They all can't be "easy" runs.

Happy New Year. 1.5 miles at the track with the boys. I didn't do anything fast, but I timed them on some runs. Tommy ran a 6:48 1600. Then Johnny ran two 16.xx second 100M. He was upset about it. He tried again, and got 15.xx. he was happier with that. That was at noon. Misty rain. 58 degrees

Then 7.5 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail and back. 1:02:24. 8:19 pace.

Now watching UCF Auburn game. Spouse and I met at UCF, so we're not rooting for The WarEagleTigerPlainsmen.

7.5 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail and back. 6 am start. low 40's temps. Emergency bathroom stop at McDonalds. Homeless guy was camped out in the stall (as usual), so I had to use the unoccupied ladies' room. Super sorry about that, but any port in a storm, martial law, etc. 

7.5 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail and back. 6 am start. 40 degrees. slow. 

3.5 miles. Hood route. 6:15 am start. I wanted more miles this morning but I procrastinated my way out of it. 36 degrees. Coldest run I have ever done? 

Coldest run I have ever done.

12.9 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Venice Ave and back. 6:15 am start. First half 1:00. 9:18 pace. Second half 55:47. 8:40 pace. 8:59 pace overall. Still in the 40s, but I totally overdressed.

Then to boy #1's soccer game. I had to leave before half time to catch boy #2's basketball game. Boy #1 won 8-1. Boy #2 lost 34-14. Both guys played good games. Then additional basketball with boy #2 at the courts.

Happy 47th birthday to me. I'm feeling it today. I guess it's not the years, it's the mileage.

7.5 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail and back. 7am start. Then church. Then drove 2 hours to Tommy's soccer game. They won 6-0. Got home and the dryer's broke. Went to laundromat. Just finished folding everyrhing.

1.5+3.5=5 hood route easy hot humid miles. It's been a tough week.

1.5 miles. Hood route. Then bathroom stop. (What is it about taking a few days off that causes the GI system to start a new routine?) Then around the block with boy #2, while he rode his hoverboard. It's strange running next to someone standing still.

Then 7.5 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail and back. 1:00:21. 8:03 pace. Now off to soccer / basketball.

Church, then 1 hour of basketball, then 1 hour of soccer, then 7.5 miles. Hood route to legacy Trail and back. 1:03:30. 8:54 pace. 54 degree start. It was a fight the whole way. From now on, I'll be getting my run in before playing with the kids.

7.5 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail and back. 6am start. 42 degrees.

7.5 miles. Hood Route to Legacy Trail and back. 6:00 am start. 40 degrees. 

5.5 miles. Hood route. 31 degrees. 6:00 am start.

16.25 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to circus bridge and back. Inspired by IJR's long run, I just ran it. Longest run since March of last year. Dang near perfect weather. 50 degrees. Overcast. Low humidity. No breeze.

10.2 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to colonia and back. 10 am start. 73 degrees and humid and loaded with bicycles. I ran at half the speed of smell.

Sloppy Joe. Slop Sloppy Joe. Sloppy Joe. Slop Sloppy Joe.

3.5 miles. Hood Route. Then home. Then 5 laps around the block. 2 of which were with Johnny. 

.4 up. 7.5 miles. Hood route to Legacy trail and back. Oh won oh won won won. (01:01:11) 8:09 pace. 0.4 down.

Tonight I went to the track for the first time in ? I did 1.5 up, (8) x 400M, w 400M AR, 1.5 down. Times were 1:26, 1:27, 1:28, 1:28, 1:29, 1:28, 1:27, 1:28.

5.5 miles. Hood route. 6am start. 52 degrees.

16.25 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to circus bridge and back. 6:20 am start. 2:25:44. 8:58 pace. Humidity is high.

10.2 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. Very slow. Like maybe I saw a snail pass me at one point. Then church. Then 3 on 3 basketball for an hour and a half, with my sons and some guys we met at the court. Maybe the most fun I've ever had playing basketball. Then 45 minutes of soccer. Then Dairy Queen. Now I'm just chilling.

57 degrees. 6 am start. 0.8 miles. Then 3.5 miles in 28:45. 8:13 pace. Then 0.8 miles. I wanted something faster this morning, but I think my legs are still beat up from this weekend.

0.4 miles around the block. 7.5 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail and back. 5:45 am start. 0.4 miles around the block. 45 degrees. That moon was fantastic! Song of the run:

https://youtu.be/1-bt81UBDLI

p.s. I signed up for Brookings Marathon last night. Where do you go for your 24th wedding anniversary? South Dakota, of course. 

PM: 1.5 up. (4) x 800M, w/ 400M AR. 1.5 down. 3:11, 3:09, 3:10, & 3:08. I was tempted to go for more, but then I thought I should ease back into this kind of stuff.

Most miles in a month since October 2016. 

0.4 then 5.5 miles. Hood route. 55 degrees. Full moon. 48:42. 8:51 pace.

I thought I was getting sick this weekend, so I took a couple of days off. And I moved a boat from Fruit Cove to Venice. It turns out that I may still be getting sick, but the onramp to this illness is the slowest moving thing ever. So, in the meantime, I will continue to run. 

am: 5.5 miles. hood route. 

@ lunch time: 3.25 miles around Rothenbach Park. We are looking to set up a fundraising 5k. Someone had the idea to use this park that I have never visited as the race course. So we met out there with a county official, and then I ran around the park. I think I found a good course. Running through Oak hammoock is very scenic, and shady. The race will have to be capped at 100 participants, though. We'll see. 

