They all can't be "easy" runs.

4.6 miles. 33:53. 7:22 pace. Ringling Bridge Short Run

It felt faster than that. Oh well. 

Sleep deprivation kicked in. Asleep by 6:00!

Venice Legacy Trail to Circus Bridge run. 2:14:20. 8:16 pace. It felt smooth. Since I went to bed so early yesterday, I might have been low on nutrition.

9.5 Miles. 1:18:34. 8:16 Pace. 2 laps around the hood. 

Maybe 6 plates of Chinese Buffet for lunch was a bad idea.  

4.6 Miles. 33:15. 7:14 Pace.

course{Ringling Bridge Short Run}

I'm not sure how to rate miles as "fast" or "slow." So, for now, I'm going with: Anything faster than 7:15 pace is "fast." Anything slower than 7:15 pace is "slow."  Since 7:15 is what I hope my next marathon pace will be. 

I would have been faster had it not been for auto traffic, and an unaware text-er.  

(Keep telling yourself: It's just a training run. It's just a training run. It's just a training run.)

Great sunset. I see the up-side of daylight savings right now.  

11.6 miles. 1:29:58. 7:45 pace. 

Ringling Bridge Longer run x 2.

Nothing on the tube, besides election coverage. Time to go RUN! 

Great Sunset. Smooth Run.  

4.6 Miles. 33:59. 7:23 Pace.

course{Ringling Bridge Short Run}

Windy and Crowded. Share the sidewalk, people! 

5.8 Miles. 42:33. 7:20 Pace.

Ringling Bridge Longer Run

Power was out at the office for a couple of hours today.  So I got to run a "little" longer between jobs.  

16.25 miles. 2:14:26. 8:16 pace.

Legacy Trail to Circus Bridge. Perfect weather. The sun came up @ halfway through the run.

The goal for today was to see if I could get more total miles out of running 3 lap intervals (in 4:45), as opposed to 4 laps (in 6:20). The 3 lap experiment:

3.5 miles warm up to track: 27:48. 4 minutes rest.

3 laps: 4:37. 4 minutes rest.

3 laps: 4:40. 4 minutes rest.

3 laps: 4:47. 4 minutes rest.

3 laps: 4:47. 4 minutes rest.

2.5 mile run home. 20:25.

So I got 3 miles of intervals in. I would have liked to run 6 total for 4.5 miles, but I'll take what I get. Would it have been better to run (3) 1 mile intervals?

Could I have done that? There's no way of knowing, I guess.

I think 4:45 may be too fast for me right now. Next go around, I think I'll try for 3 laps under 5 minutes. I should be able to get 6 of those, I think.

All in all, I am pleased at the results of today. Thanks to those on this blog that contributed to the idea.

4.6 Miles. 34:35. 7:31 Pace.

course{Ringling Bridge Short Run}

4.6 Miles. 34:26. 7:29 Pace.

course{Ringling Bridge Short Run}

4.6 Miles. 36:33. 7:56 Pace.

course{Ringling Bridge Short Run}

Lack of sleep, and the wonderful lunch of Hot dogs, refried beans, mac n cheese, taco, enchillada, rice, chips and salsa got the better of me! 

http://www.harvesthustle5k.com/

I didn't have high hopes going into this race. A box of ceramic tile fell on my left pinky toe on Wednesday night, so I couldn't run Thursday or Friday. Since most of the swelling and blue color had gone away, my plan was to go out there and warm up, and see how things felt. Warm up felt okay. I was aware of the toe, for sure, but not really in pain. I didn't start my watch at the start of the race, so I was lost for pace. The kids they had at the "1" and "2" mile stations were saying some ridiculously fast numbers (5:55, 11:40). I knew they were incorrect in the times they were calling out. I passed people for the first half mile, then pretty much locked into my pace for the rest of the race. I was passed by a guy with @ 70 yards to go. I was really surprised about my time. 19:17, 6:13 pace. I ran this race last year and got 21:01. So the improvements this year have been huge. My family is pretty excited about me winning a plaque, instead of a medal. Masters division winner? Totally unexpected.

I have a 10k next month, that I am considering breaking my right pinky toe for.

