Lake Merritt run

12.6 miles in 1:45

Slogged to Lake Merritt. Windy and choppy on the lake.

St Pete Times Turkey Trot

Well, the Wing Ding, really, which was the first race of the morning - a competitive 5k, followed by a 5k fun run, a 1 mile fun run, and a 10k fun run. I had no idea how big a production this was, since I just found it by Googling and previous years' results aren't online. But after 5 hours of sleep, I crawled out of bed at 5:30 this morning and drove 12 miles down to Clearwater, only getting a little bit lost. Check in and the finish lines were at the high school football stadium, and I was quickly registered and heading a few blocks away to find the start. I found it, along with several thousand other runners, and warmed up a bit with a mile or so of jogging and 4 or 5 strides. I lined up a few feet behind the start, surrounded by local high school runners, and made a mental note not to fall for their rabbitty tricks.

No dice. The first mile went down in 5:43, which was way too fast. I felt alright, but I knew there was no way I could keep that up. I did have visions in my head of holding just over a 6 minute pace for the remainder, but after mile 2 in 6:17, I just tried to hold on. Mile 3 was 6:31 and slowing, but I found an extra gear when we hit the track for the finish and passed two runners. Finish time was 19:07, good for 95th place and a coffee mug.

The time was about 45 seconds faster than my last 5k, back in February, and I'm thinking that with a couple more months of good training and getting back in the habit of pacing myself, I could be ready for a PR in the mid to low 18s later this winter. Here's hoping!

WWSD?

about 5.5 miles today in 42:31

We're visiting Tampa this week, and at lunchtime I headed over to the Hillsborough River Park (a name that I may have invented) to get in a run on the paved path. During my second lap, I decided that it was getting boring and pondered what I've learned from Seebo. Of course, I can't know his true mind, and need to consider my own situation, but based on what I've learned from him and his contemporaries, I decided that he would probably take the next lap a little faster, and the one after that a little faster still, and then maybe a final lap at the fastest pace yet. I hadn't kept splits for my easy laps, but my first fast lap came in at 4:17, then 4:07, then another 4:07 and I was cooked. Not to hot today, but the air here is really heavy, especially by the river. Mapping it, I see that the path is about 2/3 miles around, so none too shabby. Still thinking Turkey Trot on Thursday.

Oh yeah, 15.8 miles in 2:14 on Sunday, with 1500' elevation change.

Groundhog's Day

Friday, 5.5 mile Hopkins loop in 43:53.
Saturday, 5.5 mile Hopkins loop in 38:45

We're heading to Tampa on Monday. Thinking about a turkey trot...

Track pants

More running than posting lately, but less than I'd like. I've been doing 20-30 miles a week for a few weeks, usually skipping Monday after a hard weekend, then oversleeping on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I joined the Piedmont track group again today for a 321 workout: two sets of 1200-800-400, with 200-200-400 meter recoveries. The reps were fast: 4:41-2:55-1:11-4:46-2:57-1:12. I fell behind my group on the 1200s but was able to hang on the 800s and 400s. Cold enough for pants during my warmup laps.

Uptempo, downtempo

6.9 miles total this morning in 48:29, including 3.5+ tempo miles that went in: 6:56 (1+, uphill)-6:40 (1 mile, uphill)-6:11 (1 mile, downhill)-3:05 (1/2 mile, downhill). The morning was clear and cool, compared to yesterday's 6.5 miles (48:28) trail run in the muck. Apparently I also ran 4.7 miles on Wednesday, but I don't remember exactly where or when.

Bagel run

5.5 miles in 46:37 with Silas.
Stopped at Berkeley Bagels and then had a snack by the BART tracks.

Silas noticed the columns at Hopkins and The Alameda and told me that "somebody died near here." He must have learned that at the Civil War cemetery in Birmingham.