The Long Run

15.11 mi, 2:09:56 8:36 avg, elev gain 247 feet

Goal for today's run was 5-6 easy, 6-7 @MP, 2 miles easy, actual run was 6 miles easy, 6 miles @sort of/lower end of MP, 3 miles easy, run on "rolling hills".

Temp was high 70's at the start, not quite as early as I wanted 7:45 (would have liked 6:30 or earlier).  Dropped off a small cooler outside my office.  Headed out from Westlake neighborhood on Alderman, across US19 until it turned into Highland lakes, did a short out and back in Cobb's Landing taking me near Lake Tarpon, then continued on to my office for fresh cold drinks and ice.

Next, ran out and back in the reverse direction, into a different entrance to Cobb's landing.  The first mile I was having trouble getting to the 7:30ish pace I wanted and thought I'd just ease into it and ended up with 7:48, then I got a little slower at 7:56, and then I was in the 8:20's but knew I was going uphill and could get faster on the downhill, finished that mile at 8:01.  Turned around at about 3.5 miles from my office, coming back up a hill from Lake Tarpon.  But, I did not slow down, just kind of held the pace and finished that mile at 7:57, continuing on got the next mile at 7:59.  This was not going as planned.  I didn't feel like I was dying or anything, legs just werent turning over like I wanted.  So I decided it would be 6 miles instead of 7.  The moment I did that, run felt easier and pace picked up with 7:35 for the last of the MP miles.  

Made it back to the office, topped off from the cooler, then headed back to Westlake.

So, overall the run wasn't perfect, but it was the amount of miles I had planned and the easy-faster-easy pattern was there, just not quite as fast during the faster section.

After the run, headed out to Cocoa Beach for a quick overnight getaway.  Drive was not too bad despite off and on rain and then there was off and on rain at Cocoa Beach but it was kind of nice and there were big waves to look at.

5.16 mi, 52:02, 10:05 mi, elev gain 105 feet

Today was supposed to be hill repeats but I needed something easier.  Looking back on Sunday, I realized I wasn't feeling my best, had woken up with a heavy tired feeling.  Yesterday was an off day but still didn't feel ready to jump back into anything difficult.  I even ran a bit slower and did a little bit of run/walk during the first mile until I felt a bit loosened up.

All of this helped and I felt better after the run.  I'll try the hard stuff tomorrow.

8.06 mi, 1:12:09, 8:57  avg, elev gain 250 feet

Today's workout was 6x400m hill repeats, going up at 10k pace, 30 second break, and then back down at MP (7:30) pace, 90 second rest, repeat.

This was supposed to be Tuesday's run but I switched it around due to feeling "off" yesterday and it seems like it was the right choice.

Took it easy for the two mile warmup, then started the repeats.  I basically used the same hill that I used for the 300m repeats, but started earlier down (actually, had to start on Lakeview instead of Sandy Hook, then took a left onto Sandy Hook for the extra 100m.  I was a little bit faster than prescribed pace on the uphills, with: 6:33, 6:35, 6:33, 6:27, 6:22, 6:28  instead of goal pace of about 6:45, downhills were closer to planned pace.

Cool down miles felt good.  Overall, it was a pretty good run.

5.48 mi, 49:39, 9:04 avg, elev gain 107 feet

Today was scheduled for 5-7 miles easy, I opted toward the shorter end of distance and kept the pace at the slower average for easy (I'm saying 8:35-9:10 is "easy", even though it could be any pace).  Run was a big square loop around Westlake Village and Palm Harbor HS as well as a shortcut into a neighboring neighborhood.  It was a pretty good run, not too fancy.

15.03 mi, 2:10:09, 8:39 avg, elev gain 86 feet

Today's run was supposed to be on Saturday and was supposed to include 4x3 miles at marathon goal pace, but instead turned into just a regular long run at an "easy" but not lazy pace.  I also decided to go ahead and give the Pinellas Trail another chance for long runs.  I have not been having super successful runs on it recently.  Weather was in the 70's, and if I had started an hour sooner just before the sun came up I would have had some low 70's to run in.

 Took the shortcut out of Westlake, running past the Y and then over to the Pinellas Trail.  One nice thing about running at this time is that the crossing guards are out for the kids but also stop traffic for runners as well.  Headed south and then crossed Alt-19 where the bridge is closed, but at least they have a flashing light pedestrian crossing which some cars actually stop for.  Paces were slow so far - 11:01, 10:02, 9:05, 9:31.

Miles 6 and 7 were a slight pick up to 8:17 and 7:56, I was getting excited about the turn around at 7.5ish miles.  But, just as things were going great, my mp3 player battery died.  There was a guy on his bike who had stopped and he had his dog not on its leash, so I stopped a little bit and walked to assess the situation and started going again once the dog and owner were back together.

Then just after the turnaround I had a moment of running despair, like I was about to be doomed to a long and slow return trip as it got hotter and hotter.  I was struggling to hold a 9:30 pace.  Then, as my thoughts went elsewhere, I halted the slowdown and made up some of the pace and finished that mile at 9:11.  After that things got better and back to being faster with paces going to 8:18, 8:03, 7:58, 8:00, 7:34, 8:44, and 7:52

The water fountain at Alt19 and Curlew was more refreshing than expected.  It's not cold water, just whatever the ground temps happen to be.  It's a new three level fountain - the bottom level for dogs, a middle level for traditional fountain drinking and the top level for water refilling.

So, after my mile of despair and the refreshing water fountain, I saw my average pace drop from 9:05 to 8:39 at the end.

I did not do the 4x3mile repeats, but the run was done so my schedule was clear to watch Tom and the cross country team at the meet in Ocala on Saturday morning.

Planned day off today.  Drove up to Ocala to watch the cross country meet which was held at the Florida Horse Park.  Weather was pretty good, not quite cool but going in that direction and not as oppressive as the first few meets.  Looked for Tom at 1 mile but did not see him as the crowd went by, but did see him at the two mile marker where he went past with a time about 11:44.  He finished at 18:21, 3rd for his team and 95th overall.  Top 26 boys were all under 17:00, so a pretty competitive meet.

The meet they had scheduled one year ago this weekend was canceled due to the hurricane.