The Long Run

Monday morning run.  Felt a bit sluggish this morning at first until fully warmed up.  Went to the Y, 10 minutes on the bike and then 4.2 miles on the treadmill at about an 8:05 average pace.

Headed outside where it had warmed up a bit along with a dollup of humidity.  Went on my favorite out and back about 6 mile course.  Ended up with a 7:37 average due to the last two miles being faster.  Did a few sets of leg extensions and a few minutes on the arc trainer to stretch out my legs.

Always feels good to get Monday run finished because once you get started for the week you don't have to get started again, just keep going.

Good run with Jenny this morning.  Pretty even splits throughout the run.  We ran together for 7.5 miles (Jenny had to do just 7 today but didn't mind a little bit farther).  Then I did the last 2.5 (ish) by myself with a loop around the neighborhood and a couple side roads.  Weather was pretty decent, not quite a cool, crisp, fall morning but a little bit better than it has been.

Average pace: 8:29

After the run I did my Inflict workout, which I was able to do in under 40 minutes which is pretty good for me.

7 miles at tempo pace tomorrow!

Daunting tempo run this morning.  I woke up this morning feeling a little unprepared.  I hadn't mixed up my accelerade like I usually do the night before.  It worries me when I don't stick closely to a routine.  Outside was slightly warm but very humid and foggy.  I headed out to Starkey Blvd to run on the bike trail there, about two miles away.  First mile I felt ok but was surprised to see that it was 9:42, it felt more like 8:50 or so.  I was supposed to do 7 miles @ 6:46 pace and was worried about making such a big jump in pace.  So, in the next mile I tried to vary the speed to prepare myself for the faster speeds.

So, I started the tempo portion, got onto my pace but was having trouble hanging onto it.  I did ok the first mile, just missing the pace by 1 second too slow.  The next mile felt tougher and about half way through it I came so close to stopping and taking a short break.  My mind was compiling a list of reasons to stop and how it wasn't so bad to take a break.  I pictured myself stopping then feeling fresh and having a great run.   The fog reminded me of the day of that 5K in December where the guy with the 2:59 on the back of his shirt pulled away from me and disappeared in the fog.  Sometimes the conditions aren't great and you don't feel on top of your game, but don't give up too soon because things can change.  I decided I needed to at least finish the second mile on pace, and if I can get that one on pace then I can keep going.  If I can't hold onto the pace then maybe something is wrong and I should stop.  I made the time goal for the second mile with 2 seconds to spare (6:44).

At that point it became the usual mind games, get to the next mile, get to the turn around point, get to the next mile, get to the last mile, etc.  So, I made it, but it was way harder than the 6 mile tempo I did last time, fortunately the last two miles were good so a lot of these problems were mental and not physical.

Splits: 6:47, 6:44, 6:38, 6:42, 6:45, 6:36, 6:34

Recovered a bit and did a slower mile followed by the last mile at 7:06 which felt nice and flowing.

Average pace: 7:18

Felt good to get this run checked off.

Ran with Jenny this morning on her tempo run.  We warmed up with 1 mile at an easy pace then started the tempo portion.  I was going to be the pacer and the drink carrier.  Her goal was 6 miles at 8:18 pace.  First mile was good and the second mile seemed pretty good, too.  We were ahead of pace.  I started noticing some problems about 3 and a half miles into the tempo portion.  I turned off my music so I could tune in better to how she was doing.

We kept on going, I could tell she was struggling more on the second to last mile and at one point I thought we weren't going to make the goal pace but she dug deep and pulled it off.  Finally, the last mile.  She was working hard but was determined to make it on pace.  The last 0.25 mile of the last mile she surged ahead a bit and came in well below pace.

Ended up averaging just under 8:11 pace for the 6 miles which was great.  Ran with Jenny on the cool down then ran ahead a little more for an extra mile.

Weather was a bit nicer today, so that helped but we sure could use some of that nice fall weather a lot of people are getting now.  I'm sure we'll get ours soon.

After the run, did my Inflict workout that I had done on Tuesday, so that is done with for the week.  Just have an easy run tomorrow :)

Today was my mostly relaxed run for the week.  Ran by myself and did the usual route through the neighborhood and along the nearby golf course.  I was a little bit slowish at the start but got better once I warmed up.   I stopped once at a drinking fountain about 3.5 miles into the run.  It was after that point where the run became less of a struggle and more of the relaxed feeling I was hoping for.  Got moving again and by the time I had three miles left I was feeling better and picked up the pace progressively until the end.

Average pace: 7:44

Just to liven things up I took a picture of some assorted birds when I stopped at the water fountain.  They were hanging out in one of the many recently formed puddles around here that the birds love.

Last night I was feeling a bit wiped out and had some worry about this mornings run.  I wanted to start it out early to beat the heat (although actually just beating the sunshine since the temp stays about the same for a while, about 77° from start to finish today).   I woke up about 4:50, got ready, then got onto my bike and rode it over to David's house (about 2.5 miles away).  He said I could leave my bike on his porch and would take a bag of stuff (dry shirt, towel, etc) up to Starkey for me (thanks David!).  I got there at 5:30 and got going pretty quickly.

I had the light on my hat (well, actually Jenny's hat, I had to promise I would buy my own hat today).  I had been hoping the easy bike ride would get me fully warmed up but I still had a fairly slow start.  I was moving better after about three miles (8:15ish pace).  I ran into the parking lot in Starkey where people meet, hoping to run into someone who was leaving to go out for a run at the same time but I either just missed them or some were not yet ready to go.

Stopped for a little bit at what is usually the 4 mile stop (almost 10 today).  I went out to the Suncoast trail and turned left, went north for about a mile then turned around.  At that point my right hip area was getting a little bit achey, nothing terrible but I decided I should stop briefly and stretch which helped out a lot.

Once I was back in the park I was feeling better and was finally feeling like this run would actually have an ending.  After going by the the stop which is 4 miles from the end, I began to feel better and was able to progressively pick up the pace with last two miles at 6:50 pace.  Even though I didn't really get to run with anyone I did see lots of familiar faces out on the trail and said hi to lots of friends, so that's the next best thing to actually doing the run with someone else.

Average pace: 7:47

Snacked and rehydrated at the social hour  - had watermelon, donut holes, chocolate milk, and delicious Brazilian coffee compliments of Regina.  Caught a ride with Bob back to David's house to get my bike then rode back home from there.

Another good 20 miler checked off!