They all can't be "easy" runs.

11.7 miles of hiking in Myakka River State Park. Beautiful Floridaness. 

2 on the trails then 3.5 hood route. 

1 on the trails. then I got dizzy and stopped. I have no idea. 

7.5 miles. Hood route. 7 am start. Kind of snappy pace. Everything just clicking along. It's been so long since I've run anything longer than 5 miles, my body definitely knew when that was. I had a medley of BNL songs from the album "Stunt" stuck in my head. oh, and my heels got severely blistered on that new years day hike, so I had a lot of heel pain while running out there. 

7.5 miles. hood route to legacy trail and back. 7:45 am start. not as early as I'd hoped. 57ish degrees. 

6 on the trails. 8:30 am start. 50th birthday run. I considered doing something long, or something fast. But I realized this was likely going to be a run with a lot of introspection, so I kept it easy on the trails.

2021 is going to have a lot of anniversaries for me. For example, on 1/9, it will be 10 years since my first race, The Disney Marathon. I thought a lot about that this morning; how training for, and then finishing that race changed the direction of how I spend my free time, and then ultimately, led me to all of you. I thought about the crazy life events that led up to the race, how I ran it without a watch, the folks that run that race and try to get a picture with every character along the course, the sense of accomplishment after, the guy in the parking lot with the 50 marathons in 50 states shirt, etc.

Mostly, I had grateful thoughts this morning. Grateful for Spouse, the kids, that my parents are still around, that I still have a job, and I guess, that I can run 6 miles on beautiful trails next to a creek less than a quarter mile from my house, and even though they are slow miles, I never think about how much work this is. I only think about how lucky I am. 

5 on the trails. I ate way too much good food last night. I had a really good day yesterday.

I intentionally did not watch the news yesterday. This might start a trend for me.

After living in Florida since 1983, and having 4-6 months of every year having all of the weathermen tell me that every storm is going to be "the big one" and never once lowering the bar of overestimation and exaggeration, I think I have become numb to hyperbole. It's probably best that I shut off all of the folks screaming about the "end of democracy!" for a while. 

... And focus on knocking out the ginormous list of home improvment projects I created for 2021, while listening to some good music. 

7 on the trails. I was thinking of DMB Drive in Drive out for most of it. 

Now for a long day of pressure washing. 

1 mile on the trails, then 7.5 miles, hood route to legacy trail and back. all of it was pretty smooth. 

3/4 of the house is pressure washed. finish up today, and perhaps begin paint tomorrow. we shall see. 

7.75 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over the SWOM bridge and back. 12:00 start. 8 minute Last mile. 45 degrees. I'm glad I finished pressure washing yesterday. Too stinking cold for that today. Painting is postponed until next weekend, when Sherman Williams is having a 30% off exterior paint sale.

3 on the trails. I got out too late. Again. It's early yet, but this new years resolution of being more disciplined with my time is not going so well. 

7:15 am start. (getting there, but not early enough yet) 5.5 miles hood route. then 2 miles on the trails. 

7:15 am start. (again) 5.5 miles hood route. then 2 miles on the trails. pace is picking up.

late start. but I actually ran fast today. My first not-easy run since...? Since the neighborhood parents vs. kids Christmas soccer game that was a total disaster. 

4 on the trails. A half mile into each of the 4 trail loops, I did (4) x 100+ M sprints, with jog backs on the soccer fields. So all in, that's @ a mile of grass sprints. The default position is really entrenched with easy runs. I'm going to have to force the issue with any kind speed. 

7.5 miles. hood route to legacy trail and back. 62 degrees. 15 mph wind out of the west. After the turn around, I was flying. 

I have only missed 2 days running this year. 1 wasnew years day - I hiked 11 miles. so I can live with that. And I missed yesterday. Sometimes life gets in the way of running. Either way, it has been a pretty decent week of running. 

Big painting weekend. I hope the weather holds. 

7.5 miles. Hood route to legacy trail and back. 

Painting works a unique set of muscles. I'm sore today. So this is the non running goal- to paint the entire exterior of the house in one holiday weekend. Friday night - tape the front of the house. Saturday - prime the front of the house, tape the back of the house. Sunday - prime the back of the house, paint the front of the house. Monday - paint the back of the house. So far, I am on schedule. 

4 on the trails. 

7.75 miles. hood route to legacy trail, over the SWOM bridge and back. Super hot (70ish) and humid. So much dew out that sounds are muffled. It's like we're just skipping Florida's version of winter this year. The run was surprisingly smooth. I had "Notion" by Kings of Leon and "Sell Out" by Reel Big Fish stuck in my head. Sometimes at the same time, which was annoying. 

4 on the trails. just because. I've been sick. no fever, just a lot of sneezing and such. 

4 more on the trails. Still with the non-fever head cold. 

4 more on the trails. Slowly coming out of the head cold. 

7.5 miles. Venetian Waterway Park west. Circus bridge to caspersen beach, then back north along intercoastal waterway to mile marker 3.75 near venice high school and back to circus bridge. 5:30 pm start. Started rough, finished strong. Nice sunset.

2 on the trails. got dizzy. went home. 

7.5 miles hood route to legacy trail and back. 8:30 am start. 

7.5 miles hood route to legacy trail and back. 8:30 am start. 

3 on the trails at 12:30. I should have eaten something this morning. 

10.2 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. 70+ degrees. 8:15 am start. Super foggy start. Averaged 9 minute pace both ways, but the pace was really inconsistent.

I had No Surprises by Radiohead stuck in my head for all of it. It has recently occurred to me how awful the lyrics of that song are. But it is total earworm.

In two separate locations, I saw a friend, and my old soccer coach. So that was different. Then later, I saw a dude walking down the sidewalk smoking a joint in broad daylight. Man, times have changed. But I don't think I'm ever going toget used to that. 

4 on the trails. 1:30 pm start. 79 deg. 77% hum. 

4 on the trails. 75 deg. 87% hum., 81 d.p.

New route. Pinebrook to Edmonson to Border (over I-75) to Jacaranda and north to Cielo and back. 3.6 out. 3.6 back. I think I'm going to refer to this as the "Border to Neal route", since I go by so many Neal Communities. 

