They all can't be "easy" runs.

3.5 miles. hood route. Back to the ankle brace and heel lifts. 10 am start. Sweated out yesterday's really really bad diet, including, but not limited to; scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, hoppin john, corned beef, cabbage, olives, sweet pickles, summer sausage with cheese, salted peanuts, all types of chip, and an obscene amount of ranch dressing.

Basically, I ran out "the Blerch" this morning.

5 pm. 1.5 miles. I met up with Brian, as he was doing his track stuff. I ran part of his cool down with him.

10.2 miles. Legacy Trail with the boys on bikes. 9:15 am start. 81 deg. 74% hum. 72 d.p.

Then I ran around the block (0.42 miles) with Boy #2, because I promised Matt S. I would break 40 miles this week.

Then we went swimming.

I believe there is a window of opportunity that is very small to do this with my boys. The Legacy Trail is pretty crowded. And young boys have all of the confidence that they are in control, and will not endanger themselves or others. But as a parent, it is a little nerve-racking. So I am usually barking out instructions, etc., as I go. As soon as I am comfortable with their abilities, it seems they are too fast for me, and are only going slow to be nice to me. So, on the way back today, I gave them a little more slack than before, and had them wait for me at key locations. Since we seem to be incapable of completing this trip without a wreck, Boy #2 had a solo crash @ 1/4 mile from the end. You know, just because. He didn't get too beat up from it. A nice man showed up right after he crashed, and asked him "Where are your parents?" He said "He's way back there. The one running. The ONLY one running!" The guy waited until I got there. I didn't even stop. I ran right by everyone. The boys hopped on ther bikes and finished. I don't know the point of all of that, I just thought it was interesting.

7.5 miles. Hood Route. 8:15 am start. 74 deg., 90% hum., 70 dp. Slow.

5.5 miles. Hood Route. Nice moon and sunrise. 58 deg.? Really? It didn't feel like it.

5.5 miles. Hood Route. 56 deg.

6:15 pm. At track. 2 up., 3 min. rest., 400 in 1:21, 3 min. rest., 400 in 1:23. 2 down. It's been a while since I ran something other than 'easy.' I was due, and the Achilles feels okay. I wanted to start easing back into this stuff, and I think this workout served its purpose. I'll add more reps / distance next week. When I got to the track, there were 2 guys running the wrong way. One of them was going very fast. I never saw that guy before. They were there for my warm up laps. Since I didn't want a head on crash, I went the wrong way, too.

Yesterday - I was at a conference in Clearwater - No running.

Today - new shoes test run! 4.6 miles. Ringling Bridge. Kind of windy. no pains! I'm still a bit out of shape, but this is going in the right direction.

12.9 miles. Legacy Trial to Venice Avenue and back. 6:15 am start. 1:47:27. 8:20 pace. Fairly constant pace. Second run in the new shoes. No ankle brace, no heel lifts. Things seem to be going well. I would like to go for 10 miles Sunday, but I don't want to push it. We will see. Then, off to watch Boy #2 in the first soccer game in the new I9 league.

3.5 miles. Hood route. I was set up to go for more, but I didn't have it today, Achilles feels fine, but the rest of me is getting really old, really fast. I have a meeting tonight with some other runners to plan out an event. I might try to get some miles in after that.

7.5 miles. Hood Route. In the rain. 7 pm start. 66 deg. It Felt pretty smooth.

7.5 miles. Hood Route. 6 am start. 63 deg. 1:04:16. 8:34 pace. I was about 5 miles into my run, when a car stalled across the street from me. I went across Albee Farm Road, and pushed the woman’s car @ 25 yards onto a side street. I have been running the same route for  4 years and 11 months, and have never had a car stall next to me. It is a sign.

Also, in "ridiculous song stuck in my head" news, I recently found out that Peter Gabriel has described "Shock the Monkey" as "a love song" that examines how jealousy can release one's basic instincts; the monkey is not a literal monkey, but a metaphor for one's feelings of jealousy. I have had that stupid song stuck in my head for nearly a week, and I STILL DON’T GET IT!

pm: At track. 2 up + strides. 1600 in 6:03, 4 min. rest, 800 in 2:56, 3 min. rest, 400 in 1:21, 3 min. rest + slow jog 200M, 200 in 34.5, 2 down. 65 deg.

7.5 miles. Hood route. 6 am start. Slow. Last night beat me up a little. 59 deg. Heavy mist. The good news is that I finally got that song out of my head. The bad news is that this was on TV when I got up this morning, so now I'm stuck with this: http://youtu.be/w1FLZPFI3jc                    SUPER DUPER!

16.25 miles. Legacy Trail to Circus Bridge and back. 48 deg. 5:45 am start. Barely beat the 9 minute man. I haven't run this far in one shot, since September. I'm pretty unhappy about the pace, but with a month to go to race day, I've got to start building it up somewhere.

In my humble opinion, these were perfect running conditions. Not cold enough for layers, not hot enough for sweat to drip, light but not annoying breeze, fantastic sunrise over the bays - Perfect. I just wish I had my act together a little bit more.

Then to soccer. Boy #2's team won 4-3. Yeah, he scored the game-winner. There will be no living with that boy after this. I had to widen the door frame to get his head in the house.

7.5 miles hood route + .7 mile run through new neighborhod. 7:15 am start. Slow. Have I ever run a "tempo?" Hmmm...

Spouse took the boys to the Ringling Museum of Art, since they had the day off from school. My 8 year old kept covering his eyes, saying "Everything here is inappropriate!"

7.5 miles. Hood Route. 5:45 am start. 57:49. 7:42 pace. 53 deg., 85% hum., 51 d.p. 

7.5 miles. Hood Route. 5:45 am start. 58:34. 7:48 pace. 55 deg., 93% hum., 55 d.p. 

Have mercy baby, and hand me downs. It was just a few years ago, you'd hand me ups and map right out of town. 

Track stuff tonight. Repeat miles. My mom is timing me. It should be fun. 

