This is one of the weekends we really look forward to each year where we travel to St. Augustine to tour the city and run the Bridge of Lions 5K. We decided to do a scaled down trip this year only staying one night. We made it into town Friday. After stopping off at the St. Augustine Register building for packet pickup, we checked into the Howard Johnson hotel and I headed out for my short night before race run. When I got back we had Jenny’s spaghetti for dinner. I prefer Jenny’s spaghetti over any restaurant. Instead of heading into town to walk around, we went to the movies and saw “Despicable Me” in 3D. Very funny movie, I recommend seeing. I am still unsure about the whole 3D thing. There aren’t many scenes in the movie made specifically for 3D, so I don’t really see the point as it adds nothing to the movie.

The best part about running a race in St. Augustine is staying downtown, waking up not so early, and walking to the race. The hotel is about a mile from the Castillo de San Marcos where the race started. So, we can just walk, pickup the timing chip, warmup and go. Don’t even have to worry about the porta potties!

Sailboat on the Matanzas.

Conditions for the race were hot and humid as usual. The real issue was the gnats that were all over the place st the start. Not easy swatting gnats and trying to put on the race shoes.

The first mile of this race course is awesome. The race starts at the fort, runs down the bayfront and across the Bridge of Lions. After that, you turn into the housing area on the other side for the rest of the race which can be a bit of a grind. It was a joy this year to run over the original bridge that was finished with renovations a couple months ago.

The race went really well. I finished in 18:48, 12th overall, and 2nd in my age group. I was trying to break my PR of 18:41, but didn’t quite get there. Still, my time was one minute faster than last year. I ran pretty comfortable most of the race. Outside of my first mile at 5:55, I ran even the rest of the way with a 6:04 and 6:05 with a fast finishing kick.

The shirts were great this year with a nice design showing the Bridge of Lions. The only thing they need to do to make this race better is provide better age group awards. It pays to be first overall as they get a cool $100. But for the age group awards, they used the same exact little medal that I won two years ago. They had over 500 finishers this year, if they would take just 50 cents more from each entry, they could provide some first class medals that people would really want to show off. You could tell people weren’t real happy with the medals.

Racing to the finish.

Almost there...faster, faster!!

Another good race finished!

After a two mile walk back to the hotel, we had breakfast, got cleaned up, relaxed for a bit, and checked out. We didn’t really want to go walking all over town at noon, so we went to Anastasia State Park and went to the beach.

We had lunch, drove back and parked downtown. We always enjoy going into the different art galleries and looking at what’s new. When everyone was getting pretty tired of walking, we went to Pizzalley’s to have our pizza. Pizzalley’s has the best pizza! We gorged ourselves full and ventured out for some more walking before we ended the night at Kilwin’s for ice cream.

We got a huge surprise as we were walking back to the parking garage. We saw a guy selling his paintings and it turned out to be Dean Quigley that we bought Jenny’s painting of the City Gates from four years ago. Guess he lives full time in St. Augustine now and is active in getting better laws enacted for artists to sell their work. Dean is an awesome guy and painter. Outside of painting, he is a history buff who can tell you all about just about anything. It was fun listening to the history behind the paintings he had on display. I was great seeing Dean again and we look forward to the next time we go back to St. Augustine!!

Saturday night/Sunday morning was the Kiwanis Midnight Run where I ran the 1 mile, 5K, and 10K. These races capped off the day totaling about 14 miles of racing.

If you have never run the Midnight Run before, I highly recommend doing so. This is the second year in a row we have done it. All runs start at the corner of Bayshore and Curlew Rd. in Dunedin. The race is well organized, has great awards, t-shirts and is fun!

Only one suggestion to the race organizers. The tech shirts they handed out are great but they aren’t so good running in. The shirt really holds sweat and gets heavy. Plus, it doesn’t let much air through. Maybe next race, they will order Leslie Jordan shirts. I have two and I love and run in them all the time.

For the one mile race, I paced Chris to an 8:22. He asked me to help him run 7:30, but we didn’t get there. I started him off easy and got close to 7:30, but progressively got slower. I basically used this race as a warmup for the 5K and 10K.

