It's all relative

St. Pete Half Marathon

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Location:

FL,United States

Member Since:

Feb 08, 2015

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

Certified course PR's:

Mile: 4:28.0 (Florida, Jan 2020)

5K: 15:12 (FL, Jan. 2020)

10K: 31:44 (FL, Feb. 2020)

15K: 49:03 (FL, Feb. 2020)

1/2 Marathon: 1:10:34 (FL, Feb. 2020)

Marathon: 2:26:57 (WA, July 2019)

100k (63.7 miles, trail): 9:11:00 (FL, Jan. 2019)

Personal:

I started running in 2010 and have (mostly) kept it a habit ever since!  

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
275.9939.41315.40
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.000.000.00

No running.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
5.100.005.10

5.1 miles in East Lake.  Some with Anthony.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.652.3511.00

PM: 7 miles, then gym and we did some long intervals on the treadmill.  2x1mile at 5:00/mile pace then a couple of short ones.  Ran home.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
7.600.007.60

AM: 7.6 miles in Clearwater with Brian.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
17.000.0017.00

AM: 17 miles early, almost 11 of them with Anthony, then ran home.  First longish run felt okay.  The overall pace was around 7:40s, so nothing special, but easy breathing.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
10.000.0010.00

PM: 10 miles solo in East Lake.  Felt fine overall, but a little sore from the long run yesterday.  ~7:30-7:40/mile average.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
16.803.0019.80

AM: 10.3 total miles, 3 fast.

PM: 6.5 solo in East Lake.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
10.500.0010.50

PM: 7:35/mile average solo in East Lake.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
5.703.008.70

PM: Treadmill workout.  First half was at 5:00/mile pace, second half was controlled and on incline.  Felt decent.

 

On a side note, I've been incredibly busy these past couple months.  Interestingly, the running has been a bit more fun because of it, since I just try to fit it literally anywhere.  Today for example, I finished work, ran to the fields for our softball game, played, then ran to the gym and did a workout and run workout, then ran back to my car.  I swear, sometimes it feels like I can break into a run at any moment.  I don't even stretch anymore which is odd.  I used to be incredibly particular about warming up/stretching/cooling down.  Now?  I just go.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
7.000.007.00

PM: 5k with Anthony and then some solo miles in East Lake.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
7.000.007.00

AM: Rounding out those miles ;)

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
13.000.0013.00

AM: Progressive run in north Tampa at Flatwoods.  I cut the run short at 13 as Anthony was hurting and I didn't want to impose since he drove.  We started super slow for a progressive at about 7:40/mile, ended up dropping Anthony who was still hurting.  We then lowered it from there pretty much down to 6:00/mile pace by the end.  I felt fine and conversational which felt nice.

Also, got to do a real run with Jonathan- wow.  If I could give him my love of running, Anthony's drive to get better, and mix it with Jonathan's talent and effort he would be Olympic-Trials-qualifying by the end of 2018 in either the half or the marathon.  I've seen talent before, but having never run in college or high school I suppose I've never seen real talent like him.  It was a pleasure to watch him glide. 

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
7.804.0011.80

PM: 7.5 miles, some with Anthony.

Late PM: A couple of more at the gym- this time a workout.  5:39/mile average on the treadmill for 4 miles and then a cooldown.  Really just wanted to watch my heart rate and see if I could control it.  It stayed in the 80-85% range, and was at 83% at the end of it.  Still not where I want to be, but it felt smooth and it was fun. 

Also did a ton of squats, abs, and biceps.  I pick things up and then I put them down.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.101.007.10

AM: About 7 miles running with the group.  1 fast mile with Dylan, but I was a little too tired to run with the other faster guys, so I stuck with a couple of other runners and kept it at a pretty meager pace.  Very sore from yesterday's squats.  Squats are definitely no fun for runners.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
10.100.0010.10

PM: 10 miles, about four with Anthony.  7:18/mile average, but progressive down to 6:50/mile.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.200.008.20

PM: 8 miles with Anthony and then some kickball.  Being an adult playing kickball with other adults still beleaguers me, but it is fun.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.200.004.20

PM: 4 miles solo with some good music.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.100.003.10

PM: 3 miles solo with some good music.

