They all can't be "easy" runs.

trails. 

4 on the trails with the shirtless tire dragger. lots of talking. faster paces. 

3 on the trails. And just like that, I'm back in a running funk.

This weekly cycle of seeing the grandson on the weekends is kind of emotionally draining on Sunday nights. I get so melancholy when he's gone. Spouse and I are going to see Song Sung Blue tonight. My mom loves Neil Diamond, so I grew up listening to a lot of his stuff. It should be an excellent distraction from my usual Sunday night sadness. 

That movie was excellent. Kate Hudson nailed the Wisconsin accent. 

4 on the trails. Kind of ticked off about some things, so the pace was snappy-er than usual. 

4 on the trails. 78 degrees. 

I know it was designed with good marketing intentions, and was sent to me by a bot, but there is something weird about getting a Happy Birthday text from your Urologist's office. 

4 on the trails. Late run start because I had to wait for AC maintenance guy to show up, and do whatever it is I'm paying him for every six months. Spouse says "This guy looks really old. Should he be climbing up into our attic?" I asked her how old does she think he is? She said seventy something. So after he was done, I asked him how old he was. He's 2 years older than me. 

trails

trails. 78 degrees. and humid. Moving boy #2 to USF today. 

3 on the trails. Of course they moved him to the 3rd floor. 

3 on the trails. 

On the trails. 56 degrees and raining. Weatherman says it will be 34 degrees tomorrow morning. 

3 on the trails. 46 degrees when i started. not that cold. 

Nice 1st birthday party for my grandson. 

Later we saw Southern Culture on the Skids at Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa. It was a really good show. Kind of like a cross between The Reverend Horton Heat, Primus, Toadies, B52's, and maybe Stray Cats? 

on the trails. less than 50 degrees. 

3 on the trails. It felt pretty quick this evening. I saw my neighbors (That are training for the Gasparilla 15k) out there, several times. 

At the end of this month, it will be 10 years since I ran a 5k. 

Something different today. I've been meaning to try this run for a while. 2 miles to the track. (4) x 200m, with 200m AR, 2 miles home. Running with effort was much harder than I expected. But on the other hand, it has been almost 3 years. I had to start somewhere. 

4 on the trails plus (2) x 100m at extra effort + jog back at soccer field on each lap. 

8 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over the SWOM bridge and back. Extra effort last 1/4 mile. Longest run this year? 83 deg., 56% hum., 65 d.p.

8 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over the SWOM bridge and back. Extra effort last 1/4 mile.  81 deg., 67% hum., 69 d.p.

4 on the trails plus (4) x 100m at extra effort + jog back at soccer field on first 2 laps

4 on the trails. 55 degrees. 

8 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over the SWOM bridge and back. Extra effort last 1/4 mile.  40 deg. at the run start, 50 deg. at the run finish.

4 on the trails plus (4) x 100m at extra effort + jog back at soccer field on first 2 laps. 45 degrees at the run start. 55 degrees at the run finish. Yes, I overdressed for that. 

3 on the trails in the pm. I ran out of daylight. Busy day at work. 60 degrees. Very snappy pace. 

3 on the trails. I ran early. 60 degrees. It's supposed to be 40 degrees 12 hours later. Also, There's a possibility for SNOW  tomorrow morning. The last time it snowed in Venice was Christmas 1989. SNOW. 

8 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over the SWOM bridge and back. Extra effort last 1/4 mile. 40 deg. at the run start. No snow this morning. I don't think the possibility of snow was as close as advertised. 

3 on the trails. 50 degrees. 

8 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over the SWOM bridge and back. Extra effort last 1/4 mile. 60 deg., 25% hum., 27 d.p. Even with the great weather conditions, something felt off at halfway on the run. 

3 on the trails plus (4) x 100m at extra effort + jog back at soccer field on first 2 laps. 

Then toYbor City for a quick trip with Spouse. 

3 on the trails after driving back from Ybor City. 55 degrees and 25 mph winds. But that's not what cut this run short. It was the large cuban snadwich and side of beans and rice lunch. I ate enough food for this week, I think. 

3.5 miles hood route, then 1 on the trails. 45 degrees at the start of the run. 

8 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over the SWOM bridge and back. Extra effort last 1/4 mile+. This run felt pretty darn good. 

4 on the trails. 68 deg., 36% hum., 41 d.p. weather was perfect. I could have gone much further, but I tripped and fell on lap 3, and had to tuck and roll. I can't believe it. I know these trails. How does this happen? 