7.5 miles. 3 on the trails, then 3.5 hood route, then 1 more on the trails. 76 deg., 84% hum., 71d.p. I had a medley of Chevelle songs stuck in my head. 

7.75 miles. Hood Route to Legacy Trail over the SWOM Bridge and back. 8:30 am start. really slow. 77 deg. 89% hum. 74 d.p. This has now turned into a weight loss blog for me, for at least a while. Last week, I weighed in at a whopping 207. There are tons of reasons / excuses, but they are all alternate words for "lack of discipline." 

7.5 miles. Hood route to legacy trail and back. hot and humid. by the time I got home, my shirt was soaked like I was swimming. 

7.5 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail and back. 6:45 am start. Big breeze out of the west. Dinosaur Jr. songs in my head. https://youtu.be/NTBIAyDk_ZE

3.5 miles, hood route + 4 on the trails. Late start - 7:30 am. Cooler than yesterday with a light mist / rain. Today, I was thinking more about schedules and budgets than I was music. 

7.5 miles. Hood Route to Legacy Trail and back. 6:30 am start. 75 deg., 96% hum., 74 d.p.

WHY IS IT SO STINKING HOT?!

ARRRGH! 

7.5 miles. Hood route to legacy trail and back. Then down to englewood for baseball double header. Boy #2 though the might like to give baseball another try. He hasn't played since t-ball. The were mercy rule losses, both games. It was demoralizing. but my guy did better than expected, and kept positive. 

8 miles. Venetian Waterway Park west. Circus bridge to caspersen beach, then back north along intercoastal waterway to mile marker 4.00 near venice high school and back to circus bridge. 5:20 pm start. Wind picked up a bit out there.

7.5 miles. hood route to legacy trail and back. 6:30 am start.

7.5 miles. hood route to legacy trail and back. 6:30 am start.

7.5 miles. 4 on the trails, then 3.5 hood route. 8 am start. I had Led Zep's in my time of dying for most of it. (The fast part, not the slow part. It's like a 11 minute song.)

5.5 miles Hood route, then 2 on the trails. I spent about a half mile considering the plural of "crisis"; how to spell it, and how to pronounce it. I was WAY off. 

4 on the trails. late start. 9 am. 75 deg. 64% hum., 62 d.p.

10.2 miles. Hood Route to Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. The most miles for me in a while.

But that's not the big news of the run. I saw Stephen King (and, I'm guessing his wife) out there. Right at the Dona Bay bridge, walking a dog. I knew I was going to see him again after the turn around, so I had about a mile to think of something witty to say to him - Maybe a Cujo joke about his dog; maybe Heeeeere's Stephen, maybe I'm your number one fan, something something pennywise, they're all gonna laugh at you!, get busy living or get busy dying, etc., etc., etc.

I went with "good morning."  

on the trails. no celebrity sightings. 

5.5 miles hood route. hot and misty / rainy. I'm mad at myself for taking the last couple of days off. 

4 on the trails. 

4 more on the trails. I was thinking of, like, 1,000 songs, all at the same time. 

https://youtu.be/driK3LHUBo8

1 on the trails. About a half mile in, a guy was walking towards me, no shoes, grey sweatpants, burning incense, and either carrying an urn, or holding his coffee thermos in a way that would make anyone think he had a reverence towards it. I have no interest in seeing where this was going for the next however many laps, so I decided to take it to the hood route for the remainder of my run. So I did hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back.

I really didn't leave the house with the intention of going that far. To be honest, I've been kind of down and out lately, about many things. Running is on the list. I guess I was trying to make up the miles from last week in one run. Which is stupid, but also instinct. 

5 on the trails. halfway through the 5th lap, I passed an old guy (I'm guessing late 70s). He saw me running and said "I wish I was younger." I said "Me Too." Then I spent a while thinking about my response and how confusing / weird it was. Then I crossed paths with the old guy again. I said "You know, when I said 'me too' I meant I wish I was younger, not you." He said "Yeah, I got that." I was going to run longer, but then I thought I might see with this guy again, and probably couldn't stop myself from further fixing a miscommunication that never happened. 

So I pulled the plug on the run. 

5.5 miles. Hood Route. Then 2 on the trails. 

4 on the trails at noon. 

I know it's not running related, but there is something about when a father sees his kid get a hit in baseball that is really amazing. I can't explain it. I've had pride in my kids before for many different things. But when your kid is at bat, and gets a hit, it is something powerful.

My dad loves baseball. He played all of his youth, and into the Navy. Today he turns 80. He has been hopitalized, had a few surgeries, and we thought we were going to lose him a couple of times since I've been on the blog. In my youth, I played soccer, and my brother played baseball. They have a bond that I don't think I will get with my father because of this.

Around January 27-28 or so, my son Johnny, who hasn't played baseball since t-ball behind the YMCA, decided he wanted to give baseball a try again. He's 14. The other guys on his team and the teams he's playing against have been playing for the last 6-8 years, and probably year round travel ball. I laughed at him. In this day of kid's sports specialization, this would be a HUGE thing, to participate on a team, or even bolder, to contribute. Well, then he got to work practicing. 

Today, my brother flew in from CA to surprise my dad for his birthday, and take him to my son's baseball game. My son caght a fly, then a tricky liner, and knocked the ball into the outfield for a hit. 

My dad wept behind sunglasses.

I had two thoughts at the same time- First, this is the most awesome 80th birthday present I/we could have given this guy. And second, what did I gain by depriving this man of this feeling many years ago? If I had to do it all over again, I think I would have at least tried baseball. 

4 on the trails. 

back to zero again. 

7.5 miles. hood route to legacy trail and back. The come back starts again.... 

2 miles. then emergency bathroom stop. then 5.5 miles. hood route. late start. 

7.5 miles. Hood route to legacy trail and back. 

So, as is tradition, I watched "The Quiet Man" yesterday. Mary Kate Danaher is nutzo! That look she gives after burning money and watching her husband almost get sucker punched by her brother, then smiling as she tells him that dinner will be ready when he gets home - bananas! I think they should make "The Quiet Man 2." In the sequel, Mary Kate Danaher goes into therapy to treat her lust for violence, and her obsession with money. Also, we can find out about the resulting property wars, since the widow Tillane would have then been married to Will Danaher, with Mr. and Mrs. Thornton's land separating their properties. Michaeleen O'Flynn would be long dead of liver failure. Finally, I imagine every clergy member depicted in the original movie would have been excommunicated by thier church for being so stinking deceitful.  

p.s. I will still be watching The Quiet Man next year, and trying to figure out what she whispers to him at the end of the movie. 

