We started at the picnic shelter nearest the Shore Drive entrance to FLSP and made our way towards the main Cape Henry trail where we took a sharp right turn. At Kingfisher we made another right, then turned onto Long Creek, Fox Run and Bald Cypress before reaching the main trail and the home stretch back to the finish area.

Wasn’t sure what pace to shoot for on the mixed terrain, so just went for it from the gun which seemed to be an okay strategy. I soon found myself running alongside fellow Shamrock Sportsfest World Record Attempt teammates Drew Midland and Joel Bell, but knew Drew would likely take off and leave us in his wake. Sure enough, as we hit the main Cape Henry trail, Drew sped up and was gone. I chatted to Joel for a short time, but soon found myself alone in 2nd place as we made the right turn on Kingfisher.

[First mile - Drew Midland, me, Joel Bell. We finished the race in the same order.]

The rest of the race was pretty much a solo effort. The sand on Long Creek slowed me down a little bit, which convinced me that Joel would soon make the catch and pass. It never happened though, and I ended up taking 2nd place in a fraction over 30 minutes, and at least a minute in front of the 3rd place guy Joel.

Post-race was fun hanging out with several good runner-friends. Hot Brunswick Stew and chili really hit the spot, and the hot chocolate made a great change from the usual water/weak Gatorade found at most of the smaller races.

Good fun, and a much needed blow out for the lungs and legs!

Sunday – most people wouldn’t call me a lazy runner, but if truth be told, my long runs of late have been more of a get-through-the-miles than a get-something-out-of-this-workout type of run. With just two weeks to go to the Cayman Islands Marathon I decided it was time to suffer a little and “nail a good one.” I set out at around 7:30am with my Garmin locked on a 7:00 minute/mile virtual pace and loaded up with a nuun-filled handheld, gel and some spare cash.

Considering we’re almost at the end of November, the weather was fantastic – singlet and shorts weather in fact. It was one of those runs that felt “right” from the very first mile. My GPS soon chirped to let me know I was ahead of goal pace, and from that moment on I never looked back. Mile 1 – 6:50. I quickly decided to turn this long run into an on & off workout – one mile comfortable, followed by one mile hard, repeated ten times. I’ve had success with this type of workout before, so figured it was worth a shot. Mile 2 – 6:33.

Mile 3 was another “off” mile, but I found it hard to slow to goal pace – 6:42. Mile 4 was a good one as I had a youngish couple on mountain bikes in the distance that I could chase down. The 6:15 mile put a smile on my face as it really felt effortless.

The rest of the run continued in the same vein, and I soon found myself approaching Rudee Inlet and the halfway mark of the run – 6:42 & 6:05, 6:33 & 6:09, 6:33 & 6:04. Time to hit the boardwalk….

I expected a stiff headwind heading north, but was treated to a cooling cross wind instead. 6:29 was the next “off” mile, followed by my fastest “on” mile of the morning – 5:59. A 6:32 & 6:03 carried me to the First Landing State Park entrance, where I was tempted to stop for a water fill up before setting off on the remaining five miles. I decided not to stop and pushed on to the finish instead.

The trail naturally slowed me down a little. I felt like I was still putting out the same effort level, but the mile splits tell a different story – 6:40 & 6:17, 6:35 & 6:19. Finally I was off the trail and back onto solid ground where I told myself to relax and enjoy the final couple of miles back to the car. I eased off a lot for a 6:50 19th mile, but had a second wind at the end and finished with a 6:11 mile.

Rarely have I had such a positive long run – 20 miles in 2:08:30. In fact, when I checked back through my old running log later in the afternoon, I determined this was my fastest ever 20 miler (aside from a 20 mile race in Spotsylvania several years ago). I still have a bit of running to do before race day finally arrives, but I’m really pleased with how things turned out today. Almost time to taper….

The first mile was my usual just-get-warmed-up kind of mile. By mile two I still wasn’t feeling it and as I turned onto Kingfisher Trail just past the three mile mark, I uncharacteristically contemplated slowing down to a walk. Instead I popped a Hammer Perpetuem Solid and made a deal with myself to cut the run short at ten miles.