Yasir, I did not bring my A game to the track. A bunch of stuff went wrong, I had trouble getting my head in the right place. So, this is what I ended up with:

2 up + strides. 3 min rest. 800 in less than 3:00 (1st lap 1:20). 3 min rest. 1600 in 6:09. 3 min rest. 1600 in 6:18. 3 min rest. 800 in 3:03. 2 down.

5.5 miles. hood route. 6 am start. Slow. 59 deg., 92% hum., 59 d.p. I'm taking Friday off, and then Saturday going for my first 20+ miler (I think) since Okoboji Marathon last July. Saturday should be Neat-O!

Oh yeah, it's one month to race day!

20.75 miles. Legacy Trail to Caspersen beach and back. 5 am start. slow. rainy, windy, etc.

7.5 miles, hood route. 6:30 am start. 57:01. 7:36 pace. 29:13 on the way out. 50 deg. 95% hum. 50 d.p. Best run in a very long time.

3.5 miles. Hood Route. 6 am start. 67 deg. Since Derunzo is getting a foot of snow today, I decided to run this shirtless. Joke's on me. It started pouring at halfway. Spouse was kind enough to leave a towel on the porch for me. 

Before this weekend, I have never seen a coyote while running. People have warned me about them, and I kind of laughed it off. But I was within 10' of one on Saturday, and @ 30 yards from one today. I'm starting to get a bit creeped out. Before I saw the one this morning, I could hear a big pack singing. Or, maybe it was 3 of them. Who knows? And who knows how far away they were? It's hard to tell. 

PM: 4.6 miles. Ringling Bridge. 33:21. 7:15 pace. Very windy. White caps on the bay.

5.5 miles. Hood route. 5:45 am start. 50 deg. 76% hum. Slow. 

Rattletrap - Lose those stones, man. Have a speedy recovery. 

7.5 miles. Hood Route. 6:15 am start. Slow. 45 deg., 45% hum.,  38 d.p. Song of the run: http://youtu.be/tuJjFL-E2Lk

Track stuff later. 

6:15 pm. At track. Goal was repeat miles - slower pace (6:20ish), but more consistent than what I have been doing. 1.5 up + strides. Miles were 6:18, 6:17, 6:24, and 6:20. 4 minutes rest between. 1 down. First lap of the first mile, and last lap of the last mile were 1:30. (Usually, I go way too fast on the first lap.) This was not a killer workout, but I think it is a pretty good bench mark. I might change my mind about that tomorrow.

5.5 miles. Hood route. 5:45 am start. Slow. 45 deg., 69% hum., 40 d.p. A licky boom boom down. 

Friday off. 12.9 (hopefully snappy pace) miles Saturday (I am substitute coach for Boy #2's soccer game, so I can't go longer.). Then, I don't know what for Sunday. Sunday is 3 weeks until race day. 

Also, I was thinking about SlowJoe being upset with "bonkathon" at his last marathon. And I thought that I had really never looked at my half splits in a race to break things down. So after some research, I got this: 

                       1st half     2nd half    FINISH   split

U. of Okobji  1:38:39     1:41:02     3:19:41   + 2:23'

Boston           1:30:44     1:43:22     3:14:06    +12:38'

Louisiana      1:31:40     1:40:46      3:12:26    + 9:06'

and then this little gem:

MCM           1:49:19      2:28:59      4:18:18    + 39:40'

Don't ask me about that race, like ever. 

I'll bet that 3:00:10 looks pretty good right now, Joe!

10.2 miles. Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. Not as quick as I was hoping for. I just didn't have it. Also, I overslept, so I had to cut the run a bit short. 49 degrees. 6:30 am start. 1:24:21. 8:16 pace.

Then Boy #2's soccer team was DESTROYED (5-0) at the game. My coaching career will be short lived, it seems. Everyone was a good sport, and played very hard until the final whistle, so I have that to hang my hat on. I knew NO ONE'S name on the team, so everyone got nick names. Nice shot, pink socks! Way to go, spider hat! Yeah, I was that coach.

5:30 am .75 miles. Didn't have it. Turned around. Ran home. 1.5 total.

Spent the day stewing over the fact that I didn't have it this morning. I dislike both teams in the superbowl, so I went running at the start of the 2nd quarter. I didn't watch the first quarter, either. I figured there would be no one on the roads, so the timing was perfect.

16.25 miles. Legacy Trail to Circus Bridge and back. 2:10:16. 8:01 pace. 1:05:01 at the half. Perhaps the most evenly split long run I have ever done? It wasn't easy, but it was never really pushing, either. 67 degrees. Shirtless.

5:45 pm. 3 recovery miles around the marina. Kind of windy. The legs feel better after running this.

5.5 miles. Hood Route. 6 am start. 45 deg. 63% hum. 33 d.p. That moon this morning was really bright, and really low. I kept thinking my shadow was coming from car headlights. That was different. 

5.5 miles. Hood Route. 6 am start. 53 deg. 74% hum. 48 d.p. Track stuff later. 

Track Stuff: 6:15 pm start. 73 deg., 59% hum., 64 d.p. 1.5 up + Strides. 5 repeat miles with 4 minutes rest. 1 down. Miles were 6:09, 6:12, 6:20, 6:16, and 6:15. It felt way more humid than what the weatherman says. I finished soaked like it was summertime. Silent backwards running board shorts guy was there again. Good workout, I think.

4.6 miles. Ringling Bridge. 5:30 pm start. 63 deg., 83% hum., 58 d.p.

4:45 am start. Legacy Trail to Venice Ave. and back. 50 deg. 94% hum., 49 d.p. Runfail! Emergency bathroom stop at halfway, then turn around and soft-J jog home. I don't know what this means for tomorrow.

10 miles. Legacy Trail. Laurel Road to just south of Circus Bridge and back. 75 Deg. 46% hum., 53 d.p. Clear, Blue Skies! Awesome weather! Boy #2 paced me on his bike. No injuries. No crashes. No GI issues. Boy #1 and Spouse stayed home. They both still feel rotten. As bad as I feel about skipping church because everyone was sick, I have to feel pretty good about how well this run went.