4 on the trails. another evening run. Great weather. I met another similar speed runner. Mike - His daughter was at softball practice. Much younger dude. Ran with him for about a 1/4 mile. 

8 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail over the SWOM bridge and back. Extra effort mile, especially last 3/4 mile. 72 degrees, 51% hum., 52 d.p.

4 on the trails plus (4) x 100m at extra effort + jog back at soccer field on first 2 laps. 74 degrees. 

4 on the trails. I totally wasn't feeling it. But then....

On lap 2, an elderly couple were walking their dog. he tripped and fell near the parallel bars. I asked them if he needed some help. They politely said no. He got up and they were on their way. I saw them later on the lap. 

On lap 3, a guy with sweatpants and a soccer jersey asks me if I lost my keys. I said no, but did you find them by the parallel bars? He said yes. I said there's an elderly couple walking a dog, about 150 yards that way, I'm pretty sure those are their keys.  

On lap 4, I see the elderly couple again. and I asked them if they have their keys. They are surprised that I knew they lost their keys. So I told them about the seatpants guy. How is it even possible that they missed each other? I ran down to the soccer feilds, looking for the sweatpants guy and couldn't find him. Then ran back to the olds. The old couple had a great attitude, and said it was only their mailbox keys. No big deal. But where did sweatpants guy go? 

Also, at various points on this very short run, there were 3 groups of people walking their dogs off leash, 2 kids on electric dirt bikes ripping around (no bikes allowed out here), and a group of people pointing at a bobcat in the woods. Because I was on this weird scavenger hunt run tonight, I ran a lot faster than I think I would have. So many distractions. I went running to sort out some stuff, and I never got to think about those things. 

8 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail over the SWOM bridge and back. I'm trying to level out the extra effort for the last mile, instead of having it loaded to the end. 74 degrees, 73% hum., 60 d.p.,but overcast, so it felt better than the temps say. 

8 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail over the SWOM bridge and back. Some extra effort for the last mile, but not as much as yesterday. 79 degrees, 51% hum., 59 d.p.

I talked to my neighbor for a while at halfway. He was out walking. He sold his house, so I guess he wont be my neighbor much longer. He's a good dude. He has hosted the neighborhood superbowl party for the last eleventy years. 

My brother is trying to get me to go with him to Tahoe next weekend. He says the west coast is supposed to get blasted with snow this week. I love snowboarding, but I can't make that happen. 

4 on the trails after church. It was a pretty good sermon this week. After the run, a guy stopped me on pinebrook road and asked me what the dead animal was, that the vultures were eating. I told him it was an opossum. He said he has never seen one of those before. I told him I have seen more dead ones than living ones. 

3 on the trails after driving back from fort Lauderdale. My niece had a ballet recital. It was really impressive. The run was miserable though. I wasn't feeling it, and a drone enthusiast thought it would be neat to follow me with his drone.

8 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail over the SWOM bridge and back. No extra effort for the last mile. 80 degrees, 54% hum., 60 d.p.

3 on the trails before sunset after a very long day.

5 pm run. Venetian Waterway Park plus a new thing. At the finish ofthe 5 mile loop, I continued tothe north, went under the north bridge, went over the north bridge over the intracoastal, back under the north bridge, back over the north bridge over the intracoastal, back to the start point. That's only 1.65 of a new thing. But that's way more climbing than I am used to. 72 deg, 81% hum., 65 d.p. I feel like that was a pretty good run, where Iwas pushing paces at times. 

10 miles on Venetian Waterway Park. Finished after dark. 5 pm start. I felt like running longer. It's been a stressful week. 

About a mile into the run I felt the need to pee. Knowing that there is usually no one around at the turn around near the Marina, at 2.5 miles, I figured I would wait until then. As I got to the turn around, there were people sitting on a bench. When I saw them I smiled and said "I was kind of hoping there would be no one here." They asked why and I told them. They said "Go ahead!" She said "I might join you!" which got a laugh out of me. We got to talking. 

Alan and Annie. Both of them were wearing tie dye shirts, she had pink - cotton candy looking - hair. Lots of it. He was wearing a colorful hat and shoes. Very friendly folks. They were in their late sixties, maybe early seventies. She said "Do you want to see my pet turtle? I take him for a walk every day." In her lap was a small box turtle. "You guys are some kind of different, huh?" They asked me how long I lived here, and I gave them my Venice backstory. Since we could see the Circus bridge from where we were, I told them about the whole town turning out to watch Ringling Brothers bring the animals over the bridge to the winter headquarters, when I was young. He told me that's part of the reason they retired here. He was a puppeteer for children. He went to a show with 500 kids, realized he forgot his puppets, and started blowing up balloons. From that day on, he created a show with balloons, that his wife performed in, dressed as as an insect, for some reason. They toured the world doing this balloon show for children. This was their only job for their entire lives. They have an adult son. When they got to Venice, they saw the circus stuff, and decided this place was a good fit. 