5.5 miles. hood route. 

7.5 miles. Intersection of Pinebrook Road and Pinebrook Way to Laurel Road to entrance to Legacy Trail. Turn around. Back down Laurel Road to Albee Farm Road to Edmonson Road to Pinebrook Road to the intersection of Pinebrook Road and Pinebrook Way. (Hood route). 

6 am start. 72 degrees. 1:06:10. 8:49 pace. 

Tonight is the last practice for Johnny's basketball team. That means the second half of the practice is kids vs. parents scrimmage. I plan on fouling out. 

This weekend, we have 3 soccer games, 1 (last of the season) basketball game, 1 chorus performance, and a visiting mother in law. Time to run is going to be tough to find. 

5.5 miles. Hood. When I am behind on weekly miles, like I am this week, I need to fight the urge to try to make them all up in one day. I need to accept the fact that 50 is not going to happen this week. Because if I try to cram them all in the next 30 something hours, I will (at worst) injure myself, or (at least) mess up next week's mileage. I lost the battle this week, plain and simple. 

The parents won at basketball last night. We have a distinct rebounding advantage over the 11 year olds. Also, I learned that dribbling a basketball, while keeping your head up to look for the open pass, while a guy is on you, and you are running, is, like, super tough.

7.5 miles hood route in the fog. Then boy #1 soccer game in Englewood. They lost 2-1. Then boy #2 basketball. They lost again, but he handled it well. The only basketball game they won this season was the first one. He really wanted to win today, but no such luck. Then boy #1 soccer game 2. They won 4-0. Game #3 tomorrow. It is super early, so if I'm running tomorrow, it will be noon time, because both boys are singing in a concert tomorrow night.

Sometimes it's really boring around here.

12.9 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to Venice Avenue and back. 10:30 am start. Pretty miserable at that time of day. Intermittent breeze, and full sun. After spending yesterday in the sun, I was already beat down from it.

Tommy's team won this morning so they advance to the next round. The season goes on. The performance tonight went really well, too.

4 miles. Hood route.

6 am. 7.5 miles. Hood route. 1:01:04. 8:08 pace. 0.4 down. It was warm. Imagine "Florida". Now, imagine "unseasonably warm Florida". It was like that.

5.5 miles. hood route. 6 am start. 

6 am: 0.4 up. 7.5 miles. hood route in 1:02:11. 8:17 pace. last mile in 7:03. 0.4 down. New Saucony Kinvaras. 

song of the run... https://youtu.be/PJwt2dxx9yg

3.5 miles. Hood route. 6 am start. Cool patchy fog at sunrise.

16.25 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Circus Bridge and back. Slow. I slept awful last night.

Anyhow, let's review the weekly goals. Better than 50 miles - check. Long run - check. Tempo - nope. Intervals - nope. Okay, we're getting there.

10.2 Miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. I timed the last three miles. In 22:05. That`s 7:22 pace. In all honesty, the 6th mile felt the best the smoothest. There's no reason any of this run should have felt good. After running yesterday, I cut the grass, played basketball, played soccer, and then we went to a party where they were serving Cajun food and we were washing it down with hurricanes. This run should have felt awful, but it didn't.

6 am start. misty rain or heavy dew. I wanted 5.5 tempo, but my digestive system had other plans. 

0.4 miles. then 1.5 miles. then bathroom. then 0.4 miles. then 3.5 miles in 28:49 (8:14 pace). then 0.4 miles. So, I really underperformed on the tempo. 

I should have timed the 1.5. My neighbor saw me on the way back for that part, and the walk to start for the 3.5. He said, "you were really booking there." I told him why. I think that the "What happens if you have to poop?" question really holds a lot of people back from running. You usually hear "My knees, blah, blah, blah,….. It's so boring, blah, blah, blah.' But really, I think more people are worried about the emergency bathroom stop thing, then would be willing to admit. Because I have been running for 8 years, I know, exactly, how far I can go in an emergency. I know, exactly, how far away the next stop is. Every construction site has a port-o-let, and I live in a place where a large economic driver is homebuilding. I have really good odds of completing runs without incident. 

I probably just jinxed myself for tomorrow. 

6 am: track. First time running the track in the morning? Yep. 2 up. 4x800 with 400 AR. 1 down. 3:02, 3:04, 3:02, and 3:04.

7.5 miles. Hood route to legacy trail and back. 5:45am start. Slow.

3.5 miles. Hood route. Back is a little stiff from something or another. I haven't lifted any lawnmowers lately. It could be all of the soccer and basketball, though. I am playing more basketball now that Johnny's season is over than ever.

I'm going for 20.75 miles tomorrow. I haven't run that far since November 5, 2016 (Savannah). I'm not looking for any pace until the last three. I hope i can kick on the last three.

20.75 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Circus bridge to caspersen Beach and back. 6 a.m. start. Last 3 at 8:20, 8:01, and 7:47. Beautiful morning I saw a gopher tortoises, manatees, not wearing novelty tees, Eagles Ospreys it was awesome. It was also unseasonably warm. As disappointed as I am about the Paces for the last 3 miles, I'm still pretty psyched that I got this done and I'm on the path to getting ready for a marathon.

Then to the beach then an hour of basketball then an hour of soccer.