1 on the trails, then 3.5 miles hood route. I had Steve Miller Band's "Take the Money and Run" stuck in my head.

AM: 1 mile runfail on the trails.

Then I got new balance fresh foam 880s at the tent sale.

PM: 7.5 miles on legacy trail.

7.5 miles. 1 pm. venice avenue and legacy trail north for 3.75 and back. sweat burned the eyes bad today. 

4 on the trails. 3 pm start. 

4 on the trails. 

5:15 pm start. 7.65 miles on Venetian Waterway Park West. Start at Circus bridge. North to Michael Biehl Park (north end). Over North Bridge and back. I took a camelbak, and I'm glad. 

I got pretty beat up this weekend with a ton of baseball, and a couple hours of beach volleyball yesterday. 

5 on the trails. foggy. 

5.5 miles hood route. 6:45 am start. 

7.5 miles. hood route. heavy down pour for miles 1-1.5. blue skies for the rest of it. 

7.75 miles. Hood route to legacy trail, over the SWOM Bridge and back. 55 degrees? what?

Happy Easter. 

I hit 2 hours of grounders, pop flies, and line drives to my son on Saturday. My left shoulder is destroyed. It hurts to do most things, like standing, sitting, lying down, and typing this.....

On Monday. This is not good. 

4 on the trails

4 on the trails

5 on the trails

4 on the trails

4 on the trails

5.5 miles. hood route. I wish I got out earlier. 

Hopefully, I'll be surfing later today or tomorrow.

Maybe you'll see me here:

https://www.surfline.com/surf-report/venice-jetties-north/5842041f4e65fad6a7708b15

4 on the trails. 

7 years ago today, I ran the Boston Marathon. That was the last time I got under 3:15. Also, that was when some super cool stranger took those pictures you see as my profile picture. A lot has changed since then. I doubt I'll get under 3:15 again. I'm about 25-30 pounds heavier. I'm teaching the kid that is touching my cheek in the picture to drive. 

On the other hand, that lady I'm kissing in the picture is still really attractive. 

4 on the trails

4 on the trails. I met a couple visiting from Ohio out there. Nice folks. 

last game of the little league baseball season last night. playoffs start tuesday next week. About 82 days ago, my 14 year old decided he wanted to play baseball. Last night, he pitched in a game for the first time. Just for the first inning. He actually struck a guy out. 

the thing is, I don't know whwere we go from here with baseball. Do I get him intravelteams? Do I work with him non-stop so he can try out for the JV team next year? 

3.5 miles on venetian waterway park. 5:15 pm start. 

4on the trails, then 3.5 hood route. 

i had this song stuck in my head.... https://youtu.be/Oy625sZAHN8

or maybe it was this one.... https://youtu.be/exp6HVNTyZw

People today have no idea of the short lived phenomenon of Bobby McFerrin in the 80's.

4 on the trails. 

4 on the trails. 

4 on the trails. 

4 on the trails. saw 2 snakes today on the paths. corn snake and black racer. 

Tuesday and Wednesday North Jetty // Harvey | Venice Jetty Surf Report

my oldest flipping and my youngest falling backwards. 

1 on the trails, then 3.5 miles hood route. After 5 consecutive days of taking at least one kid surfing, I think the streak ends today. The gulf of mexico is a lake today. It has been a really good week, though. 

5 on the trails

5 on the trails.

2 on the trails. saw 3 snakes. so then, 3.5 miles hood route. 

6 on the trails

1 mile on the trails. Then I met and talked to the tire-dragging guy (Isaac) for a really long time. Then 5.5 miles hood route. 

He's 40 and does those 12 and 24 hour spartan-typed races. So he trains on trails, and rarely runs roads. He trains by what his garmin watch / heart rate monitor tells him to do. He also trains with headphones, adheres to dynamic stretching, watches his diet, sleep, and does extensive cross training. He uses pre, post, and during workout dietary supplements. Most importantly, he drags the tire to simulate hills (since most of his races have a lot of hills). I said why not run the bridges over the intercoastal waterway? That would be running on pavement, which is kind of a deal breaker. 

It's funny. I really enjoyed talking to this dude. But for training and goals, we couldn't be more different. Running is my therapy. I feel bad that this guy will never know what it's like to work out a problem that has been bothering you for a while on the course of the run. He feels bad that I will never reach my best performance because I don't plan and micro analyze every training run.

Just know that if you ever see me post my heart rate on a run, my blog has been hacked. 

https://fastrunningblog.com/u/tomkutt/blog-7-on-trails-8-15-am-start-It-39-s/11-16-2020.html

12.9 miles. hood route to legacy trail to Venice Avenue and back. If April can do a 50 miler as a rut buster, I can do not quite 13. 

I saw an old friend at 1.5 deep and talked to him for a minute or two. He's the guy that was part of the "push a car for a marathon" fundraiser group. 

I guess talking to tire puller heart rate hair product yesterday got me thinking that I need to get on with training for a race. I can't run for the sake of running with no race on the horizon. Med City Marathon is in 4 months, the price is right, and flights there are cheap. So here we go. Let's see if I can actually get there, and what time I can pull off. 

10.2 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. Low humidity today. I had the most obscure song in my head today. Psychopomp by the tea party.

3 on the trails. i never felt right, so i went home. 

4pm: 3 on legacy trail. from troll music north over roberts bay and back. 

2 pm start. Hot breeze. we had AC repair guy eat up the morning at our house. 2 on the trails. 3.5 miles. hood route, then 2 more on the trails. I had Chris Isaac's Baby did a bad, bad thing stuck in my head for all of it. 

Also, my oldest turned 16 today. We had a big dinner celebration. So, all the people that were made during Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne are now getting their driver's licenses. 

at the track. 2 up. (8) x 400M, 2 down. 1:34, 1:36, 1:38, 1:35, 1:35, 1:31, 1:32, 1:30. Better than expected. 