Kingfisher soon turned into White Hill Lake and about 1.4 miles later I was turning left onto Cape Henry and heading back to the car, not especially pleased at bailing on the twenty miler, but realizing it was probably the right decision on the day. At some point just before the Trail Center however, my legs started to come back, and the whole mood of the run changed. Just after my Garmin beeped 10.5 miles, I arrived back at my car, munched on a delicious Hammer Bar and stretched out my aching muscles.

Not sure why, but instead of jumping in my MINI and heading home, I started running back towards the trail. My thoughts had turned away from the HAT Run next week and towards the Boston Marathon in just over 5 weeks. Rightly or wrongly, I decided I really needed this long run today after all.

I slogged through the next 6 or 7 miles, stopped once or twice to stretch things and arrived back at my starting point with 17 miles on the Garmin. A couple of “bridge loops” later and I was done; 20 miles in 2:24:12. Definitely not my speediest long run ever, but possibly one of my gutsiest.

I arrived in plenty of time, registered, chatted with friends for a while before heading off on a two mile warm up. I timed the warm up to end a few minutes before the event start time, but must have incorrectly read the flyer and ended up having to wait an extra 15 minutes for the race to start. Oh well, judging by the quality field that had assembled on the start line, I wasn’t in with a chance of winning anything anyway!

The 5k course is quite a fast one — Virginia Beach flat with not too many turns and for the most part a good view of the runners ahead of you. The first mile marker was a little off (according to my Garmin anyway) and I think I was in about 12th place with a 5:48 mile split. The rest of the race was all about staying strong and maintaining good form.

I really don’t have any speed in my legs at the moment, so it was more a case of gutting out the distance and minimizing the fade as much as possible. The pic on the left is me in the last tenth of a mile, trying to stay ahead of the fast-finishing guy behind. I look better than I felt!

Despite the fade in the last two miles, I finished in 18:37 (a fraction under 6:00/mile pace) and picked up 3rd in the 40-49 age group. I think I was 9th overall, so not too bad a performance, but definitely plenty of work to do to regain my earlier season speed. Patience, patience, patience…

Sunday morning was long run morning. Thankfully the high humidity of Saturday had gone away and been replaced by cooler temps and a nice breeze. I wasn’t sure how far to run — Ally was planning a 20 miler in her build up to the Richmond Marathon; I figured I’d try for an even paced 15 or 16, with an outside chance of 18 if everything felt good.

I’m still on the fence about Richmond — I’m entered in the marathon but after being out six weeks with the stress fracture am not in any shape to race it. I could run it as a training run in the build up to the Seashore Nature Trail 50K, or I could switch down to the half marathon that takes place on the same morning as the marathon. At least I have some time to decide, so I guess I’ll wait a few more weeks to see how training progresses.

Anyway, back to the Sunday run. Before leaving the house I consumed by usual Sustained Energy liquid breakfast, topped off a spare water bottle to sip on the drive to the park and packed some Recoverite for after the run. I also picked up a Hammer Gel “just in case” I needed it on the run…

Before hitting First Landing State Park, I ran several miles on North Great Neck Road and by the time I’d reached the Visitor Center had logged ten miles. I stopped briefly to grab a drink and chatted briefly to JP and CB who were running some of the Seashore Nature Trail 50K course. Daughter Shannon was also at the Visitor Center – two miles in to her longest run for some time….

Feeling surprisingly good, I headed off down the main trail, thinking about Richmond, the 50K and some other stuff. Before I knew it I’d reached the 64th Street entrance, and with the sun in my eyes nearly bumped into Tim and Paul who were heading up the trail in the other direction. I decided it was a good time for a gel, chatted briefly to Ally who was 9 miles into her run and doing well. After a quick drink, I headed off towards the Narrows to continue the run but soon veered off the trail and thought it best to head back to the main Visitor Center and then back to the car which would give me a total of about 19 or 20 miles.

I think the gel must have kicked in at some point and my pace continued to quicken. My legs felt great and I started to think about extending the long run some more. The moment of truth came at the guard hut on the main entrance road where I could have turned left to run the two miles back to the car — instead I chose the right turn which would snake me back to the Visitor Center and the main Cape Henry Trail.