Week in review More than 50 miles-check. Long run - double check. Intervals - check, but could be better. Tempo run - I'm not sure if I've ever done one of those. Tge last 3 from Sunday's run? What is the goal pace of a tempo? I don't know.

10.2 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. 6 am start. We've been getting highs in the mid 80s this week, with high humidity and dew point. You know, like May. Anyway, the firat 2 and the last 2 felt rough, but the stuff in the middle felt okay. Then church then an hour of soccer in the sweltering heat, then pool.

3.5 miles. hood route. 6:15 am start. 70 deg. 100% hum. 70 dew point. Just plain gooey. I really had to fight to make this happen this morning. I'm still sore from the weekend. 

1.2 up. 3.5 hood route miles in 26:33. (7:35 pace). 1.2 down. Same weather as yesterday, super hot and humid, with now tangible mist. This run was good, and a step in the right direction. But this comeback feels really slow.

I'm a bit bummed that I can't lose weight as fast as I used-to-could. Yeah, yeah, I know. I've got to be more disciplined about the intake. That scale needle hasn't moved off of 194 since January 1. I should be, like, 175 by now. I say this, not out of vanity, but out of understanding that there is a direct relationship between running performance and weight. I've got 20 pounds to lose. I feel like I can't begin training in earnest until I get that scale number to move, you know, a LITTLE. A small bit of success at losing weight would go a long way. 

5.5 miles. Hood Route. 6:15 am start. 

Pm. At track. 1.5 up. (6) x 800 with 400 AR. 1 down. 2:55 (I was trying to impress some teenagers that were blazing through some 100s! What was I thinking? They were polite, though.) 3:03, 3:07, 3:10, 3:07, and 3:07. All first laps except the first were 1:32.

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.

9.7 miles. Train / bus station to circus bridge to caspersen beach to venice high school along ICW to north bridge to legacy trail to train /bus station. 3:20 pm start. 84 degrees full sun. Lots of boats out and I saw a bunch of gopher tortoises? (Torti?) first shirtless run in about 2 years. I wore a wide brim hat to protect from the sun, like running in a bright orange sombrero! I caught the north bridge on the way back. This was a righteous tour of Venetian waterway park. Pace was decent, but untimed.

6 am start. 0.4 up. 5.5 miles. Hood route. in 42:35. 7:45 pace. 1.2 down. Right shin felt really tight after mile 1, until mile 4. That's why I cut the run short from 7.5 miles. But by the end, I was moving just fine.

So, I guess, the lesson here is: listen to your body, unless it's telling you something you don't want to hear, then you just ignore it, and it will eventually go away.

(please note, I am not a coach.)

5.5 hood route. Hot. Track stuff later.

6:30 pm track stuff. Late start. 2 up. 8x400m with 200m AR. 2 down. 1:26. 1:26, 1:28, 1:27, 1:29, 1:28, 1:27, and 1:29.

5.5 miles. Hood route. Summer is here!

3.5 miles. Hood route.

6 am start. 0.8 up. 20.75 miles in 2:58:18. 8:35 pace

Shirtless and camelbak. Hood route to legacy trail to circus bridge to caspersen beach and back. First half in 1:31:11. 8:47 pace. Second half in 1:27:07. 8:25 pace. Negative splitting anything is miraculous in my world. So I'm pretty stoked. I never really pushed it today, though. 75 deg., 86% hum., 71 dew point.

Someone got me an Arctic Cool visor for Christmas. I don't usually hype products, but I've got to say, it does a fantastic job of keeping the sweat out of my eyes. For the high heat and humid conditions I run in, this is really important.

5 weeks till race day. Next 3 Saturdays have soccer. This ia going to get interesting.

3.5 miles. Hood route. 6:30 am start. I took the boys to the driving range last night. It went well. There may be more of this in our future.

76 degrees. 94% humidity. 73 dew point. I am having serious doubts about my ability to generate speed. I could not get anything going today. Every step was a fight.

6 pm. 5.5 miles on the track, including (2) 800s 3:04, 3:13. I'm in the middle of a bad training week. Tomorrow is 30 days from race day. I'll bounce back.

0.4+7.5 miles. Hood Route. 5:45 am start. Slow and steady. We went from 80+ degrees at the track last night to 60 degrees this morning. It was like running in another state. 

0.4+3.5 miles hood route. 6 am start. 

Pretty bad week of running. Ending with a good long run. 20.75 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Circus bridge to caspersen Beach and back. 2:52:10. 8:18 pace. 1st half 1:29:25. 8:37 pace. 2nd half 1:22:45. 7:59 pace. Last 5 in 38:10. 7:38 pace. 76 degrees. 70% humidity. 65 dew point.

10.2 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. Super duper hot and humid. Good luck to those folks racing tomorrow! I'll be watching from my dry, climate controlled office.

6 am start. 1.2 up. 5.5miles. Hood route in 42:13. 7:40 pace. 0.8 down. Decent weather -65 deg. 66% hum. 66 d.p. 

5.5 miles. hood route. 50 degrees and 47 dew point. I have never known weather so running-perfect! 

https://youtu.be/JSwq0n7MZyY

6 pm at track. 4.5 miles. including (2) 1200s at 4:46, 4:48.

3.5 miles. hood route. slow. I think the Kinvaras have gone flat. I am getting aches in my shins that lead me to believe that these shoes are done. I got them on Valentine's day. Anyway, it's far enough from race day that I can get new ones. I can't believe the short life span of these shoes. 525 miles? I got 1,000+ out of my Hokas last year.

