They all can't be "easy" runs.

11.7 miles of hiking in Myakka River State Park. Beautiful Floridaness. 

2 on the trails then 3.5 hood route. 

1 on the trails. then I got dizzy and stopped. I have no idea. 

7.5 miles. Hood route. 7 am start. Kind of snappy pace. Everything just clicking along. It's been so long since I've run anything longer than 5 miles, my body definitely knew when that was. I had a medley of BNL songs from the album "Stunt" stuck in my head. oh, and my heels got severely blistered on that new years day hike, so I had a lot of heel pain while running out there. 

7.5 miles. hood route to legacy trail and back. 7:45 am start. not as early as I'd hoped. 57ish degrees. 

6 on the trails. 8:30 am start. 50th birthday run. I considered doing something long, or something fast. But I realized this was likely going to be a run with a lot of introspection, so I kept it easy on the trails.

2021 is going to have a lot of anniversaries for me. For example, on 1/9, it will be 10 years since my first race, The Disney Marathon. I thought a lot about that this morning; how training for, and then finishing that race changed the direction of how I spend my free time, and then ultimately, led me to all of you. I thought about the crazy life events that led up to the race, how I ran it without a watch, the folks that run that race and try to get a picture with every character along the course, the sense of accomplishment after, the guy in the parking lot with the 50 marathons in 50 states shirt, etc.

Mostly, I had grateful thoughts this morning. Grateful for Spouse, the kids, that my parents are still around, that I still have a job, and I guess, that I can run 6 miles on beautiful trails next to a creek less than a quarter mile from my house, and even though they are slow miles, I never think about how much work this is. I only think about how lucky I am. 

5 on the trails. I ate way too much good food last night. I had a really good day yesterday.

I intentionally did not watch the news yesterday. This might start a trend for me.

After living in Florida since 1983, and having 4-6 months of every year having all of the weathermen tell me that every storm is going to be "the big one" and never once lowering the bar of overestimation and exaggeration, I think I have become numb to hyperbole. It's probably best that I shut off all of the folks screaming about the "end of democracy!" for a while. 

... And focus on knocking out the ginormous list of home improvment projects I created for 2021, while listening to some good music. 

7 on the trails. I was thinking of DMB Drive in Drive out for most of it. 

Now for a long day of pressure washing. 

1 mile on the trails, then 7.5 miles, hood route to legacy trail and back. all of it was pretty smooth. 

3/4 of the house is pressure washed. finish up today, and perhaps begin paint tomorrow. we shall see. 

7.75 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over the SWOM bridge and back. 12:00 start. 8 minute Last mile. 45 degrees. I'm glad I finished pressure washing yesterday. Too stinking cold for that today. Painting is postponed until next weekend, when Sherman Williams is having a 30% off exterior paint sale.

3 on the trails. I got out too late. Again. It's early yet, but this new years resolution of being more disciplined with my time is not going so well. 

7:15 am start. (getting there, but not early enough yet) 5.5 miles hood route. then 2 miles on the trails. 

7:15 am start. (again) 5.5 miles hood route. then 2 miles on the trails. pace is picking up.

late start. but I actually ran fast today. My first not-easy run since...? Since the neighborhood parents vs. kids Christmas soccer game that was a total disaster. 

4 on the trails. A half mile into each of the 4 trail loops, I did (4) x 100+ M sprints, with jog backs on the soccer fields. So all in, that's @ a mile of grass sprints. The default position is really entrenched with easy runs. I'm going to have to force the issue with any kind speed. 

7.5 miles. hood route to legacy trail and back. 62 degrees. 15 mph wind out of the west. After the turn around, I was flying. 

I have only missed 2 days running this year. 1 wasnew years day - I hiked 11 miles. so I can live with that. And I missed yesterday. Sometimes life gets in the way of running. Either way, it has been a pretty decent week of running. 

Big painting weekend. I hope the weather holds. 

7.5 miles. Hood route to legacy trail and back. 

Painting works a unique set of muscles. I'm sore today. So this is the non running goal- to paint the entire exterior of the house in one holiday weekend. Friday night - tape the front of the house. Saturday - prime the front of the house, tape the back of the house. Sunday - prime the back of the house, paint the front of the house. Monday - paint the back of the house. So far, I am on schedule. 

4 on the trails. 

7.75 miles. hood route to legacy trail, over the SWOM bridge and back. Super hot (70ish) and humid. So much dew out that sounds are muffled. It's like we're just skipping Florida's version of winter this year. The run was surprisingly smooth. I had "Notion" by Kings of Leon and "Sell Out" by Reel Big Fish stuck in my head. Sometimes at the same time, which was annoying. 

4 on the trails. just because. I've been sick. no fever, just a lot of sneezing and such. 

4 more on the trails. Still with the non-fever head cold. 

4 more on the trails. Slowly coming out of the head cold. 

7.5 miles. Venetian Waterway Park west. Circus bridge to caspersen beach, then back north along intercoastal waterway to mile marker 3.75 near venice high school and back to circus bridge. 5:30 pm start. Started rough, finished strong. Nice sunset.