Doug's Running Thingy

Yes! What a difference 20 degrees makes.  Was able to drag out to the trails early this morning and get in 6 miles.  Ran the figure 8 plus north loop again with steady increased effort 8:13, 8:02, 8:01, 7:51, 7:45, 7:38.  Decent run to start the week off right. No ill effects from the several hours we spent yesterday boating, kayaking and swimming in the Wakulla River - big fun, but no manatee sightings... until we left, of course.  The couple we were with sent pics of a group of six they saw 5 minutes after we had to leave - figures.

Goal this morning was to run the north loop 0.8 mile section under 5 minutes.  Did about 1.5 miles warmup at 9 min pace and then started on the loop.  Felt pretty good and finished up at 5:03 - fastest I've run it in a long while so that'll work.  Continued on around the ravine trail at 8:45-9:00 pace back to the trailhead. Had about 4 inches of rain yesterday, so humidity was about 120%, but at least temps were down to mid 70s this morning.

Late night last night so was lazy this morning.  Got out to the trails this evening for a hill workout.  Went 2 miles at 8:07, 8:02 for warm up and then did 4X160 meter hills with a job back down the hill for rest.  First 100 meters pretty gradual incline and then it really cranks up for the last 60.  I hit them at 37, 37, 36 and 35 seconds.  Little over a mile back to the trailhead for cool down.  Nice workout.  Pondering a hilly road 5K for Saturday - we'll see.

First time in months that I've run a 4th day in a row, so I took it real easy.  Did my usual overstreet trail/ravine trail figure 8 right at 8:30 pace.  

Decided to go ahead and race tomorrow morning, so I just ran a couple easy miles in the neighborhood this morning to loosen up a little.  Might do a couple more this evening if Travis wants to hit the trails.  The race tomorrow is a road 5K with a downhill 1st mile, rolling 2nd mile and uphill 3rd mile (looks like a gain of 100 feet steadily over the whole mile - yes, thats a hill in Florida).  The whiners last year (I didn't run it) said it was tough - guess we'll see.

Travis opted for catching up on sleep this morning, so I was on my own for the race.  Learned this morning that the start/finish is one of the highest points in Tallahassee - great.  Garmin tells me that from the start of the 3rd mile to the finish line we gained 110 feet, most of it from about 2.5 to 2.75 miles.  I knew about that part, but didn't fully comprehend the hilly second mile.

We started at a middle school and made a couple turns to the top of the downhill at about 300 meters in (out and back course, so this is the uphill at the end).  I planned on 6 flat for this downhill mile and went through at 6:02 actually holding back a little.  The next mile had a few turns and one 100 meter uphill section that I found myself working way too hard on, so I backed off a bit.  That was what killed my shot at sub 20.  I figured 6:20 for the second mile but went 6:44 as I conserved a bit for the last uphill mile.  Halfway up the steepest part of the last hill, I was really creeping along when I saw the stoplight at the top of the hill.  Finally had something to shoot for so I snapped out of it and ran pretty tough on in to the finish.  Expected a 7 flat 3rd mile and ran 7:05.  I passed a couple guys on the 3rd mile and nobody went by me, so thats something I suppose.  I finished 20th overall and the top 25 got cute medals.  Travis' coach took the masters win, and there were 2 or 3 other masters in front of me - will update with official results when I see them.  Did about a mile warmup and then a half mile cool down with coach for the total 4.5.

The usual Monday supersize figure 8 on the trails.  Calves were a little sore at first from racing on Saturday, but still averaged under 8 per mile and ran the last mile in 7:28 to finish a few seconds faster than last week.  Going to focus on water and rest and morning runs only this week to try for a more satisfying few workouts going into another 5K on Saturday.

Very humid this morning, but mid 70's, so quite bearable.  I ran the 1st and last miles of the 5K I will be running on Saturday, and the overstreet trail in between.  Did the 3 middle miles at 7:30-7:45, with the others at 8.  Hopefully the low to mid 70's will hold out until Saturday morning.

Lovely morning today - 71 degrees and humidity sub 80%. Translated to a fine workout on the trails.  Ran 1.5 warmup to the ravine trail midpoint then did 6X 2 minutes on and 1 minute off, with the "ons" at 5K race pace and walking the "offs".  All of the reps were between 6:14 and 6:25, so thats just about perfect for where I am right now... hope to go just sub 20 minutes on Saturday.  Finished up with about a mile and a quarter cool down.