I was completely fascinated by this couple and their story. I talked to them for about 30 minutes, but I could have talked to them all night. They spoke every sentence in a non-threatening sing song voice. It was completely obvious, in hindsight, that they have spent their entire lives talking to children. I'm still smiling thinking about this.

THEY RETIRED FROM A CAREER OF BLOWING UP BALLOONS!

5 pm run. Venetian Waterway Park plus. Same deal as Thursday. 67 deg, 94% hum., 65 d.p. I'm Really starting to like this run. No tie dye - pink haired - balloon performers today. 

1 pm run. Venetian Waterway Park plus. Much faster today. 67 deg, 78% hum., 57 d.p. Overcast and very windy. 

3 on the trails. then I ran out of light.

5:30 pm run. Venetian Waterway Park plus North Bridge. 52 deg. 

4 miles. Hood Route plus SMH. 36 degrees. I wish I had a sauna. 

28 of us left. I'm freaking out a little bit.

10 miles on Venetian waterway Park at lunch. Mid 70's degrees, I'm guessing. 

3 on the trails plus (4) x 100m at extra effort + jog back at soccer field on first 2 laps. 80 deg., 69% hum., 69 d.p.

11 miles - Venetian Waterway Park West. Starting at the Circus Bridge, North to under, over, under, and over the North Bridge. South to Caspersen Beach and back to the Circus Bridge. Overcast and slightly raining until the last 3 miles. I'm pretty sore from this one. 

10 miles on West Venetian Waterway Park at noon. Beautiful day. Lots of boats on the water. Downtown craft festival. Etc. Etc. 

4 miles. Hood Route to SMH extra and back. 5 am start. I had to run early to make it happen today. 

1 pm run. Venetian Waterway Park plus North Bridge. 81 deg., 57% hum., 65 d.p. Love Bugs are back. 

5 miles on West Venetian Waterway Park. At noon. Steady Cruising, but I still pulled the plug early on the run.

2 on the trails plus (4) x 100m at extra effort + jog back at soccer field on each lap. 

I lost WAY too much time catching up with an old neighbor that I haven't seen in 5 years. 

200 yard run fail. I went out to run on Venetian Waterway Park. 87 degrees, nice breeze. I got @ 200 yards down the path, when I got sick of fighting it. I'm guessing the cause of this is my recent taking to ice cream at night. I haven't had a beer since 1/17, but I have had LOTS of ice cream, which I didn't used to eat at all. 

Whatever the cause, I have run every day since 1/24. What's that? 38 days? Not a bad streak. Maybe I'll go out again later, and try to put "something" up on the scoreboard for today. Or maybe I'll do the usual routine for me. Which is, fix today's run fail with something tomorrow that is way beyond my present day abilities. 

10 miles on West Venetian Waterway Park at noon. 87 degrees and hot breeze. It was a fight, but I finished it. 

The Sharkstooth 10k was this morning. I really should have raced it. I know I'm not ready, but I have to find out what my present day paces are, if I'm ever going to plan on a race again. It's been too long. I checked the finish times. 10 years ago me would have got top 10 finish. Yeah it's a weak field around here. But I have no idea what present day me would get. 

I've had my eye on a 5k I haven't run before in 2 weeks. It's just so hard to get motivated to run fast. I feel like I've got to the point that I can make myself run, and sometimes enjoy it, all the time. But when I get to the days I'm supposed to go "fast", I wimp out and would rather live in a fantasy world where I'm capable of getting 5ks or 10ks like I did 10 years ago. I'm trying to push the pace on a regular basis, but on those days, I somehow change my mind about the run goal. 

Monday will be 1 year since Pop passed. We are all going to Sarasota National Cemetary tomorrow. It really doesn't seem like a year.  

5.5 miles. Hood route. 5:45 pm start. Today was such a mix of things that I went out thinking I would just get 3. It felt great, so I kept going.

8 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail over the SWOM bridge and back. 84 degrees, 60% hum., 68 d.p.

3 on the trails plus (4) x 100m sprints and jog back on each of the first 2 laps. Then to USF to watch boy #2 perform a solo. Then home to play with a baby. Then I caught up with an old friend. Great day.

