It's all relative

AM: 20 miles.  4 solo followed by 4 with James at ~7:30min/mile pace.  Then met up and did the final 12 with Lee at ~7:00min/mile pace.

Happy New Year everyone!

Noon: 7+ miles on the secret trail.  82 degrees.  

Late PM: 6 miles solo in Lansbrook.

AM: Track- 9 miles total, went until failure.  Did 8x300s with 100m jog recoveries, 500m between sets.  I did 20 total before I couldn't crack 56 seconds anymore- or more appropriately realised I was reaching too deep in the tank.

PM: 4 miles then gym- arms, back, abs, dynamic stretching.

PM: 7.8 miles solo in Safety Harbor.  Ran a little with Nick which was pretty cool- my first run buddy of the year.

Late PM: 4.5 miles with the team then finished solo

AM: Track in Safety Harbor.  Workout was... run 800s with 200 active recoveries until failure (anything over 2:35).  I got through 7 items all at around 2:33-2:35, until the last one which was a 2:39.  Then ran a pair of 200s to work on some finishing speed with 200 recoveries.

PM: 4 miles in East Lake.

PM: rainy day long run at night. Snuck into a bunch of neighborhoods to check out some nice houses and pretend I lived there. What? Adults play pretend too...

AM: 6 rainy miles solo on the trail.

AM: Long run with 3x3mile intervals starting at the 7 mile mark- ran the workout solo unfortunately.  Splits were: 17:39, 17:40, 17:58.  1 mile recoveries in between.  Should have done one more, but my legs were feeling a bit beat up so I thought it was better not to go for it.

37 degrees here in Florida this morning!  Rarity.

Late PM: Very late run tonight- after 8pm.  I didn't want to miss a day as I've been pretty "on" the last couple of weeks.  This will cause soreness for tomorrow, but I think it was important for my motivation to fit it in.

AM: Workout in Safety Harbor.  The workout was 11x400 with 100 recoveries, then 1x600 to finish.  The goal was 5k goal pace or faster.  The workout went pretty well.  I didn't reach deep into the tank on the 600, but now looking back at it, I think I should have been more around 1:52 and gone a little darker, so they say.  The quick recoveries were kind of daunting at first, but I became used to them. 

Splits: 1:15, 1:18, 1:18, 1:16, 1:17, 1:18, 1:17, 1:16, 1:17, 1:16, 1:15, 1:58 (the 600)

PM: 10 miles solo in East Lake at a decent 7:30 clip.

PM: 10 miles with Anthony in East Lake.

Late PM: 3 miles with the group on the overpasses.

AM: Track in SH.  The workout was whatever I felt like doing by the time I got to a particular straightaway... so that ended up being: 6x100, 3x200, 1x300, 1x100, 1x1200, 4x100.  Overall, nothing special.  Slogged a bunch of miles afterwards.

PM: 6 miles with Anthony.

PM: Solo in East Lake.  Felt quite spry tonight.

AM: 10 miles with various friends at times- Matt, Mike, Celia, ...

AM: Longish run (16+ miles) with Anthony, Drew, and Charles. We had a lot of fun this morning just talking. ~7:30 pace mostly descending.

PM: 4+ miles solo then gym- chest, shoulders, tris, stretching. I have seriously neglected weight lifting the past month+

AM: 10 miles solo in East Lake. ~7:34 average. Felt fine.

PM: 5 more miles solo in East Lake.  ~ 7:45 average.  I felt very strong for an easy run.

AM: Track in SH.  8x600, 1x200 with 200 speedy recoveries.  Felt great.  I probably went a little too quick with a race coming up this Sunday, but I'm not too geared up for it so I suppose now I have a nice excuse to not execute ;)

PM: 3 miles and then gym- arms, back, legs, abs

PM: 9 miles with Anthony.  ~7:30 average.  Felt okay.  

Going to taper a little bit from here on out until Sunday.  I think a double tomorrow (6 to 7 and then 5-6) with lower mileage, and then two short singles on Friday (4-5) and Saturday (2-3) are in the cards.

AM; 6 miles with 10 striders.

PM: 5 miles easy.

Belleair Sunset 5k Race Report

I feel weird doing a race report for such a short race, but as my first time *really* breaking 16 minutes, I felt compelled!  

Weather: Very windy, hot, humid, ~80 degrees, cloudy.

Training: Let's be honest, I haven't been training for a 5k, I've been training for basically a marathon as I was planning on racing tomorrow.  However, the Clearwater half marathon race was cancelled (believe that?!?!) for tomorrow, so Anthony and I decided to walk up and register for this race a couple of hours beforehand as we didn't want to waste a taper.  Although I was feeling very fit, I was worried about the race being so fast.  Anthony and I both knew what we wanted- to break 16.