Goal today was run the north loop under 5 minutes.  Warmed up on the 1.5 miles to the start of north loop at 8:30 pace, and cooled down at about the same for the last 2 miles.  On the twisty tight 0.8 mile north loop, I thought I was flying and feeling pretty good, but came through the finish at 5:03 - oh well.  Might have to look back and see when I last broke 5 on that little devil.  Certainly having a better week than last week - commitment to morning runs is helpful with this heat.

The Operation One Voice Florida Fallen Heroes 5K was pretty cool, with Marine color guard at the start, National Guard and local ROTC groups running, and cops on bikes throughout the course.  Better still, it was on my favorite course in town at Maclay Gardens right across from the house.  The race is in its 3rd year, and proceeds go toward the families of killed and injured Special Operations members.  They had a pretty good turnout, although not many of the local elites showed up...  thus my 7th place overall and 2nd place age group finish  :)

The course starts with a rolling mostly downhill first mile on asphalt, and I went through as planned right at 6:20 (6:18).  The second mile plus a bit is flat and on trails that I run pretty much every day.  Came through 2 miles a few seconds over my 12:40 goal (12:43, 2nd mile in 6:25), but felt fairly strong.  The third mile starts on trails and heads back to asphalt and uphill to the finish.  Ran the third mile in 6:35 and worked through the finish to sneak under my goal of 20 minutes with a 19:53.  Good confidence boost for the mile race next week and the 8K trail race the following weekend.

Six miles on neighborhood roads this morning so that I would be back in the house in time to take the ever thrilling first day of school pics of Travis.  Maclay starts a week earlier than the public schools, so he is now off and running for his junior year - wow.  Cynda gets another week of lounging around the house before heading off for sophomore year in Gatorville.  Basically just tried to wake up during the first mile (8:19), but then worked the rest of them between 7:55 and 7:37 for an overall average (7:52) a few seconds faster still than last week's 6-miler on the trails.

Nearly changed my plan this morning to a longer faster run since it was a gorgeous 66 degrees and 50% humidity.  Decided to stick with the plan of an easy 1.5 mile warmup to the north loop, work the 0.8 mi loop fairly hard (5:05), and then 3 miles easy on the overstreet trail (8:30-8:45 pace).  Was a nice taste of things to come in another month or so when mornings should be consistently in the 60s... of course by then it will be too dark in the morning to run the trails.  

Less than acceptable sleep last night, so I didn't roll out of bed for a run this morning.  Took a quick nap after work and then hit the trails and track as the sun was setting this evening.  Two and a quarter miles warmup at 7:45 pace and then 2X200, 1X800, 1X400, 2X200 - all at goal mile pace (5:28, so 41 on the 200s, 82 on the 400, 2:44 on the 800) with a minute rest.  I hit all the 200s between 40 and 42, the 800 at 2:46 and the 400 at 79.  First time back on the track in almost a month.  Racing the mile on Saturday morning, so wanted to work on pacing.  Good workout.

Early to bed last night and remembered how to sleep, so I was able to hit the trails at first light this morning.  Did the super size figure 8 real easy.  Good thing I wasn't targeting any particular times or anything - the Garmin got real squirrelly during 4th and 5th miles.  It was reporting 11 to 13 minutes per mile when I'm sure I was right at 8:30 pace - very strange.  The final time seemed correct, but the distance of 5.51 miles was a half mile short of what this run is confirmed to be via Garmin many times previously and via my cyclometer in the past.  Off to Garmin site to compare the gps track.

Easy jog around the neighborhood this morning with 4 striders to finish.

Had a really good morning at the track earlier today.  Just now back from helping move the daughter child into her dorm in Gainesville - that was a good trip too - a good day all the way around pretty much.

Travis ran in the 1st heat with Kevin Sullivan, 2-time? Canadian Olympian in the 1500, but didn't make him sweat or anything.  Sullivan won in 4:26 basically cruising.  Trav did not have a good run at all, but was only 3 seconds over his goal of 4:50, so he wasn't too terribly disappointed with his 10th place overall finish.  All of his team mates ran really well and are even more fired up for XC.