At this point I had the crazy idea of running 26.2 miles and plotted out a route in my mind that would give me the marathon distance. The last four or five miles went well. I half expected to hit a wall of some sort, but it never came; in fact, my 25th mile was the fastest of the day. I arrived back at the car in good shape, chugged down my Recoverite and stretched.

I’m still no closer to a decision about Richmond, but today was a great confidence booster and an interesting experiment. My foot felt (and still feels) great, and aside from a few aches and pains around the groin/hip area, it doesn’t feel like I just ran a marathon.

Splits from the run can be found at the Garmin Connect web site.

For the record: 26.2 miles — 3:14:40

The first mile was a 5:30 and felt really good, but partly due to the blustery conditions I lost a little momentum and slowed to a 5:40 second mile. With the benefit of a slight tailwind to the finish line I managed a 5:37 third mile and kicked it in to the line for a pretty solid race.

As for the Newtons, they performed admirably and did everything I expected them to do. Their action/reaction technology kept me on my toes for the majority of the race and for the couple of occasions I remember tiring and slipping into a heel strike action, they immediately corrected my poor form and put me back in the forefoot striking position.

I think it will take a little more practice before I’m able to race anything longer than a 5k, but for now I’m really happy and can’t wait to receive the more cushioned training shoes tomorrow. Excellent.

Today being Sunday, was long run day – a planned 20 miler at around 7:30 per mile pace and with high hopes of running negative splits (i.e. running the second half quicker than the first).

The first 10 miles were fairly uneventful, but I did make a mental note of the healthy tailwind and realized with slight dread it would turn into a brisk headwind on the way back. I reached Rudee Inlet (the 10 mile mark) in just under 1 hour 14 minutes, treated myself to a bottle of water at the local store to wash down an Espresso Hammer Gel and set off for home.

Mile 11 was a 7:01 and the fastest of the run so far. Mile 12 was quicker at 6:45 and with the help of the gel and the water I slipped into a really good groove. All the other miles were in the 6:40s with the exception of Mile 19 (a surprising 6:21) for a second half split of 1 hour 7 minutes – negative splits achieved!

Back at the house I ran a cold bath, dumped all the ice from the freezer into it and sat there for 15 minutes – seems to have done the trick on my aching legs nicely!

Next weekend is the Dismal Swamp Half Marathon which I’ll be using as a time trial to hopefully predict my marathon time for Frederick. I may even treat myself to a two day mini taper on Thursday/Friday. Should be fun…

I made sure to keep it nice and easy in the early miles before settling in to a good pace of just over 7:30 minutes per mile. Time passed quickly and before I knew it we were at Rudee Inlet and the ten mile mark (1:17:46). After a quick loop around the inlet and onto the boardwalk, we headed back to General Booth Blvd. for the trek home.

The pace was just as easy going back and the Perpetuem seemed to be doing its job nicely. With 4 or 5 miles to go, I enjoyed picking up the pace as we got closer to the house. Last 4 splits were 7:24, 7:21, 7:13 and 6:48 – nothing too spectacular, but a nice way to finish up a long run.

I set off a little after 7:00am and was surprised at how warm it already was (63°F according to weather.com). I headed east along Dam Neck Road and after a slowish first mile, started to get into a groove and picked up the pace – helped along by a nice tail wind for a change! For the first five miles I averaged around 7:25 per mile pace and any fears I had about a sluggish run had all but disappeared.

I didn’t intend to, but after turning north onto General Booth Blvd., I picked up the pace some more. The next five miles I averaged 6:55 per mile, and by now I’d reached the Virginia Beach oceanfront and the boardwalk which makes up part of the Shamrock Marathon course. Typically I encounter a strong headwind on the boardwalk, but today there was a pleasant crosswind which helped keep me cool.

I decided to run hard for another five miles and then back off for the final five to conserve energy and hopefully promote a quicker recovery. 10 to 15 went well and I was able to tick off miles of 6:48, 6:42, 6:42, 6:40 and a 7:18 – the last mile I stopped briefly for a drink but the fountain was switched off.

Instead of shutting things down and running easy to the finish, I glanced at my Garmin and realized I could probably average seven minute miles if I stepped things up a notch. It wasn’t easy (and I’m still not convinced it was the smartest thing to do), but I worked hard and recorded miles of 7:00, 6:29, 6:44, 6:46 and 6:37 to finish the 20 mile run in exactly 2 hours 20 minutes – bang on seven minute mile pace.