7.5 miles. Hood Route to Legacy Trail and back. 5:45 am start. 57 deg., 75% hum., 58 d.p. Slow. On the way back, a woman stopped her car to let a family of otters cross the street. Those things are way more graceful in water. Cars were backed up and honking. 

Then, at work, we designed a new playground next to the Ringling Bridge. I was out on site this morning, meeting with the contractor and the sub that will be installing the rubberized surfacing. I was just about to go back to  the office, when some guy jumped off the bridge. When I got back to the office, the Sarasota PD's facebook page had an explanation of what happened, and why traffic was backed up. That story got 5 "Likes"! What, in that story, is like-able? 

Gonna be a weird week. 

Boy #2, Spouse, and I have the stomach flu. Boy #1 had it Saturday - Sunday. 

3.5 miles. 6 am start. Slow but good form. Very nice Sunrise over steaming lakes. 45 deg., 52% hum., 43 d.p. 1st run back from the plague. Sore throat remains, but I can live with it. We fly out a week from today. Everything is fine. everything is fine. everything is fine. 

12.9 miles. Legacy Trail to Venice Avenue and back, 11:00 am start. Fantastic weather. Low 50's start. Mid 50's finish. Clear skies. 10 mph winds. Nice. I still have a bit of a sore throat, and a slight cough. This has been a wacky week.

Race simulation run. Ha!

5.5 miles. Hood route. 2 pm start. 66 deg. 94% hum. 59 d.p. Flat. Really smooth running.

Race day weather forecast calls for 46 deg., and raining. So, this should set me up well.

7.5 miles. Hood Route. 6 am start. 51 deg., 92% hum., 51 d.p. 5.5 easy with the last 2 at 6:46, 6:45.

5.5 miles. Hood route. 2 pm start. 66 deg. 100% hum. 64 d.p. Hot enough for shirtless. Still spitting like a mad man.

5.5 miles hood route. 6 am start.

Then we flew to Birmingham, Flight went smooth. 20 something degrees and windy as all get out when we landed. We drove immediately to Vulcan Park. Toured the statue (largest steel statue in the world?) and the museum there. The statue is on a hill overlooking the city. You stand on metal grates @ 60' off the ground. Spouse and my Mother in Law were afraid to go out in the wind on the platform. The boys were not. Then we went to the hotel and then to the Big mall (43rd largest mall in the US - yeah! Birmingham!) Where we killed some time at the awesome Lego store.

In Birmingham. Went to Barber Motorsports Museum. 1400 vintage motorcycles and several hundred collector cars. Toured the area where they refurbish the historic bikes. On the test track out back, they were testing Porches and Mercedes Vans. The kids liked it, but it might have dragged on a bit long. MIL bought the kids a toy motorcycle an a toy car.

Then we went to a pretty impressive Bass Pro Shops. We were eating lunch inside, when it started snowing outside. This is the first time my boys have seen snow. They ran out the back door of the store to get out in the snow, accidentaly setting off the alarm system! The snow quickly turned to sleet. It made an interesting noise coming through the trees, and hitting the ground.

Then to the expo. This is the first time I have brought family to the expo. Tht might not happen again. Way too much time and money. Oh well, live and learn.

Then to visit Spouse's Great Aunt and Uncle. They live next to a creek. So the kids went exploring the creek. I can not explain the wide-eyed looks of amazement, when they held icicles. THERE IS ICE! AND IT IS JUST OUTSIDE! YOU CAN TOUCH IT! Floridians! Then the kids great-great Aunt and Uncle gave us the most Alabama dinner ever. Pulled pork, mac and cheese, baked beans, sweet tea, and golden flake potato chips.

3 miles around the hotel, before anyone got up. Still really cold and really windy. Like, stand you up wind. The weatherman predicts low 50's for race day, and rain. (Turns out he was right.)

Then we took the kids to Red Mountain for the zip line tour. MIL was not interested in hiking a mountain in high winds, so she went to her aunt and uncle's house. You have to hike for @ 20 minutes on uneven terrain to get to the base. I had some feeling that this might have an adverse effect  on my race the next day. But, I most likely, will never go back to Birmingham, so I better make this trip count. This zip line tour was the real purpose of the trip anyway, according to the boys. We got there early, and hiked further up the mountain (also not a good idea) to kill some time. The zip line tour was neat. In order to keep your momentum up on a couple of zip lines, you had to pull your knees up to your chest, like you were doing a cannonball. I had sore abs at the end of the tour. Spouse was a trooper. She was up in the trees with us, and the trees were swaying in the wind. A couple of times the boys got stuck on on the slight slope zip lines, because they didn't weigh enough, so the guide had to go out and retrieve them. We all started quoting Forest Gump, saying "And I showed her how to Dangle!" It was pretty funny.

Then boy #2 and I did the MEGA-ZIP line. You climb a tower @ 80 feet up, and you zip line really fast for longer than a football field. The dad-son combo behind us were bragging about therir previous zip line adventures. "So you're good at gravity, huh? Awesome." We got to do the MEGAZIP twice, and it was awesome. Boy #2 was satisfied that this was a successful vacation.   

Then back to pick up MIL. Then we had dinner at "Nothing but Noodles." I got my pre-race Spaghetti and Meatballs. I slept pretty well the night before the race.

We got to the race @ 6:00 am. It was raining. Not a heavy downpour, but enough to make folks huddle under awnings. I lined up half way between the 7 minute pace and the 8 minute pace signs. I talked to a couple of guys that were doing the half. I was prepared for the rain with my garbage bag raincoat. Those guys were not. I may have learned some stuff over the last couple of races.

