The Long Run

It was a difficult run this morning. I woke up tired and was not able to really shake it off like I usually can do. On the positive side, I got the job done. Anyone can have a good run when they are feeling good, but it takes commitment to run when you don't feel like running.

Tried my usual warm ups, but finally I had to just get going. The weather was very nice outside. I ran about 1.8 miles then stopped to drop off my drink bottle and stretch out a little bit. This helped and got me moving a little bit better. I stopped one more time because I figured that if it helped once it would help again. It did help a little bit and I was able to keep moving. It never got to that easy point, so I just kept going.

Also, I had a lot of new music to listen to.  Jenny had felt sorry for me recently and found a bunch of new songs for me to run with, but after a few miles of running with music this morning I turned it off.  On Saturday I ran with no music, most of it by choice.  When I tried to turn it on with 6 miles left, the ipod was not working.  I might just be getting tired of listening to music while running so I'm going to cut back on that for a while until I enjoy it again. 

Average pace: 8:28 (without counting most of the two stops)

Asics - 468

Today's run felt 10 times better than yesterday's run.  I'm not exactly sure why but I'll take it. 

I did not go to the Y this morning.  I warmed up at home with some stairs, walking and some dynamic stretches. 

I ran from my house on an out and back course.  There is only one problem with this in that there are a couple stretches of busy road without a very big shoulder or sidewalk available but it is not too far.

I started out slowly, gradually picked up and got into a good groove after the first 3 miles.  My splits were: 9:55, 8:51, 8:26, 8:01, 7:38, 7:27, 7:37, 7:31, 7:49, 0.72@7:54

I had planned on 8-9 miles but got in a little bit more since I kind of made up the course as I went along.

I did listen to music today, but only after I warmed up.  It made a nice compliment to the running rather than an annoyance like it was yesterday.   The weather was perfect.

 Average pace: 8:07

Brooks 

Ran from home again this morning.  I left a little bit later than usual but that was ok since there was nothing pressing to hurry for.  Mile splits ranged between 9:15 and 8:08 with an overall average pace of 8:29.  Weather was great again.  A little bit warmer than yesterday but still very comfortable.

 I wanted to take it easy today since I'll be doing a 5K turkey trot tomorrow, the one mile run with the boys.   Hopefully I can get in at least 6 miles tomorrow.

 Brooks

 

This morning was our annual local Turkey trot race.   They have a 5K, 1 mile, and 10K race.  Jenny was doing the 10K, I did the 5K, and then I did the 1 mile race with Noah and Andy.  This year was a record year for registrations with over 16,000 runners between the 3 races, although I'm not sure what the breakdown was.

I got to the starting line and ran a 1.1 mile warm up.  After the warm up I had a pretty good spot close to the front.  Just when the race was about to start they announced a 15 minute delay.  At that point, a lot of people went past the starting line to mill about.  When the race was about to start they all came back to the start.  Because of this I was now about 15 deep from the start.

The race started, there were many slower people at the start, so it was slow going at first and more weaving than I would have liked.  I got the first mile in 6:30, but it was pretty hard fought to get that.   The second mile opened up some more, but I ended up doing that one slower for some reason at 6:35.  This could have either been due to the first mile effort or perhaps from the realization that I was probably not going to be in the top 125.  (They only list the top 125 male and female finishers on the results, this is up from previous year's 100).

The third mile went better.  Lots of people had faded so I continued to pass other runner's one by one.   The third mile also has the biggest hill which usually has slowed me down a lot in the past.  This time I held my pace.  The hill leveled out and then turns into a very slight downhill for the tail end of the third mile.  I hit the third mile in 6:15.  This was my fastest ever 3rd mile for a 5k. 

The last 0.1 mile goes into a stadium, by the time I could see the clock it had just turned to 20:00.  I kept going and thought I finished at 20:12, however I didn't pass under the clock until 20:18.  My wife was watching me as I slowed down just before the finish line.  She said I'll get a roundhouse kick from her if I do that again.

So, it's a 2 second PR.  I'll take it since this was a large race with some hilly terrain but I think I could have done a little bit better.

After the 5K I did the 1 mile with the boys.  We stayed together until the end and Andy got a 8:59 by pulling ahead at the very end Noah came in at 9:06 and I was 1 second behind Noah.  Noah was upset that he didn't beat Andy, but with Noah being 3 years younger than Andy it was quite an accomplishment.   The mile race was also very thick with runner's and lots of walkers at the beginning.

Jenny made a 56:06 for her 10K which she was happy about. 

Day after Thanksgiving/day after race recovery run and exercise.

Alarm clock set for 6:30, woken up by dog about to throw up at 5:30.

Went to the Y and warmed up inside with just over 10 minutes on stationary bike, a few minutes on the rowing machine and a little bit of time on the treadmill speeding up and slowing down. 

0.66 treadmill

Then I headed outside.  The warm up had gotten me slightly sweaty so I decided to run without my shirt since it was just a plain cotton shirt.  It was on the verge of being too cold to run without a shirt which I realized shortly after starting the run, oh well.  I did not wear the garmin.  I did wear my watch which I tried not to look at.  Checked the distance later on mapmyrun. 

3.54 in 29:22 (8:17 pace)

Went back inside and did an easy full body weight routine.

I met up with Joe at 5:45 at the Suncoast pkwy bike trail parking lot, it was slightly chilly but nice (about 55°). The moon was very bright so the normally dark bike trail wasn't too bad. We went pretty slow for the first few miles and gradually picked things up. The first 10 miles we averaged 9:00 pace due to the very slow first few miles (10:15, 9:30, 9:15). As the sun came up it turned into a very beautiful morning outside. Definitely the kind of morning that makes you glad you are out for a run.

Around miles 12 to 14 we did a couple of faster miles, about 7:30 each. We backed off for the next few miles then I said I wanted to finish up the last two miles at marathon pace. So, with two miles left we picked it up. The pace was faster than it felt, that mile was at 7:08. Joe had said that I shouldn't wait for him but he managed to keep up with no problem. He dropped back a couple of times on the last mile but managed to catch up and hang on. I kept at the pace but didn't want to push too hard. Last mile was at 7:13, then we slowed and jogged the rest of the way to the parking lot.

This was one of my best runs in a while. I felt even better on this run than on my last 20 mile run before the Chicago marathon.

Average pace: 8:23

Brooks glycerin