Ran well in the 5K. Finished with a time of 19:24. Got 1st place in my age group and finished 24th overall out of 891 finishers. My hamstrings got a little tight during the race and the bridge cost a few seconds.

After a 30 minute rest, the 10K started. I finished with a time of 42:26 and finished 3rd in my age group and 27th out of 361. This race was sort of weird. Somewhere around the 2nd mile, my body went into some sort of auto-pilot mode. My pace was even, my stride felt efficient like when I run barefoot, and my breathing was easy. I was enjoying myself as I picked off more and more runners. Unfortunately, I didn’t pick off the guy that finished 7 seconds ahead of me so I would have gotten 2nd instead of third. Oh well. It was nice running in the dark with no other light except for the candles lining the road into Honeymoon Island SP.

End of a long day, 10K finish.

1st and 3rd place plaques won at the Kiwanis Midnight Run.

Had a great time this morning running the Lutz Independence Day 5K, one mile and taking in the 4th of July parade after.

For summer time in Florida, the weather was fantastic. With the skies being cloudy and rainy the last couple days the temperature stayed relatively comfortable and the humidity wasn’t too bad. Thank goodness since the race started at 8:00.

I ended up having a great race finishing just off my PR and second fastest 5K. Finish time was 18:45, 2nd age group, and 13th overall. I went out a hair faster than I wanted but didn’t drop off too much. Splits were 5:52, 6:03, and 6:10. Seemed like there were a lot more of the faster runners there and they had a great turnout.

The kids and Jenny did the one mile. I paced Emily to an 11:44 and first place in the 9 year old female age group. Christopher got a nice trophy for first overall male.

After a Subway footlong at lunch and an afternoon nap, the legs feel really good and ready to run the one mile, 5K, and 10K at the Kiwanis Midnight Run tonight. I will be pacing Chris for the mile. He says he wants to do a 7:30, we’ll see about that. I told him I am going to start him at 6:30 and see how long it takes for him to blow up! A lot of rain around right now so it should be a lot cooler than last year. Hopefully, the rain will slow down or quit by 11:00.

Looking forward to a great 4th of July weekend which starts early tomorrow morning for us.

I will be running 4 races tomorrow. Last year I did the Lutz and Kiwanis 5Ks. This year, we will start the morning in Luts for the 5K, 1 mile and stick around for the parade. The kids are running the 1 mile, so I get to unofficially run that also. Will probably pace Emily and Tommy.

In the evening, it is off to Dunedin for the Kiwanis Midnight run where I am entered to run the 1 mile, 5K, and 10K. I am just going to pace Chris for the 1 mile and use as a warmup.

Here are the time goals for the races. For both 5Ks, I would like to run sub-19 minutes or at least low 19 for Kiwanis. For the 10K, will run that a little more based on how I feel, sub-42 minutes should be doable. Probably start the race at 6:30 pace and see what happens.

Sunday night is fireworks in Dade City, hope the weather cooperates and they got enough money this year for a good show. No work Monday, so a day to recoop.

Yesterday morning was the 2nd race of the Watermelon Series in Lakeland.

The weather didn’t seem quite as warm as the last race three weeks ago. Still just as wet after it was over though. seems like the keep getting more and more people participate. When Emily crossed the line, her finish card was 650 something and there were quite a few more behind her.

I had a really good race that went exactly as planned. I finished with a time of 18:57 and placed 15th overall. This is the first time I have been under 19 minutes when the temp is over 55 degrees. The time is about 30 seconds faster than 3 weeks ago and a couple places better. Results haven’t been posted yet so I don’t know age group placings. My friend Robbie showed up for this one so he kicked my butt running 17:32. So I should place 2nd for age group which doesn’t matter for the series standings as you have to run all races for final awards.

The 3rd race of the series is July 24th.

Emily finishing the first 5K we let her run by herself.

Run more, run less, crosstrain, tempo runs, intervals, 20 milers…AAAHHHHHHHH!!

