The Long Run

Monday morning runs always start out as a mystery.  After Saturday's long run and a day off on Sunday, with some unhealthy eating here and there over the weekend I'm not sure what I'll get.   This morning ended up being a good run overall.  Woke up before six and headed over to the Y.  Warmed up on the bike, did some ab crunches on the ball then got onto the treadmill for 4.27 miles at about an 8:00 pace.  I started out slowly, built up slowly to an 8:00 pace then settled in to a little faster pace so my average would end up around 8:00.

Headed outside where it was muggy.   After some nice weather last week, we have been back to muggy since Saturday.   But there was some cloud cover so at least the sun wasn't beating down.  First mile on the outside portion was a little slower than 8:00, then my pace picked up.  I felt in control and at ease and ended up with a faster pace.   Some of the miles were under 7:00 but those might have been wrong (hopefully new-refurbished garmin 205 will get here this week), or maybe they were right?  Ended up with 6.93 miles @ 7:09 average (decided not to run around extra in the parking lot to get to 7 miles).

Did a few sets of leg extensions and 3 minutes on the arc trainer to help loosen up my hips before heading home.

Ran with Jenny for 7 miles.  We were both feeling a bit sluggish.  Also, it was one of those runs where you think you are going faster than you really are.  Could have been a combination of doing the Inflict workout last night and the extra soupy humidity.   Anyway, it wasn't too bad and as always it was great to have the company.  After the 7 miles together, I continued on around the neighborhood to finish off my 10 miles for the day.   Last 3 miles were about a 7:45 average I think.

Average pace: 8:39

1600's tomorrow!

9.33 miles @ 7:45 average w/ 3X1600

I had two things to worry about this morning when I woke up, 1600 repeats and finishing early enough to get to my dental appointment and the dental appointment itself.  I guess that is three things.

I went to the Y and got there just before 6:30 (probably should have gotten there a little earlier).  Warmed up with about 2.5 slower miles to get warmed up.  Then I put on my crocs and ran across the muddy field to get to the track.  Today it was even muddier than last time and ended up getting mud all up and down my leg.  Got to the track, toweled off my feet and put my running shoes back on.   The cross country kids were doing there practice in the field, must have been a great workout for them.

Did one slow lap around the track to survey it.  There was a bench partially sticking into one of the lanes and a couple sections of mostly dried mud but nothing too bad.

The repeats went well.  Had to play the usual mind games for each lap and each repeat, but nothing out of the ordinary.  3 was definitely harder than just doing 2, hopefully 4 won't be bad when that time comes.  Here are my splits:

6:04, 6:00, 5:58

I was really happy with these, especially the last one since that is the first time I have done one of these faster than 6:00.   The other nice thing is that I can trust these paces since I didn't have to depend on my garmin.

Back across the field in my crocs, then cooled down with a couple of slow miles to get over 9 for the day.   Made it back home to get ready and over to my dental appointment 5 minutes early!

10.31 @ 7:52 pace, 5:30 run with the Striders

Met up over near the Longleaf pool at 5:30.  Good group this morning.  Jenny was able to make it due to how her schedule worked out this week so she got to meet some of the people I have talked about.

We all started off together, then I ended up running mostly with Keisha and Alex.  We did a little bit over 6 miles together at an 8:01 pace.  Chatted for a bit with the group before heading out again.  I wanted to split up the run a little bit today to make it easier on me.  Kind of like a two-a-day but with just a short break in between.  Ran from Longleaf back to my house taking a circuitous route so I could get my miles over 10.  Picked it up for the final mile to a 7:10 pace.

Quick cooling off in the pool then I did my Inflict workout.   It felt pretty hard but once again was glad to finish it.  Looking forward to tomorrow for just a plain old "easy" run.

Last weekday run!  I was glad that I had less than 10 to do today and there were no other workouts scheduled, so I went into this run feeling relaxed.   Also, I was the second one out of bed this morning, giving myself 15 more minutes after the alarm went off.  Another good thing about this morning was that the temps were more comfortable, probably the nicest morning so far.  Yesterday at lunch I picked up a pair of Asics Nimbus as an alternate shoe so I can use the Brooks Launch less frequently until I better adapt to them.   They are great for shorter distances and fine for longer distances once in a while.  Jenny had been raving about these since she bought a pair so I thought I would try them, too.

So, the Nimbus's worked out great.  Didn't have to start out too slow (began at 8:45 pace), and was able to fairly quickly get into the pace that I wanted.    Another good thing about today was I finally have a garmin 205 again.  The pace didn't jump around all over the place like the 201 does now and then.   Most of my miles were between 7:20 and 7:45, with the final mile a bit faster.

Average pace: 7:33

16.2 miles @ 7:30 pace

I headed up to Brooksville this morning for a change of scenery.  This was actually my first time driving up there myself.  Joe drove twice and my neighbor Jenny drove last time.  I had been on the fence about going up there or just running in Starkey, but I decided I'll do my 20 next week in Starkey and go some place different for this week's long run.  Mike and Eric were going to be there, although they were both doing different distances, but at least we could all start out together. 

I arrived there at 5:55, and after some warming up got going a little bit after 6:00.  It was dark for the first few miles as there was no moon but there were plenty of stars out.  The trail was pretty much desserted except for the three of us.  Started out with an 8:30 mile, then 7:50, then I stopped looking at the pace for a while.   Mike had originally said "12 or 13 miles" but he didn't turn back until we went out to 7 miles.  I turned back at 8 miles and Eric was going out for another mile.  Two miles after turning back I stopped briefly to get my music set up and to quickly stretch.

Felt speedier after my brief stop, with the last 6 miles about a 7:20 average and final mile at 6:52.

Mike had already left when I got back.  Stretched and walked around a bit until Eric came back.  Then, Eric's parents treated us to breakfast.