I toed the line in the 2nd heat (projected times from 5:20-5:40), hoping to go 41 seconds each 200 for a 5:28.  They set this up as a full mile, so my first 200 split was actually 209 meters, and was at 43, then I went 40, 41, 41, 41, 41, 39, 37 for a 5:23.  First time in several mile races that I actually had a bit of a kick - it was fun.

After watching and shooting pics of 6 more heats of mile races, I stepped to the line for the Hamstring Hundred as one of the 6 fastest 100 meter runners during the summer track series. Surprised myself with a 4th place finish just 2 hundredths off my time from early in the summer - 13.46.  My award... a canned ham... on a string!

Garmin threw in another little hiccough this morning right in the same spot on the trails.  Skipped about 4 tenths of a mile - wonder if there might be an underground meth lab or new gravitational black hole - its done this the past 2 runs, but never before.  Eased the distance of my Monday morning run up a bit on the way to making it an 8-miler over the next few weeks... my version of a "long run".  Super humid after rains yesterday afternoon.  Took it easy at about 8:20 pace for entire run.

Sat around after work watching the heat index drop from 103 to 100, but it never went below 100, so I sucked it up and headed on out for a really slow 5 miler.  Ran the Lake Jackson loop from forest meadows trail head - nice run... when its nice outside - bleh.

Easy 1.5 miles to the start of north loop, and then some light stretching before launching into the 0.8 mi loop in an attempt to go sub 5 minutes for first time this year.  I borrowed Travis' Kinvaras because I need some new trail shoes and the Perigrines are supposed to wear identically as the Kinvaras.  I really liked the feel and the weight, and they carried me through the twisty north loop in 4:42 - not bad.  Finished up the rest of the ravine trail back to the jeep real easy.  Think I'll go shopping now.

Figure 8 plus north loop again today, and again Garmin got squirrelly from 3 to 3.5 miles - lost about a quarter mile - I guess I will just take that into account from here on when I run this route in the morning.  It did not mess up yestereve when I ran that same stretch - odd.  Was a fairly comfortable 8 min pace run with some harder efforts on the uphills - felt pretty strong.  Still trying to decide if I want to race the 8K trail run this weekend or just shoot pics of Travis and the team doing the 5K and 3K.  

Oh well, I guess a strong mile one week doesn't translate to a strong 8K the following week.  This 8K trail race has some pretty good hills and more big gravel than I recalled from last year.  Started out right on my desired 6:55 pace, but I worked the hilly 2nd mile too hard and still only mustered a 7:23.  Cruised the 3rd mile in recovery mode at 7:18 and pretty much fell into survival mode for the last two (7:24, 7:10 pace) - not a good day, but the 36 flat overall time is a minute faster than I ran it last year, so thats something.

Travis raced the 5K and took 5th overall in 17:40ish (the 8K and 5K were run concurrent, so I didn't see his finish and he wasn't sure exact time).  He is still in motivation doldrums and did not have a good run.  He now has two weeks to snap out of it before the first official XC race. 

Didn't plan on running today after racing yesterday, but Lisa wanted to walk and my legs felt fine, so I ran about 3 and then finished up walking a half mile with her.  A bit lower humidity this evening, but still over 90 degrees when we headed out at 7pm. 

Evening run today following the XC parents' meeting - good turnout.  Coach's message boiled down to getting 8 hrs of sleep every night, eating a variety of healthy foods, sitting in ice water, and drinking chocolate milk - pretty straight-forward.  It was easing toward darkness after the meeting, so I ran from the school, through 3 miles of trails and then a couple miles on back roads to Newk's to meet Lisa and Trav as they finished dinner.  Surprisingly good run in my new Saucony Peregrines - apparently the trail equivalent to the Kinvara - nice lightweight, low heel shoe.

Being the lightweight that I am, I don't usually do two runs within 12 hours of each other, but I wanted to take advantage of the cooler temps this morning, so I hit the trails at sun up. Ran the figure 8 starting with the low side to see if the Garmin black hole would be vanquished by running that section later in the run when the sun was fully up (yes, I know that the sun should have nothing to do with satellite reception, but there you have it) - seemed to work - very strange.  Five miles at overall average 8:03 with each mile faster than the last, finishing with a 7:42.