8 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail over the SWOM bridge and back. 85 degrees, 58% hum., 68 d.p.

Happy 311 Day!

I bought an $11 watch last night. This is my first self-timed run in almost 3 years. No more living in fantasy world about my abilities. 5 miles on the venetian waterway park. First half - 23:40 (9:28 pace). Second half - 22:24 (8:58 pace). Overall - 46:04 (9:13 pace). I'm not crazy about those numbers, but it is the truth. Then I ran a 0.9 mile cool down. 

I learned that having a watch on makes you run faster instinctively, that I should have done maybe a minor warm up, and that I have a long way to go to get back to what I was. 

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop warm-up, then 5 miles on the west venetian waterway park. First half - 21:58 (8:47 pace). Second half - 20:00 (8:00 pace). Overall - 41:58 (8:24 pace). These are the numbers I was expecting yesterday. Still on the fence about whether I'm running in that 5k in 2 weeks or not. 

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop warm-up, then 5 miles on the west venetian waterway park. First half - 24:04 (9:38 pace). Second half - 22:35 (9:02 pace). Overall - 46:39 (8:24 pace). 

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop warm-up, then 5 miles on the west venetian waterway park.

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop warm-up, then 5 miles on the west venetian waterway park. last 2 in 16:42. 8:21 pace. 85 deg. 16 m.p.h. winds.

52 days of running everyday. 

4 on the trails. 50 degrees.

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop warm-up, then 5 miles on the west venetian waterway park. First half - 21:13 (8:29 pace). Second half - 19:55 (7:58 pace). Overall - 41:08 (8:14 pace). Then 1.65 mile North Bridge Loop cool down. Great run. Then to beach for sunset. Lots of spring breakers taking selfies. Like a ridiculous amount of young people in this old folks town.

4 on the trails. Great weather. 

I'm not racing this Saturday. 

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop warm-up, then 5 miles on the west venetian waterway park.  - 43:44 (8:45 pace). Then 1.65 mile North Bridge Loop cool down. Lots of talking to myself out there today, which is kind of why I forgot my first half split. I guess I had some things to sort out. 

10.2 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail to Colonia and back. 76 deg., 47% hum., 55 d.p. Insane amount of electric bicycles on the legacy trail today. Very few old school bikes out there. 

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop warm-up, then 5 miles on the west venetian waterway park. First half - 22:26 (8:58 pace). Second half - 21:25 (8:34 pace). Overall - 43:51 (8:46 pace).

5 miles on the west venetian waterway park.

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop warm-up, then 5 miles on the west venetian waterway park. First half - 22:39 (9:04 pace). Second half - 21:02 (8:25 pace). Overall - 43:41 (8:44 pace). Then 1.65 mile North Bridge Loop cool down. This is still way slower than I think I should be. I just keep reminding myself that although I don't like these times, at least they are not as slow as they would be if I ran without a watch. I'll get there eventually. 

3 on the trails plus (4) x 100m sprints and jog back on each of the first 2 laps.

8 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail over the SWOM bridge and back. 80 degrees, 55% hum., 63 d.p. Lots of crazy stuff on this run. I saw a 10' gator, was witness to the beginning of a fight at a park entrance, I gave directions to Mennonites on electric 3 wheel bikes, and I accidentally caused an 83 year old cyclist to wreck on his bike. 

How am I just now seeing this?:

https://youtu.be/hHp8EYw53DE?si=dzCAkmOeXEzKonBv

Noon-ish on Venetian Waterway Park. 82 degrees, 59% hum., 66 d.p. No wind. 

Goal was 0.9 up, 2 @ 16:00, 1 easy, 2 @ 16:00, 0.9 down. 

I got 0.9 up, 2 @ 14:58, 1 easy, 2 @ 14:56, 0.9 down. 

Faster than I thought, for sure, which is good. Bad news is I have no idea what 8 minute pace feels like, and I possibly blew up tomorrow's run. 

I have had the Travelling Wilburys' "Handle With Care" stuck in my head for 2 days. 

12.9 miles. Hood Route To Legacy Trail to Venice Avenue and back. 80 deg. 54% hum. 62 d.p. Very easy running this morning. I finished feeling I could have gone faster. Very little sleep last night. 

12:30 5.6 around the lake in Wellen Park with Noah. It was good catching up with him. Kind of windy, and right before the rain.

Noon-ish on Venetian Waterway Park. 85 degrees. 15-20 mph wind coming from the south east. 

