They all can't be "easy" runs.

January 2025

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Location:

Venice,FL,USA

Member Since:

Oct 31, 2012

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

5k:
21:01, (6:46 pace) 11-19-11.
20:08, (6:29 pace) 9-1-12 (Part of a Mini-Triathlon Relay).
19:17, (6:12 pace) 11-17-12.
19:19, (6:13 pace) 11-23-13.
19:30, (6:17 pace) 1-4-14.
20:34, (6:34 pace) 9-13-14
19:49, (6:23 pace) 10-25-14
19:32, (6:17 pace) 11-22-14
19:40, (6:19 pace) 12-19-14
19:49, (6:23 pace) 1-31-16

8k:
34:42, (6:57 pace) 3-17-12.
32:11, (6:28 pace) 3-16-13.
32:32, (6:33 pace) 3-15-14. 

34:00, (6:50 pace) 3-14-15.

33:09, (6:40 pace) 3-11-17.

32:56, (6:38 pace) 3-17-18.

10k:
44:18, (7:08 pace) 4-14-12.
41:22, (6:39 pace) 12-15-12.
42:11, (6:47 pace) 4-13-13.
41:06, (6:37 pace) 12-8-13.

42:03, (6:46 pace) 3-5-16

44:35, (7:11 pace) 8-26-17
12k:
53:53, (7:14 pace) 3-24-12.
49:20, (6:37 pace) 3-1-14
15k:
1:18:16, (8:24 pace) 2-26-11.

1:04:37. (6:56 pace) 2-20-16

1:08:25 (7:18 pace) 2/22/20

Half Marathons:

1:37:57 (7:28 pace) 1-26-20. Fort Lauderdale - A1A 
14 Marathons:
1.  4:12:08, (9:37 pace) 1-9-11. Disney.
2.  4:18:18, (9:51 pace) 10-30-11. MCM.
3.  3:42:26, (8:29 pace) 1-14-12. Charleston.
4.  3:13:15, (7:22 pace) 10-7-12. Steamtown.
5*.  3:12:26, (7:20 pace) 1-19-14. Louisiana.
6*.  3:14:06, (7:24 pace) 4-21-14. Boston.
7*.  3:19:38, (7:37 pace) 7-19-14. U. of Okoboji.
8*.  3:16:27, (7:30 pace) 2-22-15. Mercedes-Benz
9*. 3:30:38 (8:03 pace) 5-15-16 Sugarloaf

10. 3:24:21 (7:48 pace) 11-5-16 Savannah RNR

11. 3:27:37 (7:56 pace) 5-12-18 Brookings

12. 3:46:02 (8:38 pace) 10-7-18 Towpath

13. 3:35:11 (8:13 pace) 9-12-21 Med City

14. 3:45:45 (8:37 pace) 4-16-23 Coastal Delaware

* = These 5 races were run at 67.9 seconds per pound. If I want a PR, I need to weigh less than 170 pounds.

Short-Term Running Goals:

2024 GOALS:

to not get fat

Long-Term Running Goals:

Continue running as often as I can, as far as I can, as fast as I can. Teaching my kids (by example) the rewards that come from putting in the work. Very slowly get to 50 states.

Personal:

I'm married, with two sons, 18, and 19. And as of January 18, 2025, one grandson. 

I started running because someone dared me to.

I ran my first race 3 days after my 40th birthday. (Disney)

My profile picture story: http://www.melissajill.com/blog.cfm?postID=1492&boston-marathon

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 8.00 Month: 48.00 Year: 264.20
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
264.200.00264.20
Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

trails. I had hoped to start the year off big, but this is as good as I could get. Oh well, something to build on, I guess. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 on the trails. kind of chilly. boy #2 comes home from London today. 

Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Michael on Tue, Jan 07, 2025 at 08:02:40 from 206.188.202.56

Happy Birthday (January 6th, I think) Tom. I hope it was a good day for you.

Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.000.008.00

8 miles. hood route to legacy trail, over the SWOM bridge and back. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.000.008.00

mid day 8 miles. hood route to legacy trail, over the SWOM bridge and back. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
7.500.007.50

4 on the trails plus 3.5 hood route. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.000.002.00

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

trails

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

Trails

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 in the fog, on the trails, with not much sleep. Because, as of 3:27 this morning... 1st run as a Pop Pop! I have to shower and then I'm super stoked to go see my dad to tell him he has a great-grandson. 

We were "Mr. and Mrs." at 23, "Dad and Mom" at 35, "Pop Pop and Nonna" at 54. What a wild ride!

Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Michael on Sat, Jan 18, 2025 at 08:20:05 from 199.71.52.121

Congratulations Tom! That's great news.

Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.000.008.00

8 miles. hood route to legacy trail, over the SWOM bridge and back. cold I've been having trouble connecting to the blog the last couple of days.

Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Michael on Wed, Jan 22, 2025 at 13:35:39 from 199.71.52.121

Me too. Got frozen out yesterday and was just now able to get in today (Wednesday).

Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.000.000.00

Still having trouble getting in here.

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 on the trails. cold. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.000.000.00

3 mile walk

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 on the trails today. Even though I was running in the late aftenoon, I saw the shirtless tire dragger out there for a walk with his family. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 on the trails. 65 degrees. I guess winter is over now. 

Unique day. I was "involved with" the changing of diapers of an 83 year old, and a 8 day old human. It's not every day you can say those words. My role with the 83 year old was mostly helping him stand up while he got cleaned. My role with the 8 day old was mostly stepping back and watching my son work, and realizing that I have forgotten a LOT about this process over the last 16 or so years. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

more trails. fantastic weather. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

trails. A ++ weather. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

trails. I saw the shirtless tire dragger 4 times out there. all 4 times he was on the phone. and walking. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.000.002.00

run fail

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.000.008.00

8 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over the SWOM bridge and back. 76 deg., 79% hum., 69 d.p.

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.000.006.00

6 on the trails

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.000.008.00

8 miles. hood route to legacy trail over the SWOM bridge and back. 

For the last 5? 6? years I have been running some version of this route, and calling it 7.75 miles.  I re-measured the route yesterday.  As it turns out, I have been shorting myself by a quarter mile on each of the runs.  What do I do now?  1. Continue marking this as 7.75 miles to remain consistent?  2. From this day forward, mark this as 8 miles?  3. Go back through my run history and change all of the runs to 8 miles? 

The explanation of how I could be this wrong is that when I originally mapped the run on Mapmyrun, the SWOM bridge was not shown on the aerial photograph, so I had to estimate where it started and ended. Now the bridge is there, and I really underestimated the length of the span. 

First run over the SWOM bridge was Dec.8th, 2018. but I think the post and comments from Dec. 9th are better: They all can't be "easy" runs.

Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Michael on Fri, Feb 07, 2025 at 06:59:28 from 199.71.52.121

Quarter miles add up over time!

From Tom K on Fri, Feb 07, 2025 at 09:07:27 from 50.201.134.62

Yeah, I went back and changed them all last night. It did make a difference in total miles. It really wasn't that much of an effort to make the changes. Which made me realize my last @3 years volume has been garbage.

Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

trails

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.000.008.00

8 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over the SWOM bridge and back. Foggy start. 73 deg., 77% hum., 65 d.p.

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.000.006.00

6 rough miles on the trails. I have had an exceptionally bad diet this weekend. But the point is: 1st 40 mile week since July 2023.

Also, my youngest is a senior and a musician. Every year, they have music performance assessments (MPA's). So this is the last one. They are judged at districts, and if given "Superior" they get to go on to perform at state. My son was awarded superior at district for his performance of this piece today:  https://youtu.be/9aoVhah8YLw?si=PYU6Oq6tKya01mZp

 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
10.200.0010.20

10.2 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to colonia and back. I went out for 8 and got inspired, I guess. I did have to make an emergency bathroom stop on the way back. But the miles all felt pretty good. 77 deg., 69% hum., 67 d.p.

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.000.006.00

trails. 79 degrees. but felt hotter than that. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 on the trails. All I could get in. I was cramped for time. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
5.000.005.00

6 am: 3 mile walk with the neighborhood dads. We saw a starlink satellite string that was neat.           https://youtube.com/shorts/QPLcEl1tJF4?si=l3qHHIf5CR4JePbx

8 am: 5 on the trails. many many dogs out there. 

 

 

Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Michael on Wed, Feb 12, 2025 at 06:38:57 from 199.71.52.121

That is cool.

Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.000.008.00

8 miles. hood route to legacy trail over the SWOM bridge and back. 80 deg., 84% hum., 74 d.p.

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.000.008.00

8 miles. hood route to legacy trail over the SWOM bridge and back. 80 deg., 58% hum., 64 d.p. I now have more miles this month than I did  last month. 

