The Long Run

16.11@8:55

Long run in Palm Harbor, starter loop in the neighborhood, then the big loop around Innisbrook (Belcher to Klosterman to Pinellas Trail).

Pinellas Trail south until a little bit before the pedestrian bridge, then turned back.

Steadily increasing paces from 9:27 first mile to 8:21 last mile.

10.29@7:43

Hotel treadmill in Lakeland.  Ok, maybe it wasn't really 10 miles, was going off what my garmin said.  I was short on time, having just dropped off Charlotte, Jessica, and baby at the RP Funding center for cheer competition.   She had to be there early, so I went back to the hotel to squeeze in a run.  Originally wanted to do like 13 and thought about running around a nearby lake with a running trail.

With not enough time I at least went for a goal of 10 miles according to the garmin.

Got back to RP Funding Center but just missed her performance, felt terrible but I was at least there when they released her back to parents and stayed for awards.

23.01@9:34

What was supposed to be 22 miles, turned into 23 miles plus two miles of walking.

Out the door about 7:00ish from Sophia's apartment, warmed up and run through the streets of Tallahassee near college town area until I got to the St Mark's trailhead.  Started to take one wrong turn but corrected quickly then back on the trail proper.

Up ahead I saw a dog off a leash with a person nearby.  Usually these dogs off leash with owner nearby are well behaved.  But this time I wasn't so sure.  As I got closer I saw the lady that was near the dog was holding what looked like a human head on a stick (pretty sure was not a real head).  She was walking up and down the trail holding the head and pointing it toward the woods and mumbling something.  Got past the lady and the dog and saw that under the bridge was a tent and some belongings.

It was cool and foggy out, low 50's , fog made it feel colder.  Trail took a left hand turn across a street then another right a couple blocks later.  A little after that the trail was closed but just a few blocks where it was torn up.   Then a little after that was a major road crossing.  Still kind of foggy so was extra careful crossing the 6 lanes.

After that the trail was quiet and easy, no more surprises.  There was a nice bathroom where I stopped quickly and topped off water at fountain.  A little after that saw some Army people (maybe reservists) doing PT test.

Just slightly after hitting 11 miles, turned around.  Passed the various landmarks.  Army people had wrapped up so they were gone.   Fog had all cleared but was still cool enough out to still be nice.

Crossed the big road and came up to the place where the trail had turned left and then right.  Made the mistake of crossing the road by going right.  Still looked like a trail, marked the same for a while.  Then it didn't look right.  Stopped and looked on my phone a couple of times until I figured out how to get back.  

I'd added an extra 3 miles.  Decided to just run 1 of those miles and walk the rest.

Jessica had relocated from Sophia's apartment to Jacob's place so I went there, had a shower and then breakfast at a place next door before hitting the road to go back home.

13.77@11:30    HR 125 bpm

Loop in the neighorhood and then out and back down the Pinellas Trail.    Doing 1/4 run and 1/4 walk to keep in recovery area.  Was very tight feeling at first but then did ok.  Legs kind of tired from yesterday but that was the point of today's run.

The suggested schedule was from book Relentless Forward Progress.  Actually was supposed to be like 20 miles today but since I'm jumping into the schedule late, yesterday's run was lengthened and probably a little faster decided that almost 14 miles today was an accomplishment.

16.13@9:27

Pretty standard Palm Harbor long run with loop in neighborhood, followed by Belcher, Klosterman, PTC loop with out and back then back home.  Overall went well.

12.12@11:37   HR 120 bpm

This time I did the miles on the schedule.  Helped that yesterday was not a 20+ run.  Took it easy today using quarter mile run/walk intervals.  Neighborhood loop followed by northbound Pinellas Trail out and back with brief water stop at Wall Springs Park.

24.02@10:41  144 bpm

This was a tough run to fit in.  After a full day of Christmas/Jessica bday activities, went into work on Friday for half day then got on the road in the afternoon to head to Panama City Beach for the weekend.   Had booked a room at a Holiday Inn express on the beach where we'd stayed once before.  Didn't get in until almost 11:00 at night.

Looking at running route suggestions I saw something called "Gayle's Trail", just a couple miles from the hotel via runnable roads, fairly wide paved trail heading into a big park and also with another spur.  Saw a map which showed me an 18ish mile route, so with the 2 miles to get to the trail and then 2 back, gave me 22 miles, so just needed to add on a little more.

First leg took me to a big park (Panama City Conservation Park) where I ran across a boardwalk and found a restroom/visitor center.  Topped off water bottles, turned back.   Took a left hand turn to a northboud spur section until the trail ended but I continued on the sidewalk then crossed over a big bridge across the intra-coastal waterway, after going over the bridge, crossed back over and continued on the way I came.  

Made it back to the hotel at mile 23 so added another half mile out and then back for 24.  

This run went better than hoped after fearing I'd have to run on the beach or through town with lots of traffic.  Gayle's Trail was a great find.  Could've done more miles in the park, maybe next time.

10.35@8:49

Hotel treadmill in Panama City Beach.  Decided to keep it easy but staying on the treadmill where I could zone out.  Felt pretty good considering the 24 miles yesterday.

6.15@10:26    HR 133 bpm

Where does the time go?  Last day of 2025.  My blog entries have languished.  I did eventually do the race report for Wicked Fast Marathon in PA.

I did get my "do over" chance in Richmond.  All I wanted was to run at least the same time which I was pretty sure I could do or beat if I ran it smarter.  Success!  Ran 3:39 which puts me on track to hopefully run Boston in 2027.

When I ran the Treasure Coast Marathon (Spring 2021) in a time of 3:39, a slow down of 4 minutes from Cleveland, it felt like I was getting slower at a faster rate than getting older.  Maybe I've finally gotten ahead of it.  Richmond was actually 3:39:00 whereas TC was like just barely under 3:40 by a few seconds.  TC was also very windy and shortly after the marathon I tweaked my knee but in the end I think the training I did for that marathon propelled me to my 100 mile PR in Jan 2022.

Anyway, today's run was easy paced with 4/1 run/walk in Westlake Village, tomorrow is another 10 miles.

Last run of the year for 2025.

Happy New Year to whoever still comes and visits.