The course is a 2 lap course, with some serious hills (by floridian standards) between 4-10, and again at 17-23. The half and the full start at the same time. (Also, this race had relay racers, that ended up having a wierd impact on me. When a dude flies by you on fresh legs at mile 18, it is a bit of a kick in the gut.) When I have run races like this before, there is a proportion of @ 2/3 Half-ers, 1/3 Full runners. This race was more like 5/6 half-ers, so I knew there was a chance that I would be alone on the second loop.  So, again!, I misfired my watch at the start. This is a lesson I have not learned. Spouse says "Man, you need to get a handle on that!" I have done this enough times, that it is almost comedy. The race started at 7:03, so when I looked at my watch at mile 1, it said 7:09, which is what I thought was my pace. When 2 guys running next to me later said they were running 6:45 pace, I re-checked my watch, and realized it was set for Date / Time. So I ran the whole race blind, again. That makes 3 marathons with no watch, BTW! I felt like I was moving at a comfortable manageble pace, but as ususal, I was faster than I wanted. I rained for the first 5 miles. My socks were soaked. At @ mile 14 I knew I was in trouble, but I held on. It was almost worse knowing the hills that were coming up, but I kept on pushing, and never stopped. The worst hill is the last one at mile 9/22ish. For about 2 miles, I was trading places with this guy wearing all black. we rounded that near-hairpin corner at mile 22, he looked up the hill, and just stopped. I saw him later at the post race party (Which was great).

I have a church function to go to now, so I'm going to finish this later.

Ah, dang it! I just finished typing it and lost it!

~~Okay, if this doesn’t work, I give up.
Nutrition: usually I take a gu packet every 40 minutes, drink water on the first half, drink gatorade on the second half. Something went vurpy after the second gu, so I stopped with those altogether, and alternated Gatorade and water at the remaining stops.
This is the most spectator-friendly course I have ever run. There was an opportunity for my family to see me at several points along the race course. I saw them at the half. However, with the rain, they spent the majority of the time inside the hall where the post-race party was, watching for me on the big screen monitor. It all worked out, because they became experts in the BBQ there, and had some great advice.
This is the most Y’all yelling crowd I have ever experienced. “Y’all are looking good!” “Keep it up, Y’all!” I had to laugh after a while.
Splits: Notice the standard decline from 7’s to 8’s.
10k     00:42:46    7:01 pace
15k     01:04:54    7:23 pace
25k     01:48:27    7:20 pace
30k     02:12:09    7:39 pace
35k     02:44:48    8:04 pace
Finish 03:16:27    7:55 pace
This is what I do. Another “Well, given the circumstances..” race. It’s always something. I’m not sure I would have done much better, had I correctly started my watch, or if it were not raining. This is just where I am right now. Maybe things will line up again someday for a PR. Right now, it is all right to be looking forward to that. I got a bit spoiled early on, when the PR’s came easily.
I promised the boys we would go swimming in the hotel pool after the race, even if the heater was still broken. I made it to mid thigh. It was stupid cold, but great therapy. Don’t call family services on me, but my 2 lunatics went swimming for about a minute. It was great watching them psych themselves up to jump.
If there is a PR to be awarded here, it is to spouse. She is really nailing it with these family vacations, built around my silly hobby. It’s like I find the most generic town, and say I want to run a race there. Then she figures out all of the coolest stuff to schedule for the kids, on the days surrounding the race. Another trip where I’m left saying “Who would have thought Birmingham was so cool?” Anyhow, we went out for sushi after the race. She loves that stuff, I don’t. It was kind of her victory dinner.
Savannah is next, and I just realized how Forrest Gump-y this year is going to be for me! 

7.5 miles. Hood route. Super easy. 6 am start. low 50's and humid. My left calf is still a bit tender.

3.5 miles. Hood Route. 70 deg. 100% hum. Rough one. I was wondering why I felt so bad the last 2 runs, and then I remembered, I gave blood Wednesday. I have finally come to the conclusion that I can't be a blood donor and a runner. It's just too taxing.

Oh yeah, Both boys are sick. Throwing up and at the other end. Good times.

6 am: 1.5 miles. To see if my legs still work. Sort of. 

5:30 pm: 5.2 miles. Ringling Bridge. 39:44. 7:38 pace. 77 deg. 87% hum. 72 d.p. Summer already? okay. I'm still not all the way back, but I have to get these bridge runs in while I can. 

16 miles with the cool kids in Sarasota. 6 am start. low 50's and breezy. The wind kind of picked up on the way back. We are in between soccer seasons at the moment, so I had a chance to go up to Sarasota this morning. This run was rough. A couple of the guys are in their Boston build up, so they set out to go 18. I told them I didn't think I was ready for 18, thought I was pulling out of the group to finish with 12, went home and used mapmyrun to figure out that I ran 16. Seriously, I may have to invest in one of those watches.

Great run (if you do not consider the effort at the end) - Start at Marina Jacks, over Ringling Bridge out to St. Armand's, to the South tip of Lido Key, over the bridge onto Longboat Key, around the Longboat Key Golf Club, back over the bridge past Mote Marine, to the end of City Island, back through St. Armand's, back over Ringling Bridge to Marina Jacks.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/copy/646015866/

This run is making me re-think racing next weekend. It's my favorite local race, but, man, I'm beat.

5.5 miles. Hood Route. Daylight savings- 6/7 am start. Finally loosened up by mile 3. Yesterday beat me up, but I may still race next weekend.

https://goteambravery.wordpress.com/ They are going to push a truck for 26.2 miles. I was originally one of the five guys pushing, but then they changed the date, and I had a conflict at church, so I had to drop out. Just as well, it works out that I start the new jerb the following day. That might have been an ugly first day! They are shooting for less than 9 hours. I think they can do it in less than 6.

I'm trying to get some press coverage of the event on ESPN "the Ocho" and in OSQ magazine.

5.5 miles. Hood Route. 6 am start. 66 deg. 100% hum. 66 d.p.

3.5 miles. Hood Route. 70 deg., 100% hum., 70 d.p.

Song of the run: http://youtu.be/gvDwr9-MlfE

If ever a man had it all,  It would have to be me.

