It's all relative

AM: 17.2, mostly with John. Hot and humid- getting a bit old...

PM: 7.5 miles.  

AM: 10.5 miles with a track workout.  2.75 of them okay fast.  3x800, 2x200, 2x800.  Did not reach into the tank, jog recoveries averaged about 80 seconds each.

Splits- 2:40, 2:38, 2:37, 0:32, 0:32, 2:35, 2:36

PM: 7.7 miles total, 2.25 fast.  4x800, 2x200 with long 400 jogs at regular pace, then only 20 seconds before the 200s.  I was a bit beat for the 200s and my form was sloppy (and the times were horrendous!)

Splits- 2:35, 2:34, 2:34, 2:34, 0:36, 0:34

PM: 5.1 miles

Running thoughts on track/runners

Me- Yesterday was kind of disheartening.  I know I am in better shape than all of those splits.  I suppose recovering from the long run definitely plays into it, however I was still surprised.  I should be pretty easily running these all in the 2:22-2:25 range, instead I'm 10 seconds slower per interval.  Yikes, that's not even close.  There is only much I can blame Florida.  I did enjoy running with Jeremy and Anthony in the morning, although I kind of just locked into cruise control in the front.  I know this is a mistake and won't make me better, it's just so easy sometimes to not get uncomofortable.

John.  I like John in the afternoon since he is always pushing himself.  He really has the mental capacity to do something special if he wanted to.  He would have to make a dedicated decision to add mileage and revamp things a bit, but it could happen.

Anthony.  I was definitely impressed with Anthony this morning too.  The last two weeks he seems to have been trying to exit his comfort zone a bit more on paces, which is exactly what he was doing when we first started running together and he ran a 1:14 half and some 16 flat 5ks.  I'm excited to see this continue, because he is a fun runner to watch.  He mentioned he isn't feeling it running-wise, but I'm seeing the exact opposite.  I think he is finally back with it, and willing to get uncomfortable.

Jeremy just ran a 1:14 half marathon which is no slouch time, however I am just surpised by his efforts at the track.  There is no reason why he shouldn't be challenging for the front.  I know he works hard, but I can tell he's got more in there.

Jacob (freshman in high school) is on fire.  He ran a 16:40 5k this weekend on a cross country course with great competition.  He will be off track next week, but should be back for the week following that.  He really will be an ignition for this group, since he is not afraid to fail, and is willing to try paces he logically shouldn't be ready for.  This is exactly the runner that you can build a team around.  Hopefully humility and humbleness are qualities that stick as he progresses.

Dylan (freshman in high school) should be in the high 16s on Thursday.  He ran a great workout two weeks ago and put together a 17 flat on a tough cross country course as well.  I'm excited to see what he runs.  On that track?  I don't understand this kid.  He can run a bunch of 3-minute 800s and then go run a 16:45 5k at Gasparilla.  I just don't get it.  He locks in for races different than I've ever seen another runner do.  Workouts just aren't meaningful for him- he can almost just will himself to run faster without the muscle-memory to do so.  Absolutely goes against my ideology, but I roll with that- every runner is different, and a coach should always tailor to that.  But seriously, how in the world...

Elia- he is just so hard on himself.  He's either all-in, or doesn't see a purpose.  Right now I think he is still leaning towards the latter.  He doesn't have to compete to be a runner.  He can just run for health and hit the gym too.  It doesn't have to be in a competitive atmosphere.  He is very competitive, so I would be surprised if he took that route, but the pressure he is putting on himself is odd.  I think his niche is in longer distances however- he seemed to really find his calling.  Plus, if he chooses those, I'll always have someone to talk me into random 100ks in the forest like last January!

PM: 5 miles

PM: 2.1 miles

Phil Doganeiro 3 Bridge 5k Race Report

I definitely decided to race this after hearing there would be money again.  The money involved is right in between "worth-it if it's close enough" and "not worth it if it's a flight/long drive" fork the 5k.  For the half, the $ starts at $2,000, so I figured there would be a couple of pros (there were 2) who would shoot for that, and only top 3 win money in both races.  The 5k starts a bit more meager at $750, then drops to $500 and then to $250.  I think that is worth it for being a 20-minute drive, so even though I'm in very average to below-average shape, I couldn't fathom anyone making the trek for that type of money, so I assumed I'd have a shot with an okay time.

Race started off up the first hill and then into the main bridge over Clearwater with me in 5th/6th place, as I opened with a 5:09 mile, and the lead group came in at 5:03 or so.  By the time I hit the top of the bridge, my pace had sunk to 5:16/mile, while they seemed to be still trucking along in front of me (I'm in 5th still at this point).  Once the bridge crested, I think the pace up such a long bridge finally got to everyone, so even though I didn't speed up per se, they broke apart as a group except for the top two guys.  In the first half of mile two and at the turn-around I caught two runners who were huffing and puffing, and I was feeling taxed, but still okay.  I was now in third and figured this would be my goal finishing spot, but the guy in second absolutely fell apart the moment he hit the big bridge again.  I passed him as if he was standing still, and then felt aspirations of catching first!  Well, I definitely underestimated the bridge a bit here, and should have pulled off my pace, which had dipped down to a 5:05/mile overall average.  Even when I crested and had the massive downhill down the backside, I was still losing seconds on the downhill!  The first place guy threw down a bit here just to create some serious seperation (he ended up by winning by over 50 seconds) and so I just put a gap between myself and third and decided to hold that and stop pushing so hard.  I knew my sprint-speed was great, so if I maintained a 10-second or better leader at minimum, I'd be fine as we were less than a half mile to go.  I never needed the sprint, so I just coasted to the finish and to $500!  Sometimes I'm very thankful not too many speedy runners live in this area.

I felt fine after the 5k- maybe a little queasy from the humidity/heat.  The guy who won turned out to be a 14-flat 5k runner as well as a 3:55-miler as recently as April, so I wouldn't have gotten him on my best day, so that certainly gave me some solace.

I definitely hate this course.  There are just so few hills/bridges to train on down here that it makes a course like this a nightmare.  I just rarely/never practice inclines or declines, so I'm just out of breath immediately.  It's such an odd feeling to feel 'out of shape' when running a slow pace.  I guess I can focus a bit more on that on some treadmill runs.