I've been thinking about signing up for a race, since that is now becoming a thing again. I didn't want to do it before seeing if I could run something faster than "easy". 

6 on the trails. surprisingly snappy pace. Also:

1. Today Spouse and I are married for 27 years. I always feel very lucky in this aspect of my life.

2. I signed up for MedCity Marathon in Rochester, Minnesota. I have 4 months to get back to being a decent runner. 

4 on the trails. then 1.5 miles hood route. I spent way too much time talking to folks I haven't seen in a while today. 

16.25 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to the circus bridge and back. Right at 10 minute miles. I never pushed it. I haven't run this far since 5/16/2020.

8 miles. Hood route to legacy trail. then an extra 0.25 mile run to an emergency bathtroom stop, then home. 

5 on the trails

1:30 pm at track. 1.5 up. (4) x 800M w/ 400M recoveries. 1.5 down. 3:25, 3:21, 3:25, 3:27.

6 miles. middle 2 in 14:59. 2:30 pm start. 

4 on the trails

16.25 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to circus bridge and back. 2nd to last mile in 7:44. Hot and sunny. 3 separate equipment failures with the camelbak at miles 2, 9, and 12. clips kept popping out. Oh well. At least there were no emergency bathroom stops on this run. 

7 miles on legacy trail. venice avenue north to 3.5 miles and back. 5 pam start. the boat ramp was packed. there was a steady stream of boats going under the dona bay bridge too. decent, but slow run. 

2.75 on trails. 2 @ 15:11, hood route. 2.75 hood route home. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

School can't end fast enough for me. 

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

very hot. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4 on the trails. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4 hilly and dangerous vacation miles near Bryson City NC. State route 19 and some on SR 1336. One of the most amazing things about this run was that I noticed that the foundation for the road I was running on in some places had stacked up old cars from the 50s. You could really see the crushed cars in the river embankment.

Four more hilly vacation miles in the big meadows campground on top of the Shenandoah mountains in VA. The weather and the lack of stickyness was awesome. Definitely a foreign experience. Also running by deer was kind of cool. Later in the day I had a 0.8 mile run up a mountain from a waterfall so I could get the car and double back to pick up my wife. But I'm not counting that one.

Back from vacation. The Blue Ridge Parkway through North Carolina and Skyline Drive through Virginia were awesome. Today's run puts me back in the soup. Hood route to Legacy Trail and bathroom stop at Laurel Park and back. 8 a.m. start. 60 days to race day. Now that vacation is over... No more mister nice guy... time to get serious.

5 on the trails. 9 am start. 89 deg. 68% hum. 76 d.p.

0.5 up. then 7.5 on legacy trail. venice ave north to mile marker 3.75 and back. 1:00:57. 0.5 down. Not that bad of weather, as it was slightly overcast. 

Followed by one of the weirdest homeless people interactions. So I am parked under the bridge. (Venice ave is right next to the bus station) I started my car to cool it down for the ride home, as I was drying off . This woman comes up behind my car, cying her eyes out, asking me to use my phone. She said that she got on the wrong bus, and that she didn't know where her boyfriend was, and he was supposed to meet her, but was not where he said he would be,.... She says she doesn't even need to hold my phone. I can hold it and put it on speaker. Okay fine. I just handed her my phone. she calls her boyfriend. Because my engine is running, the phone automatically goes to blue tooth, and their conversation is loud and echoing around under the bridge. They swear a LOT. She was leaning  very much into my car. When she tells him about the wrong bus thing, he goes into the most profanity filled screaming fit ever. I guess busdrivers are supposed to give you your money back when you get on the wrong bus. Who knew? so now the conversation has turned to the unspeakable acts of violence he is ready to commit on the bus driver, if he ever sees her again. At this point, I am ready to pull the plug on this whole thing, and am hoping to never meet this boyfriend guy. They finally get the conversation back to where each other is. Again, full of F bombs, and echoing around under the bridge from my car speakers. He says do you hear that ambulance? I am very near that ambulance. She says she can't see the ambulance. I said Yeah, but you can hear it, right? It's like 100 yards away, going up the bridge. She says again that she can't SEE it. So she starts walking towards the ambulance noise. She is now far away from my car. He is still giving profanity filled directions, now to just me. I'm like she's gone man, she's coming your way. and i hang up the call. I leave the parking area, and I'm driving east on venice avenue, the north side of the bridge. and I see the boyfriend coming west looking for the crying woman. To the surprise of no one, she chose to go looking for him, headed east on the south side of the bridge. so they are now separated by the up ramp of the bridge, and passing each other again. I just sighed when I saw this happening. so when I needed to merge into traffic coming off the bridge and I saw her on the other side of the road. I rolled down my window, and yelled across the street to her "he's back that way! he's on this side of the street. He's over here!" She seemed to understand what I was saying, even though there were cars stacked up behind me, honking at this point. 

You would think that would be the end of the story. - That I was instrumental in reuniting two lovebirds under the venice avenue bridge. But no. 

About 2 minutes later, my phone rang again. I didn't know the number, but I had a pretty good feeling I knew who it was. She said "Hi this is Shauna, who is this?"  I said "I'm Tom." I could hear her tell him "He says it's Tom." Then he grabs the phone and says WHO THE F.. IS TOM?! And then I hung up again.

I see a wonderful future for those two. Surprise pm run. while Johnny was at baseball practice. From the high school fields to Venetian waterway park, north to under north bridge, then over north bridge to quarter deck restaurant and back. The bridge was at effort. But the rest was nice and easy.

Late start at track, but the weather was decent. 2 up. (4) x 800M repeats with 400M AR. 1 down. 3:30, 3:30, 3:19, 3:23. I could have done more at this pace, but I ran out of today. I really felt like I did not leave it all on the track, and that I was getting stonger as I went.  

4 on the trails. 9 am start. 

7 am start. this was supposed to be a 20+ miler, but things fell apart (heat, humidity, lack of Gu). I have not finished 20+ miles since October 7, 2018 (Towpath Marathon). Hood route to legacy trail over circus bridge to caspersen beach and back to venice avenue / train station, where I called spouse for a ride. 8 weeks until race day. this is not good. over the last 10 years, I have gone from wanting to finish a marathon, to wanting to race a marathon. It seems like I'm back to wanting to finish a marathon again. 