Or maybe it's my work shoes that are causing me leg pain that I only realize while running.

Or maybe its getting close to race day, and my fitness isn't where it should be, so I am blowing slight aches and pains out of proportion.

Or maybe everything was clicking about a month ago, and I peaked in this training cycle too early. 

Or maybe I'm playing too much basketball and soccer with the boys these days. 

Or maybe, Or maybe....

6:15 am start. 0.4 up. 20.75 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Circus bridge to Caspersen Beach and back. 2:54:48. 8:25 pace. 1st half 1:30:08. 8:41 pace. 2nd half 1:24:40. 8:10 pace. Last 5 in 39:23. 7:53 pace. 73 degrees. 81% humidity. 67 dew point. Still running in the old shoes. 3 weeks to race day. 

10.2 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Colonia and back 6:15 a.m. start very hot and humid this morning. New shoes running!

5:50 am start. 0.8 up. 7.5 miles. Hood Route in 58:17. 7:46 pace. 0.4 down. Kind of warm.  It really took a lot to get rolling this morning. The first mile was 8 minutes plus, but I was smooth sailing by the end. 

3.5 miles. Hood route. 6 am start. No track stuff tonight - the Pinewood derby races are tonight. Last year, boy #1 Dad got 1st place, and boy #2 Dad got 3rd place. No, I'm just kidding. My boys were more involved than that. 

Looking ahead - Boy #1 has two soccer games Saturday, and 1, maybe 2, on Sunday. The first one Saturday is at 8 am. Even though that is 2 weeks from race day, I was still shooting for @ 16 miles. It is going to be tough to fit in this weekend. 

6:45 pm start. 0.4 up. 16.25 miles in 2:05:24. 7:43 pace. 1st half in 1:01:45. 7:36 pace. 0.4 down. Hood route to legacy trail to circus bridge and back. 78 degrres at start. Killer sunset over the bays. I wouldn`t say "majestic" but it was still cool.

10.2 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. 7 am start. Slow. Last soccer game of the year is this morning. They plan on practicing until the end of May.

5:45 am start. 0.8 up. 5.5 in 43:11. 7:51 pace.  (Honestly, this was 4.5 miles @ 8 minute miles, with a 7:11 last mile.) 1.2 down. Weather was awesome. Orange groves were fragrant. I scared an armadillo away with a loogie. Good times. Good times. 

5.5 miles. Hood route. 6:30 pm start. Super hot.

7.5 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail and back. 5:45 am start. 

6 am. 3.5 miles. hood route. For a short run, this was interesting: I was momentarily chased by a mockingbird. I smelled some awesome Confederate Jasmine blooms. And I was thrown backwards by the largest spiderweb I have ever encountered. I mean, that spiderweb was devastating. I must have looked like a nut from the other side of the street with the freakout moves I was doing to get the web off of me. 

Race day is a week from tomorrow. I am all over the place with race goals. I am also all over the place with what to run tomorrow. I'm not exactly an anti-taper guy, like Flatlander. But I think it is possible to go into a race TOO relaxed. 

7.5 buttery smooth miles without incident. Hood route. 6:30 am start. Last 2 in 13:46, without even pushing it. I needed this run.

5.5 slow hood route miles. Then boy #1 confirmation. Then outback for lunch. Then beach. Then back to church. Good day.

3.5 miles. Hood route. 6 am start.

Raceday weather forecast: 40 degrees and raining.

5.5 miles. Hood route. Weighed in this morning. 185 lbs. That puts me @ 3:29:xx finish Saturday. I feel better than that. My long runs have been really good. My intervals and tempos have been adequate, I think. The st. Paddys day race would indicate that I am in PR shape. Spouse thinks I'm in PR shape, because of what she`s seen this training cycle. We shall see. Last post for a while.

I'm stoked to meet Matt S. Tomorrow!

Mutual of Omaha Corporate Headquarters - Omaha NE.

Lewis and Clark Park and Overlook - Council Bluffs, IA.

Sioux Falls - Sioux Falls, SD. Really, Really beautiful! But, what's that smell? Oh, they're slaughtering pigs next door? Neato!

Devil's Gulch - Garretson, SD. According to Garretson lore, Jesse James evaded capture just outside of town by spurring his horse to leap the ravine -- a feat that everyone agrees is nearly impossible. Most historians believe that it is impossible. The town thinks that its impossibility only makes its reality more wonderful. Once you get past the idea that it is unbelievable garbage that he jumped the ravine, you can appreciate the beauty.

Palisades State Park - Garretson, SD. We climbed a ton of this park and took about 100 pictures. Simply an amazing place!

Brookings, SD. Checked out the place we were staying. When we called the owner of the place to find where we could meet to transfer the key, he said “The door’s open. The key is on top of the fridge.”  Brookings is another world, in terms of security, in a good way. We then had a delicious Mexican- American dinner with the Schreiber’s.

2 miles, 7 am. From our place to the race start/finish and back. 

Raining most of the day – Toured Brookings and SDSU.

