They all can't be "easy" runs.

0.4 then 5.5 miles. Hood route. 55 degrees. Full moon. 48:42. 8:51 pace.

I thought I was getting sick this weekend, so I took a couple of days off. And I moved a boat from Fruit Cove to Venice. It turns out that I may still be getting sick, but the onramp to this illness is the slowest moving thing ever. So, in the meantime, I will continue to run. 

am: 5.5 miles. hood route. 

@ lunch time: 3.25 miles around Rothenbach Park. We are looking to set up a fundraising 5k. Someone had the idea to use this park that I have never visited as the race course. So we met out there with a county official, and then I ran around the park. I think I found a good course. Running through Oak hammoock is very scenic, and shady. The race will have to be capped at 100 participants, though. We'll see. 

5.5 miles. hood route. 

7.5 miles. Intersection of Pinebrook Road and Pinebrook Way to Laurel Road to entrance to Legacy Trail. Turn around. Back down Laurel Road to Albee Farm Road to Edmonson Road to Pinebrook Road to the intersection of Pinebrook Road and Pinebrook Way. (Hood route). 

6 am start. 72 degrees. 1:06:10. 8:49 pace. 

Tonight is the last practice for Johnny's basketball team. That means the second half of the practice is kids vs. parents scrimmage. I plan on fouling out. 

This weekend, we have 3 soccer games, 1 (last of the season) basketball game, 1 chorus performance, and a visiting mother in law. Time to run is going to be tough to find. 

5.5 miles. Hood. When I am behind on weekly miles, like I am this week, I need to fight the urge to try to make them all up in one day. I need to accept the fact that 50 is not going to happen this week. Because if I try to cram them all in the next 30 something hours, I will (at worst) injure myself, or (at least) mess up next week's mileage. I lost the battle this week, plain and simple. 

The parents won at basketball last night. We have a distinct rebounding advantage over the 11 year olds. Also, I learned that dribbling a basketball, while keeping your head up to look for the open pass, while a guy is on you, and you are running, is, like, super tough.

7.5 miles hood route in the fog. Then boy #1 soccer game in Englewood. They lost 2-1. Then boy #2 basketball. They lost again, but he handled it well. The only basketball game they won this season was the first one. He really wanted to win today, but no such luck. Then boy #1 soccer game 2. They won 4-0. Game #3 tomorrow. It is super early, so if I'm running tomorrow, it will be noon time, because both boys are singing in a concert tomorrow night.

Sometimes it's really boring around here.

12.9 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to Venice Avenue and back. 10:30 am start. Pretty miserable at that time of day. Intermittent breeze, and full sun. After spending yesterday in the sun, I was already beat down from it.

Tommy's team won this morning so they advance to the next round. The season goes on. The performance tonight went really well, too.

4 miles. Hood route.

6 am. 7.5 miles. Hood route. 1:01:04. 8:08 pace. 0.4 down. It was warm. Imagine "Florida". Now, imagine "unseasonably warm Florida". It was like that.

5.5 miles. hood route. 6 am start. 

6 am: 0.4 up. 7.5 miles. hood route in 1:02:11. 8:17 pace. last mile in 7:03. 0.4 down. New Saucony Kinvaras. 

song of the run... https://youtu.be/PJwt2dxx9yg

3.5 miles. Hood route. 6 am start. Cool patchy fog at sunrise.

16.25 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Circus Bridge and back. Slow. I slept awful last night.

Anyhow, let's review the weekly goals. Better than 50 miles - check. Long run - check. Tempo - nope. Intervals - nope. Okay, we're getting there.

10.2 Miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. I timed the last three miles. In 22:05. That`s 7:22 pace. In all honesty, the 6th mile felt the best the smoothest. There's no reason any of this run should have felt good. After running yesterday, I cut the grass, played basketball, played soccer, and then we went to a party where they were serving Cajun food and we were washing it down with hurricanes. This run should have felt awful, but it didn't.

6 am start. misty rain or heavy dew. I wanted 5.5 tempo, but my digestive system had other plans. 

0.4 miles. then 1.5 miles. then bathroom. then 0.4 miles. then 3.5 miles in 28:49 (8:14 pace). then 0.4 miles. So, I really underperformed on the tempo. 

I should have timed the 1.5. My neighbor saw me on the way back for that part, and the walk to start for the 3.5. He said, "you were really booking there." I told him why. I think that the "What happens if you have to poop?" question really holds a lot of people back from running. You usually hear "My knees, blah, blah, blah,….. It's so boring, blah, blah, blah.' But really, I think more people are worried about the emergency bathroom stop thing, then would be willing to admit. Because I have been running for 8 years, I know, exactly, how far I can go in an emergency. I know, exactly, how far away the next stop is. Every construction site has a port-o-let, and I live in a place where a large economic driver is homebuilding. I have really good odds of completing runs without incident. 

I probably just jinxed myself for tomorrow. 

6 am: track. First time running the track in the morning? Yep. 2 up. 4x800 with 400 AR. 1 down. 3:02, 3:04, 3:02, and 3:04.

7.5 miles. Hood route to legacy trail and back. 5:45am start. Slow.

3.5 miles. Hood route. Back is a little stiff from something or another. I haven't lifted any lawnmowers lately. It could be all of the soccer and basketball, though. I am playing more basketball now that Johnny's season is over than ever.

I'm going for 20.75 miles tomorrow. I haven't run that far since November 5, 2016 (Savannah). I'm not looking for any pace until the last three. I hope i can kick on the last three.

20.75 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Circus bridge to caspersen Beach and back. 6 a.m. start. Last 3 at 8:20, 8:01, and 7:47. Beautiful morning I saw a gopher tortoises, manatees, not wearing novelty tees, Eagles Ospreys it was awesome. It was also unseasonably warm. As disappointed as I am about the Paces for the last 3 miles, I'm still pretty psyched that I got this done and I'm on the path to getting ready for a marathon.

Then to the beach then an hour of basketball then an hour of soccer.

Week in review More than 50 miles-check. Long run - double check. Intervals - check, but could be better. Tempo run - I'm not sure if I've ever done one of those. Tge last 3 from Sunday's run? What is the goal pace of a tempo? I don't know.

10.2 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. 6 am start. We've been getting highs in the mid 80s this week, with high humidity and dew point. You know, like May. Anyway, the firat 2 and the last 2 felt rough, but the stuff in the middle felt okay. Then church then an hour of soccer in the sweltering heat, then pool.

3.5 miles. hood route. 6:15 am start. 70 deg. 100% hum. 70 dew point. Just plain gooey. I really had to fight to make this happen this morning. I'm still sore from the weekend. 

1.2 up. 3.5 hood route miles in 26:33. (7:35 pace). 1.2 down. Same weather as yesterday, super hot and humid, with now tangible mist. This run was good, and a step in the right direction. But this comeback feels really slow.

I'm a bit bummed that I can't lose weight as fast as I used-to-could. Yeah, yeah, I know. I've got to be more disciplined about the intake. That scale needle hasn't moved off of 194 since January 1. I should be, like, 175 by now. I say this, not out of vanity, but out of understanding that there is a direct relationship between running performance and weight. I've got 20 pounds to lose. I feel like I can't begin training in earnest until I get that scale number to move, you know, a LITTLE. A small bit of success at losing weight would go a long way. 

5.5 miles. Hood Route. 6:15 am start. 

Pm. At track. 1.5 up. (6) x 800 with 400 AR. 1 down. 2:55 (I was trying to impress some teenagers that were blazing through some 100s! What was I thinking? They were polite, though.) 3:03, 3:07, 3:10, 3:07, and 3:07. All first laps except the first were 1:32.