My recovery from last Sunday morning's half-marathon race has left me with sore, tight calf muscles...but otherwise I'm doing fine. On March 1st, Tavares, Florida (a few miles north of Orlando) will once again be holding its Orange Blossom Half-Marathon, which unlike the recent Gainesville Five Points race, is essentially flat and lacking in hills. I ran it in 2013 and recorded my fastest personal half-marathon time. I'm wondering whether I might just try it one more time, although the travel from Gainesville to the race site tends to be bothersome...unless I stay overnight at a hotel (which is what we did last time). Melissa and I enjoyed the 2013 event, as she walked the concurrent 5K race while I ran the 13.1 miles. Only then, the weather was freakishly cold and windy, something neither of us anticipated with a central Florida March race, although we knew conditions would be colder than usual...
Then again, these races do cost money to enter and I can opt instead to continue my running at home. I've run in three races this winter: the Starlight Half-Marathon in Palm Coast in the evening of December 21st, the Newnans' Lake 15K east of Gainesville on January 31st, and the Five Points Half-Marathon on February 15th. So each calendar month I have run in a a race, making the upcoming Tavares run a possibility in my mind. But there is an alternative choice for me: on March 14th there will be a more reasonably-priced 10K run in Tioga, just a few miles west of Gainesville. It will be held on a Saturday late afternoon and there will be a post-race outdoor party with live music and refreshments. Plus, there's a 5K run/walk for Melissa...