On the plus side, I met some nice people that just finished their bike ride while I was waiting for spouse. Curtis, who gave me some Gu packets from his trunk. And Janice, who is from Levittown PA, like me. It is a small world. 

3 on trails. 8 pm start.

Am: 1.2 miles.

Noon: 4 on the trails.

Pm: 8 on Venetian waterway park during Johnny's baseball practice

82 deg. 93% hum 80 d.p. 0.4 up. 7.5 miles hood route to Legacy trail and back. 1st 3 in 7:45, 15:38, 24:29. then I hobbled the rest of it. I was pretty down on myself for falling apart like that. But then when I got home and saw what the dew point is / was, I feel a little better. I don't think I've never seen 80 before. I was thinking of changing my training strategy to no speed, just medium long and long runs, to try to ensure a finish. But now I realize that my brain was cooking out there. 

pm: 8 miles on venetian waterway park during Johnny's baseball practice. 

5 on the trails. Yes, I skipped a track workout yesterday. Sometimes life gets in the way of running. I admire all the guys on here that are really disciplined about their running. I can hold it together for awhile, but then I get overwhelmed by other responsibilities. A couple of things - 

1. While I was out there, I was thinking about the amount of water I was breathing. I know I have thought this before while running. Is this like Vaping? Why would someone choose to breathe this? 

2. After mile 4 I talked to a guy walking his dog. The dog was a Big Yellow Lab (as oposed to the guy was a big yellow lab). Anyhow, I pet the dog for a minute, and didn't realize how much shedding had stuck to my sweaty hands, until I started to rub my face during mile 5.  I am still freaking out about the clingy dog hair. 

3. I finally met JG from the blog last Saturday. He lives just outside of Venice and is going to start up running again. I'll see if I can nag him to start posting again, too. 

4. Going for 20+ again tomorrow. I did an extensive amout of forensics this week to figure out the problem with last week's run fail. I'm not guaranteeing success. But optimism is high. 

20.75 MI. Hood route to Legacy Trail the circus Bridge the caspersen beach and back. I ran a lot smarter than I did last week. I had good nutrition and good hydration and better pacing. But the big difference from last week was no sun. It was overcast for the whole run. I think that helped me a lot. I'm glad that this 20-mile + hurdle has been accomplished.

2 on the trails. Then 5.5 miles hood route. There appears to be no real damage done by yesterday's long run. Today was in full sun, and was a bit tough. But no specific soreness anywhere. So I guess I'll keep going then. 

4 on the trails. 

6 am start. 0.8 around the block miles. Then 10.2 miles. Hood Route to Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. 1:26:17. Drizzled the whole run, but poured for mile 2. 

same drill as yesterday, only @ 10 minutes slower. 7:40 am start. 0.8 around the block miles. Then 10.2 miles. Hood Route to Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. Rained cats and dogs for miles 4-6. Then after that, running into the sunrise was kind of miserable. 

I worked a full day in the office yesterday for the first time in a year and a half. I had 3 meetings. I only plan on going back if I have days scheduled like that. I'm thinking this could work like, Oh you want to meet? Let's schedule it for Tuesday! 

5 on the trails. I got rained out this morning. So this run happened at 12:30. 

5 more on the trails. 7:30 am start.

20.75 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over circus bridge to caspersen Beach and back. 6 am start. Way better running than last week. I was slow but in control the whole time. Full sun from 8 miles to finish. I have never seen this many manatees splashing around. It was crazy. On the other hand, there were lots of dead fish, down by caspersen. The red tide has finally shown up. The venice avenue boat ramp was already packed at 7 am. People want to get out on the water right now? It's gross but I might go out with boy #2 later.

9:30 am start. 90 deg. 65% hum. 76 d.p. 1 on the trails, where I ran into Isaac (the super disciplined tire-dragging obstacle course racing guy) and his wife. I talked to him way too long. Also, they were having some major thing at the soccer fields (not a tournament, it was more like a photo shoot), that I go by once per lap. So I gave up on the trail running and did 5.5 miles, hood route, full sun. I may never stop sweating. 

5 on the trails. 

0.8 around the block miles. then 10.2 miles, hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. 1st 4 in 31:13. 11:30 am start. it rained super heavy this morning. light rain at the start and finish of this run. Red tide is awful right now. I live 3ish miles from the gulf as the crow flies. If I'm outside longer than a half hour, my nostrils burn like I have been huffing ammonia. 

I have so much "not running" stuff in my head lately, it is tough to enjoy runs. Every moment I'm running, I'm feeling guilty about not tending to all of the other stuff in my life. On the other hand, the other stuff in my life is kind of taking over, so I'm not seeing any gains in running right now. It's kind of a bummer.

For example, Tommy (Boy #1) passed his driving test yesterday. So he's driving all over venice today. He's doing a good job of checking in with me, but is it ever enough for the parent? 50 years ago this month spouse was born, and so was Disneyworld. She was one of the first people to go to Disney (and I'm guessing, one of the youngest). So today, she is at Disney with Boy #2. I have stuff going on at work, dealing with my parents, an uncle put in an old folks home (with out of state cousins complaining), things breaking at home, on and on. I just can't seem to focus right now. 

1.2 around the block miles. Then 7.5 miles. Hood route to legacy trail and back. In 1:01:14. Then 0.8 around the block miles. Drizzled throughout. Construction near the turn around made me have to cross laurel road twice, which may have affected my time slightly.

3 on the trails at 12:30. 

6 am start. 20.75 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over circus bridge to caspersen Beach and back. Hot and red tide-ey. 83 Deg. 78% hum., 76 d.p. My shoes were making squishy noises by mile 6.

10.2 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. 7 am start. 86 deg., 75% hum.,  77 d.p. sweaty sweaty.  

It's a really long story, but I couldn't start my jon boat yesterday. And that has taken over my thoughts lately. It is hard to compartmentalize failure. Just because I am having a very rough go of it, in this one area of my life, doesn't mean all things are falling apart. This boat has represented a continuous failure in my life for a really long time. It's just one of those things that is difficult to laugh off. Once something like that gets a hold of me. ... Well, I wasn't really thinking about running this morning. 