We did an architectural tour of homes by car. Had ice cream at the dairy bar on SDSU campus (they invented cookies and cream, so I went with that.) We went to the school store and bought some Jackrabbits stuff for the kids. We heard through the interwebs, that you can get a key to the bell tower on campus, and then climb it. So we went to the police station and asked for the key. They gave it to us for an hour. We climbed the tower and took a bunch of pictures on a rainy day.  We gave the police the key back and they gave us a certificate for climbing the tower. Seriously, Brookings is another world, in terms of security! We were laughing at the “no way is this true” of this situation. Then we checked out some key locations along the race course by car, and we went to packet pickup. The race shirt is totally awesome, the best I have ever received at a race. So nice, in fact, that Spouse picked one up after the race for $10. Do you know what I had to do for MY shirt? Then we had dinner at Mamma Mia’s. They were overwhelmed with runners. We got there early enough that it wasn’t really an issue.

Brookings - Marathon #11, 
Usually, I finish these things by saying thank you to Sasha for putting this blog together. I thought I should start with that this time.  This blog has connected me with some exceptional runners. But what I’ve found is that it also connects me with exceptional people.  So since I would have never heard of Matt S. without this blog, and I would have never heard of Brookings without Matt, thanking Sasha is where  I should start.
Okay, the race stuff. This course is NOT flat. There is a hill at mile 9 that made me laugh.  I was braced for some rough weather at the start. When that did not happen, I went out at 6:50 pace for the first 2 miles. Every mile after that was slower, and slower. 
At mile 6, I took my first gu. It was a while until the water after that. For some reason, the sugar made like a bubble that made breathing difficult. I stopped to cough and spit for a bit. I didn’t take another gu for the rest of the race. Not being able to breathe is a freak out moment.  After that, I was cruising easy until the half. Once the halfers split off from the full runners, I was really alone. It’s hard to describe the difference between the second half of this course from the first. It is like a whole new race. The first half is about as “urban” as Brookings gets. The second half is isolated, and feels like you are running through the plains. It is much hillier. There are more surface changes. The wind really picked up. Mile 13 was through mud. The. Whole. Mile. I ran through a puddle at mile 15, and yelled a few swear words. Right after that, I realized a kid relay runner was right behind me. Oops. A woman started using me as a wind screen late in the race. It kind of ticked me off. So I didn’t hold a straight line. She said “yeah, I’m totally using you.” I said I couldn’t understand how the wind was in our face, no matter which way we turned. Then she started telling me about Boston, and I let her go. I didn’t really feel like hearing about how horrible someone else’s last race was, while I was falling apart in THIS race. It is really a scenic course. The rain started at mile 20, and never stopped. It was scheduled to be sunny at the finish.
 Honestly, I don’t know how much of this time to put on running through mud, grass, rain, bridges,  wind, curb hopping, etc. And how much of this to put on to me mentally breaking down. I fell apart, plain and simple. Miles 20 -26 were a nightmare. I finally saw Matt on course at mile 25.5ish. He was directing traffic in the rain. They put a -ski on the end of my polish last name at the finish. Spouse could see that I was pretty disappointed in my time. I would have hung out at the finish line longer, if it weren’t stupid cold and raining. The food and drink spread was exceptional.
It’s amazing that I saw spouse so many times out there. She got a bit of a work out tracking me!
By 2 pm the weather was excellent. 53 degrees and sunny – the weather I was expecting at the end. 
I have completely changed my preconceptions about South Dakota. This place is beautiful. Maybe not the whole state, but I get why Matt likes it here. Some of those paths I ran on late in the race were fantastic. If I lived here, I would love running here. 
I met some 50 staters on this trip. I don’t really fit their mold. I actually care about my time. And this time isn’t up to snuff. On the other hand, this trip with spouse was amazing. Signing up for races in foreign places, and getting new experiences with people you love -there’s something to be said for that, regardless of race time. There has been more than a few times I didn’t run the race I wanted, but the trip more than compensated. I have been told that racing for any other reason than a faster time is stupid.  I disagree, but would still like to be faster.
Where do I go from here? I don’t know on a couple of levels. First, I don’t know what race is next. It seems I am a crappy weather magnet. Birmingham, Sugarloaf, Savannah, were all just awful. I would like to some day race without rain, wind, or life-threatening heat and humidity. I am also unsure how to adjust my training to get back to 3:15. Did I lack in long runs? Total mileage? What did I miss? I feel like I had a solid 4 month build up. Is it really all about weight? I have to re-think some stuff.

Drove from Brookings SD to DeSmet SD to go tour https://www.ingallshomestead.com/ Spouse and I are old enough to have watched little house on the prairie when it was on TV.  The Ingalls family moved a lot, to many states. It is based on those experiences, that Laura wrote her books, which led to the show. One thing I hadn’t considered until visiting this spot – if there are no trees around, how do you build a house on your new 160 acre homestead in the late 1800s? You create a “dugout” cave, and line the walls with old newspapers. What a harsh life that was! Anyway, there was no one but us there. There was a sign on the gift shop door instructing us to lock the exhibit doors when we were done viewing them. South Dakota is another world, in terms of security! There was a lot of walking, but the views and the church were just beautiful. It is so strange seeing the horizon in all directions, but not being out on the water.

Drove to Mitchell SD to go to the Corn Palace. http://www.cornpalace.org/ On the way there, we saw a cool piece of civil engineering that we stopped and took pictures of. The Lake Mitchell Spillway.