5:30 pm start. Ringling Bridge. 34:07. 7:25 pace. 82 deg., 77% hum., 73 d.p. Bonus Gravity.

local video made by a friend of a friend...pretty cool. 

https://vimeo.com/120089144

I overslept my run this morning, and plan on hitting the bridge later. 

4.6 miles. Ringling Bridge. 85 deg. Getting kind of crowded out here. Bunches of folks running the bridge before the Sarasota Half this weekend. I even saw SBVD and his pack of toadies. As I passed them, I said hi. No point in being a jerk now. The new office will be no where near the bridge that I have really enjoyed running over the last couple of years, so I am trying to get as many runs in here as possible. I figure I have about 3 more.

I am definitely NOT in racing shape for Saturday, but I'm going to give it my best shot, and see what happens. So, pretty typical race day set-up for me.

My favorite local race. The whole family made it out. 34:00. 6:50 pace. Super hot and humid, no wind. I was late to get the memo about needing a shoe chip. No one mentioned this when I got my bib super-early. I ran around like a nut to find the chip people. As soon as I had it on my shoe, the race started. Beard guy that I have seen at the track a couple of times won it. Foreign guy that I've seen/talked to at the YMCA won masters, high school kid took third, And Mike, my new worthy adversary, took 4th. My splits, as best as I can remember, were 6:15, 7:00, 7:00, 7:10, and 6:35.  Also, this is assuming they had the mile markers correct on the course. I'm glad I threw something extra at the last mile, because I think I barely held off getting chicked. I wore my work T-shirt to pick up the medal but I don't think anybody got the joke. Green eggs. Finding cool stuff on the beach with the kids, and walking the fishing pier after the race. Great morning. So, in the 4 years I've been running this race, I've finished 16th, 4th, 4th, and now, 5th. meh.

What does all of this mean? I don't know. I'm just having fun running. I'll start worrying about PR's in the fall, because the summer heat is upon me. I guess I'll start building up the miles, adapt to the new work schedule, and try to survive the summer.

No running today. Just went and cheered on my sister in law at the Sarasota Half. I annoyed nearly everyone with my cowbells, but guess what? I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. Being on that side of the fence is a little new to me. Anyhow, those medals are crazy big! I saw a lot of familiar faces out there, which was cool. Some of the people raced yesterday, as well. The heat and humidity were miserable this morning. I'm proud of her for finishing strong in both this race, and the series. Then we had a big seafood lunch, and went to the beach. The water is not too cold for the kids, but I can't take it. So, now I have sunburned feet. I'll run the bridge (which was part of this course) tomorrow.

4.6 miles, Ringling Bridge. 5:40 pm start.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20150316/COLUMNIST/150319733/2050/SPORTS?Title=Five-guys-and-a-truck-to-raise-money-for-a-good-cause

I was originally one of the five guys. Long story. Did I:

1. Miss out on something incredible and life-changing?

2. Dodge a bullet?

It's twisting my melon, man.

4.6 miles, Ringling Bridge. 5:40 pm start. Skunk Free. Warm out, but nice. I am going to miss this.

5.2 miles. LAST POST-WORK RINGLING BRIDGE RUN.  And it was a good one. 5:40 pm start. New job starts Monday, and it is @ 25 minutes from this bridge.

7.5 miles. Hood Route. Last night's shrimp po boy was not a wise choice. Still felt like a good run.

They did it! 5 guys pushed a truck 26.2 miles in less than 6:30.

I got out there 8 hours after they started, and the whole place was packed up and taken down. I had to call them to get the story. It was heavy fog this morning, and that saved the group from direct sunlight in 80 degree temps until the last couple of laps. I'm sure more will be posted here later: https://goteambravery.wordpress.com/

3.5 miles. Hood route. 6 am start. 1st day at the new job went well, but there will be no more run blogging from work! oh well.  

6:15 pm at track. 2 up. 6 x 400 w/ 400 active recovery.1 down. 1:22, 1:31, 1;26, 1:27, 1:26, 1:26. I am in no shape for track stuff, so this turned out a bit better than expected. the guy that runs in lane 3 in the wrong direction was out, but he cut it short tonight, So there was less opportunity for him to not be polite.

5.5 miles. hood route.

5.5 miles hood route. I should have timed it. I got into a good groove and things started rolling. Knee deep fog, coyotes singing, and a big ball moon.

Then the family showed up at work, and I gave them a tour. There was a big sale at the Asics outlet store, so they got me some very Gator-ish running clothes.

Then to the beach for skimming at sunset. It has been a good Friday.

10.2 miles. Legacy Trail to Colonia nd back. A little more work than yesterday, but still felt pretty good. This is 2 weeks in a row that I have run this without a camelpak. My rule used to be no runs longer than 7.5 miles without water, so this is sort of new. I was thinking this morning about how much stuff I used to take running with me, and how it is nice now to put on shoes, socks, shorts, grab a key to the house, and go. The sunrise over Dona Bay was great. It reminded me of the opening scene in Raising Arizona, so I had that yodelling theme song stuck in my head. Then to Boy #2's soccer game, then swimming.  

7.5 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail and Back. At sunset. Polish people eat bad stuff for runners at Easter Brunch. With the heat, and a full load of Kielbasa, it was a struggle out there. I burned some of it off at the soccer field with the boys before I went out. 

am: 3.5 miles hood route.

pm: post-work loop test run. 2.3 miles.

Sick. 

Tip from Dale Carnegie - Your coworkers do not like your snot bubbles.

3.5 miles. Hood route. Warm, still coughing.

PM post work loop around the office 2.4 miles.

3.5 miles. hood route. Planned on a evening run, but things got wacky at work. meh. no big whoop.

5.5 miles. Hood route. Lung butter miles. Confederate Jasmine and Orange Blossoms blooming everywhere. The run felt good, but the coughing persists.