Goal was 0.9 up, 2 @ 16:00, 1 easy, 2 @ 16:00, 0.9 easy, 2 @ 16:00, 1 easy, 2 @ 16:00, 0.9 down.  

I got 0.9 up, 2 @ 15:33, 1 easy, 2 @ 15:38, 0.9 easy, 2 @ 16:00, 1 easy, 2 @ 16:00, 0.9 down.  

I was running into the wind on reps #1, and #3. Running with the wind on #2, and #4. I still had to work really hard for #4 to hit my number. I'm really liking this workout. This might become a thing for me. 

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop warm-up, then 5 miles on the west venetian waterway park. Then 1.65 mile North Bridge Loop cool down. 7:30 am start. This felt surpringly good. 

Noon-ish on Venetian Waterway Park. 65 degrees at the start. No wind.   

0.9 up, 2 @ 16:12, 1 easy, 2 @ 15:38, 0.9 easy (I thought about giving up), 2 @ 15:31, 1 easy, 2 @ 15:18, 0.9 down.  

4 on the trails plus (4) x 100m+ sprints and jog back on each of the laps. 80 deg., 62% hum., 65 d.p.

Yesterday evening I saw crowds of people looking up to the sky. They were tying to see whatever rocket NASA launched on the east coast. Sometimes you can see that from here, sometimes you can't. Yesterday you could not. 

But today, there was another group of people on the trails looking up. I asked them what they were looking at. They said a Caracara bird. I don't run with my glasses, so I looked it up on the interwebs when I got home. And yeah, that's a handsome bird. 

5.5 miles. Hood route. easy. There's always something that feels off about running on Good Friday or other holy days.

I'm going for a long run tomorrow. If I'm going to race, that would be 1 month from today. Also broke 500 miles for the year today. 

20.75 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over the circus bridge to caspersen beach and back. 3:35:29. 10:23 pace. No finishing kicks, no pushing the pace. Just finish the run. 82 deg., 60% hum., 64 d.p. longest run / biggest week in 3 years. 

There were 2 local 5k's. One I could see from my run. One I ran through the course on my way out, and heard the announcements of the finishers on my way back. I had an emergency bathroom stop at mile 8, saw my neighbor at mile 16.5, and the shirtless tire dragger honked at me at mile 18.5. All in all a pretty good run. Good enough I think to make me sign up for a marathon 4 weeks from tomorrow. 

5.5 miles. Hood Route. 

Happy Easter!

8 am on Venetian Waterway Park. 81 degrees. 68% hum., 69 d.p. no wind. 

0.9 up, 2 @ 16:13, 1 easy, 2 @ 15:53, 0.9 easy, 2 @ 15:29, 1 easy, 2 @ 15:32, 0.9 down. 

I was feeling the effects of the Easter diet today.

I finally signed up for a race this weekend. La Crosse WI Marathon. May 2. That is 26 days from today.  This is way shorter of a training cycle than I'm used to. I'm also training differently for this race different than what I normally do. It's kind of an experiment. Also, this race is unique for me, as it is on a Saturday, starts at 6:00 am, the course consists of approximately 20 miles of crushed gravel bike trail, and 6 miles paved bike trail.

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop, then 5 miles on the west Venetian Waterway Park. 45:57 (9:11 pace). Then 1.65 mile North Bridge Loop. 8:30 am start. Pouring rain throughout. Much faster on the way out of the 5 mile part, due to a strong tailwind. 

7:30am on Venetian Waterway Park. 70 degrees. 15-20 mph wind coming from the north east. 

1.2 up (my usual last minute bathroom stop was out of order and I had to run to another bathroom. But because of this, I met a group of local runners that go out every monday wednesday and thursday at 6 am), 2 @ 15:12, 1 easy, 2 @ 15:32, 0.9 easy, 2 @ 15:22, 1 easy, 2 @ 16:15, 0.9 down.  

I was running into the wind on reps #2, and #4. Running with the wind on #1, and #3. I'm not happy about that last one. It just never felt right. the breathing cadence with my steps was off for some reason. 

24 days to race day. 

4 on the trails plus (4) x 100m+ sprints and jog back on each of the laps. 7 am start. 70 deg., 84% hum., 65 d.p.

5 on the trails at 4:30 pm. 85 degrees. I really wanted to run first thing this morning, but the people that give me paychecks had other plans. Seriously, I logged on to my machine at 6:30 am, they see that I'm on, and start calling? I don't know if running this late will mess up my planned long run tomorrow. I know these 5 miles felt pretty smooth. 

