This morning I somehow got out of bed early and make my way to Gainesville's pretty Depot Park, a few blocks south of downtown. There they hold their weekly Saturday morning 5K (3.1 miles) Parkrun, which is free and volunteer-run, having originated from England which is loaded with such events. It's the 20th time I have participated in it since 2019, running the four-lap course 19 times and walking it once. And it's the first time I've been there in two months, due mainly to successive lower back and illness issues. The weather at race time (7:30) wasn't very hospitable, but being in the middle of summer I wasn't surprised: 75 degrees and 85% humidity. They had a higher number of participants than usual, and I always like seeing more "seasoned" elderly athletes there like I did this morning. I decided to run this one and finished 38th in the crowd with a time of 32:52: a good finish considering the unpleasant warmth and mugginess. On the drive back home, I decided to cut closer to the University of Florida campus, where I saw a number of students moving into their respective apartments for the upcoming term...that has to be exciting for them! Yesterday I was entertaining the notion of spending this morning down in the Ocala area...Baseline Trailhead Park off SE 58th Avenue to be exact...where they regularly hold (NOT free) races of 5K, 10K and half-marathon distances. Although the course there is a there-and-back path, repeated to fit the distance and might seem a little tedious, this is still a good way to get in a half-marathon. Only I don't think I'd run it during the summer...no, I'd like to try walking the distance at an elevated pace. And then I thought, why not first try it on my already created training course around my neighborhood? So that's my upcoming goal, to do just that. You can see the online posted results of today's Depot Parkrun by clicking HERE...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment