Cher: I love him.
As if!!!
As I’ve probably mentioned in previous blogs, running during the summer months is anything but easy. With no races in immediate sight, my main purpose for running in the insane heat is to stay in shape. However, no matter how early I get up to run, it just gets more difficult as the summers roll on. I find myself doing less and less mileage as the heat index soars. I would love to be able to blame it all on the deterioration of the ozone layer, since I am in total denial that “Father Time” may be catching up to me. I say this because I do not struggle at all once running season kicks into gear, and the weather cools off (as much as it can cool off in South Florida). It’s not so much the physical toll the summer has on me; running 15 miles is running 15 miles, no matter how you slice and dice it. It’s the breathing, and how laborious it can become, that takes it all out of me. Imagine waking up at 4am to run, getting out the door before 5am, and sucking wind shortly after that. Good times!
I’ve had the opportunity to run with friends on three different occasions during this past summer. The first was the unofficial “Lindsey’s Graduation Half Marathon,” which took place in early May. Jen met me in Gainesville for a 13.1 mile run to celebrate the college graduation of my daughter Lindsey. We ran a victory lap past her apartment in celebration of her remarkable accomplishment.
“The Mr. Salty Half Marathon” took place in late June. This was the Bat Mitzvah weekend of my daughter Rachel, and had been highly anticipated for many years. Elaine, Jen and Pam were all invited, and we made our way out at 5am to knock out this run before the party later that evening. This was the first time the three ladies ran on my “home turf.”
My third run was with Kai, who works in my dentist’s office. She is way faster than me, but we pounded out a 12-mile run on A1A in Boca Raton.
Besides all of this excitement, I had an exercise-induced asthma attack, which led me to see a cardiologist to make sure the old ticker was working correctly. It was all “good in the hood,” but the moral of the story was I needed to be out the door as early as possible during the summer months.
As summer turned to fall, and football season was now in full swing, I was running with Jen during my weekend visits to the Swamp. I even ran a 20 miler with her, as she was training for the New York City Marathon. As the weather dropped (slightly), my breathing was never an issue again.
Now that we are caught up, it was time to start running some races. I traditionally would post one blog per race, but since I’ve participated in many of these races before, I’m going for the quick recap here:
TAMARAC TURKEY TROT – 11/28/2013
The annual Thanksgiving Day tradition, this is the race that started it all off for me back in 1996. However, this year it would be different. This would be the first time I would not be running (or hanging out after the race) with my “former” friend Doug. Not really the place to air dirty laundry, Doug and I had a parting of the ways, so it was just Rachel and me. The temperature was cooler than in past years, and we had our usual great time. With just under 1,500 finishers (1,497), this is the biggest 5K I’ve ever participated in. Ironically, Doug finished 30 seconds behind me, but I never saw him.
WESTON RUN FOR TOMORROW HALF MARATHON – 12/08/2013
This race is as bare bones as it gets. For a modest entry fee of 40 dollars, you get what you pay for. I was able to convince Kai to enter the race, but I knew she would be sprinting ahead of me. The city of Weston is about fifteen minutes from my house, and the course is pretty scenic. The race shirt and the medal have not changed in at least five years, and both are pretty ugly. The temperatures were in the mid-seventies, but the early 6:15am start lets you run for about an hour before the sun starts to hit. I passed a good amount of runners in the last four miles, and was able to finish very strong. There were 435 participants in this race.
MOUNT DORA HALF MARATHON – 12/15/2013
With the excitement of doing back-to-back half marathons, I left my house on Friday morning to meet up with Jen in Belleview. She had volunteered us to help with registration for the Reindeer Run 5K, which was the kickoff for the Ocala Holiday Parade. In appreciation for our help, we were given free entries into the race, which would serve as a warm-up for Mt. Dora. Unfortunately, it was very nasty, and it rained for most of the race. 306 runners participated, but it probably would have been more if the weather had cooperated.
It poured for most of the night, and we were seriously concerned about running in monsoon-like conditions. Angel, Mary, Terri, Sandy and Robin met us around 5:30am, and we made our way to Mt. Dora. It was just a slight drizzle on the ride down, and it totally stopped when we parked the car. Several more members of the Ocala Turtles joined us, and we took many pictures before the race. The race shirt itself was totally different than last year. This was a sleeveless New Balance tech shirt, as opposed to the long sleeve cotton shirt from last year’s race. They did away with the full marathon this year; 647 participants would be running the half. Mary was running in the 5K, as she recently had knee surgery, and was still on the mend.
Angel is significantly faster than all of us, so she took off like the Flash. I was able to stay with Terri for the first mile, but with all the training she has done over the past year, her times have improved by leaps and bounds. I ran most of the race with Jen and Robin, as we are all in the same ballpark in terms of our pace. It was very overcast and nasty, with the temperature around 66 degrees. It never rained, but we hit some pretty intense wind during the first few miles of the race. I guess I didn’t realize last year just how hilly this course was. No monster hills like Gainesville, but very steep during the first seven miles. Around the nine mile mark, a got this sudden burst of energy and was able to finish very strong. The finisher’s medal was outstanding, and the whole group went to Perkins Restaurant to feast after the race.
THE 12 MILES OF CHRISTMAS – 12/24/2013
This was the third year of this event, which was hosted by Runner’s Depot. This twelve mile training run the day before Christmas had over 200 participants, which was double that of last year. All the runners were given a very nice Brooks tech shirt, and the store had a private sale for all of the participants.
My next scheduled race is the De Leon Springs Half Marathon. Just where is De Leon Springs?
KEEP TRACK OF MY RUNNING ON
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