PM: At track with Brian. Wow, is he getting fast. I got him running about 2 years ago. I never could hang with him on the short stuff, like 200's. But now, I'm not sure if I could keep up on the 400's. Anyhow, I wasn't racing him tonight. I just wanted to get together to run with someone for a bit. So I warmed up 1 mile, did a 400 in 1:16, then cool down run with Brian for 1.5 miles.

I'm excited for my friends running Boston Monday. I found this picture on the Boston Facebook page: ~~ https://www.facebook.com/TheBostonMarathon/photos/a.397542981656.170384.293299436656/10152755455296657/?type=1&theater

I hope that works. It's the start of wave 2 from last year. I'm standing behind polka dot shirt guy. I still remember being mostly deaf to the whole world at that moment, and trying to take it all in. That was a good moment. Well, besides some of the people around me smelling like vegetable soup. I hope you all cherish your Boston moment, and I'm sorry I haven't been around much lately to root you on. Have a great race.

5.5 miles hood route. 6 pm start. Boy #2's 8 am soccer games are forcing me to move some runs around. On the other hand, if he were playing at 10 am, I would worry about him having a heat stroke. Today's run was better than yesterday. Much less coughing.

3.5 miles. Hood route. 9:15 pm start.

5.5 miles. 6 am start. In Da Drizzle, kid.

Eating pizza in the restaurant tonight, we overheard the couple at the table next to us talking about the race today. Then the kids told them EVERYTHING about EVERY TRIP we have taken for races. They were kind folks and listened to my boys go on and on. I still love seeing people's reactions, when my boys brag about their trip to Scranton. It cracks me up.

AM 3.5 miles. Hood route.

PM 2.4 mile office loop x 3. So very boring. I usually go to the track on Wed. but I need to get some miles.

7.5 miles. Hood route. 5:45 am start. Surprisingly smooth this morning. It was *this* close to raining. I came home soaked. The coughing is almost over. Time to get this thing going again.

Tonight I played a lot of soccer with boy #2. Lately, when his practice ends, ours begins. Having only one job is awesome.

AM: 3.5 miles. Hood Route.

PM: Benderson Park south loop 3.5 miles (x2), Then north loop cool down 1.1 miles.

Yeah, it was warm, but that new post work loop I was running was painfully boring. If I'm going to melt out there, I might as well be looking at something interesting. The south loop is around a long rectangular lake, where they will have rowing competitions. Along one of the long straight aways, they have meter markers for the rowers(?) to see, in 250 M increments up to 2000 M. There is a possibility of turning this into one of those "track workout that is not on a track" things. Since the park is new, the trees are young, and there is little to no relief from the sun. If you chose to, there is a variety of surfaces to run on. I ran on grass, asphalt, and I did @ 1000 M on crushed shell. Very flat. You go over  a couple of bridges with (at most) 25' climbs. This is very close to work, and I will see if I can work something out there into the weekly routine.

10.2 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. It was really tough, but I wanted to break 50 miles this week. Right after the turn around, a bug the size of a bumble bee hit my left eye. That knocked me back a bit. Then about a mile after that, I almost stepped on a snake. I made a noise that I'm sure I have never made before, and probably could not make again. It was @ 18" rat snake, but still, when you almost step on anything that slithers, it is alarming.

What a day! Church - Pine box derby cars weighing / finishing - yard work - pitching to the boys in batting cages - hitting to the boys for fielding practice - 1.6 mile trail run with my kids (they loved it) - 5.5 miles hood route solo sweaty sweaty sweaty.

Post work Benderson Park lake north loop - 1.1 miles. South loop - 3.5 miles. No life saving breeze today. I Saw a guy I played high school soccer with, but couldn't talk because I had to race to pick up little people.

7.5 miles hood route. 9 pm start. kids had Pine Box Derby tonight. We had a military vehicle, equipped with rotating guns (thanks, Legos!), and a yellow car that started as a wedge of cheese, but then stripes were added, and green wheels, and stickers. When we raced, it was no longer cheese, but still cool. I ate 3 bags of super salty popcorn at the derby before the run, and now I feel like I need to cough up a hairball.

3.5 miles. post work Benderson Park loop. Sneezing and coughing again. I swear, I have been in some level of sick or injured for @ 6 months. I am getting really frustrated with this. I have a week like I did 2 weeks ago, where it feels like things are on the right track, and then I get the lethargic, sore, cough-fest that was last week. I haven't felt "right" in a long time. Sorry to dump, but it doesn't seem to matter if I run, take time off, change my diet, change sleep habits, etc., etc.

Arrrgh.

3.5 miles. hood route. The weather has been great.

AM: 3.5 Lung Butter miles. PM: 5.5 miles. Much smoother.

6 months to race day. I have a plan, but I am not where I thought I would be right now. I'm glad I still have 6 months.

5.5 miles. Hood route. pros: Legs felt great. Very smooth stride. cons: Many loogeys were hocked. That's how I found my way home!

Benderson park south loop. 3.5 miles. kept it @ 8 minute pace.

Still sick. going back to the Doc tomorrow. But I want to work in some hill training to this next go around, even though this race looks to be the most flat marathon ever (unless you ran on a track). The hilliest place around here is Celery Fields. I think this will work. 0.5 up., 0.1 mile hill sprints, easy down x 4, 1 mile grass levee run, 0.5 mile back. The Celery "Mound" is 2,000 feet long, and 85 feet tall. So climbing 85 feet in a tenth of a mile is pretty steep, for Floridian standards. I look forward to doing this when I'm healthy again. Tonight was a good indication that this could fit into the schedule.

Gnatastic!

Boy #1 is 10 today. We ate way to much last night.

am: 3.5 miles. hood route.

pm: Benderson Park loop. 3.5 miles. Lots of rowers out today.

7.5 miles. hood route.

am: 5.5 miles Hood route.

pm: Celery Mound. 1.5 up. (4) 0.1 mile hill sprints, with jog down, 1.5 down.