Spouse's 50th Birthday

1st day of school. Boy #1 drove to school. Boy #2 will need to take a bus home. 

6 on the trails at 10:30 am. 90 deg. 65%  hum. 75 d.p. "Feels like" 101.

6:45 am start. 0.8 miles around the block. Then 10.8 miles Hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. Because of construction, and schools reopening, I had to run on the north side of Laurel, which caused me to have to go over the SWOM bridge twice. I measured out the distance change, and that was an extra 0.2 in each direction. So that's why the miles are different today. I had Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears For Fears, and Just Like Heaven by the Cure running trough my head this morning. 

6 on the trails at 2:30 pm. 5 minutes after I got home, the rain started. 4 snakes on the trails today. Whenever I see a bunch of snakes out there,  I think of MC Hammer's Pump it Up (there are some snake-related lines in that song). Man, that dude could dance. 

Week recap - Spouse's 50th birthday Monday, Boys finally back to school Tuesday, Spouse tested positive for the CV and we pulled the boys out of school Wednesday, So now we are all quarantined Thursday. Tropical Storm on the way this weekend. Life is a dream. 

Oh yeah, 1 month until race day. I'm super stoked. 

6 more on the trails. 84 deg. 82 % hum., 78 d.p. Despite the "brisk" weather, the running kind of felt nice. 

So continuing my week of fun, We got an e-mail yesterday that boy #1 has already missed an assignment. This morning, Boy #2 had one of his braces wires pop. We can't go to the orthodontist for a while. So, I'm going to have to rumage through the garage for some tin snips, I guess! 

20.75 miles. hood route to legacy trail over circus bridge to caspersen beach and back. Weather was slightly better than last week. so this should have gone better. Nope. I ran out of water with 4 miles to go. The finish was a real battle of wills. Oh, and my neighbor was out riding her bike on legacy trail when I had about 5ish to go. Always good to see poeple you know when things are going bad. So what I've learned from this marathon buildup is that I can run for 2 hours at a pretty good clip, and then I've got nothing.

4 weeks to figger it out. 

6 on the trails. surf is up to 2 ft. The kids want to go surfing, but there is soooo much red tide out there. 

I took Tommy out in the afternoon. The beach was packed with surfers. Tommy got some good rides in, but the red tide stink was overwhelming for me. Eyes burning, sneezing, coughing. When he got out of the water, his entire belly and chest was red-chafffed. I'm like "Aren't you worried about something that kills all these fish swimming up your urethra while your out there?" He may never recover from hearing me say "Urethra"!

Me at the walk in clinic this morning: Yeah, I need to get covid tests for me and my sons.

Them: What symptoms do you have?

Me: None, other than my wife tested positive last Wednesday.

Them: Well, we're only testing people with symptoms.

Me: My wife told me you would try to send me somewhere else. I need a negative test to send these guys back to school.

Them: I'll check with the head nurse - she walks away - comes back with a piece of paper with other testing sites on the paper (exactly as my wife said she would, BTW). and says, the head nurse says we're only testing people with symptoms.

Me: I have to drive to North Port to get tested? All of the places on your list have a 3 day turn around on results. Since they are eligible to go back to school on Thursday WITH NO TEST RESULTS, what is the point of getting tested at all?

Them: You wouldn't have got our test results until tomorrow anyway.

Me: No Crap! We weren't eligible to get tested until 5 days after exposure, which is why we’re here today. I have certainly learned my lesson - I have 2 options: 1. Lie to you and tell you we have symptoms, so we can get tested, or 2. Ignore CDC recommendations and get tested IMMEDIATELY after learning of exposure.

Then I had to go home and explain to Spouse why we couldn't get tested. 

I am watching my kids get lazier and dumber.

6 am start. 1/2 mile out, then home for a bathroom stop. then 10.8 miles, hood route to legacy trail on north side of laurel, over the SWOM bridge to colonia and back. Started rough, finished strong. Super duper hot and humid. 

10.8 miles. HoodRoute to Legacy Trail on north side of Laurel over SWOM bridge to Colonia and back. hot and sticky, but nice running today. I did accidentaly cause a cyclist to wreck, though. we were passing by each other on the same 4' wide sidewalk. I guess he thought he couldn't safely pass me, so he went in the grass. after we passed each other i heard him wreck behind me trying to get back on the sidewalk. I ran back to see if he was okay. i think his pride was hurt more than anything else. he was an old guy- late 60s i'm guessing. 

In non running news -

1. all 4 of us tested negative with home kits last night. The kids go back to school tomorrow. I am still quarantined from the office and off site visits until the 26th (my company protocols are different from the school. I work from home now anyway.) the boys and I never tested positive. 

2. the boys surfed for 3+ hours yesterday. small but consistent waves. they had a really good time. I went to see them at the end of it. It is amazing how similar that red tide symptoms are to COVID symptoms. 

3. Took the boat back to the mechanic yesterday. Good news I had wrongly assumed that my inability to start the thing waas due to my own incompetance. I found out that my frustration was all from a loose fitting gas line connection that was installed at the last minute by the mechanic. No gas to the engine = no running engine. I was so happy to find out that I wasn't as dumb as I thought i was, that i actually tipped the mechanic for his error. (Which is also dumb. So I kind of went full circle on that one.)

10.8 miles. Hood route to north side of laurel legacy trail over SWOM bridge to Colonia and back. 6:30 am start. I had a collection of songs from Pete Yorn's music for the morning after album stuck in my head. 

4 on the trails. 8:30 am start. Wisely avoided conversation with overly talkative tire dragger guy. 

20.75 miles. hood route to legacy trail over circus bridge to caspersen beach and back. Hot and humid.

I met a guy named Dan at halfway. 60 year old. nice dude. He asked if I swam across the ICW. Yes, I was that wet, but No, I did not. Most of our talk was about the Sarasota County School Board meeting last night. Regardless of where you stand on the whole mask or no mask thing, that meeting was chaos. The school board member that was in charge of the rules of order was only there through a computer, so she could not get the room to follow the correct procedure. Further, The school board decided that any time there was an outburst from the crowd, that they would take a recess, essentially putting the parents in "time out." I was not there, but the whole thing just makes me feel ashamed for our community. 