Anyhow – The Corn Palace! I don’t mean to diminish the amount of work involved with growing 100 acres of corn, and then cladding that corn to a building, with a new design every year for the last 100+ years. It is really a fascinating work of art. However, the need to have a web cam? It is a web cam of a building that gets covered up by a new corn mural every year. We laughed pretty hard, thinking of the guy that watches the Corn Palace web cam all day! So, we decided to act like true imbeciles for the entertainment of a web cam viewing guy we will never meet. Highlights include me walking around like a gorilla for a bit and acting like I was picking bugs out of spouse’s hair. She has never been prouder of me, for sure. Good times. Good times.

The whole time in SD we tried to find Kuchen – the official state dessert of SD. Sadly, NO one sells it.

Drove from Brookings SD to Omaha NE to fly home. Because of bad weather, our flight was delayed. So we went to the Bob Kerry pedestrian bridge over the Missouri River. That was kind of cool. You can stand with one foot in Nebraska and one foot in Iowa. Then the rains came, and we got lunch. Then flew home. We got home after midnight. 

hood route. 6 am. still sore. 

3.5 miles. hood route. 6 am start. this felt really smooth. about an hour after running my calves are getting tight again.  I haven't been running much since Brookings because my calves have been very tight after running, like I just finished the race again. Also, we were busy last weekend with Boy #1's birthday, and our 24th anniversary. but still, I could have run if I weren't hurting so much. While I'm running, it's great. Later on, not so much. 

3.5 miles. hood route. 6 am start. no post-running calf stiffness today. Man, the last 2 days' runs have felt great. 

Another 3.5 miles. Hood route. 6 am start. I think I have worked all the kinks out at this point. Since it's been raining for eleventy consecutive days, this morning's run was about insect consumption. Mmmmm. Yum!

5.5 dishwasher miles. 6 am start. Last day of school was yesterday. The kids are super stoked. Unfortunately, the rain is scheduled to continue for several more days.

10.2 Miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. 7 a.m. start. Started with a drizzle and ended with the rain. Passed an alligator with 1 mile to go. With all this rain, he must have been disoriented and was in a ditch. Must have been a 6 footer. Needless to say, I finished strong.

3.5 miles. Hood route.

7.5 miles. Hood route. 8 am start. Hot. Then basketball and soccer with the boys. Then cut the grass. Then ate a big fat sub sammich. Beach, jetties, now home. It is beautiful out, but warm. Starting up a new plan.

7.5 miles. hood route. 7 am start. Sweat.

In Fort Myers. 9 am start. 8.2 bonus gravity miles on the John Yarborough Linear Park Trail. I like the Legacy Trail in Venice much more than this. But I'm going to do it again tomorrow anyway. 

In fort myers. changed up yesterday's run a bit to stretch it 9.4 miles. 8:30 am start. Slightly better weather. 

3.5 miles. hood route. 6 am start. 

10.2 miles. Hood route to legacy trail and back. 7 am start.

7.5 Mi. Hood route. 7 a.m. start. Came home soaked. Then played basketball and soccer with the boys. Then haircut. Then finished pressure washing my neighbor's driveway.

So the whole time we were in South Dakota spouse kept trying to order something called Kuchen. It is the official state dessert of South Dakota. Unfortunately no one had it, or heard of it even. So last night spouse and boy #1 made Kuchen here. The best I can describe it is cheesecake + apple pie = Kuchen. It's really awesome, and I wish we could have found some of it up north, for comparison. What if we have it all wrong, and this is some new Florida - South Dakota Kuchen hybrid!

Back in Fort Myers. 9 am start. On the John Yarborough Linear Park Trail again. Running this route is 3 for 3 for snake sightings. We'll see if we can keep the streak alive tomorrow! Both, the heebees and the jeebees.

P.s. 1,000 miles for the year.

last Fort Myers run. 9 am start. 6.8 miles with no snakes. 

3.5 miles. hood route. 6 am start. 

3.5 miles. hood route. 6 am start. 

13.25 miles all on Venetian Waterway Park and Legacy Trail. 9 am start. Rained 1/2 hour after the stop. Very hot and humid. 1/2 hour of pool running later.

Evening run on the trails, including 3 sets of 4x100m strides on the soccer fields. Pretty stinking good fathers day. Church. Lunch. Visit my dad. 1 hour of tree pruning. 1/2 hour of pool running. 1.5 hours of fairly intense soccer with boy #1. Then running. Then driveway gatorades with the boys at sunset. Tough to beat that.

7.5 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail and back. 6 am start. I have no explanation of why this run felt stronger than normal. Perhaps it was seeing an armadillo for the first time in a while. Who knows? 

5.5 miles. Hood route. 6 a start.

1.5 miles. 6 am start. runfail. 

Evening run on the trails, including 3 sets of 4x100m strides on the soccer fields. 6 miles. Also, 1 chin up. 

3.5 miles. hood route 6 am start. 

85 deg. 70% hum. 74 dp. 10.2 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Colonia and back.

10.2 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to colonis and back. Plus a little bit of running, chasing a lost dog for a couple of old ladies.

Then church. Then basketball. Now watching poland stink up the world cup. No intensity at all.

Wait, I got on page 1 of the mileage board last week with 40 miles? Well, that's surprising.

7.5 miles. hood route. 6 am start. 

3.5 miles. hood route. 6:15 am start. 

So, I was pretty upset with myself for chickening out of speedwork yesterday. This is a common thing for me. I know I need to run faster on training days to run faster in races. But when the day comes for me to run tempos or intervals, I trade in the speed stuff for easy miles. So, I was mad that I didn't run any of yesterday's 7.5 miles fast. 