There are so many marathon training plans on the internet that it is nearly impossible to figure out what to do. As I have stated earlier, I don’t believe there are any shortcuts to marathon training. If you are a first time marathoner or just enjoy finishing marathons, picking a training plan is pretty easy. Just choose a plan that progressively builds the miles and throws in some speedwork. Smart Coach on the Runner’s World website does a pretty good job.I have used a plan like this for my first marathon and it got me to the finish.

I have to wonder about the Run Less, Run Faster plan and book through Furman University that use three “quality” workouts each week with intervals, tempo run and long run with cross training sandwiched in between. The book even tells you exactly what paces to use to help you achieve a Boston Qualifying time. I have tried this one and it is sometimes hard to hit some of the paces and the weekly mileage only works out to about 30-40 miles max. They also throw in five 20 milers spaced over the course of the plan. When I did this plan, I ended up combining it with the great plan by the Hanson’s running group which takes out the 20 milers in favor of nothing over 16 miles.

I can see where a Run Less program would work for someone in their forties who has a huge aerobic base from year’s of running but are a little torn up and could use less miles. I ran in high school and didn’t run for years after. I came back to running less than three years ago so I didn’t have that huge aerobic base.

The Hanson’s plan is really good. The plan is a progressive mileage plan that includes all the usual type runs. They tell you what paces to run based on your current race pace which is helpful and pretty spot on. Their reasoning for not running 20 milers makes sense to me. Even though I can run them (and have), I don’t include them in my training. The thought is that the too much recovery time is needed considering most people can’t run 20 miles in 2.5 hours or less which is about the recommended longest time for a run. Even the Hanson’s elite runners like Brian Sell do not run more than 16 miles in one session. They will do multiple sessions in a day though to get their mileage up to well over 100 miles per week. Yes, a lot of elites run more that 20 miles for a long run, but their 20 miles doesn’t even take 2 hours. 20 miles just seems to be the magic number for the pinnacle long run in most plans. In a lot of European plans, the longest run is 30KM or about 18 miles.

One tried and tested method is Arthur Lydiard training. After reading more about his training last fall, I put it to use and I credit the training for my 3:16 at Gasparilla Marathon (even though I did not get a full training cycle in)  as well as my 5K and half-marathon improvements. The training just makes sense to me.You can explore Lydiard and read good overviews of his training HERE. Be sure to click the Training tab and read the full text of the Osaka lecture. Also read this literature that has a sample of a training schedule HERE.

Lydiard is credited as the father of jogging and the misunderstood long slow distance. I say misunderstood because some believe LSD is just that, slow. Not necessarily. LSD is nothing more than aerobic running which allows you to build your aerobic base without killing yourself. Hence the motto “Train, don’t strain”.

The training is built like a pyramid where each part prepares you for the next. First, you establish a base of aerobic running. No huffing and puffing here, just a lot of comfortable running. Even Lydiard’s Olympic Sprinters started their training cycle building an aerobic base. Makes sense, even sprinters have to provide oxygen efficiently to their muscles. Another good thing about the length of the runs is you get used to being on your feet for longer periods. After a while, an hour run feels like a half hour and hour and a half runs feel normal while 2 hour runs push but don’t feel overwhelming. Next on the pyramid is hill training to build strength to prepare for the next phase of speed work. Once speed work is complete comes a period of conditioning which contains more race specific work. The training concludes with a freshening up period to allow the body to recover from all the training and get ready to race (but it is not time off).

As with everything, a training plan should be as individual as you are. Don’t go blindly following any plan, tweak it to your needs and ability.

Personally, if you are an experienced runner with time goals or a really motivated and disciplined beginner, go with the Lydiard plan as I believe it makes sense and is working for me. You don’t have to do it exactly as laid out. Tweak the length of training sessions to your ability and build up your miles.

If you are an absolute beginning runner. Start out with a “couch to 5K” program that blends walking with increasing amounts of running that will get you to the finish line of a 5K in about 8 weeks.