In happier news, Boy #1 and I started the boat and ran it to snake island last night and back. He did almost everything by himself, including hooking up the trailer and backing the trailer in. his first time backing a boat in! On the way back, it was super low tide. Since I have been running a boat up and down Curry creek for the last 35 years, I have a pretty good idea where the deep water is. So I had to instruct a little bit in that regards. But it was mostly Tommy. Big smiles on that kid last night. Today, I go out with Boy #2 for the same drill. If I'm satisfied that they know what they are doing, I might send them out later without me. Happy times. 

1 on the trails. then 7.6 miles. hood route to legacy trail north to mission valley bridge and back. super hot. 86 deg. 76% hum., 78 d.p. Still sweating a half hour later.  I had intentions of running yesterday. but it was a very full weekend. Running, 3 boat trips, etc. I overslept sunday, did a ton of yardwork, and then went to bed early. 

Amyway most of my run this morning was spent thinking about how I always tell these corny stories about what I experience out there. For example, when I was on the trails this morning, a woman that had little control of her 2 big dogs was walkng towards me. Under normal conditions, that person would have said something along the lines of "sorry about the dogs." "they wont bite." or something to that effect. But that's not what she said. Instead she went with "you have nice form." Which is,....odd. Of course, I yelled back 'Thanks!" like the doofus that I am. 

And then I spent the rest of the run thinking - You know who tells a story like that? Burt. Burt would tell a story like that. Burt's stories are always like -  I waved at someone I thought I knew but then it turned out not to be them and then I waved again when I saw them because i think we are now friends. I read these things and think "has this improved my life in any way?" And now I am doing that to all of you, as well. Is my running blog elvolving into Burt-ness? Is this what we are all doing here? Connected running stories and non-running stories in some sort of Burtvolution? To a destination of Burtopia? 

1.2 around the block miles. Then 10.2 miles. hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. 1st half 43:10, 8:28 pace. Then 0.8 around the block miles. 78 deg. 91% hum. 76 d.p.

6 am. 3.5 hood route. 

11 am. 5 on the trails

1.2 around the block miles. Then 10.2 miles. hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. 1st half 43:49, 8:35 pace. Then 0.8 around the block miles. 78 deg. 82% hum. 71 d.p. 5ish degree lower D.P. was noticeable. 

5.5 miles hood route. 6:20 am start. My pace kept picking up accidentally. 81 deg., 90% hum. 77 d.p. I have no control of the songs that play in my head. https://youtu.be/PSoOFn3wQV4

0.8 around the block miles. Then 16.25 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to circus bridge and back. 2:23:28. 8:50 pace. Given it's still August in Florida, the weather could have been worse. It was overcast. There was something like a breeze at the start. But there were also random pockets of red tide stink. Not as fast as past versions of me, but a pretty good run today.

3 on the trails. Then 5.5 miles hood route. Stupid hot. I rounded a corner on the trails, and heard an old-timey phone ring. I know some people have their cell phone ring tones set up that way. I did not immediately see the person. but I saw a bike on a kickstand. ....okay?... Then I saw a moman with a big smile on her face sitting on a large pile of Saw Palmetto fronds. Do you know why they call it "Saw" palmetto? Good guess. The petioles of the palm fronds are serrated, like a steak knife! I knew I couldn't stop myself from asking this lunatic some questions, so I decided to go run the hood route for the remainder. 

3 footers at the north jetty. I'll probably be taking the kids surfing later. 

https://www.surfline.com/surf-report/venice-jetties-north/5842041f4e65fad6a7708b15

1.5 Miles hood route. Then 6 on the trails. I saw my old neighbor out there and talked to him for a while. 

I just went back and checked. 260.5 Is my biggest month of miles, ever. It is 12 days until race day. All those miles don't exactly make me feel ready. Also, per standard operating procedure for inside 2 weeks to race day, I am trying to convince myself that I am injured. My right hip feels weird..... must be injured. 

9 on the trails. 2 pm start. light rain for the last 2. 

Late start. Too much blabbing with my neighbors. Plus I saw my dad out there for his daily walk. 2 on the trails, then 3.5 hood route, then 1 more on the trails. It was pouring rain for the last mile.

5 on the trails. 9:45 am start, right after the rain. 87 deg., 72% hum., 76d.p., "feels like" 97. 

I don't like to bank on this too much, but projected race day temperature for me is 57 deg., 89% hum. 54 d.p. 

so I got that going for me, which is nice.

1.2 around the block. Then 10.2 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. 1:24:02.1st half - 42:00. 80 deg. 90% hum., 76 d.p.

After I stop sweating, I'm going to get a newer car in Clearwater. 

Last night was Venice High School's first home foosball game. Boy # 2 is in the band. They did 80's hits for the halftime show. Video Killed the radio star, footloose, don't you forget about me. 

4 on the trails. 10 am start.

10.2 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. Slow chugging in the heat. 

I went out with boy #2 in the boat yesterday for @ 5 hours. It was hot, but calm, except for all of the wakes thrown by other boats. We have a 14' jonboat with a 9.9 hp four stroke suzuki tiller. In other words, the smallest boat on the water. When a 32' boat goes by, even in a no wake zone, it can get kind of bouncy. John ran the boat all day and I was just passenger. he did a great job, and has now spent more time running this boat than I have. We made it all the way up to Blackburn point bridge and back. You give a 14 year old total control of where he's going like that, and he'll act like it was the best day of his life. Being out in the sun all day is probably not the best way to spend my time a week out from race day. but on the other hand, I got much closer with my son out there. And I can't think of the last time I spent 5 hours on a boat without a beer!

5 on the trails. I had to stop twice for out of control dogs. Meh. Also, I stopped when I heard this big commotion in the shrubs next to me. A squirrel ran out and across my foot. 

7.5 miles. Hood route to legacy trail and back. 6:30 am start. 85 deg. 77% hum. 77 d.p. In spite of that, it was a very smooth run. (btw, Rochester MN is 54 deg. 89% hum. 50 d.p. right now) Anyhow, I was thinking about finishing a race again. It's been 19 months since my last race, and 35 months since my last marathon. When I'm out on a training run, and I'm thinking about race day experiences, or what it will be like to cross the line, I just run better. I think too much of my training this summer, I was thinking about problems. Maybe it's that I'm too far removed from race days to go to that well. There really is a power to positive thinking. 

