The Long Run

Chillier morning today (low 40's), a little bit breezy.  Felt a little bit salted up from last night's dinner at Outback.  Went to the Y, warmed up on the bike then got onto the treadmill for 4.4 miles at about an 8:15 average pace.

I went outside and at first was just wearing a short sleeve shirt and thought it didn't feel too bad outside, about 2 minutes later I decided I'd put on the long sleeve shirt also.  Good choice.  The wind must have been making it feel a lot colder.  Oh well, at least it was still warm enough for shorts.  Ran a little bit over 4 miles at 7:39 average pace.

 PM - did my first Inflict workout in quite some time after I got home from work.  It was from the beginner series so it was a good introduction back into it.

Nice run with Jenny this morning.  We got going about 6:30 and went at a pretty even pace.  She was running 6 miles and I was going to do 8.  We ran together for 5 miles before she headed home and I went a little bit farther.  

Average pace: 8:34

Cool this morning like yesterday, wore two shirts and a hat and felt pretty comfortable.

Since the Clearwater marathon was cancelled, I'm going to still do the half marathon that they have and I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the Gasparilla marathon at the end of February.  That gives me some time to train and still plenty of time after that to get ready for Deseret Morning News Marathon.

A little bit warmer than yesterday.  Just needed one shirt instead of two.  Usual run through the neighborhood and over by the golf course.  Ran about 5 miles with Jenny, then I went on by myself for a bit.  Pace felt pretty good.  It was also nice today since there were no minor aches or pains nagging at me.

Average pace: 8:21

The weather was once again a little bit warmer this morning, just short sleeves today.  Ran with Jenny around the neighborhood, pretty much the same run as the last few days.  We ran into Cherise and ran with her for a while as she finished up her run.

Pace was a little bit faster, felt pretty good overall.

Average pace: 8:16

Since I had to on Saturday, I had missed taking the boys to do their Christmas shopping, so we went out for our annual boys shopping trip, which was successful (whew!).  Had lunch at Wendy's then headed home for a day of mostly relaxing and enjoying the day.

Decided to sleep in this morning, wanted to make sure and be here when the kids wake up, and I had to stay up a little bit later than planned getting ready for Christmas.  I sure am lucky that my wife runs, too.  There was no need to explain that I needed to run or why I needed to run, but instead, once the morning was almost over and the kids were settled into their Christmas gifts, and despite the rain outside, Jenny said, time to go.

We ran together about 5.5 miles and then I went on a little bit farther.  We ran a pretty steady pace throughout without too much difference between the first mile and last mile.  I wore a new orange-red single that Jenny's parents gave me.  Rain was on and off light with it eventually stopping altogether, temperature right at 70°

Average pace: 8:07

Merry Christmas everyone!

 15.1 miles @ 7:48 pace, Starkey Park

(longest training run since October)

Beautiful run in Starkey park this morning.  Arrived right at 6:15.  A group of people were heading out but I was still getting myself together and trying to warm up a little bit.  So I ended up going out by myself, although there was another group right behind me.  Felt a little bit slow and clunky for the first few miles.  Stopped at the 4 mile water stop where David and Derek caught up with me.  

We continued on together and it sure was a lot nicer running with some other people, run felt much better from there on out.  Derek turned around after another mile and a half and David and I kept on going for another mile after that, where he stopped and was going to wait for Renee.  One more mile out for me then I turned around.  I saw Jorge up ahead in the distance but he was too far away to say hi.

As I headed back, I felt less tight and began to run easier.  My pace picked up the closer I got.  Today was the first day in a while that I wore the fuel belt.  It was nice to be able to grab a drink whenever I wanted but the belt was irritating me a little bit today -guess I'm out of practice using it.

Chatted with some people I hadn't seen in quite some time after the run but the weather that was nice for running in was not so nice for standing around in.

Headed home for a day of relaxing and some yard work.