My February 2023 Running and Walking Report

A few days ago, I strained my back a little while playing "double soccer" with my 40-pound mixed breed puppy Daisy in the back yard...I was losing my balance and instinctively jerked my back in a probably unwise way to keep it.  But I've kept myself functional and active over the past few weeks, still available for races although a confluence of factors has seemed to impede me from this.  The main running race I wanted to participate in during February was the Florida Track Club's Micanopy Ten-Miler on Saturday morning of the 11th.  Unfortunately, not only do I get off from work late Friday nights, but they had forecast 90% chance of rain with thunderstorms for the entire Saturday morning in question.  I had signed up for it but as a FTC member was spared an entry fee, so Friday night I decided to skip the race.  I woke up the next morning and discovered it wasn't storming after all...I felt bummed out from the faulty forecasting.  I ran the same event in March of 2022 and had wanted to establish a tradition with it.  And although here in Gainesville we're blessed with a free 5K race (the Deport Parkrun) every Saturday morning, I just never got around this month to pulling my sleepy body out of bed to get out there by race time at 7:30.  Still, I've been consistently running at home and walking, keeping myself in shape. As for March, on the 25th there is the annual Trail of Payne 10K run that's in Paynes Prairie south of Gainesville...I've always managed to avoid it over the years and, of course, it's on a Saturday morning.  Looks like I'll have to change my sleeping and waking times if I ever want to run another race...and I'm now more than a little skeptical of my local weather forecasts. I'm looking a bit ahead to April 8th when there will be yet another half-marathon held from Hawthorne, going down the same Hawthorne Trail stretch I ran in another half-marathon on January 15th.  What I would like is to get into the habit of running at least one public race per month, even if it is only the 5K Parkrun...but preferably a longer event...