Sleep, Saturday Starbucks, Running

Last night, after sleeping for much of the day after I finally arrived home around eight in the morning, following a full work week, I had planned to devote much of that evening to assorted projects...including some running.  Instead, I passed out and slept on into Saturday morning, having spent most of Friday after work in an unconscious state.  I have more than once heard it said that you can't make up for sleep deficits by sleeping for long stretches, but those who maintain that viewpoint obviously never met me.  I feel much, much better now and know that sometimes my body knows better and will wisely pull that "off" switch as soon as it realizes that I am safe and sound, off the road and in my home.

Now I'm enjoying my weekly late Saturday morning visit to my local Magnolia Parke Starbucks.  This is apparently the "happening" place in town, as the line of customers is going outside the shop, and every seat is taken up...except the shaded outdoor ones on this cold November morning.  It reminds me of our Midtown Manhattan visit back in '10 when everything was wall-to-wall people, with the only thing missing being the curb-to-curb yellow taxicabs (and, oh yeah, those monstrous skyscrapers blotting out the sky)...

As I had written on this blog a few days ago, I had been seriously considering entering the St. Augustine Half-Marathon, which is scheduled for tomorrow morning.  But there were factors that ultimately made me decide to delay my reentry into "half-marathoning": I would have had to get up around three in the morning and drive out there, run the race, stand around for an hour or two for the awards ceremony (if the posted results showed me eligible for one), and then drive back to Gainesville, all tired and sore.  Add to that the steep entry fees charged for these races ($85 if registered online or $100 on race day) and I decided that this would have to wait until another day.  Instead, yesterday, during my brief interlude of consciousness between long sleeps, I went out to my Lloyd Clarke Sports store on 13th Street (US 441) and signed up for the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot 10K (6.2 miles) Race that will be held here in town on the grounds of Tacachale, an institution for the developmentally disabled.  The price tag for entering? Just $25, and only $15 had I not wanted a tee-shirt.  Now, that's much, much better...