They all can't be "easy" runs.

5.5 miles. Hood Route. 6:15 am start. Hot, Humid, and Slow. Cool thing - while running by Nokomis Groves, I almost got knocked over by the orange blossom smell. Today, that fragrance is awesome! In two weeks, I'll be altering my route to avoid the stink. 

20.75 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail over circus bridge to Caspersen Beach and back. Last 5 miles in 37:29. 7:30 pace. Cooler temps with a big breeze out of the north east. There's always a big breeze from the north the weekend of the shark's tooth 10k. When you turn on mile 4 to run along the intracoastal waterway, that wind stands you right up. So because I was running part of my run on the race course, I had to run pretty fast for the middle 4 miles of this run so that I would get off the course before the Race went through. So I was running pretty quick in the middle. I really wish I would have raced something this weekend. There are no soccer games to go to, and there are two great races I could have chosen from. There is the Sunshine Skyway 10K or the shark's tooth 10K. I should have gotten one of those.

PS I hope I just run did great in his race today!

Also, weekly goals:

More than 50 miles - check.

Long run - check.

Intervals - check.

Tempo - check, but needs work.

Soccer tournament next weekend is going to make hitiing all of next week's goals tough.

10.2 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. 49 degrees at the start of the run. That's right, we've gone from 79 to 49 to 82 in 24 hours.

The power went out last night at 9 pm. we got it back at 10 am. I guess I could have still ran this morning, but I didn't.  My folks were very excited to have my family over this morning to shower at their house. They fed us, too. I'm glad the temps stayed low overnight. No AC can sometimes bring out the worst in people. I'll see if I can make running work during soccer practice tonight. 

While boy #1 was at soccer practice, I ran legacy trail with boy #2 pacing me on his bike. I should have timed the whole run. I only timed the last 2.75 miles. 20:17. 7:22 pace.

0.4 miles around the block, running like I was the tin man from the wizard of oz. I was so stiff at the start of this run, that I really laughed out loud. Then 7.5 miles, hood route to legacy trail and back. The pace substantially picked up on the second half of this. It rained for the first mile and the last, but was just windy in the middle. Hopefully, I will do the same workout as last week at the track later, but with slightly better times. 

5.5 miles. Hood route. 6 am start. Really got into a nicr groove late in the run.

Tommy had a soccer game in Brandon this morning. That's about an hour north of here. They won 4-2. Then we stopped for lunch on the way home. Then we got home and I ran 16.25 miles in the rain. Seriously, it rained the whole time. Anyway, That was good because apparently I had a lot of stuff on my mind, that I needed to vent. Since I had the legacy trail to myself, I had a not quiet conversation with myself while running in the rain, you know, like a looney person. It was cheaper than a trip to the headshrink! So Tommy has another game tomorrow early in the morning, since they won. So I plan on doing the same drill tomorrow afternoon, except I hope to kick it for the last 5. We'll see. After running, Tommy and I went to the soccer field and played in the rain for an hour and a half.

I forgot the weekly goals: 

More than 50 miles. Yes. Long run. Yes. Intervals. Yes. Tempo. Yes, but only 2.75 miles. It should be much more.

Tommy's soccer team lost 1-0 this morning. It was 0-0 at the end of regulation. The team played very well. Then I drove home, again. 12.9 noontime miles. Mid 70 degrees. Florida post rain misery. In season mid day traffic problems. I mean, just no joy to be found. So my yesterday goal of 16.25 with a 5 mile fast finish was not going to happen. Afterwards the boys and I went swimming. The water was very cold. I am beat.

Okay, first the good news. Due to a scheduling mix up, Tommy will not be playing in a soccer tournament this weekend in Ft. Myers. This opens the door for us to run the St. Patty's Day 8k in Venice! My favorite local race. It gets better! This will be the first official race that I have run with both boys. This year, Tommy will run as "Patty O'Furniture," like he did in 2016. I will run as "Fatty McButterpants." Johnny will run as " 'Lil' Pat O'Butter." I plan on destroying them. They are 11 and 12. I will not be able to do this much longer, so I really need to make the margin of victory big. 

5:50 am start. high 40s / low 50s degrees with low humidity, and low dew point. (It will be much more humid and warm on Saturday.) 0.4 up. 7.5 miles in 55:09. 7:21 pace. 0.8 down. The pace was steady on the way out, but was a series of surges on the way back. Not by design, it just worked out that way, but it was noticeable. 

I think racing Saturday is going to kill any possiblity of a long run this week. I think I would have to either run long tonight or tomorrow night to make that work.  So psyched to be back to racing, though. Since I hardly ever race anymore, I have no way of estimating my abilities. So, I'm going to shoot for running as fast as I can, and using this as a tool for working out paces for Brookings. 

AM: 5.5 miles. hood route. started late. slow. meh. 

PM: At track. Still kind of uninspired. 2 up, (5) x 1600m, 400m AR (except the last one) 2 down. 6:38, 6:41, 6:35, 6:33, and 6:35. The winds were heavy, and running against the long side of the track for 1, 2, and 5. Short side on 3 and 4, and I think it shows.

