The Long Run

2.22@13:47

Due to some miscommunications and rain I did not run this morning.  However in the afternoon it was nice out and I went for a walk and threw in a little bit of light jogging and decided the walk/jog pace was fast enough I'd go ahead and count it.  

Used the Whoop app on my phone because I wasn't planning on recording it as a run.  It's not a bad pace if I can do this for Long Haul 100, would give me sub-24 hours.

4.59@8:58 HR 142 bpm

Two loops inside Westlake Village.

10.03@9:13 HR 141 bpm

Ran from the Longleaf Church, up Starkey Blvd and into Starkey Ranch neighborhood.  Took a right at the Huckleberry shuffle then ran on a road I don't usually run on until joining back onto Rangeland Blvd (main road that comes from Starkey Blvd).  Stayed on Rangeland until the end which took me behind and past the relatively newer Publix near Gunn Highway.  Turned back and ran to and then stopped at Cunningham Park for water where I saw Ben.  He was there with his family and another family doing family photos of each other.  Chatted for a few minutes (about running of course) before I continued on around Cannon Lake (counterclockwise) and back to Rangeland and back to Starkey Blvd.

First mile this morning was 10:17 (did a little bit better job warming up), last mile was 8:46.  Weather was perfect again.  Carried a little water bottle in my belt (reused the 8oz disposable bottle again, they crunch smaller so fit nicer.  Could probably use a fancy collapsible bottle instead).

Tampa Bay Times Turkey Trot race report.

Time: 21:07.7

Splits: 6:43, 6:51, 7.07, 0.08@5:45

After having no race last year, did not want to miss this year.  No 10K this year and the pre-race party was moved as well as the finish line and there was a slight change to the course.  Plan was to go out hard running through the mayhem of the first mile with thousands of people many of whom are not lined up to their ability but it's part of the fun.  Got a pretty decent warmup with just under a mile including some strides (was having some trouble getting the legs to turn over as fast as I wanted but better to get that out of the way before the race than during the race).

Race starts and things go pretty much as expected, with the crowd a little less crazy after about a 1/4 mile.  I'm hanging on ok and locked into a 6:40ish pace.  Bill Cottrell goes cruising by me and wishes me a happy Thanksgiving.  We turn the corner at the end of the first straightaway and soon hit the mile sign. 6:41. One goal down, get back under 7:00 for the first mile.  Can I do one more?  Continue on until taking the left hand turn that will lead to the hill.  I'm struggling but moving along and seemingly the same pace, slipped maybe a little to about 6:46, feeling pretty locked in.  See the two mile sign and a little after that the watch beeps, 6:51.  Hmmm, that's odd pace had seemed pretty steady.

The third mile is where the change is.  Instead of a straight shot up the same road, we take a left down a side street, a right, another right and finally a left to get back to the street where we left the old course.  Then, turning left onto Druid you could see the finish line.  Traditionally, you'd turn just past this year's finish line and head onto the high school track where the finish line was which is kind of nice, but this year's straight shot down the road made it slightly easier.  Also, that little detour down the side streets broke up Cemetery Hill into two parts.

Pace seemed to be holding at about 6:54 for the last mile.  Somewhere back maybe around mile 2.5 I'd passed up Bill.  Not wanting to get passed again I sped up as best I could, past the 3 mile sign and did the best kick I could.  As I went by the 3 mile sign, watch beeped and showed 7:07 for the split, strange again.

Managed to not get passed by anyone and after going through the chute saw the person with the coffee mug cards still had some left, I'd made it under runner 125.

I soon realized what had been going on with the splits.  At some point, my watch display switched to average pace, which explained the mismatch between what I thought I was running and the actual splits.  The plus side of this mishap I think is it kept me from getting discouraged in the third mile where I'd probably slowed down running up the hill and zig zagging through the neighborhood.

Found Tom and saw he had a coffee mug card (not much of question of whether he'd get one).  6th place for him this year with a time of 16:20.

Rest of the day was nice.  Due to people's schedules, our main meal would be breakfast - Jessica was taking Aubrey to cheer competition in Orlando.  Later in the evening, had dinner with Sophia and her friend and then went up to see my parents and brought them dessert.  Andy brought Stella to Jenny's house for dinner.  She got to play with NiKYO as well as having a big bowl of dinner leftovers. 

12.51@9:14, HR 150 bpm

Felt pretty good after yesterday's race.  First mile was 10:29 which is pretty reasonable for a first mile for me.  Miles 2-9 were all in the 9's.  Started off from the Longleaf church, ran up Starkey Blvd to Alico Pass, then turned back and took a left into Starkey Ranch neighborhood, ran out past Cannon Lake then turned around and headed back, going around Cannon Lake again.  Miles 10-12 were a little faster than  9:00 pace.  Run was enjoyable and felt pretty easy although heart rate was a bit higher than I would've liked.

18.6@9:50,  HR 141 bpm

Started out from my house, out to SR54 , and then up Starkey Blvd and into Starkey Park.  Instead of staying on the bike path, I got onto the trail next to the horse corral.  Seems like I hadn't been here in forever.  A little bit onto the trail hit mile 7, two more miles to go.  Heart rate stayed between 125 (mile 1)  and 136 (mile 10).  Turned around just past mile 9.  Ended up on a slightly different trail which did not go back to the horse corral but ended up in the field near the entrance.  So, the trail portion was a loop rather than straight out and back.  Pace picked up as soon as I got back to the pavement.  Heart rate went up a little but it felt easier.

Felt like I had a lot more energy on the way back, glad I kept it slower on the way out.

Going to add a little more miles onto next long run.  Felt good reaching 31 miles in two days (12.5 yesterday, 18.6 today).   I could survive 100 miles, with more good training hope to do a little more than survive.

After the run, drove to Busch Gardens to meet Jessica and her kids (and our kid).  Pretty crowded today.  Baby went on her first rides.  Unlike last time, she was old enough to go on the rides (have to be able to walk to the ride on your own).

After Busch Gardens, drove out to Cocoa Beach so I could watch Tom (and hang out with Andy) run the (southbound) Space Coast half marathon which he won with a pretty comfortable lead, new PR but just shy of breaking 1:14.  It was a lot of fine watching the race.