The race: I decided to just shoot for 5:09 per mile and hope there'd be people running quickly to make it easier- fortunately, my wish was granted.  Mile 1 had five different guys clock in under 5:10, with a local, Christian leading Anthony, Ken, and me (yes that's proper grammar believe it or not) by a couple of seconds through mile 1.  At that point, I knew at the next turn (and the 20 mph wind) was going to come as a ridiculous, strong headwind so I chose to tuck in behind Christian.  He.  Did.  Not.  Like.  That.  He literally took one glance at me over his shoulder and shot to the other side of the road as if I had rabies.  Which I don't think I have...  Hmmm...  I could feel Anthony laughing at how ridiculous it must have looked from behind.  Interestingly, I just decided to pass Christian instead to hold the pace and the kid tucks in right behind me along with Anthony!  Serves me right I suppose... beating me at my own game.

Mile 2 continued like that for a bit until the turnaround and at that spot things got a bit more serious.  However, the way the route is set up, they don't take you back the same way, so the now tailwind was much lighter on the return which was unfortunate.  Mile 3 began with just Anthony and me stride for stride as Christian had fallen apart and somehow was about 30 seconds back after just a half mile and now Ken was on his heels.  Anthony was a step or two back, and I finally felt like we were going to do it- we were going to break 16 in a road race!  I needed that push, and needed him here today to do it, to feel strong enough to mentally.  We got through mile 3 a little slower than anticipated (for once I actually think I should have looked at my watch to fix my pacing), and I saw the clock 200 meters away, clicking away in the upper 15:20s.  I had a very strong surge at the end, putting about 6 seconds on Anthony and flying under the clock as 15:58 rolled onto the screen.  

I know getting under 16 is not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but it's one of those barriers that is just haunting in a way.  I'm glad I'm through it.  Winning the race was truly an afterthought.  Anthony finished in 16:05, Christian in 16:53, and the other guy leading with us at mile one, Ken, in 16:56.

Splits-  5:06, 5:09, 5:16, 0:27

AM: So, I should have been racing the Clearwater half marathon today, but it was cancelled.  Super bummer, but in the end is probably good as the course is too challenging to PR at and safety is truly the important thing.  I feel bad for the race director- that's two years in a row of cancellations! 

I did a long run instead in St. Pete: 7:26 average with 9 miles to open followed by an 8-mile "tempo" ~6:45s, then 3 miles to cool down.  I was lucky enough to run with Anthony, Christina, Sean, Meredith, and Mike, all of whom I've had a limited time hanging out with (except Anthony).  Good times.

PM: 12 miles solo late. ~7:30 avg

AM: 8 miles in Safety Harbor.  Mostly paced everyone else- planned a workout with Anthony this afternoon.

PM: 10 miles with Anthony at ELMS track.  Felt good, we did only two miles although, so I felt more fresh than I think I should have.  Workout was 4x200, 4x400, 4x200.  

Splits- 34, 31, 33, 34  /  69, 69, 68, 69  /  33, 33, 33, 32

PM: 9 miles with Anthony in EL

Late PM: 4 miles with the group in SH.

AM: Track in Safety Harbor.  Workout was 6x800, 3x200 all with 200 recoveries.  Felt good and had more in the tank, but just didn't push myself until the 200s.

Splits- 2:38, 2:31, 2:34, 2:34, 2:36, 2:38 / :34, :35, :35

PM: 8 miles solo in EL.

PM: 7 miles with Anthony then 6 more running around John Chestnut chasing deer and trash pandas.

AM: 9.5 miles on the Clearwater bridges solo.

PM: 3.5 miles then gym- chest, tris, stretching, abs shoulders.

AM: Long run with Anthony on a rainy, cold, humid early morning.  Started at 5am, so it was nice to knock out the run and just relax the rest of the day with the crappy weather.  It's taper week, so I didn't go hard, but I kind of regret it- the speed wouldn't have taken too much out of me in retrospect.

Week plan- short taper again, slightly shorter today, half/7 miles tomorrow, full effort Tuesday, half effort Wednesday (~8 to 10), off (or easy) Thursday, Easy 2 or 3 on Friday morning, race Saturday.  PR attempt if the weather cooperates.

AM: 7.5 miles wicked slow.

AM: 7ish miles at track in SH.  4x200, 4x400, 4x200 with equal recoveries, just working on form.  Cadence was a little low today which isn't the best of signs.  The workout tonight will tell me more.

PM: 10 miles at track in East Lake with Anthony. The workout was 3 sets of 200-400-600s with 200 recoveries between items and 400 between the sets. Everything was sub 5:00/mile and honestly felt pretty easy. I did the entire workout in lane 2. The 200s were quicker in the 33/34 range. I tried focusing on relaxing, pacing, quick cadence, and knee drive. Really makes a difference being on a quality track with another hard-working runner.