20.75 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over the circus bridge to caspersen beach and back. 3:14:58. 9:24 pace (That's a minute per mile faster than last week.) First half 1:38:30 (9:30 pace). Second half 1:36:28 (9:18 pace) No finishing kicks, but I did slightly push the pace more than last week throughout the run.  73 deg., 59% hum., 58 d.p.

The only negative about this run is that I had another Emergency bathroom stop. This week at mile 4. The rest of it was pretty smooth sailing. 

21 days to race day. 

0.9 up, 5 miles on West Venetian Waterway Park 0.9 down. At 1pm. 85 deg., 38% hum., 56 d.p. 15 mph wind from the east. I'm glad I didn't bring a watch, because I would have tried to run this fast if I could time it. I really wanted to take it easy after yesterday, but the run felt very smooth, and I could have gone much faster than "easy". 

6.2 miles of self-induced runfail! I went out to do the standard 2 mile interval thing today for 12.7 total. It was very windy, yes. And there was a long time of procrastistretching. But I did this one to myself by eating @ 2 pounds of leftover Easter Ham salad last night at midnight. I decided to record the times, as a lesson to myself that this is what happens when I eat like this. I'm fairly disciplined about getting out to run and running with intent. I completely lack discipline when it comes to diet, and sleep. 18:31, 18:03. That delicious ham sald cost me @ 70 seconds per mile today. For context, I ran the second half of my 20 miler Saturday at about that pace. 

Maybe I can go back out later for the second half of this run, and make it stink less. 

I went back out to finish the run at 5 pm. It only stinks slightly less. 16:04 and 16:02. Averaged 8:35 pace on the 2 mile intervals for the day. I just couldn't get it moving today. At least I saw Annie and talked to her for a bit, while she was walking her turtle again. Her and her husband Alan are some of the most interesting people I've ever met. 

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop, then 5 miles on the West Venetian Waterway Park. Then 1.65 mile North Bridge Loop. 7:30 am start.

7 am on Venetian Waterway Park.

0.9 up, 2 @ 15:30, 1 easy, 2 @ 15:16, 0.9 easy, 2 @ 15:45, 1 easy, 2 @ 15:46, 0.9 down.

Then my car battery died at 7 11 on the way home. Nice.

Still, that's 8 miles of beating the 8 minute man.

4 on the trails plus (4) x 100m+ sprints and jog back on each of the laps. 7 am start. 73 deg., 59% hum., 59 d.p.

4 on the trails

20.75 miles. Hood route to legacy trail over the circus bridge to caspersen beach and back. 6 am start. 3:28:19. 10:02 pace. First half 1:42:37 (9:53 pace). Second half 1:45:42 (10:11 pace) Brutal humidity today. I'm not too upset with the time. I'll take what I can get. 76 deg., 94% hum., 68 d.p.

0.9 up, 5 miles on West Venetian Waterway Park. At 4 miles deep on the 5 mile run, I scratched my nose. Again. And started bleeding all over my face and shirt. I eventually found a TJ Maxx receipt on the ground that I used to apply direct pressure to the scratch. Then I ran for a while, holding the receipt to my nose. Then 3 cyclists went by and I asked them if they had a paper towel or a napkin. They did not, but they gave me a rag that smelled like oil. I thanked them, and ran back to my car.

Then I got home and was very busy with grandfather stuff. Then I became sick and spent the rest of the night on the toilet. I think tomorrow ends my consecutive days running streak at 86 days. The 93 day no beer streak lives on. 

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop, then 5 miles on the West Venetian Waterway Park. Then 1.65 mile North Bridge Loop. 1:30 pm start. 20+ mph winds. 85 degrees.

I wonder if "Beating Chelsea Clinton" will become the new "Beating Oprah Winfrey."  Seriously, 3:40:52 is pretty amazing for a 46 year old mother of 3. 

Noon-ish on Venetian Waterway Park. 85 deg. 20 mph+ wind from SE. 

0.9 up, 2 @ 15:47, 1 easy, 2 @ 15:22, 0.9 down. 

Then I went out and bought new shoes, because I realized mine had 700 miles on them. And I bought some new shorts, because I realized mine had 7 years of perma-stink in them. I spent WAY too much money, because only smart guys buy running gear the week after Boston. 

4 on the trails plus (4) x 100m+ sprints and jog back on each of the laps. 7 am start. 75 deg., 59% hum., 59 d.p.

BTW, Race day weather predictions are 39 deg., 72% hum., 31 d.p.

8 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail, over the SWOM Bridge and back. Very smooth running today. 

