They all can't be "easy" runs.

3.5 on the trails. kind of a run fail. Now off to get root canal work!

6 pm At track. 2 up. (4) x 800M, W/ 400M AR, 2 down. 800s were 3:11, 3:21, 3:22, and 3:18.

1 on the trails. 7.5 miles. hood route. 11:45 am start. 

We spent the weekend driving 7.5 hours to and 7.5 hours from and on the Florida Alabama line. My nephew was married Saturday in Florala, Alabama, on a lake that is half in Florida, half in Alabama. Anyhow, the drive was a killer. I had visions of getting a run in Sunday night when I got back, but the ride home beat me up. My 16 year old son drove the family all the way up, and half way back. He left home as an interstate driving novice. By the time we got home, he was pretty comfortable with it, and I was feeling pretty good about my patience level in the passenger seat. 

2.5 on legacy trail. from Troll Music north to Roberts Bay bridge and back. 

6:40 am start. hood route to legacy trail bathroom and back. 0.75 up. 3 miles in 22:52. 0.25 to bathroom. 4 miles home. 

7.5 miles. Hood route to legacy trail and back. strange run.

First, on the way out I went by the middle school - last week of school, by the way - someone posted real estate signs in front of the school that said "MASKS DON'T WORK". I  mean, last week of school, someone spent money on this, what are they trying to accomplish? totally weird. 

Then, on the way back, after the school, I see my son walking up the sidewalk.  I said "Where's your bike?" He said "It broke, so I left it at Publix." I said "Did you lock it?" He said no. So I ran 2 miles today pushing a broken bike home.

School can't end fast enough for me. 

10:30 am At track. 2 up. (4) x 800M, W/ 400M AR, 1 down. 800s were 3:10, 3:27, 3:19, and 3:18.

very hot. 

3 on the trails. 8 am start. for some reason, the extreme heat and humidity haven't been here yet this summer, at least by local standards. that all changed this week. 87 deg., 66% hum., 74 d.p., feels like 96!

16.25 miles. hood route to legacy trail to circus bridge and back. There were no speedy last miles. fastest mile in the last 3 was 8:45. dew point was over 76 degrees. I blew up with 6 miles to go. I had to stop every half mile to wring out my shirt. I considered calling my wife to pick me uo. I can't bring myself to call a 16 mile run a "run fail." But this did not boost my confidence about completing a marathon in 3 months. 

Five on the trails. It went way better than I expected.

things went bad at noon. the humidity is here to stay. 

5pm my soon-to-be-9th grader had tryouts for the feeder team to venice high baseball. rained out. the coach talked to the team for a half hour in the covered batting cages while the parents huddled under the concession stand awning. 

Then, since there was a little chop out there, I took both boys surfing again:   Monday 6-14-21 // North Jetty // 7:50-8:10pm | Venice Jetty Surf Report

7 am start. 0.8 up. 7.5 miles Hood route to legacy trail and back - 59:59.  1st half - 30:18. then 0.8 down. I'm glad I got out early. I had this deep and controversial thought stuck in my head the whole time: https://youtu.be/Y1Q8a2jmfMk

7 on the trails. Like running in a steam room. 

8 pm At track. 2 up. (4) x 800M, W/ 400M AR, 2 down. 800s were 3:25, 3:28, 3:25, and 3:22. It was dark after warm up. I had a busy day, so that is the reason why I had a late run. I ate a bunch of bugs on interval #2. 

5.5 miles. hood route. 6:30 am start. 

7 am start. 85 deg. 77% hum. 76 d.p. feels like 96. hood route to legacy trail to circus bridge and back. I tried to pick up the pace for the last 5 miles. After 3 my watch said 27:28, which depressed me, so I slogged the last 2. Still better than last week. But, I've got to get to where I don't feel broken in the heat and humidity after 10 miles. My feet are pruned like I've been standing in water for the last hour. 

7 am start. 3 on the trails. then 7.5 miles hood route to legacy trail and back. I'd bet that I ran every mile of this run faster than my fastest mile yesterday. hot and soupy.

Happy Fathers day! Of course, most of my thoughts on the run were about fathers. About how proud of my boys I am, and how this working from home thing because of covid has kind of helped me be a better father. There are things I can do with my kids now, that if I were chained to an office for 40 hours a week, plus commute time, I would never be here for. Also, I am grateful for having my dad around still at 80. Covid has allowed me to spend more time with him too. But mostly I was thinking about my son's best friend's dad. I was over there at his house for a bit last night. He and his wife were divorced after 20 years less than a month ago. Today, even though he is spending the day with his kids, is going to be strange for them. And, in a way, Covid kind of accelerated the end of his marriage. So, today is going to be great for me, but I really hope it is an exceptional Fathers day for that guy. 

4 on the trails. 

Tempo Tuesday didn't happen this morning because I had this significant work thing due. I barely slept last night. I got up several times to continue working. I went into the meeting feeling less prepared than I have been for a meeting maybe ever. It was all worry over nothing. I do this to myself all the time. 

So I mapped out a course to run during Johnny's baseball practice. From Venice High School north to the Venice Avenue bridge is 1 mile. Then south on Venetian Waterway Park (behind the high school baseball fields) to just barely south of the circus bridge, where it turns to go out to the intracoastal waterway is 3 miles. and back. 

I ran it like 1 easy, 6 in 49:26, 1 easy. Again I am bummed about the time. but given the lack of sleep, the really over brearing humidity, etc., I'm okay with it. 

8 a.m. at track. 1 mile up. Then walked to my car, hopped in, and drove to the pickleball courts in the next park, used bathroom, drove back to track, then another 1 mile up. (5) x 800M w/ 400 M AR. 3:11, 3:13, 3:10, 3:15, 3:13. then 2.25 down. On the straightaways, I really focused on looking up, and keeping my head still. I don't know if that is what made me a bit faster than the previous 4 weeks, or if the weather was better, but this was an improvement from last the last few track workouts. 

5on the trails. 2:30 pm start. right before the rain. 

16.25 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to circus bridge and back. 8 am start. On the way back on the legacy trail, just past Colonia, there, in the middle of the trail, was a wrapper for a magnum condom. So odd. Less than 15 steps later, the actual condom. My first thought was "well, that was quick." 

7:15 am start. 10.2 miles (hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back) with a 0.25 mile detour for bathroom stop @ mile 6ish.  85 deg. 78% hum. 75 d.p. I keep trying to throw fast finishes at the end of these runs. But when it gets to be "go time", I've got nothing. The run turns into a battle to finish. The part of training that has always been most comfortable to me is the long run. I can usually run as far as you want, just not very fast. That's why I have trying to be consistent with pushing speed on this marathon build up. Only now it seems like the long runs have been more difficult than I remember. I still have 11 weeks to sort this out. https://youtu.be/8t2H1Ke4MXE

.8 up. 7.5 miles hood route to legacy trail and back. 8. down. 1st half in 29:27. Overall time 58:43. 

I'm kind of mad at myself for not running yesterday. it is strictly work anxiety. I'm going on vacation next week, so the whole world is due this week. it was good to run and clear my head to focus on just moving for a while. 

4 on the trails. like running in the dishwasher. 78 deg. 96% hum. 76 d.p. Comedic levels of sweat. Like that scene in Airplane! Where Ted Striker is sweating. Like that. 

Surprise PM run. 8 on Venetian Waterway Park - Island Side in the rain, during Johnny's baseball practice (Venice High School has covered batting cages).