I bought Spouse some yellow roses for our anniversary today. I wrote on the card "Our love is old enough to drink! LEGALLY!" I am so glad she laughed when she read it.

5.5 miles. hood route.

5.5 miles. hood route.

5.5 miles. hood route.

In Fort Lauderdale with an old friend.

Fort Lauderdale. Sunrise run down Las Olas and A1A. Kind of windy at the start. Lots of runners / cyclists out. Great sunrise. Turtle nests all over the beach. Back to work tomorrow.

7.5 miles. hood route. It's kind of warm out. Also, my weight is getting out of control. Hopefully, that first part will help out with the second part.

10.2 miles. Hood route to Legacy trail to Colonia and back. 6:20 pm start. Hot, humid, slow, gnat-breathing goodness.

7.5 miles. Hood route. Last couple of days no running because of lower back pain. I feel like it is mostly gone. Now off to the beach.

5.5 with the boys on their bikes. Legacy Trail. Laurel to Venice Avenue and back. 3:30 pm start. 89 deg., 70% hum., 78 d.p. "Feels Like" 102! I can't even come up with a good "it was so hot..." joke.

The boys are entered in a promotion through their school and the Friends of The Legacy Trail, where they are to log miles on the trail this summer. This was trip #1. I asked the guy running it how many miles it was going to take to win this thing. He said they don't work it that way. As long as each kid does the minimal amount of miles, he/she will be entered in a drawing to win prizes. "Sure," I said. "You wouldn't want to reward anybody for hard work, right?"

I may have just guaranteed that my boys win nothing.

10 miles. 5:40 am start. Legacy Trail with Johnny on his bike. Started at Venice Avenue, to just south of the Circus Bridge, back north to Laurel Road, back south to Venice Avenue. We saw heat lightning, a yellow moon, a kingfisher eating a frog, a possum, some cool colors and clouds with the sunrise over the bays. Johnny thinks he saw a Gator. My favorite part: Johnny singing Weezer's Pork and Beans as we went by the lumber yard.

We're going to try the same thing tomorrow with Tommy.

10 miles. Legacy Trail. Same route as yesterday. Much hotter / humid today. I had Tommy on his bike - whistling. Constantly. I'm going to try for 3 days in a row. Johnny is going tomorrow.

5:40 am. 10 miles on the Legacy trail with Johnny on his bike. He really pushed me today. "Dad, let's race to the next bridge", etc. About 8 miles into it, he got a bug in his eye, and was out of sorts for a bit. I thought he was blowing things out of proportion until:

6:00 pm: Celery Mound. 1.5 up, (5) x 0.1 mile hill spints with jog down, 1.5 down. The gnats were everywhere. I was so coated with bugs at the end of this run, people in the parking lot were pointing at me. I had to run most of the time with my chin on my chest, in the hopes that the bill of my hat would prevent the bugs from hitting my face. I had to breath through my nose. I have a pretty full beard, and it was loaded with gnats. The good news is that all of the rain has caused some washout areas on the paths. If I wasn't running with my chin on my chest, I could have twisted something. < that's the best positive spin I can come up with.

I have complained about bugs before, but this is the new standard by which all other buggy runs will be judged.

4.5 miles on the legacy trail with Tommy. 5:40 am start. We had an early morning appointment, so we cut it short. He's going again tomorrow, because both kids have to have the same mileage. So we'll get 5.5 tomorrow, and then I don't know after that. They start football conditioning next week. Doing this with me is going to make them too tired for foosball, so this might be the end of it. It was a good week, though.

5.5 miles. 5:40 am start. Legacy Trail with Tommy on his bike. This morning he rode with an mp3 player. He was belting out Livin' on a Prayer and More than a Feeling. It was awesome. At one point, he screamed "That's the guy that never says good morning!" Awkward! Son, you are going to have to learn to control the volume of your voice. He had to stop and take in the sunrise over Roberts Bay. It was ridicuous sky-on-fire, choirs-of-angels-singing stuff. This has been a great week for me and the boys. I will miss this later.

Running-wise, a good week, as well. More miles, and faster paces than usual.

5.5 miles. Hood route. No kids. Sweaty Sweaty.

7.5 miles. hood route. I wanted more miles this morning, but stuff happens.

Got up to run this morning, but put it off until the afternoon. 3.5 miles around Benderson south lake. Pretty hot. I threw the cast net a whole lot this weekend, teaching the boys, and now my shoulder is a bit stiff. The first time Tommy got the net all the way open was great! I just wish he would have caught a fish!

We should invent a duathlon, where you run a 5k, and then fish. The winner has the best time / biggest fish. I'm sure this exists someplace. If they have speed golf, they have got to have this.

5:30 am start, Hood route. 1.5 miles. Had to go back home. Then 5.5 miles. Rained on the way back. Not a great start to the day, but I got some miles in.

The kids had their first football conditioning practice tonight. The coaches were saying things to them that I say all the time. But for some reason, I think they heard it tonight. Maybe if I had a whistle,...nah. Anyhow, they are going to sleep well tonight!

7.5 miles. Hood Route. 5:30 am start. So humid. How humid? ..... Sounds were muffled.

Skipping the Celery Hill tonight. I have other obligations. I'm sure the gnats will miss me.

9:15 pm start. Hood route. I felt guilty about not running this morning, so I went out and ran tonight. You know, with the light breeze, it wasn't half bad! It was warm as usual, but just without the bonus gravity. It was pretty steady moving.

am: 3,5 miles. Hood Route. Slow and clunky. Last nights run was a bit too late.

pm: 8.6 miles. Venetian Waterway Park with Johnny on his bike. The rain stopped long enough for us to go. Tonight we did the West side of the intracoastal waterway. We saw eleventy rabbits, and one really cool owl that took off in flight as we passed. There were several gopher tortoise burrows near the airport. For some reason he decided to "Boo" loudly at Venice High. That was kind of weird. We saw the sunset over the ICW. When we got back downtown, there was a singer / guitarist playing at the gazebo, so we went over to check it out. Then I let Johnny play in the fountain. Oh yeah, the running was also good.