3 on the trails. 8:15 am start. 

Spouse and I spent the whole day traveling Friday. Srq - msp. Drove to Rochester. The place Spouse booked us is 2 blocks from the start/ finish line. We are across the street from an Ethiopian orthodox church. It is a historic house where the floor creaks with every step. Saturday morning I picked up my bib at the saddest expo ever. I was in and out in 5 minutes. Then we toured a whole bunch of local places. Since the entire city is dominated by the mayo clinic, and mayo family legacy, I can't stop making "mayo on the side" or "mayo on everything" jokes. It might cost me my marriage, but it may also be worth it. This town is fantastic. I am biased, because this is not winter. But everything has been lovely. There are a ton of trails crossing the city. And some Nordic ski trails, whatever that is. This place is great.

Lovely town.

The halfers, 20 milers and full marathon runners went out at 7 am. The race is 2 laps, mostly on paved trails, around the city. I crossed several bridges over rivers and streams. Very little fan support, or even opportunities for fans.There is a mile long hill at mile 7, and again at 20 on the second lap. knowing that after the first lap kind of filled me with dread for the second lap. On the other hand, I knew I could make it to the finish after the hill. So that's what I did. I decided there would be no walking. I needed to get to the top of the hill, and then coast to the finish. Besides the hill surprise, this was the best I have ever done at executing a race strategy. Even though I didn't really train paces, I ran almost perfect even sub 8 splits until the hill at 20. Gu, water all timed perfect. The last couple were a struggle, as expected. But I can't think of a race I've had that went as close to planned as this.

Oh and there was a guy running the half shirtless. His entire torso was a giant skin graft. So much so that, at first glance, you thought the dude was wearing a shirt. He was also wearing Spiderman shorts and a tu tu. He made a comment before the race about my hat. Okay bro, my hat's too much. He passed me at mile 6. And I yelled "I can't believe I am getting passed by a guy in a tu tu!" And he said that's why I wear it. I passed him back at 10. He said at least you're not going to lose to a guy in a tu tu.

The post race party was pretty lame. Later we found out that I won my age group. Announcer guy said there was a commemorative pin for the age group winners. So I told him I won my age group. Without verifying anything, he handed me a pin with a number 1 on it that is smaller than a penny. Anytime spouse disagreed with me for the rest of the day, I would hold up my pin and shoosh her. It was hilarious.

This town is amazing. We are really impressed.

Spouse and I did some exploring outside of Rochester. We picked up some apples at Sekapp Orchard. Then we ate them while hiking up to chimney rock in Whitewater State Park. Then we dove to Lanesboro, toured the town and had lunch. My mobility after this race is great. I'm just a bit sore in my quads. I think it's because there was not a lot of downtime after the race. We kept moving, so my muscles never really locked up. We'll see how I feel after flights home on Tuesday.

Then we drove home and sat outside of our rental place until sunset. We can't really sit outside like this in Florida without melting.

4 on the trails. 84 deg., 81% hum., 77 d.p. On race day, the dew point was 51. I was more soaked after 2 miles on this run at home than I was at the end of the marathon in Minnesota. Humidity was roughly the same. Dewpoint is the critical thing, though. I could have started running yesterday. There are no dents anywhere, so I guess I should start going again. I had Jane's Addiction's 1% running through my head on this one. 

4 on the trails. 11 am start.

Five on the trails at 5 pm. I saw snakes, gopher tortoises, coyotes, and rabbits out there.

It was a bad weekend for all football fans in Florida. I think every pro and college team lost. The bucs might still win.

^^^^Okay, the bucs were winning by 3 when I typed that.

1 on the trails, then a new 4 mile route I'm calling the Capri Isles route. It's got a little bit trails, a little bit hood, and a little bit something new. It went okay. 

5 on the trails. 10 am start. I saw another Coyote out there. 

BTW, This story about the couple that went out west camping, and he came home to north port, you know, without her. North Port is kind of local to here. In fact, some of the people in North Port put Venice down as their mailing address. I have written on more than one occassion of running in Carlton Preserve (where the guy is supposedly hiding out). I don't know why this story is national news, but it is always bizarre when local things I am familiar with are mentioned on the national level.

1 on the trails, then the Capri Isles route. I was going to do all trails, but then I passed a couple of guys smoking pot in the middle of the trail, and they kind of freaked when they saw me. So I didn't want to do that over and over with each lap. 78 deg., 94% hum., 76 d.p. Those numbers don't show it, but it felt not as awful today. Maybe because it was overcast. I came home soaked. But something just felt nicer weather-wise. 

p.s. I had this super manly song running through my head for this run:  https://youtu.be/EDMDb8unsIA 

trails. 

I saw Dan Mullen running across campus before the Florida vs UT game. 8 hours or so before kickoff. 

4 on the trails at 8:30 am. Work has been really time-consuming since I came home from Gainesville. 

4 on the trails. Then drove to streamsong resort. One of the most beautiful places I have seen on Florida. Also, I am a horrible golfer. We killed the bass fishing though!

Also, 10/1 is my parents' 55th anniversary.

3 on the trails. 

2 on the trails. then talked to shirtless tire dragging guy for way too long. then 3.5 miles, hood route. 

4 on the trails. still hot. 83 deg. 82% hum. 77 d.p. 

So I've had Ben Folds' Still Fighting It stuck in my head the last couple of days. I'm trying to think if there is a song more likely to make dads cry than that one. 

https://youtu.be/t0ETAt1mDh4

Cat's in the cradle? Harry Chapin

Just the Two of us? Will smith

Oh, wow. The Best Day by George Strait makes a strong move for the top spot. 

4 more on the trails in my endless summer. 83 deg., 84% hum., 77 d.p. I saw the tire dragger but did not talk today. Spouse and I are back to Gainesville tonight for the Vandy game tomorrow. They opened up a new part of the Legacy Trail yesterday, that extends north to Sarasota. I might have to check that out when I get back. 

2 on the trails then 1.5 hood route. 

4 on the trails

3 on the trails