They all can't be "easy" runs.

Trails

Venetian Waterway Park. 9 am start. Florida Summer. 1.8 up, 2 @ 15:15, 1 easy, 2 @ ? I totally wilted in the heat on the way back.

I just found this video of this route on the youtubes:   https://youtu.be/Z8NrDp58hqE?si=l5XphqpvAzVJIhk_ 

I don't have a good feeling about Saturday's 5k race for a couple of reasons: 1. I have not handled the weather well on my last few runs. 2. They just released the course map, and there are many, many turns in this race, some 180 degree turns. This is going to feel like a series of sprints between turns, where you can never dial in a pace. 3. After talking with the people organizing the race, I get the sense that the race distance is something of a guess. 4. Home / work life has been crazy lately.  Anyway, I'm still going to run it at my best effort, and try not to embarrass myself out there.

1.5 on the trails, solo. Then the rest with the shirtless tire dragger, talking the whole time. He just got back from a big family vacation. His Garmin said we were running 9:20 pace. But that number seems a lot faster than the effort I thought we were running.

Firecracker 5k in Wellen Park. Since the race course has many turns, I decided to jog most of the race course as a warm up. Talked with Noah for a bit during the 20 minute race announcement / national anthem pre-race. Fairly crowded first mile, with a lot of turns. 2nd and 3rd miles are much straighter, and I was able to dial in a pace. I never really pushed throughout the race, not even at the finish. It just felt like a decent run. I thought I would finish with about 22:30 or so, and was shocked at my result. Then I did a 2 mile cool down and got my AG medal. I think this means the intervals and the short stuff I've been doing is working. Noah knocked a minute off his first 5k from 2 weeks ago. 4th of July party at my brother's house next. 

11 am start. 75 degrees and cloudy at the start. 90 degrees and sunny at the end. 1.65 miles north bridge stuff. Then 5 miles West Venetian waterway park. Then 1.65 miles north bridge stuff. Then 5 miles West Venetian waterway park. Then my CamelBak went empty. Then 0.9 miles. I don't think any of the flat stuff was faster than 10 minute miles. But I did try to push the pace on the uphills, and also accidentally on the downhills.

Venetian Waterway Park. 8 am start. Florida Summer. I was going to do the 2 mile interval thing, but Dum Dum forgot his watch. 

hoodroute. 6:30 am start. Busy day today. Lots of stuff to do before leaving tomorrow for Alabama. I think I have a decent running route mapped out for when I'm there. 

5 miles in Florence AL.

Another 5 in Florence, Alabama. 7 am start. Slightly different route than yesterday to avoid traffic. Both versions of this have a big part of the run along the Tennessee River. It's about 15-20 degrees cooler here than it is back home, but this is a very hilly area.

Tonight we are seeing boy #2 perform with spirit of Atlanta.

Another 5 in Florence, Alabama. As it pertains to running the last couple of days, these hills are considerable and very long. Certainly something I can't replicate in Florida, not even on a treadmill. I suppose I could map out a flatter course, but I'm trying to take advantage of the hills I've been given.

Non running stuff- muscle shoals / Florence has a crazy history. Helen Keller, dred scott, there's a frank Lloyd wright house, and if you're a fan of pop music, the number of songs that you know and love that have come from here is ridiculous. The area has a playlist of songs that have been made here. Every restaurant you go into plays music from the 2 very successful music studios here. It's fascinating. There is a documentary film about here, called muscle shoals, that goes into the music history here.

Day of airports. Due to weather, there was a 3 hour delay flying into Atlanta. There was a 1 hour delay flying out. I got home at 1am. I guess I could have run in the morning.

Venetian Waterway Park. 9 am start. Florida Summer. 0.9 up, 2 @ 15:29, 1 easy, 2 @ 15:47, 0.9 down. 

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop, then 5 miles on the West Venetian Waterway Park. Then 1.65 mile North Bridge Loop. 5:30 pm start. 

6:45 am start. 2 miles to the track. (8) x 400m, w/ 400m AR, 1:31, 1:32, 1:32, 1:30, 1:29, 1:29, 1:36, 1:35, 2 miles home. I should note that my 200m time on those last 2 was 45 seconds. So those last 2 reps and  the run home were very difficult. I really wanted to get 12 reps today, but it wasn't my day. 

6.8 miles on west Venetian waterway park. 5:30 pm start. Legs are pretty beat up from yesterday. As soon as I finished running, the weather became much nicer. It's still Florida summer. But I wish I would have waited.

8 miles. Hood Route to Legacy Trail, over SWOM Bridge and back. 

16.25 Miles. Hood Route to Legacy Trail to Circus Bridge and Back. 2:44:10 (10:06 pace). 9 am start. If I would have ran earlier, the temps would be lower. If I would have ran later, I could have enjoyed some pre-storm breeze. I am really missing the mark about when to run. 

10 miles on west Venetian waterway park. Venice avenue to caspersen Beach. Last 2 miles in 16:51, with only pushing a bit. So for the weekend, that's 24.25 miles at 10 minute miles, then 2 at 8:26 pace. I'll take it. It's still Florida summer, but today had occasional moments of wind. Full sun.

On a side note, caspersen Beach was blown up in the hurricanes 2 years ago. Although the city of Venice is working at a frenzied pace on replacing the walkway concrete panels on Venetian waterway park that lead there, little to nothing has been done on the roadway repairs on the Gulf side.

Runner guy really appreciates the city's priorities.

Venetian Waterway Park. 3:30 pm start, in between storms. Headwind on the way out, tailwind on the way back. 0.9 up, 2 @ 15:42, 1 easy, 2 @ 15:20, 0.9 down. 

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop, then 5 miles on the West Venetian Waterway Park. Then 1.65 mile North Bridge Loop. 11 am start. "Feels like" 105. I can't explain it, but the middle 5 miles felt easy, and faster than expected. I should have timed this. 

Off. I spent a lot of time out in the heat for my job today, and I thought I had too much to go out and run again. 

I was passed on I 75 by a woman who was face- time-ing her dashboard mounted phone, while holding a tray of food in her left hand, while eating with chopsticks with her right hand. Crunching some numbers, here..... That leaves zero hands on the steering wheel. She is like a multi-tasking ninja. I was doing 78 mph at the time. 

Venetian Waterway Park. 7 pm start. Florida Summer. 0.9 up, 2 @ 15:53, 1 easy, 2 @ 15:25, 0.9 down. I waited until after the fairly violent 10 minute thunderstorm to start. 

10.2 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. Super hot. Finished all of the water from my camelbak. I ran into a friend from church at about mile 6, and we chatted for about 20 minutes. 

16.25 Miles. Hood Route to Legacy Trail to Circus Bridge and Back. 1:21:29 out (10:02 pace), 1:19:17 back (9:45 pace). 2:40:46 total (9:54 pace). 6:30 am start.

I'm not happy with these times. I just hope I can get some relief in the weather in September, so I can do more with these long runs before my race.

I really should be pushing the shorter, faster stuff for now, since that is all this climate is letting me do. 

Or maybe I did too much yesterday. Or maybe these shoes have 625 miles, or maybe....