4.6 Miles. 33:41. 7:19 Pace.

course{Ringling Bridge Short Run}

About a mile into it, I realized I was pulling up my toes on my left foot, kind of in a self defense mode for the injured toe. I didn't even know i was doing it. Once I figured it out, the on-coming shin tenseness went away. Weird. Slight breeze out of the east, making the return trip a little tougher than the way out. 

I am going to have to find a way to build up miles in the upcoming weeks. It was a tentative goal of mine to break 2,000 miles this year. It's going to be real close, but I'm going to have to work at it. I am about 300 miles away from it. 4.6 per day ain't gonna get it done. 

9.2 Miles. 1:09:35. 7:33 Pace.

course{Ringling Bridge Short Run} x2.

Over that bridge 4 times today. A little windy, but it felt great. 

Today's run got me thinking. I  usually do runs (not races) of distances greater than 6 or 7 miles with a Camelbak. The idea is that it is just a training run, and I'd rather have water and not need it than need water and not have it. I was surprised with additional time to run today, so I used that time for additional miles. I didn't have my Camelbak, so I had to stash water behind a bush at halfway. Long story short...I'd rather have the Camelbak. Anyhow, I was just wondering what the popular view is on this around here. Do you go out prior to your run, and strategically place water, or do you prefer a means of taking your water with you? 

4.6 Miles. 34:02. 7:24 Pace.

course{Ringling Bridge Short Run}

7.88 Miles. 59:28. 7:33 Pace. Fruit Cove Run.

Then 3.5 miles cool down with Aunt Shannon, untimed.

7.88 Miles. 1:05:14. 8:16 Pace. Fruit Cove Run.

Venice Legacy Trail run to Venice Avenue. 1:41:36. 7:52 pace.

Venice Legacy Trail run to Venice Avenue. 1:44:01. 8:04 pace.

Weekend re-cap:

Got out of work @ 5:30 Wednesday. Ran 4.6 miles. Drove home, packed, and drove 4.5 hours to Jax. Arrived at 1:30.

Got up Thursday, Ran my 7.88 miles, then another 3.5 with Shannon. Played with 10 kids under the age of 13 until 2 pm. The kids ran races in the yard. Ate fantastic Thanksgiving Dinner. (This is where marrying into a southern family pays off!) Smoked Turkey, Fried Turkey, Sweet Potato Casserole, 5 pies, etc. Went to bed early.

Got up Friday, Ran my 7.88 miles, showered, then back in the car to Venice. I tried to sleep for a couple of hours. In to work at 8pm. Got out of work at 8 am. Drove to my parents' house and had bacon and eggs. Then I went home and slept for 5 hours.

I woke up for the Gator game kickoff, and went running for the first half. 12.9 miles. When the Gators play the Seminoles, it is the best time to run. There is NO traffic. Went home, showered, then dinner with the folks, watched my Gators win, tried to add some historic runs to the blog, failed, and went to bed.

Got up Sunday, did my honeydo's (christmas stuff out of the attic, etc.), went to church, came home and ran another 12.9. The wife and kids should be here @ 7 pm. I'm now attempting to enter in more old runs, and give the illusion that I have been cleaning.

It was a very busy, and very satisfying weekend. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

4.6 Miles. 35:33. 7:43 Pace. Not feeling it today.

course{Ringling Bridge Short Run}

4.6 Miles. 34:53. 7:35 Pace. 

course{Ringling Bridge Short Run}

4.6 Miles. 32:53. 709 Pace. 

course{Ringling Bridge Short Run}

New record for this run!

Didn't run yesterday. My son had the pins removed from his finger from when he broke it, so  I kind of needed to hang out with him last night. I'd like to say today's increase in pace is due to taking last night off from running, but it is more likely due to there are more runners and faster runners out on my course than I have seen before. Where did these guys come from? Anyway, I think they got ticked when I passed them! Ha! So then they ran past me up the bridge (I think) to prove a point. Whatever, I passed them again later. Yo pal, put a shirt on!

Isn't it amazing what can happen when you're racing people that don't know they are in a race?

p.s. I notice a lot of folks up north (Am I the southernmost blogger?) are putting up the temperatures in on their runs lately. 73 degrees. Brrrr!

5.8 Miles. 41:58. 7:14 Pace.

Ringling Bridge Longer Run