They all can't be "easy" runs.

Tommy's soccer team lost 1-0 this morning. It was 0-0 at the end of regulation. The team played very well. Then I drove home, again. 12.9 noontime miles. Mid 70 degrees. Florida post rain misery. In season mid day traffic problems. I mean, just no joy to be found. So my yesterday goal of 16.25 with a 5 mile fast finish was not going to happen. Afterwards the boys and I went swimming. The water was very cold. I am beat.

Okay, first the good news. Due to a scheduling mix up, Tommy will not be playing in a soccer tournament this weekend in Ft. Myers. This opens the door for us to run the St. Patty's Day 8k in Venice! My favorite local race. It gets better! This will be the first official race that I have run with both boys. This year, Tommy will run as "Patty O'Furniture," like he did in 2016. I will run as "Fatty McButterpants." Johnny will run as " 'Lil' Pat O'Butter." I plan on destroying them. They are 11 and 12. I will not be able to do this much longer, so I really need to make the margin of victory big. 

5:50 am start. high 40s / low 50s degrees with low humidity, and low dew point. (It will be much more humid and warm on Saturday.) 0.4 up. 7.5 miles in 55:09. 7:21 pace. 0.8 down. The pace was steady on the way out, but was a series of surges on the way back. Not by design, it just worked out that way, but it was noticeable. 

I think racing Saturday is going to kill any possiblity of a long run this week. I think I would have to either run long tonight or tomorrow night to make that work.  So psyched to be back to racing, though. Since I hardly ever race anymore, I have no way of estimating my abilities. So, I'm going to shoot for running as fast as I can, and using this as a tool for working out paces for Brookings. 

AM: 5.5 miles. hood route. started late. slow. meh. 

PM: At track. Still kind of uninspired. 2 up, (5) x 1600m, 400m AR (except the last one) 2 down. 6:38, 6:41, 6:35, 6:33, and 6:35. The winds were heavy, and running against the long side of the track for 1, 2, and 5. Short side on 3 and 4, and I think it shows.

Last week, I said I did a Franken5k, and Spouse didn't get it. She thought it had something to do with ex-senator Al Franken, like he invented it. So this week, let me introduce the 8kenstien. Huh? Better? Okay, all in that's 33:02. I'll be very happy with that time if I can get it Saturday. 

6 am: 3.5 miles. hood route with boy #1. In 8 years and 1 month of running the "hood route," thisis the first time I have ever run it with someone. 

This race went way better than I expected. It was in the mid-50s temperature at race start. I've been nervous for about 24 hours at the thought of racing my kids. But after the race started I think I went out slower than I ever have before. I think it was good to have the kids with me to take my mind off the game for a little bit. Everything was super smooth for 4 miles. Nice even pace. Then, I lost it for a bit, and rallied to finish. I was about to run back to get Patty O`Furniture, but he was already in the home stretch. He won his age group. But honestly Venice is void of children, so, i don't know if that's a big deal. He was fast, though. I ran back to get `Lil` Pat O`Butter. And he was struggling. Once he saw the finish, he picked it up. The lady giving out Awards the end said "you're not going to make me say this are you?" She had to announce Fatty McButterpants to the crowd. It was awesome. She was not crazy about calling the kids` silly names either. After that, it was good eating, and hanging out on the beach.

All in all, I think this will give me some clarity for training paces for Brookings. I think I'm on track. I just need to drop the pounds. Also, my days are numbered for beating these guys.