The Long Run

On Saturday night we were having dinner at a little pizza restaurant near our house, sitting outside.  My youngest son,  Tom,  noticed a "Games2U" truck driving by.  I said that reminded me that there was a 5K tomorrow at the community college (PHCC).  My oldest son, Andy, said he was interested.  I was a little bit surprised but said ok.  So, we got up early in the morning and I took the two boys to the race.  Originally my youngest was just going to watch.  I figured that would be ok as there would probably be people there we knew.  Jenny was doing her run but was going to try to get there by the start.   Just before the race start, I also signed up Tom because as he did not want to be left out.  But, I told Tom that he would have to run by himself as I promised to run with Andy (although I asked a couple of people I knew that would be running to look out for him).  He said ok.  But, I wasn't sure, these races can turn into a big drama between the two boys.

We did almost a one mile warm up on part of the course.

The race started.  It was a beautiful morning and was a really nice course.  The three of us started together, and about a 1/4 mile out Andy and I started to pull ahead of Tom.  No complaints or drama from Tom, just as promised.  At about 3/4 mile Andy had to stop and tie his shoe.  Tom cruised right by us.  We got going again and passed up Tom and kept on going.  The course was a double loop with some out and backs.  We saw Tom a few times and he was just running along without any problems at all.  Oftentimes there is some complaining, some screaming, and a few walk breaks.

Andy and I stuck to the plan and hit the splits pretty much where we wanted to be.  I tried to push Andy a bit but was careful not to overdo it.  Andy recently had run a 7:20 mile at school.  I had looked up the equivalent 5K time on Runner's World website, which said 24:20 for a 5K.  We came right in at 24:19, a new PR for Andy by 1 minute.

After crossing the line I went back to look for Tom.  He wasn't really that far behind us and came in with an impressive kick, which is always a crowd pleaser due to his smaller size but larger than life look of effort on his face.  Tom's time was 26:40, about a 2 minute PR for him and the very first time he ran a 5K by himself.   Although, it turned out not completely by himself.  There was a 19 year guy he happened to be running the same pace, so they stuck together just about the whole way, which was nice.

Then after the race, they had some pretty good snacks and of course the Games2U truck.

Met up w/ Dixie in the hilly neighborhood.  My legs were feeling beat today so we decided to just take it easy.  Did not do hill strides at the end but added a little extra onto the normal route to make up for it.  It was a bit warmer than it had been but still pretty nice morning for running.

Average pace: 8:47

Did some upper body work after the run (and a little bit of legs,2 sets of squats).

In the evening did some assorted yoga along with the Wii

Warm enough this morning for no shirt, not a great sign for this weekend, hopefully it cools down a few degrees before then.  Run was good.  Ran about 5.5 miles with Jenny and then did the rest by myself.  Kept the pace nice and comfortable.

Average pace: 8:33

Ran with Jenny and Jamie.  Jenny ran about 5 miles, then I ran some more with Jamie before she headed home.  Temperature was still up but it is supposed to get cooler by this weekend, fingers crossed.

Average pace: 8:44

Warmed up with Jenny this morning, ran about 5 miles together.  Still warm outside, but maybe a little cooler than yesterday.  Jenny headed back and was going to do some strides.  I did a short tempo run at my hoped for half marathon pace, trying for under 6:30.  The run was a little bit harder than I would have liked.

Splits were: 6:23, 6:27, 6:27, and 6:26

It was warmer than on Saturday when I ran 3 miles around that pace at the end of my long run, or maybe I wasn't quite rested enough.

Cool down, just under a mile to get back home.  Pretty happy with the total miles and getting in some faster miles.

Average pace: 7:45

Ran with Jenny in the neighborhood.  Wanted to do a little bit shorter today as I was feeling behind from recovery due to running this past Sunday which I normally take off.

Average pace: 8:46

Went to Starkey for a short and easy run.  Started out while it was still dark and saw a shooting star.  Caught up to David J and Eudair and ran with them since they were only doing 6 also.  Waiting around after the run to see the people that we knew who were doing the half marathon that was there today.  Dixie ran 1:33, which was awesome since he was hoping for 1:35-1:40.  Victoria also did great with a 1:42 which I think is a PR for her.

Average pace: 8:40