8 days to race day. I'm starting to get nervous about the weather. 39 degrees at the race start is .... non-Floridian. 

16.25 miles. Hood route to legacy trail to the circus bridge and back. 7 am start. 2:26:02. 8:59 pace. First half 1:12:36 (8:56 pace). Second half 1:13:26 (9:02 pace) No bathroom stops. 83 deg., 57% hum., 66 d.p.

Boy #2 is in town this weekend for various USMC stuff. They are having physical training at Venice HS this morning. I was about 7 and 9 miles into the run, when I could hear instructors and about 700 recruits voices chanting in unison across the Intra coastal Waterway. I got a big smile knowing my guy was one of them. 

So that's the last long run before my race in 6 days. I really have no predictions about how I'll do. It's hard to estimate how running in 50 degree colder weather is going to change things.

Race Goals: I'd like to 1. Finish the race 2. Finish the race without a interwebs-life-ruining lower GI issue. 3. Not have this be my slowest marathon ever. 4. Under 4 hours. 5. I think that anything faster than that would be beyond what my last month has shown I can hold.  Years ago, I would have said "Take your last long run pace, back out a minute, that's your race pace." 8 minute miles seems out of reach. 

The point of this trip in the first place was having a long weekend with Spouse in a place we've never been, while eating an obscene amount of cheese curds. 

0.9 up, 5 miles on West Venetian Waterway Park 0.9 down. At 3 pm. 85 deg. Now sitting here watching the boat ramp hijinks. I can hear someone performing Stand By Your Man at the downtown pavilion. It's not a bad moment.

7:30am on Venetian Waterway Park. 70 deg., 95% hum., 70 d.p.

1.2 up with bathroom stop, 2 @ 14:56, 1 easy, 2 @ 14:59, 0.9 down.

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop, then 5 miles on the West Venetian Waterway Park. Then 1.65 mile North Bridge Loop. I got caught by the drawbridge for a sailboat on the way back with less than a mile to go. That kind of stunk. 1:30 pm start. 87 degrees.

Venetian Waterway Park. 80 deg. No wind. 

0.9 up, 2 @ 14:36, 1 easy, 2 @ 14:37, 0.9 down. 

Venice elementary had a PE class jogging on the other side of the fence when I sarted on my first 2 mile interval. Some kids were talking to me as we ran. I just yelled back "Let's go!" A couple of kids picked up the pace while looking at me for the next few strides. That made for a good start. 

So that's it for this training cycle. My most miles in a month, ever. Flying tomorrow. 3 mile jog on Friday, race on Saturday. I think I've done enough to not completely embarrass myself running this weekend. Post-race cheese curd consumption might get embarrassing. 

Since the ragnar in December of last year, I have gone from 197 pounds to 178 pounds. 

@ 4 miles near the finish line area in La Crosse WI. 6 am start. 35 degrees. I wanted to make sure I'm set up for these kinds of temperatures. I think that went as well as could be expected. My toes are colder than I'd like. But not much I can do about it.

Great Race. Spouse and I had a lot of fun sightseeing in the area. I'm pretty happy with my time, as it is about what I expected. 

This is a flat point to point race, that goes from east to west (never facing the rising sun). 6 am start. 21 miles of crushed limestone trail, then 5 miles of asphalt, then 0.2 miles of concrete. We stayed across the street from the bus pick up location. I got on the bus at 4:30 am. and was dropped off at the Start in Sparta. 35 degrees and shivering. I bought some warm clothes to shed before the race at goodwill. It is a beautiful course, next to the La Crosse river for a while, finishing at the Mississippi river. 3 freight trains passed while we were running, geese honking, agricultural lands and bluffs in the distance. Very pretty, but also, 3.5+ hours of it. So it could be kind of redundant. There was much less water stops than I expected. I think there were times that I went 6 miles without water. I would say that was the only thing I would change, if I controlled such things.

I talked to a couple of guys at the start, because we had a long time to wait. One I think was the overall winner. And he talked about what it was like to be a senior in high school in 2020. Also, right before the start I talked to a 78 year old guy from Georgia that said this was his 698^th marathon. He said he did the 50 state thing 6 times over. He said he was running another marathon the next day, and then 3 more the next weekend. Crazy stuff.

I figured I would do 8 minute miles for 16-20 miles, and then just see what I could come up with for the end. I did, almost exactly, 8 minute miles for 16, then slowed a lot, without ever stopping. I knew there were 3 overpasses to run over, each 30-40 feet of climb that happen after mile 21. (I’m really glad I included hill runs in my build up for this super flat race).  Then, because I ran the last 2 miles of the course the day before, I knew I could give some extra effort here, and had a really strong finish. Then I punished my stomach with brats and beers and bananas and curds.

