The Long Run

Today's run started off slow and sluggish. I didn't mind because I had just run 20 miles the day before and was glad once again that I was ready to run after a long run with just one day off. I had planned on doing 12 miles this morning. Since today is a holiday I wasn't on a tight schedule, my only constraint was to start and finish before the sun was out in full force. Woke up at 6:25, fed the dogs, tried to get myself moving. I decided to just start running from my house.

Finally got moving at a bit after 7:00. First mile at about 9:30, second mile at 8:50. For the 6th mile I finally had a mile under 8:00. I was carrying my water belt, filled with accelerade which I drank now and then. After 6.5 miles I stopped at the Y to refill my water bottles, then continued on. The next mile was pretty good then I finally picked things up, finally no longer feeling sluggish. I did the next 4 miles at marathon pace. It felt about the same effort as the first few slow miles that I did. By the time I reached the entrance to my neighborhood I had already gone 12.5 miles. I thought about walking back, which I started to do, then I figured why not just run back slowly, it was getting hot and walking would have taken longer. So I ran slowly - faster than when I started but slower than the last 4 miles.

Average pace: 8:09

Asics gel - 335

Today was cross training day, which was good as I did not get a lot of sleep last night.  For some odd reason I woke up at 3:30 wide awake, fortunately got back to sleep, then my youngest son runs in the room at 5:30 saying he had to throw up, fortunately he did not.  At 6:00 the dogs told me they had to go out, it was the oldest dog who asked - I've found that if I ignore her request there is a good chance of an accident, so I let them out.  Got back in bed for another 20 minutes and then finally got up.

Went to the Y, did some time on the arc trainer and some time on the rowing machine, followed up with some lower body weights and ab work.  A fairly light day.

Planning on another 50 miles this week - possibly 51 or 52. 

Another "easy" 11 miles today. Ok, 11 miles isn't quite easy yet, although 9 is, but at least it is no longer hard!

Met up with Dixie at the 7-eleven near John Chestnut park and got moving at little bit after 6:00. Started out at a comfortable pace, didn't pick things up much until there very last mile which was at a 7:29 pace. Run felt good overall. Weather was decent, about 76° - each degree cooler really seems to help with the runs. Saw a family of deer in the lake park where I had seen them last Monday. We spent the second half of the run talking, at times arguing about some financial product he is going to sell. It certainly seemed to make the run go by faster.

Average pace: 8:29

Glycerin - 100.75

I woke up about 3:30, and half-dreaming I thought it was Friday today and that I had done my speed work already, then realized it was Thursday. Fortunately able to get back to sleep and up at 5:15 when the alarm went off.

Made it to the Y by 5:45, Dixie was already there. We warmed up with 2.5 easy miles then headed to the track. It was a new challenge for me today. I wanted to do 4 1600's at 6:28. My previous best was 3.

The first one felt hard, but it was doable and completed in 6:27

Second one felt better at 6:28. Third one was at 6:25.

At this point I told myself that I should be able to do the 4th one. The speed was not a problem and my endurance was up. Dixie decided to end on a high note and just do 3, since last time he had to slow down on the 3rd 1600, so completing all 3 on pace was good enough for him. But he did offer to do the last 800 on my last 1600 with me, so that sounded like a good deal to me. I completed the last one in 6:16. I felt like I could have done one more if I had to.

The Garmin kept on measuring short, it displayed one mile complete each time when we were about 50 feet or so I think from the finish. So I had to add on the seconds between the Garmin mile and the track's 1600 finish to get the above times. If I had been running just off of the Garmin I would have had really good times, with the last Garmin mile at 6:08. Well, I guess that is what the track is for.

Cooled down with an easy 2 miles or so to get in at least 10 miles for the morning.

Asics gel - 345

Easy run today.   Three miles around Kinsmere, no Garmin, but I did bring the watch.  Time was 26.06, so about 8:42 depending on whether it was more or less then 3 miles.

Warmed up inside on the arc trainer, before heading out.  Started out very slow and didn't go too  much faster.  Felt a bit stiff at the beginning of the run.  Much better at the end of the run.

After the run did about 20 minutes of upper body weights.

Another big run tomorrow although not quite as big as last weekend's big run. 

Today's run made me feel pretty good since I didn't feel like fading out at all at the end of the run. A good strong finish can be a great confidence booster.

I had some company for the beginning of the run. Joe, Keith, and Nelson were at Starkey park just before 6:30. Keith and Nelson were only going to do between 6 and 7. So, we all started out together at a nice and easy pace for the first three miles, between 9:00 and 9:20. Keith and Nelson said good bye and turned back.

It was a beautiful morning, about 74º with the sun just coming up over the trees. There was one near disaster on the way out, we almost ran into a huge spider web. I'm not sure how it was connected because it was in the middle of the path, centered about 5 feet above the ground and parallel to the direction of the path instead of straight across it. I would have missed it except for the large spider in the middle of the web, it's body was probably at least one inch in diameter, with it's legs making it even larger. I would have hated to have the web and spider wrapped around me. After that the other guys talked about who had seen rattle snakes on this trail and how one person had even seen a gator farther out. Fortunately, we didn't run into any of those today.

Joe and I continued on, to the end of the Starkey bike path and turned left onto the suncoast bike path for another 1.5 miles. Pace was picking up slightly.

Turned around at the 8 mile point. Pace continued to pick up gradually. Just after 10 miles, Joe said he wanted to slow down but insisted that I continue at my pace. So, I kept on going with my pace continue to pick up. It felt not hard at all. At this point I decided I'd try to hold marathon pace for the return trip, which I was able to do. The last mile was at 7:04. I felt like I could have gone farther but was glad that today's run was just 16.

Stopped back at my truck, grabbed a recovery shake then walked back towards the trail, just in time to catch up with Joe as he finished his run.

Average pace - 8:08 

This wraps up my highest mileage week so far. I've got one more big week next week, then start tapering off for Chicago. I can't believe how close it is now.

Glycerin - 116.81