The Long Run

AM - 7.36 mi, 1:12:45, 9:53 avg, HR 125 avg, 137 max

Just took it easy especially starting out when my left knee was bothering me a little bit but good after warming up for about a mile or so.  Weather had a hint of fallishness in the air.   Ran from neighborhood through Fox Hollow with one stop on the way back at golf course water fountain.

PM - 1.7 mi, 23:02, 13:32

Run/walk with Stella around the neighborhood loop.

9.53 mi, 1:29:43, 9:24 avg, HR 125 avg, 136 max

Ran on Starkey Blvd bike trail starting from Longleaf at the Striders run.  Small crowd this morning but always nice to chat with Clark, Cindy, and Tom.  Knee was good especially after the first mile.  Weather felt cooler this morning (a little bit below 75).  Did a little over 7.5 miles, then drove home and ran with Stella around the neighborhood.  We are becoming a better running team, ran 2 miles which was the loop and a side trip to the Tamarind park to drop off a bag.

AM - 8.63 mi, 1:17:48, 9:00, HR 123 avg, 138 max

(1:39:53 on the garmin because I forgot to hit stop when I plugged it into charger)

Possibly my best heart rate run so far, but slightly broke the rules.  On the fourth mile my average HR was 135, so that wasn't according to sticking between 121-131 but it wasn't far off and overall average for the run was well inside the range.  Weather was a little cooler and tried to run a little more relaxed and not look at the garmin nearly as much as usual.

Ran through and past the Fox Hollow neighborhoods, across Trinity Blvd to Trinity Oaks until I reached about 4 miles and then turned back.  However, I missed a turn on the way back and had to backtrack a bit, so that is where the exra 0.6 came from.

BAA posted time cutoffs for the Boston Marathon today and I found I did not qualify.  I originally wasn't that hopeful but increasingly became more hopeful.  I ended up being about 21 seconds short.  I was bummed out for a little bit before getting over it and moving on.  I thought about two chances I had to qualify but did not.  My closest attempt was Marine Corps Marathon last fall where I qualified by 1:48 with a time of 3:28:12.  That race I was "running for fun" after my 5 previous marathons that year trying to get 3:25:00 or below.  It was a good race and at the time it seemed reasonable to think there was plenty of time to try again.

However, a good amount of time between then and now was spent training for and running the Georgia Death race for most of the spring, with probably not enough focused training for Utah Valley Marathon (with the Buffalo marathon two weeks before that as a "training run"), and followed by a little bit of bad luck with warmer weather at Utah Valley.

I then changed my focus to putting in miles (made 300 miles in July!) and running 5k's.  I did improve my 5k times and ran a lot of easy miles with heart rate training.

Super Tunnel Marathon had decent weather (not cool and crisp but nicer than the heat wave that ended the day before).  I wondered today why I couldn't have picked up a minute at Super Tunnel marathon?  

After rehashing all of this I came to the conclusion that there are more important things to worry about, take away whatever lessons I can from this, and try a little harder next time.

PM - 3.02 mi, 28:28, 9:25 avg, HR 124 avg, 143 max

"Hump day hustle" run at Longleaf with the Striders. Took Stella with me, she was extremely excited to greet everyone.  Decided to run the bike trail rather than the neighborhood where I did an out and back but turned back a little early as it looked like a storm was rolling in. Did the last mile on the Longleaf streets and rain held off until the end.  Stella was getting a little tired by the end, this was her longest run so far.

6.24 mi, 57:54, 9:17 avg, HR 130 avg, 140 max

Later start than usual.  Ran neighborhood loop out to Fox Hollow area just past water fountain, then reversed the route home.  Was a little warmer than I would have liked.  Concentrated on running a steady pace and let my heart rate drift up a little rather than slowing the pace, but still kept overall average in the 121-131 range.

10.27 mi, 1:38:42, 9:37, HR 127 avg, 157 max (strides at end)

Ran from my house, past Fox Hollow, through Trinity Oaks and out to the Y before turning around and coming back the same way.  Came pretty close to getting run over when I got to Mitchell Blvd.  I had a green light (but no cross signal), car turning right had a red light and not only did she not stop but took the corner pretty fast.  Saw the car pull into the school parking lot and parked near the office.  Walked over to the car but driver had gone inside already.  Was seriously considering waiting but decided against it and continued on with my run.  People are in such a hurry sometimes and its ironic how horrified she would have been if walking with her child on that corner and saw how fast she was going.

Got back home and finished up with 4 x 25 second strides to try and get my legs out of slow rut.

10.55 mi, 1:43:15, 9:47 avg

Early afternoon run after watching the boys cross country meet this morning.  Thomas PR'd once again (21:22), and Andy knocked a few seconds off his time from last meet (20:11).  It was a pretty nice morning.  Route was a two loop course in Crews Lake Wilderness Park.   Jenny's parents were also there to watch (hadn't seen them in over 4 years).

I did one loop arond the neighborhood with Stella, we went slow and did some run/walk so I wouldn't over heat her.  I then ran two more laps and checked on her each time (did not crate her this time, only a pine cone chewed up).  Then I did an out an back through Fox Hollow out to Trinity Blvd and ran on the grassy shoulder for a bit before coming back.  Had a pretty solid gradual pace pickup going from 12:26 first mile (walk/run with Stella) to 8:24 last mile.