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Race: St. Pete Half Marathon (13.109 Miles) 01:17:38, Place overall: 3, Place in age division: 3
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
1.8913.1115.00

St. Pete Half Marathon Race Report

This is the second to last in a string of comped entries I received that I am wholly not fit for.  That being said, what a fun race!  The splits suggest otherwise, but I truly had a great time other than being tired around mile 9.  Aerobically I felt fit however, so that's a good sign.  This course was absolutely stunning.  I run this route a lot, but they did an EXCELLENT job making this a quality race.  It would rank above Gasparilla as far as quality, and that's pretty much the only race in the area that brings in elite athletes- so hopefully this is the first step towards another promiment race in the area.  The course was coned and blocked like a big city race, they had three high school bands lining the streets at various parts with great drum lines, cheering stations, you got to run through Tropicana Field (where the MLB Tampa Bay Rays play) and be on their jumbotron, full police presence, and it was an excellent course for spectating- allowing a minimum of 4 places to easily see any runner.  Even the post-race was legitimate, catered by Bonefish/Carrabas/Outback and a local brewing company for beverages.  Not to mention some nice finish line perks as well.  I highly recommend this race even though we all know the weather in Florida is very tough.

As for the race, honestly, I felt excellent and within myself straight through mile 8, and then it was clear I just don't have the fitness to sustain a half marathon.  I was still conversational, but my legs tired, my form sagged, feet were flat, and I lost all elasticity.  It did feel good to run in the 5:30s again and have it feel easy, but it's pretty clear I need to push myself in my speedwork (and not just run everyone else's pace), add some hills (I guess on the treadmill?), and work in some progressive long runs that are actually long.  This is a positive result in the end since I know how to remedy it and hopefully it lights a bit in me.

The race itself: Stayed with two guys for the first 9 miles and then they both pulled away.  We were all on about 1:14 pace or so, but then all three of us burned up- it just so happened I fell apart the most!  It was okay though, I'm proud of my effort.  I don't like mentally having to will myself to push to each new intersection, but sometimes that's how running is- humbling.

Splits- 5:36, 5:35, 5:48, 5:43, 5:49, 5:42, 5:43, 5:38, 6:02 (uhoh...), 6:14, 6:19, 6:30, 6:26, Finish-0:44ish

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.000.000.00

No running.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
16.903.5020.40

AM: 11 miles at track in Safety Harbor.  Ran some fast laps, but mostly slower as I matched with different runners to help them to their goals.  A new guy came today who has a 4:04 mile and a 1:48 800m accredited to his name- at age 39- hopefully he joins!

PM: 9 miles at track in St. Pete.  I haven't been here in about a year (or longer), so it was nice to visit.  It's an old 440-yard rounded-off square track... the only thing it's missing is a cinder track surface and it'd complete the 1940s feel to it.  The guy who runs these workouts is a pretty famous runner from the 70s and 80s and one of the cooler people I've ever had the pleasure to meet.  He didn't start running until his mid-30s, but has a 46-minute 15k, a 2:27 marathon run six days after a 2:31 marathon, and one of the most ridiculous mileage counts to his name (he still averages 10+ miles a day at age 79.)  It was nice to see him and get 2 miles of work in.

 

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
15.100.0015.10

AM: 10 miles.

PM: 5 miles.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
7.002.009.00

AM: Ran a couple of people at our local Turkey Trot.  Had fun for a couple of miles along the way!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
17.050.0017.05

PM: Felt very good today, so I went out for a run with no planned distance.  I figured I'd just keep running until I got tired.  I had a 7:14/mile average and felt very springy all the way until mile 16 or so, so I headed back home.

Some. Times. I. Just. Feel. Like. Run. Nin'!

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
10.050.0010.05

PM: 10 miles.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
19.000.0019.00

AM: 19 miles, 7:20/mile pace with Jeremy, Nick Z, and another guy.  Did the first 6+ solo and was pretty steady throughout.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
11.000.0011.00

PM: 11 miles.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
12.353.2515.60

AM: Track in Safety Harbor -300s- 10+ total miles altogether.  

PM: 5 miles with Anthony.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.000.008.00

PM: 8 miles.

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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
9.804.2014.00

PM: 14 total miles worked around a game of kickball.  Did a 4+ mile workout starting at mile nine at 5:27 pace for the majority of it and then knocking it down to 5:00/mile pace for the last mile.

Comments(4)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
275.9939.41315.40
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