The Long Run

I took the dogs for a walk in an extremely light drizzle and was thinking about how perfect it was for running. Jenny said, then why not go for a run. So, spur of the moment I headed out for a quick 5 miles, no music, no shirt, no gels, no water (I thought about no Garmin but wanted to get in at least 5). The rain got a bit heavier but I didn't care, I was just happy to be running.

It's been quite a long time since I've run on Sunday, and about three years since I've run on the day after a long run.  I felt good after this run and even the next morning.  I've been staying on top of strengthening, stretching and hip mobility exercises and it has really been helping.

Monday will be my day of rest from running this week.

Ran the neighborhood with Lisa R.  I did a short 0.27 warmup before she arrived, then we did 7.06 together at a slightly quicker pace than usual. I did one gate interval but just missed it, but then another car came through. We did part of the C shape nbhd, but not all, just enough to get 7 miles in.

 Lisa didn't have her garmin with her and I was setting the pace, she said it was ok that we were going faster (she's usually more around a 9:00 or slower).  She's tough though.

 

Jenny is off this week (at least until Friday) from running after doing the 50K.  When she walks now I can't tell she just did a 50K.  She's tough though.

Ran with Chris H. and Kathryn in the neighborhood. They both arrived from different directions at the exact same time, one by car and the other on foot. Few drops of rain right away, then it fluctuated. A bit of lightning in the distance, enough for everyone to cut it short a little bit.

We had been running slower, but picked it up a little bit for the last two miles to bring the average from about 9:30 to 9:13.

If it wasn't so dangerous to run outside with the possibility of lightning I would want to do it more because it is certainly amazing to see.

 It was still dark when we finished but I could see the sky starting to break and it later turned into a nice pleasant day (even a bit warm for my parents who have just made their return to Florida along with the annual snowbird migration

Nice run with Jenny and Lisa R. this morning. I did about a mile warm up first, then Lisa showed up just as Jenny was getting back. We ran out easy to the water stop and back then I ran just past Lisa's house. It was nice having Jenny back this morning, seemed like longer than only 8 days since the last time we ran together!

After the run, I did various upper body exercises as well as most of the post run routine from Jay Johnson (the sequel to the lunge matrix which is done before the run).  It's from a Running Times article called "give me 15:".

 I also did my first practice at a one arm chin up.  This is probably a totally useless pursuit but you never know.  When Jenny saw me doing it she asked me why?? to impress friends and family? lol

No, not really it's just a small fitness goal.  I've been going a long time without any goals or with goals that were only running related.  I'm hoping if I can set and achieve some small goals it can lead to better things.

Jenny had to be into work for a client, so I biked Thomas to school.  It's kind of fun and a nice time of the morning to share.  Things have changed a lot from two years ago when both boys biked to the same school.  Now it is just Thomas for the rest of this year and next year.  I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.  Although I get into work a little bit later when I bike him it is worth it and I can still try to finish a little bit early on Friday.  When I had the chance in the past to get in early I didn't always take it and would end up staying later.  So, I'm going to do my best to balance things out from here on.

Totally spur of the moment decision to go long. Jenny's friend Jamie was planning on 18-20 and I figured why not go along. The weather was great. We took it easy and literally kept it conversational the whole way. I looked at the pace about 3 times - 9:27 avg in the first few miles, 9:21 at the turn around, and 9:16 overall at the end. Almost forgot to turn around after going out 10 miles which is why we ended with 21 miles. Hopefully Jamie feels ready for NYC marathon now.

As far as time on my feet goes, this was possibly my longest training run, even though it was more of a "fun run" than actually training for anything.

We saw two deer while in Starkey park just as it was getting light out.  We also saw lots of people we know including Tatoo Mike, Andrea, David J, Elizabeth and Carin and many other people.

21.01 mi 03:15 09:16 pace

This run was probably one of the most enjoyable long runs I've had.  The pace was not fast but it was not that slow either.  Everything about it was perfect, despite the fact that I was awake between just after 12:00 and 3:30 last night.  I had fallen asleep ok at first, then just after midnight heard steps upstairs.  Very fast steps but kind of light, too.  I went up stairs to check on the boys who were fine and nothing seemed out of place.  As I thought about it, I realized that it must have been a squirrel scampering across the roof.  After that I was in and out of bed.  I read another chapter in Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets , checked the weather on the computer for the morning, as well as my email, got a drink of water and all that stuff.  I eventually managed to get back to sleep and woke 5 minutes before the alarm clock.

 I also had time to contemplate various things, both running and non-running related.  I thought about the time off that I had to take from running and whether I define how I run or if my running was defining me.  In the end I decided that no matter what the truth was from now on I would define my running and I would use it as a tool.  I also thought about how I finally have the stronger core (although could use more work) that I vowed to get 4 years ago but somehow never found the time to do.  There's lots of things like that.

 The next morning I found out it wasn't really a squirrel but my oldest son said he had to take a quick trip to the bathroom and stumbled over some things while in the dark - mystery solved!!