For beginning marathoners (you should at least be able to run a whole 10K without stopping) who just want to finish, use a progressive program that will build your miles steadily. All a beginner needs to do is build their ability to run far. I am not sure why they include any speed work for anybody who will be doing a marathon at a 10 minute per mile pace or greater. Speed work isn’t going to make you faster, aerobic runs will.

I wish everybody luck with your training and racing. Hope to see you at a race soon!!

The results for race #1 of the Watermelon series is finally up on the Lakeland Runner’s Club site. Not sure what they did, but the page is so slow loading now.

Anyway, the 19:25 I put up was good enough for 1st place in the 35-39 age group. Looking forward to getting in a lot of good miles in before the next race June 26th. Maybe I will go a little faster if I feel like it.

Had a good first week coming off the Lake Louisa 5K last Saturday. Ran everyday for a total of 55 miles. All miles were run aerobically around 145 beats per minute. Had a good time at the Watermelon 5K placing 17th overall (still don’t know age group standings). Miles would have been higher, but I stink at getting myself out of bed in the morning, so I didn’t get out for a 2 hour run Sunday morning. Instead, I punished myself by running 6 miles at 1PM when the feels like temperature was over 100 degrees. I usually do my runs in the evening and could get away with it during the winter. Going to have to really motivate myself to get up and run in the morning now.

I have been working a lot on run mechanics. One thing I discovered was how much arm carriage plays into everything. I knew the arms control your cadence and to some extent where your foot strike will be (the closer your opposite hand is to your hip, the more underneath foot strike will be). By doing a little reverse engineering, I built a harness that will train you to achieve proper arm carriage that is more like you will see with Kenyan runners. I first saw the harness at www.stridemechanics.com where I already have the book. The harness was easy to make and saved from spending $18. Basically, the hands are a bit higher close to your chest. The main movement is backwards with the elbows which aids the toe off portion of your stride. By keeping the hands close to the chest, it is almost impossible to overstride and helps keep you to a midfoot landing.

This week will be about the same schedule except a 5K time trial and a day of strides is thrown in. Hopefully, I can get myself up in the mornings so I can get a 15-30 minute run in to get the blood flowing before work. No races until the the 26th for the next Watermelon. The big week is after that July 4th weekend where I will run a total of four races in 18 hours. Will start off with the Lutz Independence Day 5K Saturday morning, then the Kiwanis 1 mile, 5K, and 10K midnight run in Dunedin to cap off the day. Pretty much a broken up half-marathon in the heat and mugginess.

Ahh, Summertime. Waking up before 5AM, heat, humidity, must be Watermelon Series time!! This morning was the 1st 5K of the 15th annual Lakeland Watermelon Series put on by the Lakeland Runners Club. The race is run around Lake Hollingsworth next to Florida Southern College. Temperature at start was 77 degrees with 96% humidity. I had more sweat going during my warmup than any run in the winter. They had a great turnout with over 500 people showing up. This year, they are actually giving out finisher medals to those who register for all four races by next race and complete all four.

I had a good run this morning that went as I had planned and finished knowing I could have gone faster if I wanted to. My finish time was 19:25 which is 30 seconds faster than any of my times from last year’s series. I finished 17th overall, but won’t know my age group placing until later in the week as it takes them a while to tabulate everything. I did a great job of starting out slower running the first mile in 6:19. The 2nd mile was 6:15 and last mile 6:14. I didn’t have much incentive to push the last mile, so I just kept running comfortably trying to concentrate on keeping good form and run smooth.

The watermelon after the race was cold and tasty!! One cool thing about the races in Lakeland is that they have someone who takes pictures of all the runners and posts them on the running club site. This is good for me since Jenny walks the course so I don’t have my photographer at the finish. The only thing this race needs to do which would save them a ton of time is to have age group boxes to place finisher cards into. For some reason, they have a single male and female box to collect cards. I pity the person who has to sort all those cards. Last year it took 2-3 days for results to be posted to their site and everyone had to wait for well over an hour after the final race finished for them to get final results to hand out awards.