The Long Run

AM 3.62 mi, 34:48, 9:36 avg

Short, easy paced out and back run from my house to just past the golf course drinking fountain.

PM 2.12 mi, 24:26, 11:32 avg

Evening run/walk with Stella around the neighborhood loop plus a detour to the parks to drop off waste bags and a brief stop at Jamie's house so Seven could say hi to Stella.  Usually Stella jumps on Jamie at some point, not tonight but instead, Stella kept on jumping up on me for some reason.

9.37 mi, 1:21:17, 8:41 avg

Ran out and back from my house to the Y.  Stopped at the Y for the water fountain and a gel then headed back.  Pretty good run but wasn't trying to push myself but it didn't feel totally easy either.  After I crossed Trinity Blvd stopped a little bit to take in the morning, then finished the 2 miles to get back home.

10.61 mi, 1:26:15, 8:08 avg

Ran from my house out to Starkey Blvd., first mile slow at 10:51.  Stopped at the little church, took my gel and stashed my gatorade, then jogged a little more and did a few strides.  Goal was to retry the failed workout of a few weeks ago but trying at a faster pace, instead of 7:00-7:10 I was going to try for all under 7:00.  After the first mile my hopes felt dashed, although maybe I was too quick to give up, 6:57 pace but partially due to speeding up once I decided this would be a bunch of repeats.

Slowed down for about a minute and did another fast mile, but this one at 6:42.

I went out a little bit farther into Aristida neighborhood before turning back.  Next part would be two miles under 7:00.  Just made it barely with 6:55 and 6:51.  Felt a lot tougher than it should have been but at least it meant I put in the effort.

Grabbed my gatorade and stopped for a little bit before continuing home.  For the last mile I started picking it up and ended up with 7:07 - always feels a little bit easier

7.25 mi, 1:08:01, 9:23 avg

Ran with Jamie in the neighborhood, all easy miles.  Ran the sidewalk up and down along the golf course and then did the loop back in the neighborhood for just over 7 miles.  Coolish morning, 7:15 start.

6.26 mi, 51:52, 8:17 avg

Coolish morning, set out in my neighborhood for 5 miles, felt pretty good and did a little bit more.  I did not have a very slow mile for the first mile which is sometimes about 11:00 pace, this morning's first mile was 9:10.  I did a little bit better job warming up.  Went a little bit faster for the last two miles.  No running buddies this morning.  Close to 40 miles for weekday mileage, one last long run tomorrow then a little less each of the next two weekends.

18.12 mi, 3:00:13, 9:57 avg

This morning was the Sunshine Athletic Conference meet for Thomas and the Mitchell Mustangs, held in Dade City, FL at the Withlacoochee River park.  Race started at 8:40 after the varsity girls meet.  Race started and ended in a big field with the course running into the woods on a double track trail, winding around a bit and then exiting back into the field at about 2.8 mile marker with the rest of it on the field enough to finish the race.  I arrived just after 8:00, said hi to Jenny and then headed onto the trail to find the 1 mile marker so I could get his split.  I was still close enough to hear the gun go off but the stopwatch on my iphone malfunctioned with it flipping back n forth between 0.1 and 0.2.  But fortunately, one of the coaches had rode his bike out to the 1 mile marker and was calling out times.  The leader came through at about 5:07, with about a 15 second gap to the lead pack.  Zeke (5:40) was first for Mitchell, then Spencer and Tom (5:55) was right behind Jarod.

There was only one way in and out where I was standing so I waited for the runners to go by before heading back toward the field.  Took me a little longer than I had hoped and got to the finish line just after Tom had crossed.  He knocked off another 1.2 seconds from his old PR to finish at 18:55.4, 3rd place for the team and 7th place overall for the conference.   Next up is the regional meet in two weeks at McEthan Lake Park which was the last CC meet that Andy and Tom competed in together.

I hung out for a little bit and then got my running clothes and waited for the JV meet to finish then I started out on my run.  I should have been doing a 20 mile run but I thought maybe 30k would be good enough, so 6 loops around the CC course and I could swing by my car for drinks so I could run without carrying anything.  At the start of the first loop it seemed kind of crazy but I gradually got into it. I missed a turn toward the end of the first loop and did not end up in the field but found myself back on the course.  Because of this my total for 6 loops would only be 18.1 miles instead of 18.6 miles.  After the second loop I stopped for a cold drink at my car and then ran loops 3, 4, and 5 mostly steady and no big issues although it was starting to get a bit warm.  At the start of the 6th loop it was hot and I wanted to be done, I had some slow miles but picked it up for the last mile and finished strong.

It was great to see Mitchell (both varsity and JV teams did really well) and I somehow managed to get in a long run (as well as a trail run) at a new location.