Bret

AM - 6 miles easy on Cocoa Beach shortly before sunrise.  Beach was reasonably level, but the tide was rolling in on the way back, so the firm running surface was quickly disappearing and I was avoiding the water as the surf pushed in.  Balmy 81 degrees and 97% humidity.  Delaney has two games today - should be a sweltering mess by the end of the day.

PM - easy 8 miles this late afternoon on the roads instead of the sand.  Much easier.  Delaney's team won twice today and she had an assist in the second game.   

AM - 6 miles easy on a narrow/soft beach.  Little less humid.  Ran north this time and past a surfing competition that was just setting up.  Interesting spectacle.

PM - 8 miles in the afternoon heat.  Ran across the causeway from Cocoa to Merritt Island and back.  Lots of gnat swarms, completely covered with a few in my nose and eyes at the end. Delaney's team won again today and are through to the semi finals tomorrow morning.   

AM - 6 miles easy to moderate along Ocean Blvd - on a morning in which it would have been nice to extend to a long run - but we have a game to attend early and pack up the vehicle to head home after the tournament today.  

No secondary run today - Delaney's team won in the semis (a good exciting match with her team equalizing in the final seconds of normal time and pulling out the win on penalties -- Delaney burying hers in the back off the net!) and then they won in the finals also on penalties - but a dull match with both sides a bit drained from 5 games in three days in the Florida heat.  So they were the champions of the U18 Girls division.   I was likewise drained from sitting in the sun all day and then driving 2.5 hours home afterwards.  Hence the lack of motivation for run in the evening.   

AM - 7 miles total.  Did a VO2 max session of 5 x 800 at 3k pace with 90 seconds rest.  Hit all of the splits right at 2:45-46 (with the exception of the last one which was untimed due to technical issues with the Garmin).  Overall I was pleased with the workout - though I was hoping to feel like I could have gone faster or for more reps - I was pretty much at my limit this morning. 2 mile warm up and cool down.   

PM - 8 miles easy after work.  Legs felt pretty tired and lifeless - as I had expected. 

AM - 5.5 very relaxed miles through the neighborhoods this morning before work.  Thought I would feel the same stiffness and fatigue in my legs today as yesterday evening, but was pleasantly surprised to have things nearly back to normal.

PM - 8.0 miles on the treadmill on a late lunch.  Wore the HR monitor to assure that I did not get out of aerobic zone and also just out of curiosity.  Interestingly my HR was slightly elevated from what it has been in the month or so at a recovery pace.   All other influences on HR being the same,  I assume that has to do with the impact of the VO2 max workout from yesterday.  So, I kept it aerobic and ran at a pace about 10-15 seconds slower per mile than I had been doing at that HR - Hopefully this trend will reverse itself with recovery runs.  

AM - 6 miles easy before work - felt rested and relaxed during the run - back to normal.

PM - 9 miles at a comfortable pace after work. 

AM - 6.5 miles very light and easy before work.

PM - another 6.5 at lunchtime with Richie in a light rain. Felt crappy this morning - but much better in the second run of the day. 

So this was not a race that I knew with certainty that I was going to do until yesterday afternoon - so no taper or easing up of my training leading into it.  Decided to run when the timing became apparent that I could both run this race in Clearwater and get to my daughter's high school cross country race in Dunedin before it started.

First two miles were statisfactory (not great, but acceptable)- 5:48 and then 5:59 (hill) but then I sort of inexplicably blew up in mile 3 and ran 6:30 - Race length was long at 3.2 miles which I had run and measured with my garmin before the race and during.  Ultimately confounded about this time - since my training has been great, and training times have been indicative of a much faster result.  Warm temps of 87 degrees with 87% humidity may be a factor.  Race winner ran 17:00 and second place was 30 seconds in front of me.  Had a chance before 2 miles to move to 2nd place but the third mile fade and the lack of anyone close behind me (low key race) left me alone in 3rd.

Hopped in my car immediately after the finish and got to Delaney's meet in time.  Actually they delayed the start for 15 mins due to lightning in the area.  Used that time for a proper cool down around Fisher fields and the Hammock Park.  This site is where my high school cross country team had its home meets (different course now though).  Old teammate Todd Howsare is coaching Dunedin's team - and we had a chance to catch up - along with Suzanne Rodriguez who is a local race director for tri's and a former teammate from high school.   Delaney struggled a bit too this morning and was just outside the top 7 on her team on a rainy heavy course.  My wife and Riley were there too (Riley is home from college this weekend to go see Ed Sheeran in concert in Orlando tonight).  We all went to breakfast at the Lucky Dill and had a nice morning.

PM - easy 6 mile shake out.  Body felt fine - just a little tired. 