The vacation to a place we’ve never been was great. 

4 on the trails. I have felt good since the race, like I could have run the day after. But I waited until today for some reason. 

5 on the trails with the shirtless tire dragger. that guy can talk. I had a few dizzy spells early on, which was embarrassing. It caould have been many things - He had me running trails i'm not familiar with, with more trip hazards to watch for, the amount of talking, "feels like" 93. I'm not going to worry too much about it. 

6.8 miles on west venetian waterway park. "feels like" 97 degrees

1.65 mile North Bridge Loop, then 5 miles on the West Venetian Waterway Park (47:30). Then 1.65 mile North Bridge Loop. 8 am start. hot and humid. 

Is there a law requiring the homeless to smoke in public restrooms? 

Venetian Waterway Park. 76 deg., 92% hum., 74 d.p.

0.9 up, 2 @ 14:42, 1 easy, 2 @ 14:19, 0.9 down. 

Boy #2 wants to be in the USMC band. He's been a musician his whole life, and this has been his goal to play in the best band, in his opinion. So his recruiting process has been different from most people. There has been multiple audio and video music audition submittals. Today, they flew in somebody important from USMC band for him to audition in front of at USF. According to him, he was nailing every piece they asked him to play. On the 4th piece, one of the valves on his horn broke. He explained to them that he had a back up horn at his apartment, if they could give him a few minutes to go get it. He came back, and performed the remaining requests to the best of his ability. The audience was educated enough to know that this was not the horn he was used to playing. But they told him he did well enough to get into the music program. They were particularly impressed with his ability to adapt to the situation and continue on, when his horn broke. They said some applicants would have just stopped at that moment.

So I guess that's it. He's going to do Spirit of Atlanta for one more summer. Then he's off to 3 months of basic training in October, then 1 month of combat training, then music school in the USMC. 

4 on the trails plus (4) x 100m+ sprints and jog back on each of the laps. 8 am start. 85 deg., 60% hum., 69 d.p.

trails. I had to really squeeze this run in. 

2 on the trails. but I'm going to try to get more later today. We're moving son # 2 out of USF in Tampa today.

I didn't finish that run yeaterday. Boy #2's apartment was on the 3rd floor, so it was a couple of hours lugging stuff up and down stairs. 

Today, 6.8 miles on west venetian waterway park. maybe 10 minute pace-ish. I tried to get out for the storms, but I managed to run in between the storms. full sun, no breeze, and super hot. 

Looking ahead - Tomorrow Boy #1 turns 21. Wednesday - 32nd wedding anniversary. Saturday- drive Boy #2 to Atlanta. Sunday drive back. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. 

Venetian Waterway Park. 6:30 am.

0.9 up, 2 @ 15:37, 1 easy, 2 @ 14:51, 0.9 down. 

5.9 miles on west Venetian waterway park in all kinds of rains. I had intended to do my usual Tuesday bridge hill routine, but it wasn't the rains that stopped me. My stomach has been in awful shape all day from too much sugar ice cream cake last night. You know the kind with the blue icing that permanently stains everything in a 5 foot radius? Yeah don't eat that, kids. My whole family, except baby, and birthday boy, haven't been able to eat today. It feels like someone is standing on my belly button. But me making poor diet choices is nothing new around here.

5.9 miles on west Venetian waterway park. 8 am. I wanted to do the 2 mile interval thing today. I did the first on in 15:57, which is not great. But then the wheels came off on the second one. My stomach is still not right, although I am eating again. I hate pulling the plug on workouts, but I just didn't have it today. 

trails

8 miles. Hood route to Legacy Trail, over the SWOM Bridge, and back. Emergency POP stop at mile 2. "Feels like" 97. 

Next, I'm driving to Atlanta, to drop off Boy #2, for his 3rd Spirit of Atlanta summer.

I drove back from Atlanta. 

I've been watching this guy's videos, and waiting for him to post one about the Legacy Trail, which I run on a lot. Well, he finaly posted one:

https://youtu.be/Y6Ln18ZDC68?si=jH1bgyTnVlSvBTye

I haven't run all of the northernmost part of the trail. That part is relatively new. The part I run the most starts at 5:15 in the video, when he goes over the SWOM bridge. 

7.5 Miles Hood Route to Legacy Trail over the SWOM Bridge and back. "Feels like" 94. I was pressed for time, and didn't run the planned run today.