The Long Run

1. 6.89 mi, 1:05:13, 9:28 avg , elev gain 84 feet (road)
2. 1.20 mi, 8:35, 7:11 avg (road)
3. 3.33 mi, 24:00, 7:13 avg (treadmill)
4. 2.16 mi, 20:02, 9:16 avg (road)

This run wasn't the simplest but I think it came out ok.  It was supposed to be 60 minutes easy, followed by 8 *(2 min 10K pace, 2 min marathon pace), and then 20 minutes easy.

Alarm was set for 6:00 so I could be up and running before 7:00, but I hit snooze a couple of times and before I knew it, it was after 8:00.  Weather app said it was 83 degrees already in Palm Harbor.  Thought about Trinity and running on Starkey where it was 77 degrees, but would soon be over 80 within the next hour.  I was debating what to do, time went by and after stepping outside it didn't feel so bad.  There was good cloud cover and a little bit of a breeze.  First 60 minutes would not be so bad.  I decided I'd run relaxed and easy for the 60 minute portion, head back to the house where I'd have a cooler of cold drinks and ice sitting out and then try a couple repeats and if it didn't seem like it was going to work , finish up at the treadmill on the Y.  But, the Y doesn't open until 11:00 on Sundays, so there'd be some time to kill in between.

So, the first 60 minutes went really well. Headed out of Westlake, turned onto Nebraska and then down Belcher until a little past 3 miles, then turned around.  Light was taking a while when I came back to cross Tampa road, so I took a left and crossed it at 19th street and used that road to head north, then ran past the Y and through the cut through back into Westlake.

Then I tried some of the speedy stuff which actually seemed to go ok at first.  Problem was, I wasn't quite hitting the 10k pace even though I felt like I was putting in the effort, and then when switching to marathon pace, was running too fast.

I thought about sticking to it on the road and debated back and forth then finally decided I'd try the treadmill so I could get used to switching the paces back and forth by pressing some buttons.  I'd still have to do the work of moving my legs, but I wouldn't have to worry about not hitting the paces.

So, I walked the dog, did a few odds and ends and pretty soon it was almost time for the Y to open.  Got there and started just after 11:00.  At first it felt pretty hard, but after 3 or 4 of them started feeling better, when I hit the 5th one I knew I had it, and then the 6th one was over.  Thought about doing a 7th one as a compromise for the broken-upness of the run, but was fairly satisfied it was still a good run.

Ok, one more thing, 20 minutes easy.  I stepped back outside, ran 10 minutes out and then returned back to the parking lot.

Didn't quite nail this run but was better than a month ago and it was supposed to be 10x(1 minute 5k, 1 minute MP).

9.27 mi, 1:24:15, 9:05 avg, elev gain 343 feet

Today was hill day.  8x400m uphill @10k pace, 45 second jog at the top, back down @7:30 pace, 1:30 jog, then repeat.  Warmed up with 2 miles easy.  Ran the same hill as last time which is just over 400m so I stop just a little bit short, climb is about 36 feet.  Start on the corner of Lakeview Drive and Village Way and take a left onto Sandy Hook Rd.  I could just go straight on Lakeview Drive but there's a few more cars and an extra speed hump to navigate over and a little less shade.

I was dreading the challenge of this workout, but I think it's paying off little by little.  Made it up the hill ok each time and had fun on the downhills.  After the 5th repeat I refreshed my water bottle with cold water from the clubhouse water fountain so it may have been a little more than 1:30 for the break.

Uphill paces were: 6:43,  6:46, 6:41, 6:39, 6:39, 6:31, 6:38, 6:26

Downhills ranged between 7:04 and 7:33 (the 7:04 followed the 6:26 uphill).

Finished off with 2 mile easy pace warm down.

6.41 mi, 57:37, 8:59 avg, elev gain 108 feet

Easy run day today after yesterday's hill repeats.  Ran from the house to Pop Stansell Park and then back.  Pretty good run overall.  Tomorrow is a rest day.  Schedule has 5 or 6 running days per week with Monday off and some other day during the week but not always the same day off and sometimes no other days off.  The small changes from week to week help keep it a little bit fresh.

10.59 mi, 1:28:01, 8:19 avg, elev gain 241 feet

Workout of the day was 3x2 mile repeats at half marathon pace, 3 minute jog/rest between and 2 mile warm up and 2 mile cool down.  This run felt daunting.  I wanted to go to Trinity and run this on Starkey Blvd bike trail but ended up trying it in Westlake neighborhood.  Other thoughts were maybe on Belcher road on the sidewalk or the Pinellas Trail.  Belcher is kind of rolling and Pinellas trail has a lot of distractions and more road crossings and not a lot of good places to stash drinks. So, I ended up settling on Westlake and came up with a loop that cut out at least one of the bigger hills, with the rest being manageable.  I also thought about shuffling around my runs but Sunday's run was looming long and putting in a hard workout after cross country does not always work out well (although this weekend's meet was in Starkey Park and Tom wasn't running until 9:00 so there would have been time to squeeze it in before if I started when the park opened).

So, finally decided to just do it.  Ran just over two mile warm up at easy pace (like really easy pace, first mile was about 12:00/mile not sure why I'm so slow sometimes).  Second warm up mile at 9:50.

First repeat loop did not start out so well, was hovering in the 7:30's but was supposed to be at 7:08.  Again, decided to just do it, put in some effort and see what the legs would do.  Second mile better at 6:53, so the average for the two miles was not that far off from 7:08.

Second repeat was better, 6:58 and 6:49.

Ok, just one more to go.  I had a slight problem getting back on pace and only hit 7:14 (but still better than first mile), second mile was exciting to be near the finish and came in at 6:47.

Two miles easy and then it was all over.

Looking forward to easy run tomorrow to get ready for long run on Sunday.

5.03 mi, 43:58, 8:45 avg

Scheduled easy run today.  Ran out and back in Starkey Park, starting in the field used for cross country meet parking, then onto the bike trail until I'd gone out a little over 2.5 miles (also took a side trip to restroom in bike parking lot).  Run felt better than expected despite the warming temps (started at 10:30 after watching the cross country meet).

Tom had a better race this week than last week's race but still felt sick at the end.  I went out to the 1 mile marker which took over a mile to get to (avoided walking on the course and there were no short cuts because it was on other side of small swamp/lake).  There were a couple of other coaches there calling out splits.  He was running JV this week to take some pressure off.  Came through about 5:34 (I had 5:31 but had a slight delay in hearing the start which was over one of the coach's phones).  He had one kid trailing him, one or two not too far behind and then a pack about 30 seconds after those kids.  

Jenny texted me that we was still out in front with about 1km to go.  I couldn't get back to the finish in time because I had to wait for the part of the course that I had to walk on to clear up.  He's been turning pale and feeling faint in the last mile of races, so he walked a little bit, enough to run again, and was still able to win by 44 seconds with a time of 18:39.

   No definitive answers yet from doctor visits.  These are still super fast times but dissappointing when it looks like the hardwork is not paying off.  I've had problems with cramping during marathons before so started taking in a ton of salt (ok, not a ton but two fast food packets worth) and have not had any serious cramping since then.  But, other than that I don't have any firsthand knowledge of what might be going on.  Jenny has been helping him tweak intake of carbs and electrolytes.  He ran in the 60's for mileage over the summer so aerobic base should be solid from that.  Hopefully the tweaking will help.

Also, we should be getting some cooler temps soon which should certainly help.