The Long Run

18.07 mi, 2:28:51, 8:14 avg

Today's run called for 8 miles easy, 6-8 miles marathon pace, 2 miles easy.  Run was supposed to be on rolling hills but I didn't want to try this in Westlake and didn't want to drive to Brooksville and figured I've been doing extra rolling hills on most of my runs.  Weather was just a little bit cooler, start temps in the low 70's.  Stashed my cooler a few miles into the run, drove back to the start and got going.

Started from Longleaf, running up Starkey Blvd bike path for 4 miles and then 4 miles into Starkey Park.  Passed by Tom and waved to him while I was starting out and he was coming back from his run.  First 8 miles went ok, slow starting mile at 10:04, then was running about in the 8:40's.  As I approached the turnaround and the start of the marathon pace miles I was afraid it was feeling harder than it should have.  Decided not to let it get in my head.

Hit the turnaround and was able to step on the gas and run next mile in7:35, one down seven to go.  Left the park and started heading south down Starkey Blvd.  Got to where my cooler was and refreshed my drink bottle, 2.4 miles left to go.  Able to keep it below 7:30 after that and finished that last mile at 7:16.

MP miles were: 7:35, 7:27, 7:30,7:35, 7:28, 7:25, 7:27, 7:16

Crossed the street back into Longleaf and ran 2 more easy miles to finish off the run.

So, this was the first run in a while with marathon pace miles where I didn't have to cut it short.  Back in mid-August I had 4x3 miles @MP which I did manage to finish.  I had initially tried that run on Friday, scrapped it and retried on Sunday which was lucky since I ran into my friends that were starting out with 1.5 miles @7:40 pace so I had some help getting onto pace that day.

9.66 mi, 1:19:11, 8:12 avg, elev gain 122 feet

Workout of the day 4x1 mile @10k pace, then 4x400m @5k pace, with 2 mile warm up and 2 mile warm down.

I am beginning to dread these workouts a little less each time even though the schedule keeps slowly increasing the difficulty.  I was hoping for cooler weather but temps have gone back up slightly, but no worse than what they have been.  I was feeling slightly less than excited but just wanted to get it done (however I'd end up feeling great at the end).

I used the Westlake loop consisting of Lakeview and Village Way which contains 3 small hills.  Ran the first repeat clockwise, next one counterclockwise, and then repeated.  The mile finishes up about a quarter mile from the house so I use the jog back to the house as the rest portion (and grab a quick cold drink from the bottle I left in the driveway).  One direction is a little harder than the other.

Splits for the 1 mile repeats: 6:38, 6:44, 6:35, 6:48

Next up were the 400's: 1:35, 1:32, 1:34, and 1:27

The last one felt great because it was the last one and running under 6:00 pace for a little made me feel fast.

Finished off with the 2 mile warm down which I had to cut slightly short due to a meeting at work.

5.18 mi, 48:05, 9:17 avg, elev gain 77 feet

Back to easy days, scheduled said 4-5 miles.  Ran out the south entrance of Westlake, to Nebraska, then 18th and Pa Ave, then reversed the course back.

My first mile was kind of slow (10:46), but my last mile was faster at 8:13.  I can run a little faster on the first mile with a more extensive warm up but instead I used the first mile as part of the warm up.  

5.08 mi, 46:24, 9:08 avg

Warmer today, 81 degrees and humid at the start.  Did one big loop Alderman, Omaha, Nebraska, Belcher, back to Alderman, then a smaller loop inside Westlake to finish off the 5 miles.  First mile 10:43, last mile 8:17.

Had dinner at Fireside pizza later in the evening.  Did not get the pizza this time but had the spaghetti and meatball (it's singular on the menu, a second meatball is extra), it was pretty good but I think not quite as good as Brick Oven (but Fireside's pizza is a little better than Brick Oven's).  Longer run tomorrow with 2x3 mile repeats.

10.18 mi, 1:26:09, 8:28 avg

Had company today for my hard run, Joe ran with me, starting from Longleaf.  It was cooler this morning, not yet chilly but at least cool enouogh to not be warm at the start (although would be kind of warm on the return trip). We warmed up with 2 miles easy, out and back from the little church.  Then headed out for the repeats.

I had to make a brief pit stop shortly into the run, told Joe to go ahead, then had to make a second stop because my shoe was loose and it was aggravate the heel of my right foot, so figured I'd make one more quick stop.    Got going again and did not stop again until finishing the three miles.  Caught up to Joe finally just after two miles.

First three mile repeat: 7:09, 7:06, 6:53

Rested and jogged a little and looked to see if Joe was nearby, decided he must have turned around early.  Got going again and this time did a little bit better both pace-wise and not stopping.

Second three miles: 7:02, 6:56, 6:51

Stopped back at my car for fresh drinks in my handheld then did two easy miles in Longleaf for the warm down.  Went kind of slow, right foot bothering me a little.  I shouldn't have worn these older GoMeb shoes and stuck with the Brooks Launch instead, oh well.

But, pretty good run overall with 2 out of 3 hard runs finished for this week.

3.34 mi, 34:11, 10:14 avg

This run almost did not happen.  I had aggravated my right heel enough yesterday that I thought I might have to take a couple of days off.  But, then I tried taping my foot and it made a big difference.  Started out really slow - 11:42, still slow next mile but a little faster at 9:59, then 9:30.  Was supposed to do 4-5 miles easy, but was ok with at least getting something in.  Foot was not any worse afterward.  Tape really helped but will have to be careful until it's more back to normal but I think I'll be able to do my long run tomorrow.