They are going to get bored with this someday, and it is going to be very sad for me. But for now, these runs have been great.

am: 5.5 miles. hood route. 7 am start. Like I was swimming.

pm: 5.5 miles Legacy Trail from the Train station north to Laurel and back with Johnny on his bike. We really had to push it at the end so we wouldn't get home too late. Great sunsets over Roberts Bay and Dona Bay. He now has 39.6 bike miles on the trail in 14 days. Tommy has 25.5.

It was my goal to hit 55 miles per week for June. Johnny was nice enough to go out with me for the last 5. Hopefully, next week will not have the miles so loaded to the end of the week. 

9 pm. 7.5 miles. hood route. heat lightning and bats. Seriously, bats flying around my head. So much sweat! Of course this was stuck in my head....

https://youtu.be/m7_Joe8sY24

I have heard that song a couple of hundred times in the last 6 months.

7.5 miles. Hood Route. 8:45 pm start. My Mom's birthday, so I had fudge for dinner. Somehow, that makes sense. Cooler than I expected tonight. Pretty smooth running.

3.5 miles hood route. 6 am start. I needed to take it easy today. back at it tomorrow.

3.5 miles. Hood route. 6 am start. Yeah, so much for getting a jump on the miles this week.

7.5 miles. hood route. 9:30 pm start. this one was ugly.  84 deg., 78% hum., 75 d.p.

Hood.

5:30 AM: I started running, and went about 1/4 mile. My left hip felt not so good, so I turned around and ran home. By the time I got home, it felt fine, so I turned around and ran 7.5 slow, hot and humid miles. But I did it, so whatever.

7:00 pm: 10 miles on the Legacy Trail with Tommy on his bike. Train Station south to just past the Circus Bridge, then North to Laurel Road, then back to the Train Station. He is now up to 35.5 miles. Johnny has 39.6. The sunsets over the bay were cool, and we saw a snake. Right before we got out of the car, we heard Michael Jackson's Wanna be Starting Something. So for the whole run, it was MUMMA-SAY MUMMA-SOW MUMMA-KOOSAH! I was really beat up during this run. It was a real struggle. I timed it for funsies, and I can't beleve we did it in 78:09. We stopped 3 times to drink, and I stopped the watch then. But still, we beat the 8 minute guy? It was miserable out there.

I'm getting close to actually meeting this week's mileage goal. The cram session continues....

7.5 miles. Hood Route to Legacy Trail and back. 7 am start. Now it's time for the beach.

7 pm. 10 miles with Tommy on the Legacy Trail. We saw the same snake we saw on Thursday last week, which we named Chip. Everybody likes Chip, even though he is a low down snake in the grass. Then we saw a new snake that Tommy named Slim Jim. Some folks fishing off the Hatchet Creek bridge caught a very small Snook when we passed. Anyhow, since I'm out of town next weekend, and this week is loaded with football training and whatnot, this is the end of the month for the boys logging miles on the trail. Johnny finished with 39.6. Tommy had 45.5.

6 am: 1.5 miles. late start, didn't feel great, blah, blah, blah...

6 pm: Celery Mound. 1.5 up. 10 x 0.1 mile hill sprints, jog down. 1.5 down. NO BUGS! It was still hotter than all get out, but no bugs - I can live with that. Also, the grass was not cut on the levee warm up / cool down runs, so I had to get my feet much higher than normal. If the point of the exercise is to promote higher knee action / lengthen stride, than I think this was a good workout. I have no idea what I'm going to be able to do Tuesday. I'm betting I'll be sore.

Took yesterday off. I was losing focus on my racing goals, and instead focusing on a streak. So, I broke the streak.

5:30 am: 7.5 miles. hood route. My legs appreciated the day off. Springy.

6:30 pm: 10.2 miles. Hood route to Legacy to Colonia and back. Not so springy. No life-saving breeze on the way home.

5:30 am. 5.5 miles. hood route. I saw a bobcat as I walked out of my house. I ran back in and told spouse. She came outside and it was gone. I swear! It was right there! No, it wasn't a bunny!

Running around lakes in the rain in Loda, IL. Th cooler temps were awesome,.

Still in Loda, IL.

Flew home from IL. Picked up the boys from summer camp. Then we went to the beach. The waves were too big for skimming, so we went boogie boarding. There was a red flag at the life guard stand - bad rip currents. Exceptional parent that I am, we went out anyway. We don't get 3 to 4 foot rollers here too often so you have to take advantage. Anyway, it turned out to be a mostly safe day for riding waves. There was an excellent sandbar right at the breakers, so I was standing in knee to chest deep water the whole time, and could focus on my kids. The boys got some great rides. I even rode a couple. There was a moment when Johnny and I were riding the same wave, that I am going to hang on to for a while. So after getting beat up in the gulf for over an hour and straining against the current and eating a big bowl of jambalaya, I went running.

It felt great. Against all reason, it felt smooth. I still have figured out very little about this sport.

5.5 miles Hood Route. 6 am start.

5:45 am. 7.5 miles. hood route.

6:00 pm. Celery mound. 1.5 up.  5 x 0.1 mile hill sprints, jog down. 1.5 mile down. Big heat, but no bugs. Kind of crowded today.

6 am: 5.5 miles. Hood route.

7 am: 10 miles with the boys on Legacy Trail.

6:30 pm: 7.85 miles in Fruit Cove. Warm, and kind of vurpy. Mongloian BBQ was not a wise lunch choice.

7 am: 7.85 mile. Fruit Cove loop. This town is much younger than my town. There were lots of runners out, and a pack of @ 100 cyclists. This hurt after yesterday, but I got my weekly miles. This cramming stuff has got to come to an end. I need more miles earlier in the week.

The July plan: Still hold the 55 mpw, but incorporate something the kids are calling "a long run." I have heard this is helpful to marathoners. Maybe I should check it out.

Goose egg, but it's not all bad.