet.  Pretty big meet with 47 schools.  Course was all trail (except for 100m track finish) and pretty hilly.  Weather was not nearly as oppressive as it was at Lakeland last week.  Saw the team start then followed a couple of coaches to the 2 mile marker where I also ran into Jolene from the Striders who coaches for one of the schools.

Thomas came through at 11:42, was leading for his team.  After he went by followed Jolene to the finish area but I did not make it in time to see the finish but Jenny texted me the finish time of 18:13 (which turned out to be 18:12.9 for the official time so a new CC PR).

Next I watched the JV boys finish.  Then I found out there was an issue on the course - some of the boys got attacked by a swarm of bees.  Saw one kid get carried to an ambulance and several others with multiple stings (not sure how many total).  They tried to clear out the bees for the JV girls who ran after a delay but I think they also shortened the course to avoid the section, just in case.

Got back home and did an easy paced 4 mile run, trying to keep it easy so I'd be fresh for my long run on Sunday.