The Long Run

New week starts today.  Nice morning in Dallas with temps in the low 50's.  I did an out and back on the Highland Village trail for about 4.5 miles, stopped back at Jenny's parents house and grabbed some water and a gel then did another out and back on the main neighborhood trail with the same detour up a little hilly trail to the side.  Pretty much the same route as Saturday but with a little bit added on.  Enjoyed all the ups and downs.  Felt pretty good today throughout the run.

Average pace: 7:52

Still excited today over how well Jenny did in her marathon, she did great!

Yikes!  I said I would not fall behind again in blogging.  Now trying to catch up.  I ran Tuesday morning.  Still a little tired from the flight back from Dallas but not too bad.  I stuck close to home and was able to scrape together just over 7 miles.  Glad I didn't blow off this run since it really helps to get things back on track when coming home (even though I wasn't gone that long!)

Average pace: 7:57

Slowly catching up with my blogging (today is Thur).  Took my parents to the airport for an early flight, I was back at the Suncoast trail head on SR 54 just after 6:00.  This was my first time running on this trail on a weekday.  On weekends there are so few cars that the trail is extremely dark once you leave the parking lot area.  I brought my headlamp with me.  Did not need it since there was a pretty steady stream of cars.  It was a bit windy heading north so it was not a very fun run on the way up.  Ok, mental toughness training time!  Ran up to the water stop and took a gel, then turned around but headed onto the Starkey Park trail to add on some miles.  It was much nicer running in there, a world of difference from running alongside a highway.

Turned around, left Starky park and headed back onto the Suncoast.  Picked up my pace, held it and then picked it up a bit more for the final mile (6:40).

Average pace: 7:47

Nice run this morning.  I was a bit faster for my first mile than usual, I held steady for a while and then picked it up at the end.  Maybe I wasn't so slow at the beginning because I did a nice bike warm up first or perhaps for some other reason.  Weather was breezy and pleasantly cool (not too far off from warm).  I stuck to the usual neighborhood routes.  No Jenny with me this morning, but I think she'll be back running with me soon.

Average pace: 7:38

Well, it looks like the Clearwater marathon has been cancelled.  I'll have to find another race, but there is no hurry.  It might do the half marathon instead which they are still doing.  I did that one last year and did very well.  It would be good to see what kind of progress I've made in one year for this course.

First run back with Jenny today.  Her friends Kathryn and Cherise joined us also.  It was raining out this morning and I almost ended up going to the Y and Jenny may or may not have run.  But, Cherise showed up and Kathryn asked if we were still going to run, so the run was still on.

The rain was very light at first but it picked up a couple of times to be pretty heavy.  Jenny and her friends split off to head back at 3 miles and I continued on in up and down rain.  I ran fairly slowly, with a little bit faster at the end.

My feet were pretty dry up until the last 1/2 mile when I kept on misjudging where the water was in the road and stepped in some deep puddles.

Average pace: 9:05

My birthday today, 43 wonderful years.  I had the biggest surprise from Jenny when I got home.  She bought a bunch of hardware to put together a "race wall" to hang up plaques and medals which had all been previously stashed in a drawer.  Also framed the Boston 2009 poster, we'll replace it with a Boston 2011 poster when we go there together.

13.25 @ 7:44, Starkey park with the Striders

Cool and windy when I woke up this morning, it sounded worse than it really was.  Went to Starkey park and met up with a bunch of people - Raj, David, Joe, Renee, and a bunch of others.  Wind was at our back on the way out but I think it was starting to die down.  Ran out to Suncoast trail, stopped at the water stop there briefly, then turned back around.

Some wind on the way back but not as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I had 3 fast miles on the way back.  I felt like I ran just the right amount today and did pretty well for the week.  I'll try a few more miles for the long run next weekend.

Spent some time socializing for a bit then headed home and unfortunately back to work to try and meet a deadline (which I eventually was able to do).