They all can't be "easy" runs.

7.75 miles. Hood route to Legacy trail over SWOM bridge and back.  I had extra time this morning, so I went longer. It was weird because I thought mostly about running. Usually, my head is elsewhere. 

Tommy had freshmen orientation at Venice High this morning. We parents sat in one lecture hall, learning about the dangers of vaping, jeans with holes in them, and not following drop off / pick up proceedures. By the way, the kids can wear one ear bud as they walk from class to class. Interesting rule. The kids had a completely different lecture in another hall. And then a campus tour. The last thing before they sent them off was to give them their class schedules. I mean, wouldn't it have been smarter to give the kids the schedule BEFORE the campus tour, so there was, at least, a chance of them finding the classes they will be attending? 

We're not off to a good start here. I don't feel as though my kid is oriented. 

We took the kids this weekend to NASA, Kennedy Space Center. (This will get running-related later, I swear.) I've lived in Florida since 1983, and I've never been there. It is really worth visiting. It feels like the last place that they make really big things. Like, unbelievably big things. We toured the space center on Saturday and Monday. Went skimming and boogie boarding on Sunday. Also scootered in the skatepark and toured /shopped in RonJon in Cocoa Beach Sunday. The kids want to work for NASA now. Not so they can be cool astronaut types. But so they can get home from work and spend the rest of thier time surfing and skimming. We stayed in Satellite beach, which is notorious for being extremely rocky and shelly. We experienced almost none of that, and I didn't believe it was true, until super-low tide on Sunday evening. I was in waist deep water. I finally stubbed my toe on some rocks. I split my left big toenail. 

Which is why I didn't run this morning. 

The Kennedy Space Center is still buzzing from the 50 year anniversary of the walk on the moon. But I was really impressed with what I learned about Eugene Cernan's 6-5-66 Gemini 9 Spacewalk. That guy's heart raced up to 160 bpm, NASA realized they forgot to put hand holds on the outside of the craft, his visor fogged up, and he lost 13 pounds in 2 hours 5 minutes. I imagined trying to grab the outside of a round capsule with oven mitts on!

He's still the last dude to walk on the moon, though. 

3.5 miles. hood route. sweaty. 

3.5 miles. hood route. I was stretching out for this, and I looked to the east, and I saw the Atlas V rocket going up on the other side of the state. I ran back inside and woke the boys up. Johnny came out to watch the rocket streak across the sky. We could see flames. Crazy. This seems to mean more, having just visited the launch site. 

Hot. Hood. Rain.

7.75 miles. hood route to legacy trail over SWOM bridge and back. 8 am start. Soul sucking heat. I mean, I have run in hot weather before, but this one was bad. no breeze. no rain. but a lot of rain before and after. 89 degrees. 99% hum. 82 d.p. Steam coming up from the roadways. I knew within 50 yards that this run was going to be hard to breathe. It was like running with an undersized snorkel. It was like someone soaked a beach towel with vegetable soup and then draped it over my head and shoulders before I started running. It was like...well you get the idea. emergency bathroom stop at mcdonalds at mile 2. they were blasting frankie valli in that echo chamber bathroom. 

1. i finished the run. 2 i didn't die. 3. i saw a rainbow. 4. there were no gnat clouds to run through, like usual after rains. 

the kids start school tomorrow. I've got one in high school now. How did that happen? 

3.5 Miles. Hood route. 6 am start. slightly better weather this morning. 79 degrees. 99% hum. 79 d.p. feels like 85. I felt like a humidity plow, and I was leaving a moisture wake behind me.  

3.5 miles. Hood route. It's still sticky out, but I'm trying to get back to running every day. 

3 miles at track with boy #1. 4 speedyish 200s in there.

3.5 miles. hood route. in the lightning and rain. the finish line is Thomas's high school bus stop. This is going to develop into a new thing, maybe. 

3.5 miles. Hood route. 6am start. This rain will never end.

5.5 miles. Hood route. 6:30 am start. Hot humid blah blah blah ....

7.75 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over the SWOM bridge and back. 7 am start. Hot. Humid. I spent a couple of hours pulling weeds yesterday. It's amazing how much that will pull on your hamstrings.

3.5 miles. Hood route. 6:45 am start. I wanted more miles than that, but I overslept.

3.5 miles. Hood route. 6am start.

5.5 miles. Hood route. 5:40 am start.

3.5 miles. Hood route. 6 am start.

3.5 Mi. Hood Route. 6 a.m. start. Song of the run was Goo by Sonic Youth. Then I had a day of "team building" at work, with a few other offices that are working on the same big project. It was so incredibly awful. The project will last the next 2.5 years. Ironically, I think we will all get along much better outside of the "team building" enviroment.

Then I got home and saw Thomas in his new Venice High School Cross Country uniform. Suddenly, my day is better.

No run in the am, because: I attended my first high school cross country race in @31 years this morning. Thomas didn't race, because he's only been with the team for less than a week. These guys have been training together all summer. Coach says he will race next week. We just went this morning to get a feel for how these events go. I had forgotten everything. We might have to watch McFarland later. 

5.75 miles. legacy trail from venice avenue north over SWOM bridge and back. 1 pm start! 45 minutes after eating a delicious sub sammich! I wore an orange shirt and blue shorts. The gators play miami tonight. Song of the run: blow up the outside by soundgarden. Then swimming. Then I cut the grass. now off to bouncy hoops with boy #2. 

3.5 miles. Hood route. 7 am start. It's going to be another long season for this gator fan. The gators beat the canes, the refs, and Felipe Franks kast night.

5.5 miles. Hood route. 5:40 am start.

7.75 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over the SWOM bridge and back. 5:30 am start. Doughy Shirtless.

So Thomas is racing in his first cross country race this weekend. I'm trying to guess his finish time for an off road 5k race. He ran 7:09 pace for a road 8k 3/17/18. I'm trying to manage expectations. What's your guess?

7.5 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail and back 5:45 am start. Misty outside. Like, if you were driving, you would have to use your windshield wipers, even though it is not raining - misty. I'm going to have to work harder to get out by 5:30. 

3.5 miles. Hood Route. I procrastinated myself out of a good run. Song of the run: Taking back Sunday - Decade under the influence. 

Dropped Thomas off at VHS for the bus at 5:30. I came home and sqeezed in a 3.5 mile hood route run.

Then we drove to St. Pete for his first JV cross country race for the High School. It was a really flat track. and mostly paved, as it turns out. He got 23:38. 7:36 pace. 37th overall. 7th and last on the team. Yes, it was stupid hot and humid at 9:45 am. He really looked like he was hampered by that. He's a bit dissapointed by the time, but I told him that we have a benchmark to improve on now.