I tell you all of that to tell you that I met with Tommy's soccer coach at the field last night. He told me he was going to be there a few times a week over the summer off season, trying to keep his son sharp. I told him that since I live, like, right across the street from the fields, I would be willing to come out whenever with my boy. So last night was off season soccer practice #1. I did every drill my son did, which is awesome. One of the drills we did was sprinting 70 yards, or so, with a bag of sand dragging behind us, tied to our waist. So, despite avoiding speedy stuff in the morning, and walking around surly about it all day, I ended up doing a bunch of it last night. I'm glad I fought my way out to run this morning. 

7.5 miles. hood route. 6:15 am start. Lots of basketball last night.

I have to get shin guards at lunch today for soccer tonight.

Shin Guards! 

10.2 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. 7:30 a.m. start. Deep thoughts on this run.

12.9 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Venice Avenue and back. I weighed in last night at a girthy 193 lb. I was pretty upset about that given that I'm 12 weeks to race day today. My new schedule calls for me to run 1 mile at marathon pace today. So the second to the last mile I ran at 7:10 pace, which is faster than I expected. I started this run at 7:30 a.m. which made the heat and humidity just miserable. So I'm pretty proud of the 7:10 Mile. But I'm also bummed about my weight. I would do more of an in-depth mid-year report, but I'm off to the Rays Astros game right now with my boys and my brother.

5.5 miles. hood route. 6:15 am start. song of the run: https://youtu.be/gSF9QT4jmsQ

our first dance at our wedding reception.  

pm: 1.5 hours of soccer. it was really warm. like bonus gravity warm. Since I've started playing so much soccer again, my juggling skills and cross have really come around. Also, that Japan v. Belgium game was one of the greatest I have seen. Huge contrast to the flop fest of Brazil v. Mexico. Neymar is single-handedly trying to ruin the sport by spending as much time as possible flailing around on the ground. Almost none of that in the Japan-Belgium game. Soccer, when played at that tempo, is really exciting. I'd like to go to shooting school in Japan. Those guys can light it up. And for Belgium's star scorer to allow the game winner to pass through his legs, to go to another player to put it in, to have that presence of mind, and realize what is happening, in that intense of a moment, in the biggest game of his life? Wow. What a finish!

Tempo Tuesday. Hood route. 6 am start. in the soup. 0.75 up. 3 miles in 23:34. 7:51 pace. 1.75 down. (yes, I'm calling those 3 miles fast.) 

I've been thinking, I need start this training cycle from where I am, not where I was in 2013/2014. I may get back to those paces someday. But if I am constantly falling short of those numbers in my training, I will get discouraged, and go back to "all easy miles, all the time" training, which is kind of what got me here in the first place. If you look at Louisiana, today's tempo is a weak effort. If you look at Brookings, well hey, I just ran 3 marathon pace miles! You have to start from where you are, not from where your running-residual-self-image says you are. 

Long story short, I'm feeling pretty good about this morning's effort. 

10.2 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. 6:30 am start. 

6 am start. 1.5 miles hood route up. (4) x 0.25 mile repeats with 0.25 mile AR (with recoveries run first). 3.5 hood route down. 1:25, 1:26, 1:27, and 1:24.

10.2 miles. 7am. Gooey.

12.9 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to venice avenue and back. I set out to do this at 6:30 am. But I realized I did not have the time to make it before church. So I postponed until after church. So this run started at noon. My first "feels like" 100 degree run of the year! I tried to kick it for the last two, but could only generate 16:18. As soon as the run was over, I needed to go swimming right away. It took me a while to feel right after this one.

I fought the sun and the sun won.

7.5 miles hood route. 6:15 am start. I've got to get out sooner.

0.4 up. 5.5 miles. hood route. 42:58. 7:49 pace. (4.5 miles in 36:00, 1 mile in 6:58). 0.4 down. Then continued sweating after the run for an hour.

I have been playing either basketball or soccer  or both every night for quite a while. Last night was an hour of each with the boys. Tonight is looking like basketball only. I am trying to work this into a kind of cross training. I don't always track the work, but not all practices are equal either. Sometimes, I'm just passing rebounds back to the boy, sometimes it is an all out soccer scrimmage, with a group of kids. It's difficult to document, but is also relevant. 

3.5 up. Hood route. No rain. (6) x 0.25 AR, 0.25 fast. In the drizzle. 3.5 down. Hood route. In the rain.  1:30, 1:31, 1:26, 1:28, 1:30, 1:29. 

3.5 miles. Hood route. 5:45 am start. bit 'o rain. 

16.25 Mi. Hood route to Legacy Trail the circus bridge and back. 7:30 am start. Slow. Most moist miles since birmingham.

10.2 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. 6:30 am start. I wanted to speed up the last 4 miles, to make up for not fast finishing yesterday. But when the time came to go fast, I could not. So I just finished the run.

Where I run:

https://youtu.be/Fuk3u4GZ1gY

https://youtu.be/pxVIK4PTKCY

Odd choice to post this on a day that I missed the run, but still. 

Bringing Back Tempo Tuesday.

0.75 up. 4 miles in 30:25, 7:36 pace. 2.75 down. 

3.5 miles. Hood route. 6:30 am start. 

20.75 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to circus bridge to caspersen beach and back. 6 am start.

5.5 miles. On legacy trail. With boy #2 on his bike. 10:30 am start. Something different.

