It's all relative

AM: 14 miles on the Clearwater bridges with Anthony.  Longest run in about 6 weeks by about 5 or 6 miles.  Shocked I completed it.  I felt out of shape to say the least.

No running.  Recovery day.

AM: six 800s at sub 6 pace, just simply staying in form and having a high cadence.  I am still not fit enough to go fast and keep any semblance of form.

So, Sunday was the first day I felt "okay."  I'm still getting some phantom pains, cramps, and various annoyances, but I think I can finally start actually training.  I am still hanging on to the "off days" until I build up my mileage a bit, but that's okay.  This has been a long haul from a pretty serious injury- I want to get it right.

PM: 9.5 miles solo at 7:30 pace.  Finally feeling like my old self, just without the endurance and speed.  So I guess not like my old self.  At least running is fun again, and that's all that matters.

PM: 9 miles solo

PM: 3 fast miles at the gym on the treadmill working on form.

I also unceremoniously cracked 3,000 miles today.  Being out of shape kind of steals the fun of milestones that are based off... well... being in shape.  It feels similar to hitting a home run accidentally with your eyes closed.

AM: 10ish miles at the local triathlon running some friends in.

AM: 13 miles solo.

PM: 10 miles, 7:30/mile average. Felt fine. It might be about a million degrees here in Florida, give or take a degree or two.

AM: Track workout. Ran with a new guy Jonathan who is in clearly better shape than me. Did a ladder-style workout: 200, 600, 1000, 1400, 1000, 600, 200 with 200 recoveries between the short stuff and 600 between the long stuff. This made it easy to always restart at the line and finish at the 200.  I did try to run hard, but most importantly I wanted good form and to keep my cadence nice and high.

Good workout since it took all of the thinking out of it. I ran okay, but I feel fat and out of shape still.  

PM: 12 miles total in Safety Harbor with 3 miles fast with Chris and some with Dylan.  Focused on relaxing and having good form.  I did not really focus on time although we were consistently between 1:19 and 1:15 for our quarters just by happenstance during the 90-second intervals.  Split about 4 miles before the workout, the 4 during with short jog recoveries and then 4 miles after.

I'd say my endurance fitness is definitely not there, as the run back home was a struggle, but that's to be expected with the low mileage.  

PM: 9 miles in East Lake.

PM: 7.5 miles in East Lake.

AM: 5.5 miles in Clearwater on the bridges.

I ran a local 5k I received a free entry to a couple of days ago on a whim.  I did not have a watch nor ran a particular pace, I really just focused on form and staying under control.  I know my fitness isn't where it needs to be, but it was nice to race again and feel that energy.  It ended up being a beautiful course, good signage, lead police car was consistent and helpful, and for once a local race actually was not stressful- I could just run and enjoy the bay, ocean, and scenery.  I also won a gift card and a nice award that was actually better quality than almost all awards I've ever received, so that was pretty cool.  The next closest runner was 2 minutes or so back, but I thought I gave a decent effort.

PM: Wow.  So, yesterday I ran a 5k and "missed" my long run, and today I did a big no-no and "made up" my missed workout which is usually a recipe for disaster.  Fortunately however, I exceeded my own expectations and ran quite well, negative splitting the whole way and finishing at a 6:45/mile average pace for the half marathon workout.  I included my warmup in the workout since I figured I would be in the same boat in 2 weeks for my half marathon- I don't really have enough fitness to waste miles on a warmup unfortunately, so I'll kind of have to warmup on the go.

Either way, I'm pleasantly surprised with myself.  90 degrees, sun, and chaffing in the chest area suits me well apparently.  I'm most happy about doing this workout as well as the 5k yesterday outside.  I've only really done my fast stuff indoors, so this is a positive sign.  I will be taking it easy tomorrow, that's for sure.

AM: 4.5 miles with the group and then ran the stopwatch for their workout- descending rest 400s.  Holy cow is Jonathan fast.  He really bought into the workout this morning, so I hope he keeps coming to track.  I wish I was out there running the intervals with him, but I think this particular workout needs to be done solo in my opinion anyway.  He ran off before I could congratulate him.

Jonathan, Dave, other Dave, Brian, Gretchen, Jay, Mike, Jenn, Greg, and Dylan made it out this morning, so it was a nice group to have.

PM: 6.5 miles

PM: Gym for a workout and a running workout.  Set was 1xmile, 1x1200, 1x800, 1x400, 1x800 with rowing in between.  Did them all at 5:00/mile pace, but this was on a treadmill, so let's be real- I'll need to take the outcome with a grain of salt.

PM: 10+ miles solo.

PM: 10+ miles solo again in East Lake.

AM: 5 miles in East Lake.

PM: 5 miles solo.

PM: 12.5 miles solo at a pretty spry pace.  I'm surprised that I'm feeling good today.

PM: 8 miles solo in the rain.

AM: 10 miles total.  Workout was 2x12:00 minutes.  Wanted to stay in the 5:30/mile range, which wasn't too challenging.  Crossed the 2-mile mark both times at 10:58 and 11:02 respectively and then just continued for another minute both times.  My energy/attention was waning during the second interval, but I was still in control in the grand scheme of things.  I definitely did not empty the tank.

I have a half marathon this Sunday that I'm not prepared for- then again much more prepared than I figured I would be a month ago.  I suppose I should be somewhere in the 1:16-1:17 range.  I am okay with the hard effort just a couple of days out, and likely will do another hard effort Thursday.  

Good group this morning- about 9 of us.

PM: 7.5 miles in SH, solo.

Planned off day.

PM: 7 miles solo in East Lake.

PM: 3 miles with Anthony in Palm Harbor.

Race Report

Nothing much to say.  I ran okay considering the fitness I'm in, so I'm positive about this race.  Good temperature, but super windy which made for a tough day of running.  Came into the run expecting to run anything between a 1:16-1:18 and was on the money with my guess.  Just wanted to run a respectable time just in case anything bad happens during the next 3 races in the series.  I'll get another crack at this course which I am looking forward to.

Finished 3rd overall, 45 seconds behind the winner, and 30 seconds behind 2nd.  Not sad unless you consider that we were tied with about a mile and a half to go.  Whoops.  I'm not overtly surprised although.  Upping the mileage and I should be fine in a month and a half.

Overall, it was a fun race.  I think at one point all three of us ducked our heads down just to try to push through the wind which must have been a funny sight to see.  I'm definitely happy I wore sunglasses, that's for sure.

Splits- 5:43, 5:55, 5:59, 5:38, 5:41, 5:47, 5:43, 5:57, 5:53, 5:53, 6:03, 6:30, 6:23, ~0:50ish finish.

PM: 10 miles solo in East Lake.

AM: 8 miles with the group in Safety Harbor.

PM: 6 miles solo, East Lake