The Long Run

Recovery after a very long but fun day at Epcot the day before resulting in a return home time just before midnight.  Sorry to miss a Monday run as they feel like the "breakfast" of running.  I'll try not to let it happen again.

My brother Jim is in town staying with my parents.  He came by our house this morning at 6:30.  We went out for an 8 mile run.  Run was going well until about 5.5 miles when he felt his calf cramp up and then start hurting.  Combination of running on Saturday afternoon followed by 24  hours straight in a car probably contributed to this.

Since the pain was getting worse, I ran ahead and came back in the truck.  Picked up the pace for the last two and a half miles, with the last two right at 6:50 pace.

Average pace: 8:11

Until he had to stop, I noticed that this run was night and day from when we last ran together this past spring.

Slept in a little bit later this morning.  Made it to the Y by 7:00 then warmed up on the bike and did a little bit of stretching.   3.21 miles on the treadmill @ about 8:25 pace, then headed outside.

Very nice low 50's with the sun just up.  Did about 3 miles around Kinsmere, making sure not to look at my pace while I was running.  Ended up at 3.22 miles @ 7:31 pace with last mile at 7:07 pace.

I saw that Jenny's van was parked next to my truck.  I went back inside the Y and found her on one of the treadmills so I got on the one next to her and ran another mile.  It was good to see her running because on Saturday sometime after the run she pulled an abdominal muscle or something like that.  It's so worrisome when you get an injury so close to a marathon after training so dilligently.  It was also good to run next to her today because it is our wedding anniversary.  Happy anniversary Jenny!

New Year's Day run at David's house with lots of running friends.   Run felt difficult on the way out even though we were all running an easy pace.  I guess no one was in a hurry to go fast.  Stopped at the turn around spot briefly then headed back.  Run felt better on the way back.  The first half average was 9:13, the average for the total run was 8:35.

Keith, Bob, Eric, Nelson, Joe, David, Raj and myself as well as some of the beautiful Strider's women were there.

Kept it easy and simple this morning.  Just a little bit over 5 miles on the treadmill at the Y at about an 8:05 average pace.   Did the bike, and some stretching before hand and a few sets of weights after the run.  Felt much better today than yesterday.

Saw a few people I knew and said hi.  It wasn't too crowded today.  I imagine this Monday will be packed with people starting out the year right.  In some ways it's a little annoying when it is so crowded with all of those "New Year's resolution people", but some of them actually stick with it.

I know that I did, about 9 years ago!

Beautiful morning in Starkey park.  Started out at 6:00 with Keith, Raj and Tim for an easy paced 7 miles, out and back on the bike trail.  Met some more people in the parking lot for a bigger group.  David, Randy, Jorge, and Eric among others. 

Started running  with Eric for the second leg where we picked up the pace from 8:13 to 7:31 to 7:18.  At 3.5 out I had to turn back as I was on a tight time schedule this morning.   Said goodbye to Eric but kept on the pace that we had gotten into.  Last 4 miles at about a 6:52 average.  Pace felt hard at first but I got used to it and was able to keep going.

Average pace: 7:56

I didn't blog until late at night.  I had a lot more details to write, but when you don't write the down right away they kind of slip away.  After the run we went to Orlando to see my niece in an Irish dancing competition.  It was very interesting to watch and great to finally see her dance.  After the dance, my brother and family were heading back up to Rochester after a week down here so we said our goodbyes and we headed back to Tampa.  Stopped for dinner on the way home and before I knew it, it was late at night.

So, as for yesterday's run it was a good accomplishment for me since this is the first long run where I have done more than just 1 sub-7:00 minute mile at the end.  It felt hard but it didn't feel draining.  I've done this pace for up to 8 miles and I'm hoping to stretch it out to 13.1 miles in just a couple of weeks.  I'll either make it the whole way or crash before the end.  If I crash before the end then I'll know where I'm at fitness wise by hitting a limit.  If I do make it all the way I'll have a huge PR.  I'm going to concentrate on continued steady training, getting lots of sleep and being careful with my food.

The other thing about yesterday's run is that for some reason running with Eric always feels hard to me, regardless of the pace.  He is a lot faster than me but even if he is running a slower pace than he normally does it seems faster.  This might be because I'm not the one setting the pace so I don't know what to expect.  I need to get over this so I can get better at racing.  Instead of running at a pre-determined pace, just try and catch up to and maybe pace the next guy in front.