Going Long (again) in 2024

A new PR for me in this distance - not that I've run it that often.  Still - I'll take it.

Same race as 2 years ago, but I ran it over a minute faster this time.  Mind you, it was a lot cooler than last time - just 16C/60F and with little wind.  And I was better prepared.

Today is Canada Day - the 149th "birthday" of our Country.  So, a national holiday.  I napped for two hours this afternoon, and ate a meal at 3pm - 4 hours before the race.  I messed up on that 2 years ago.

I arrived right at the registration deadline of 6pm and then went for a 1 mile warm up, and then ran 8 striders.

I went out fairly easy, and covered the 1st mile in 6:45.  Then the hills section.  Some of them are pretty steep, but I still managed to average a 6:45 for the second mile.  For the third mile, I picked it up.  I was afraid I started that too soon, but I managed to hold on.  Whereas the little bit of wind was in my face for the middle mile, it was at my back for the final mile.  I ran it in 6:17 and held on for a PR at this distance.

So, I'm pleased with my fitness level at this point.  I'm 13 weeks out from the October 1st race:  either a Half in Collingwood, or a 25k trail in Paris.  Haven't decided yet.  Either way, it's looking good for an injury free summer.

Super easy pace; 9:08 mile.  Took about 5 miles until I got all the kinks worked out from yesterday's race.  I was pretty tight.  Actually ran most the distance around a 9:15 pace, but then ran harder at 8:10 for the final mile, just because I wanted to come in under 92 minutes - for no good reason.

Easy mileage; 9:01 pace.

I had to bring my bike in to be serviced this morning, so I dropped it off and then walked up to the University to run on the track.  It was rebuilt recently, and so is in great condition.  Soft, for these old legs to run on.

The walk was just shy of 2 miles.  Then I ran 7 miles on the track at a 9:00 minute/mile pace.  Then walked back to pick up my bike.

I'm leaving Thursday for a road trip to visit a friend in St. Cloud, MN.  Two days to get there, two days to visit, and two days to ride home.  I'm going to do the circle route around Lake Superior.  Did that once on my old Honda.  This will be my 1st riding it on my Vulcan.  Will camp along the way.  And hope to keep up the running too.  We'll see how that goes.

Easy run; 8:34 pace.  Later in the morning for the run, since I'm on holidays.  

Tempo pace for 4 of the miles:  7:00  6:48  6:48  6:46

A bit faster than I wanted on the final 3 (I was aiming for a consistent 7:00), but I'm still okay with this workout.

I'm heading out on a road trip to St. Cloud, MN tomorrow, so don't know how consistent my running will be.  I'll do what I can.

Easy miles; 9:05 pace.

I rode down to St. Cloud, MN over the last 2 days on my bike - in the rain, as it turns out.  Oh well.  I camped over night in Michigan in my tent and took yesterday off.  Today, I hit the track, since it's right across the street from where I'm visiting my friend.

So, 48 laps around the track of the Apollo Eagles.  Average pace of 7:50/mile.  Total run time of 1:34:07.

Back to the track.  This time, just 24 laps, and a more relaxed pace of 9:10/mile.

I'm home.  2 days to ride my bike from St. Cloud, this time going north of Lake Superior.  And this time, it only rained one of the 2 days.  Today was actually quite hot.

So, I took yesterday off, since I was on my bike for 12 hours.  Ouch.  Got home around 4pm today and went for my run.  It's really hot!  At least for us.  29C/85F  with a humidex of 36C/97F.

So, an easy 6 miles.  My GPS battery died after mile 2, so I don't know my pace.  Up to that point, it was 8:46/mile, so we can just go with that, I suppose.  Way too hot to care!

Easy run at a pace of 8:42.  Heating up again today; already it's 32C/90F with the humidex factored in.

Tempo run.  Still trying to hit a 7 minute/mile pace, and still going too hard.

6:55  6:52  and 7:03.  Looks good on paper, but very inconsistent pace, as I'm hitting 6:07 in every mile.  Anyway, was supposed to run a fourth, but the 95% humidity was hitting me hard by mile three and I decided to just coast home.

The heat advisory has ended; a cold front is coming in, so it will be easier to run in the days ahead.

Easy run in a light rain.  8:47 pace.  Much cooler too - down to 13C/56F.

Easy pace; 8:42/mile for a run of 87 minutes.

Surprisingly cold at the start - just 6C/43F.  It warmed up fast when the sun came up, however.

Easy run; 8:39 pace.  Cool morning once again, at 10C/50F.  Nice for running.

Speedwork at the track today - hadn't done speedwork since last March, and that was on the treadmill.  None at the track since last summer.

So, ran 6 x 800 m repeats with 400 recoveries.  In my mind, I was aiming for something around 3:15 for each repeat.  Ended up a bit faster:

3:12  3:11  3:11  3:09  3:11  and  3:10

So, a bit faster than planned, but close.  And I felt strong for every one of them, so a good workout.

Tempo work today - 5 miles at race pace.  Figured that should be around a 7 minute mile.  

Did my 2 mile warm up a bit different, and it seemed to help.  A strider or two, some faster pick ups and generally a good mix of pace.

Anyway, ran pretty even splits, all in the 6:55 range, except for the final one where I hit 6:43.  Was relaxed throughout and never struggled to keep pace, so all seems well enough.  If this keeps up, I may decide to go for a PR Half in October, instead of aiming for that 25k trail race.

Easy recovery run; 8:42 pace.

Easy run; 8:26 pace.  

It's going to be a hot one today.  Already it's 22C/72F with a humidex of 28C/82F.

Long run at an 8:49 pace, which I kept pretty much consistent throughout.  Rained the last 2 miles, which actually felt pretty nice.

Easy recover run; 8:57 pace.

Speedwork at the track today.  5 x 1 km with 400 recoveries.  Was aiming for a 4 minute/km.

I did it, but it wasn't easy.  It rained most of the night, but that didn't cool things down at all.  Even at sunrise, it was 20C/69F with a humidex of 28C/83F (99% humidity).  No wind.  I don't know how you guys run in this stuff year round.

Anyway, I hit my 1000m splits at:  3:55  3:57  3:58  4:00  and  3:56, so I was happy about that.  However, to do it, I had to take an extra little break after the last four splits to drink more water.  I don't think I could have finished the splits otherwise, and I figured taking a longer recovery in order to run strong was the better approach.

The goal was 5 miles at Tempo Pace.  Managed only 3 miles at that pace:  6:55  6:55  and 7:01.  Too bad, as I started off feeling pretty good and the 1st two miles didn't feel too hard.

I'm guessing I should have gone easy today and done this run tomorrow to give me an extra day recovery after Monday's speedwork.  It was 18C/65F with 96% humidity and no wind.  It didn't feel too bad to start, but I noticed I was sweating quite a bit even after my 2 mile warm up.

Probably the bottle of wine last night to celebrate the Blue Jays extra innings win didn't help either!

Anyway, I noticed I was breathing harder than I should be at the end of the second mile.  By the end of the third mile, I was really laboring.  I maybe could have pushed a fourth, but decided that was a set up for an injury and for no good reason.  So, I laid off and ran my final miles easy.

A good decision, as I noticed my legs were quite rubbery, even running slow.  I think the combination of elements just hit me harder than I expected.  No harm done - I think laying off when I did was the right move.  Back to try it again next week.

Easy recovery run; 8:39 pace.

Easy run; 8:34 pace.

Easy run; 8:25 pace.  Gorgeous morning for it.  Just 17C/62F, no wind and low humidity.

Another gorgeous morning.  Easy run at a pace of 8:26.