I spent a short time stretching, mixed up some Recoverite and headed home to get cleaned up, eat some breakfast and take a nap. Tonight I’m feeling good, glad I pushed the pace and looking forward to the two week taper before Shamrock on March 22nd. Good times…

From this point there were just five miles to run through the park where I’d arranged to meet my daughter who was home for the day from college. My plan was to complete the long run at 7:30 pace for the 20 miles and finished up in 2:29:03 for an average 7:28 per mile pace. No problems maintaining the pace, but the wind in my face for almost 15 miles was quite challenging! Good practice for Shamrock I guess…

So, another week of 60+ miles, but I really need to step things up to get into the 70′s for at least a couple of weeks out of the next three. 35 days to Shamrock….soon be time to taper!

Back at the house a few hours later, I decided to go for another run – this time an easy 5 miler with my daughter. I also wanted to try out my new compression leg sleeves from Zensah. The sleeves felt great and despite having run 20 miles in the morning, my legs felt pretty good too. I’ve been wearing the Zensah’s around for the rest of the day and I must say I’ve really enjoyed the support they’ve provided for my calves. The idea of the product is to provide oxygen to the muscles so that they recover faster. Hopefully after 25 miles today and a tough 14k race yesterday, the leg sleeves will have done what they’re designed to do and prepared my legs for another solid day of training tomorrow. I’ll report more as the week progresses.

One last thing: during the race yesterday I experienced a little foot discomfort and think that my Brooks Racer ST3′s are on the way out (i.e. they don’t have many miles/races left in them). Tonight I went online and found a good deal on the all-new Racer ST4 at RunningShoes.com. They offered the ST4 $5 cheaper than anywhere else with free shipping and I also managed to find a 10% coupon code for another $8.50 saving (coupon code OXFORD if you’re interested). Can’t wait to try them out – maybe they’ll arrive in time for this weekend’s Tune-Up Series 30k??

I took it fairly easy in the early stages and found myself in about 12th place as we headed out towards the mile mark. The lead two or three runners already had a big lead but I was happy to sit back and stay comfortable. I hit the mile in 5:58 and decided it was time to pick up the place a little and passed several runners in the next quarter mile. Next time I looked up I was in 4th place and about 15-20 seconds back from the third place guy – the same guy who’d beaten me in a couple of 5k races earlier this year.

Try as I might, I couldn’t make enough ground in the last 3 or 4k to move into 3rd place. However, my pace stayed consistent (5:58, 5:58 and 5:57) and I ended up just 11 seconds away from 3rd place. Finish time was 22:05 for an average 5:55 per mile pace, so I guess I finished the pretty quick in the last half mile or so. Now I’m looking forward to the last race of the series on February 28th – an 8k cross country race at Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk. I wonder if I’ll be able to make up the 15 seconds and move into third place overall??

Sunday was my typical long run day. Nothing too exciting to report – I ran 8 miles towards the Virginia Beach oceanfront, turned around and ran home. Of course the wind was behind me on the way out which made for a challenging run home into a pretty stiff headwind. Nice. Good training for the traditionally-windy Shamrock Marathon though…

Summary: 16 miles in 1 hour 56 minutes – not a bad pace and nice that the calf issue seems to have cleared up.

After about 7 or 8 miles I noticed my average pace was down to around 7:45 per mile, so I set myself a goal of getting it down to an average of 7:30 per mile by the time I reached 16 miles. I was also conscious of my heart rate and pleased to see it was in the high 130s to low 140s for the most part. It climbed a little as I ran into the wind, but generally it was surprisingly low.

The remainder of the run went well although I could have done with something to drink around the 12 or 13 mile mark. My legs were feeling great though and it was easy to pick up the pace slightly and work on the average pace.

With about a mile to go, the Garmin finally read 7:30 per mile and I was able to relax a little – not that I felt stressed at any point during the run, but I was working a little harder than earlier on.

Back at the house it was great to analyze the stats and very satisfying to see the average heart rate of 135 beats per minute.

I was also relieved I’d chosen to do the 30-Day Shred workout before heading out for a run. I didn’t think I’d be up for Jillian Michaels after a long run and I was right…..