PM - early morning heavy thunderstorms kept me in bed this morning, probably for the best as I got another hour and a half of sleep.  Pretty much rained all day - and I even took a nap (Bam-style) this afternoon.  Went out for an aerobic recovery run after 6 pm when the rains had stopped.  Did 12 miles fairly steady recovery pace - but felt fine.  Very buggy and stilly quite humid in the 90% range and tropical in feel.  Ran into a spider web that was so thick and strong that it kept one of my eyelids from opening until I could peel it away.  Really hoping for some fall-like weather to blow in soon....

AM - just an easy shake out 4 miles this morning before work.  Felt a little nausea before I went out, so took it very easy and kept it short.  Felt fine after eating some breakfast.  

PM - 8 miles on the treadmill at lunchtime (to avoid the muggy weather).  Wore the HR monitor for the first 15 mins and found everything to be back in order (no longer elevated).  I think the extra rest yesterday combined with the medium/long run at aerobic effort was a good reboot. 

AM - easy 5 miles before work. Had an option to travel down to St. Pete early this morning to do some track work with Richie - but did not sleep well and decided in the end to do a workout at the end of the day today instead.  

PM - VO2 Max workout 5 x 800 with 90 second rest.  Ran over to the high school to run on the better track this evening but the gates were all closed and locked and there were teams and personnel on the practice field so I decided not to climb the fence.  Instead I thought I would do the workout on the roads using the Garmin workout feature - set for half mile intervals.  The good thing about that feature is the alarm tells you when you have completed the rep and when the recovery/rest is over.  The unfortunate thing is that unless you have the watch set only to show your distance/time/pace (which I have not done - instead I have three scrolling screens of other information) the watch does not display your time for each interval when completed - in fact not until I was done with the whole workout could I check the results.  I wore the heart rate monitor and was able to see how much my HR was blowing up though.  Anyway - I averaged about 2:55 which was not bad for a lack of real feedback and being on some uneven and rolling roads (never noticed how many undulations a road has until you are running for time on them).  Heartrate told me I was well over the anaerobic threshold for all of them.  So it was an honest effort.  I think the reps I did last Tuesday morning on the track at about 2:46-47 pace were perhaps a tad short or the GPS tonight was a bit long - either way I got a good workout in the books.

AM - 4.5 miles at an easy recovery pace.  Humidity was down to 79% this morning so that made for an almost pleasant feeling air.  Felt very good - blood volumes are probably still up from yesterday's workout - but had a good positive attitude and feel this mornnig about the progress of my training thus far. 

PM - Only had time for 7 miles on the treadmill at lunchtime.  Again felt very good.   

AM - 6 miles easy before work with loops around the Enniswood and Autumn Woods neighborhoods.  Did not feel quite as good as I did yesterday.  

PM - 8 miles easy - the "dump run".  From my office park down past the solid waste facility / landfill on a hot humid summer like day with the stench of the dump and the surrounding stagnant ditch water along the road.  Character building for sure.  Wore the ipod for a distraction.  Dylan's newest "The Tempest" - little bleak - apropos for the dump run of course.    

AM - only had time for an easy 4 before early morning work meetings.  It will be a stressful day today.  Expecting a stress-relieving run later this evening will be required.

PM - 8 miles easy after work.  Legs felt flat.   

AM - early start at 5:30 am.  Met Richie in downtown Clearwater.  He brought Justin with him which was great because Justin is not quite as fit as us, which kept us from pushing the pace too early.  He ran the big loop with us (13 miles) and stayed close for the first 7 or so.  The Bellair bridge and the subsequent climb up West Bay did him in.  We circled back for him a couple of times and kept our pace right at 7:30's until we got back to the cars.  He finsihed there and then Richie and I went back out to do an out and back over the bridge at some marathon paced miles.  Unfortunately I was straining to hold it together after 2 of those miles - so, I grabbed a drink at the marina and told Richie to keep going.  Turns out he went south on the beach and I went north.  I got another marathon paced mile in and then had to slow back to 7:30-7:45 pace.  Last two miles were even slower going back over the bridge.  Turns out Richie only had one more fast mile in him than me.  We sat at the fountain at City Hall soaking our feet afterwards.  I was completely spent. 

PM - slightly more than 8 miles easy in the early evening at the end of a rain shower.  Tight and sore for the first 4 miles or so, but then loosened up and felt more relaxed at the end.  Skipped the morning run in favor of more sleep. 

AM - 4 miles easy before work.  Planning to keep things light easy and aerobic until I start to feel more balanced.

PM - 8 miles on the treadmill at lunch.  Wore the HR monitor and kept the pace to under 75% HRR (high aerobic) which turned out to be a rather decent sub 7 min pace - surprisingly enough.  I felt pretty relaxed and smooth too.   I did not expect that.