Spouse and I are going to the Savannah Bananas game today. I've seen a few videos. It looks like fun. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.000.000.00

I intended to run, but helped my brother investigate an irrigation problem at his house instead. Minimal digging this time. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.000.006.00

6 on the trails. great weather, but I am sore from digging yesterday. So I really had to make myself run today. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.500.004.50

3.5 hood plus 1 trail. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.000.008.00

8 hood route to legacy trail, over the SWOM bridge and back. This run felt really good and fast. Possible explanations are 1. temps dropped @ 30 degrees overnight. 2. I took yesterday off from running. 3. I ate a comical amount of zucchini at dinner last night. What is in that stuff?

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.000.008.00

8 hood route to legacy trail, over the SWOM bridge and back.

 

Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Dan on Sun, Feb 23, 2025 at 06:58:52 from 104.178.66.147

Hey Tom, great to see you still at it! Zucchini, I think they put bacon in it, that is why you cannot stop eating it!

From Tom K on Mon, Feb 24, 2025 at 09:01:31 from 47.206.202.65

Dan! Are you still running? What's going on?

You came back after 5 years because I wrote the word "zucchini" on my blog?

From Dan on Wed, Feb 26, 2025 at 19:55:35 from 104.178.66.147

I mean, of course that is why!

I am running, not a ton, but running. I think I may need to dust off the blog here and start logging again.

Hope you are well?!

From Tom K on Mon, Mar 03, 2025 at 17:03:22 from 50.201.134.62

are you coming back?

Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

trails. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

trails. I did not have sideways 40 mph snow out there. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.000.008.00

8 hood route to legacy trail, over the SWOM bridge and back. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
1.000.001.00

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

trails. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

trails

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.000.008.00

8 hood route to legacy trail, over the SWOM bridge and back. 

73 deg., 46% hum., 51 d.p. Low humidity is fantastic!

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 on the trails at sunset

 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 on the trails in the AM. I haven't seen high tide in Curry Creek in a long time. I saw a 6'-8' FAT gator sunning himself on the opposite side of the creek, and I had to stop and check him out. The gator became the talk of the trail, as everyone I passed said "did you see the gator?"

Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Michael on Tue, Mar 04, 2025 at 11:54:16 from 148.64.94.237

Can honestly say that has never been the topic of conversation up here.

Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.000.000.00

The tail end of last week got kind of crazy with things with my dad. It's a very long story but my dad passed away this morning. His decline over the last 12 years has been dramatic, and a couple of times I mentioned it here. In a way, this makes the "letting him go" part of the process less difficult. The day closed with my son bringing my 7 week old gransdson around to everyone. Babies are a miracle cure for the blues in this situation. 

As it pertains to running, I'll get back to it. Pop was proud of my running. For him to get on a plane (which he hated) to fly to Boston and be in a big crowd (which he hated) to see me running for, at most, 5 seconds in that race, lets me know he was proud. He was always a heavy guy, and he took up running during the late 70's / early 80's running boom. When I was a kid, he and I used to run together on what is now the Delaware Canal Towpath in Levittown PA. Back then it was just a grass levee. He didn't stick with running because sometimes life gets in the way of running. And I'm sure he was glad that I picked it up again later in my life. 

I am amazed by the Hospice folks. They were wonderful to my dad the last week. 

Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Michael on Fri, Mar 14, 2025 at 06:59:37 from 199.71.52.121

Just saw this now, Tom. My deepest condolences to you. My dad died January 26th, exactly 6 weeks before your dad's death. It was a difficult time. Still is, as we sort through things. I'll keep you in my prayers.

Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 on the trails on what would have been pop's 84th birthday. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 on the trails

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.000.006.00

6 on the trails. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.000.003.00

3 on the trails. didn't have it today. 

However, in the public restroom by the soccer  fields, Homeless electric bike guy had his bike in the handicap stall, and was playing ukelele while sitting on the toilet. That was unique. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 on the trails. 54 degrees. The temps were great, but this year's oak pollen season is really beating me up. 

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.000.003.00

No mojo

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 on the trails. All of them I had to will into existence.

For the last 5 years, I have been trying to climb out of a running hole, almost getting there, and then falling back in. This one seems pretty deep.

Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Michael on Mon, Mar 24, 2025 at 10:03:44 from 148.64.94.237

I hope you succeed, Tom.

Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 on the trails. 

There was a woman out on the soccer fields, doing 100 m barefoot grass sprints. She must have done a significant amount of them, because I saw her as I passed on every lap. Like, her workout could very well have been: Repeat Sprints, Until Failure. Years ago, this was part of my deal. And I got to thinking, this would be a good way for me to slowly work back "speed" as part of the conversation for my running. Hmmm.

Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
264.200.00264.20
Weight: 0.00
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