We went to the Tampa Bay Rowdies game last night. It was really cool. It was 2-1 Rowdies after 8 minutes! I thought it was going to be the highest scoring soccer game I've ever heard of, but at the end of the game it was 2-2. The first "pro" soccer game I have ever been to. Great event, and venue, by the way. On the waterfront, next to the Dali museum. We went from the surreal to the soccer.

7.5 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail and Back. 6:15 am start. I recorded the last mile of the run. Here's a sample: Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. Squish. 

5:45 am start. 0.8 miles up. 3.5 miles. Hood route. 29:15. 8:21 pace. Emergency bathroom stop. 3.5 miles. Hood route. 27:33. 7:52 pace. 0.8 miles down. 

5.5 miles. Hood route. With a 5:06 0.75 miles kick thrown in. I plan on doing repeat 0.75 miles tomorrow for interval day. I started late today, though. 

I found a rachet while I was out this morning. I must have looked like I was racing to some mechanical emergency, running with with a wrench. 

Also, I must note that we have had a substantial amount of red tide around here lately. It is a locally a touchy subject politically. (Think Climate Change, but on a local level. People whole heartedly believe that red tide is a result of bad actions by man, or they whole heartedly believe that this is a part of a natural process that has been going on since before we got here.) The cause of it is really irrelevant to me.

I'm a beach person. The stench of dead fish has kept me from the beach since before July 4th. I'm getting to the point that I need to put my toes in the sand, but have no where to go. I live less than 5 minutes from the Gulf. The stink has now permeated all the way to I-75. People with asthma are really affected. Most people complain of eye burning / itching. This is devastating to our local tourism, etc.

I say all of this to acknowledge that besides the psychological need in me to go to the beach that is being neglected, I know this is messing with my running right now. Imagine running in a warm, humid environment. Awesome. I'm used to that. Now imagine walking outside, into that hot humidity, and it smells like dead fish. Are you motivated to run? This has gone on way too long. 

6 am start. 0.75 up. (4)x0.75 miles, 0.25 miles AR. 0.75 miles down. 5:12. 5:10, 5:10, 4:56. I need better times and more reps.

I got stung by a bug on the cool down.

20.75 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to circus bridge to caspersen beach and back. 3 of the last 4 in 24:34, and that's all I could give it. 6:15 am start. Super hot and humid, but really average for Florida in August standards. After the venice avenue bridge at near mile 6.5 to caspersen and back to 6.5 to go, the dead fish stink was really unbearable. That's like 8 miles of gross. I also learned that an early sign of dehydration for me is "buzzing" legs. It's a thing that's tough to describe, but I know it when it happens. I was taking water as I went. I guess it was just not enough. So at this point I loaded up with water and drink everything I had left. I went through two CamelBaks on this run. As soon as I drank the water I felt much better.

Hood. 7 am . Slow.

6 am. 3.5 miles hood route.

6 pm. 8.8 miles with boy #2 on his bike, while boy #1 was at the season's first soccer practice. This was (3) 1.1 mile trail loops, plus one 5.5 mile run from hood route, down edmonson, over I-75 to jacaranda and back.

3.5 miles hood. Yeah, I know it's Tempo Tuesday, and I chickened out of going fast again. In my defense, this morning felt a bit peppy-er than normal, and yesterday's run with Boy #2 was also quick in spots (as per usual, chasing a kid on a bike), and I may or may not run later fast. 

Even still, I chickened out. 

Also, I'm at work now. I just got word that the guy in the cubicle next to me's daughter is in the I.C.U. As a father, the thought of this is painful. My heart breaks for him and his family. 

7.5 miles hood route. 6:30 am start. Lots of basketball and soccer last night. Boy #2 and i did full soccer field sprints x4.

Interval Thursday. The anti-track-quarter-mile-repeats 0.75 up. (8) x 0.25 fast, 0.25 slow. 0.75 down. Fast stuff all in 11:54. 

7.5 miles. Hood route 6 a.m. start. Then took the family to the keys for the weekend. Did some snorkeling at Bahia Honda. The keys got pretty beat up during the hurricane

Day 2 in the keys. 9:30 am start. On the drive down to key west, the family kicked me out near mile 68. Then they went and got breakfast and i ran. I got 5 miles in running south. The run ended with a 2.3 mile bridge. I've got to say, this was a really cool run. Running that long over water is kind of a new one. Day ended with more snorkeling in key west, and a long, slow, haul back to key largo.

Last morning in the keys. School starts tomorrow. This was a last trip of the summer thing for the boys, and an excuse to get me into some non red tide water. So the highlight of the trip was today, when we went to John Pennekamp State Park and went snorkeling 6 miles offshore at the Grecian Rocks Reef. It was beautiful conditions and the fish were everywhere. I mean, it was impressive. You can actually get some "street view" pictures from Google Maps. 

3.5 miles. hood route. 6:15 am start. 

5:30 am start. 0.75 miles up. 4 miles in 32:06. 4.75 down. The goat farm smelled fantastic! Tempo Tuesday? Not quite.

5.5 miles. Hood route. 6 am start.

6 pm. 5.5 miles on legacy trail.

Interval Thursday, I got out late and had to cut the workout short. I procrastinated myself out of the good stuff. 0.75 up. (4) x 0.25 miles with 0.25 miles AR. 0.75 down. Fast stuff in 5:56. General attitude was whatev's. Going to try to get another run in later, take Friday off, then 20+ Saturday. It's crunch time, people. No time to dillydally.