AM - 4.5 miles easy this morning as storms were building all around.  Left foot outside/underneath fifth metatarsal is appearing to be some area of concern/discomfort. I noticed it on one of the hard downhills off the bridges on Saturday's long run.  May have tweaked it a bit.  

PM - a little over 8 miles after work around the Feathersound neighborhood and the Carillon office park.  Easy effort - little tight at the start - mostly smooth and relaxed after about 3 miles.

AM - 4.0 miles very easy this morning.  Awoke even more concerned (perhaps more psychological than any actual physical evidence) with the possibility of the beginning signs of an injury to the left foot.  There is some achiness the top of the 3rd and 4th metatarsal and underneath the 5th.  I iced it last night after my evening run and it felt fine.  Ran very gently this morning and really no problems or aggravation to anything - but having had a couple of stress fractures in that foot previously, I am very wary of any little ache or pain there.  Plan to run gently and easily for a while and will cut back if things worsen or do not improve.  Looking at the calendar - I would just like to maintain my aerobic fitness for a few more weeks and hopefully find myself solidly on the starting line on November 4 - 

PM - 8 miles on the treadmill at moderate aerobic pace.  No real issues with the foot - though I noticed between miles 1 and 2 some discomfort, but that went away when I changed the incline from 1% down to 0.   

AM - 6 miles easy.  Little creakiness in the foot in the first mile but seemed to be fine the rest of the way.

PM - 8 miles easy after work - pleasant run.

AM - 4 miles easy.  Definitely got something going on with the left foot - seems more localized to the third metatarsal after yesterday evening's run.  Not pronounced pain, but it has got my attention.  Will keep an eye on it and rest if necessary.

AM - cross training to keep from having impact to the left foot.  Cycling 50 miles.  Rode down to St. Pete early where Delaney had a soccer game.  Watched her game (she scored a goal) and rode back home almost entirely on the Pinellas trail.   Good at keeping the HR locked into a moderate aerobic effort - legs have been unfamiliar with cycling for quite some time.  So I expect to be sore and tired from the ride. 

No running or cycling today - but the good news is that I went to a PT/LMT this afternoon and feel much better with the foot situation.  Really have had minimal discomfort since Friday - but a scattering of referred pain/achiness all over the foot.  The PT did not feel any heat or swelling and felt as though I had tendinitis - No indications of a stress fracture.  So she massaged the foot pretty well and I think I can resume training again tomorrow as long as it is tolerable.  Felt like I should give myself a full day of rest before I started again.

AM - had a very nice 6 mile run this morning.  Little creaky starting off with the foot and general old age - but a decrease in humidity helped a lot - and once I got going this was a pleasant experience.  Did a few striders too.

PM - had a really nice 8 mile run at lunch with Richie.  Slightly overcast with less humidity than is normal with a cool front having passed through over the evening -- extremely appreciative of that climatic event -- enjoyed this thoroughly.

AM - had a really solid workout this morning.  3 x 3k at 6:26 pace with 1 k rec at 7:24 pace.   Did these on the treadmill just because it was easier to nail down the pace and also because I needed to do this workout early in the day due to some last minute business travel.  HR was suspect - a bit lower than expected.  I barely got above 152 bpm on the reps which either tells me I am fitter than I thought, or my HR monitor needs attention.   I was conservative on the effort after the prior week's concern about a foot injury - so while I think I could have gone faster and with an extra rep - I got a good workout in, without pushing the intensity stress level too much.  

Will try to get a short recovery run at noon and then I am off this evening to the UK for a meeting.   

PM - 4  miles at lunch very slow and gentle miles.

PM - in the City of Manchester, England today after an overnight flight for business tomorrow.  Tried to get in a run and take in some of the views of the town.  Meandered quite a bit and managed not to see much of anything  - cool and rainy got in about 7 miles.  Iphone led me back to the hotel -- thankfully.  

AM - easy 8 miles on the treadmill in Manchester - too dark to wander outside this morning.  Headed off to meetings in Sheffield and then down to London later in the day.

PM - meetings went well in Sheffield - then a 2 hour train ride and I was in a London hotel room by 5 pm.  Went out for a run on a lovely autumn evening through St. James Park, Green Park and then Hyde Park and round back to my room.  Just under 8 miles - not realizing how much I was enjoying the run, I hit a few miles right at marathon pace.  Dinner, work, sleep then I head back home tomorrow. 

AM - just under 9 miles on a cool morning in London.  Ran along the River Thames from Westminster on down to Tower Bridge and then back up the other side back to my hotel.  Legs felt a bit tired late, but I attribute that to the travel altered sleep times. Heading home at noon and should be back at my house by dinner time in the US.  

PM - 15 miles - progression run with a couple of miles close to marathon pace. Very warm and I became a bit dehydrated - ran the last mile easy.