Last week, I said I did a Franken5k, and Spouse didn't get it. She thought it had something to do with ex-senator Al Franken, like he invented it. So this week, let me introduce the 8kenstien. Huh? Better? Okay, all in that's 33:02. I'll be very happy with that time if I can get it Saturday. 

6 am: 3.5 miles. hood route with boy #1. In 8 years and 1 month of running the "hood route," thisis the first time I have ever run it with someone. 

This race went way better than I expected. It was in the mid-50s temperature at race start. I've been nervous for about 24 hours at the thought of racing my kids. But after the race started I think I went out slower than I ever have before. I think it was good to have the kids with me to take my mind off the game for a little bit. Everything was super smooth for 4 miles. Nice even pace. Then, I lost it for a bit, and rallied to finish. I was about to run back to get Patty O`Furniture, but he was already in the home stretch. He won his age group. But honestly Venice is void of children, so, i don't know if that's a big deal. He was fast, though. I ran back to get `Lil` Pat O`Butter. And he was struggling. Once he saw the finish, he picked it up. The lady giving out Awards the end said "you're not going to make me say this are you?" She had to announce Fatty McButterpants to the crowd. It was awesome. She was not crazy about calling the kids` silly names either. After that, it was good eating, and hanging out on the beach.

All in all, I think this will give me some clarity for training paces for Brookings. I think I'm on track. I just need to drop the pounds. Also, my days are numbered for beating these guys.

10.2 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. 7 am start. Great sunrise over Dona Bay this morning. No hitches in the stride. All systems operational.

7.5 miles. Hood route to legacy trail and back in the super fog. 5:50 am start. Really, Super fog. I've missed Monday runs (I think) lately. I want to run tempo Tuesday on tired legs this week.

5:50 am start. Warmer than last week. Fog, with breeze? That doesn't happen often. Usually, it needs to be still to get the fog. 0.8 up 7.5 miles in 1:00:43. 8:06 pace. 0.4 down. I wanted to know if the Tuesday Tempos were benefiting from taking Mondays off. Yes, by 45 seconds per mile. Also the weather this morning was worse than last week, etc. I just didn't have it this morning. 

3.5 miles. hood route. track stuff later. 

3.5 miles. hood route. very smooth.

After a week off, I'm getting back to the 20 miler tomorrow. 50 days until race day. Time to act like a distance runner. 

20.75 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to circus bridge to caspersen beach and back. Last 5 in 37:00. 7:24 pace. Then church easter egg hunt.

10.2 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. 7 am start. Many bikes on legacy trail today. Must be an event of some sort. Awesome foggy sunrise over Dona Bay bridge this morning. Congratulations to my sister-in-law for finishing a half marathon in Sunrise Florida this morning.

My first 200 mile month since October, 2016. FACT. 

3.5 hood route miles in some wicked fog. Then 1.5 miles with Boy #1. He's on spring break this week, and is going to run with me every morning to keep in shape for soccer. At @ 200M to go, he said "afterburners!" and I watched him take off and vanish into the fog. If it's possible to be joyous and depressed at the same time while running, this was it for me.

"Wow!"

"sigh."

.8 up. 7.5 miles. Hood route to legacy trail and back. 57:40. 7:41 pace. 60ish degrees, high humidity, low dew point. Breeze from the east.

Then 2 miles with boy #1. I don't think he knew he was running. Talking the whole time, jumping up and slapping signs, running in the grass strip for no reason, you know, like a 12 year old. I kept up with him for the "afterburners" today.

6 pm. At track. Finally, a trip to the track on a day with minimal winds. 1.5 up + strides. (8) x 800m with 400m AR. 1.5 down. 2:59, 3:06, 3:08, 3:06, 3:07, 3:09, 3:08, 3:06. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I had boy #2 running the last 100m with me for the last 5 reps.i think that helped. Also, coach came out tonight. I haven't had that guy at the track in a couple of years. After the St. Patty day race, i talked him into timing me at the track. I think having both of those guys out there helped.

3.5 miles with boy #1 at 6:15. Very humid. 31:14. 8:55 pace. Given last night, that was faster than I expected. Maybe the kid made me run faster. Everything feela okay, so I won't complain. He pointed out the reflection of the palm tree silhouettes in the lake at sunrise, and how cool that was. I'm like "every morning, kid, and it's always awesome."

If I can get 3.5 tomorrow, and hit my long run Saturday, I think this will be my biggest month ever. Better check the stats, but I'm sure it's close.

3.5 miles. Hood route. 33:46. 9:38 pace. I ran this as slow as possible. I really want tomorrow's long run to be strong. 

I don't mean to count chickens, here, but if I can get 20.75 tomorrow, that will be my biggest month ever. The record before this is 249 miles, in August 2015. That's cool and all, but I'm pretty proud of the quality of the runs this month. There are some snappy-paced miles in there.  

20.75 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to circus bridge to caspersen beach and back. No manatees this week. But I got dolphons, ospreys, and a 4 foot snake. Super humid. It looked like it was about to storm ay any second, but never did. I tried to kick it for the last 5, but I didn't have it. He first mile came in at 8:12. I thought i used to run this whole thing at that pace, etc. Etc. So I just jogged it in.