Ran Gainesville's Depot Parkrun 5K This Morning

This last Saturday morning in December was unusually warm and muggy (64 degrees, 100% humidity) at the 7:30 beginning of the weekly, free (sign up online) Depot Parkrun 5K, just one of hundreds of similar events taking place across the USA and several other countries.  On such a day as this, when I'm going to run it (instead of speed-walking like I did last week), I know up front that I will be simply working to sustain a strong regular pace without attempting to set any personal best records.  So that's exactly what unfolded, with me settling into a slightly uncomfortable pace and enjoying the presence of some runners ahead of me who kept me honest with that pace.  At the end I had a time of 27:32...click HERE to view the results.  There weren't as many participants in today's race as usual, and that may be due to the fact that (1) the University of Florida is closed for the holiday season (2) many may be out of town who normally would be there or (3) folks are waiting for the special New Year's Day edition of the Depot Parkrun, to take place this coming Wednesday morning.  The organizers say to wear the pajamas you slept in the night before: dare I?...

Ran the "Is It Fall" Four-Mile Race at Squirrel Ridge Park Today

This morning I got up early and made my way across Gainesville, driving from my home in the city's far northern end to the far south at Squirrel Ridge Park, where the Florida Track Club was hosting a four-mile race.  Since all I've been doing since the half-marathon in January was running Depot Parkrun 5K's, this gave me a chance to change the scenery (and distance).  Starting at eight, the race began at this park, located on the south side of Williston Road near US441, in a grassy field and then going along Williston Road until we all hooked a left turn onto unpaved (and uneven) SW 17th Terrace, aka "Tobacco Road".  Then, after about a mile, we turned right unto SW 56th Avenue (also unpaved and uneven), going west until the turnaround after which we retraced our path back to the finish line.  The course was advertised as flat: maybe it was to some people's standards but there were some hills, nonetheless.  The temperature at race time was in the low seventies, not bad, but the humidity was oppressive at over 90%.  I ran the race establishing a comfortable-but-honest, steady pace.  Out of 100 finishers, I finished #78 (chip time of 41:59, you can view the race results by clicking HERE), but since I placed third in my gender/age group (M 61-70) I was given a prize coffee mug with the Florida Track Club logo on it...cool!  All in all, it was a good experience, there was a good, positive vibe among the participants and volunteers, and it was nice to see a familiar face or two among the runners while getting to talk a bit with another.  I'm looking forward to seeing what's up ahead on the local racing calendar...

Ran Gainesville's Depot Park 5K This Morning

I could tell this morning that the humidity had drastically dropped when I stepped out of the car at Gainesville's Depot Park, a few blocks south of downtown.  Each Saturday morning they hold a free, volunteer-driven 5K run/walk in this pretty park, starting at 7:30.  You participate by signing up online and they issue you barcodes that you print out and take with you to be scanned...I believe they also have an app you can use on the phone to scan, although I'd rather leave it in the car while I run.  This morning I ran my second straight Depot Parkrun, this experience better than the last because of the lessened mugginess, although the temperature was an unpleasant 77 degrees.  Although it started packed and crammed with runners and walkers, after about a half lap (there are four in the race) it thinned out enough to where I felt comfortable establishing a steady pace.  It was faster than last week's, reflected in my improved finishing time of 31:29...click HERE to view the results.  There were a lot of people here today...120 finishers...and a lot of "first-timers".  I'm looking forward to seeing what I'll do next week...

Skipped Today's Depot Parkrun Because of Mugginess and Heat

This morning I got up at six and took the dog out in the backyard to do her stuff, checking to see my cellphone confirm what I was already experiencing with the weather: it was 80 degrees with 93% humidity...ugh! I had intended to drive down to Depot Park just south of downtown Gainesville to participate in yet another of their free weekly 5K "parkruns", but experience has taught me that distance running over such a temperature/humidity combination is a formula for disaster. So, after I brought Daisy back into the house, I went back to bed...incidentally sleeping for another four hours. In retrospect, though, I probably should have gone anyway and just walked the course.  And walking is something I'd like to do more and more of, whether I'm just going around the neighborhood or doing a race.  Since it doesn't seem like it's going to get cooler around here anytime soon, I think that's a prudent move on my part...although I can still run within my nice, air-conditioned house or at my local gym until things get more tolerable outdoors.  Well, as far as the Depot Parkrun is concerned, there's always next week.  Yes, I really should get out there on Saturday mornings and make a habit of covering the distance, be it by running, walking...or crawling...

Ran the Florida Track Club Mary Andrews Half-Marathon This Morning

 

Mary Andrews grew up in Gainesville and was a long-time running enthusiast, ably tackling the difficult marathon distance races.  She ran the Florida Track Club's first marathon held from Hawthorne in early 2021, but she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and died the same year at the tragically young age of 44...FTC now names this event in her honor.  Along with the marathon, originating and ending at the Hawthorne Trailhead right next to Hawthorne Middle/High School, they offered a half-marathon (13.1 miles)...more to my abilities.  This morning I ran that half-marathon, hoping to have a better race than last November's Tom Walker Memorial half-marathon, which I ended up walking the final three miles under unseasonably warm and humid conditions.  This morning the weather wouldn't be a hindrance, with the temperature dipping below 30 at race time and the humidity much lower.  I wore a warm zip-up jacket that I could open up as the race progressed and slide it down over my arms...worked for the first half, after which I shed it to retrieve later after the race. Before the race, starting punctually at 8 am, famous marathoners Frank Shorter and Jeff Galloway gave short speeches...I managed to get a photo of the popular creator of the Galloway Method of taking short regular walking breaks during long runs (see 2nd photo). The half-marathon consisted of two there-and-back laps along the eastern Hawthorne Trail...the marathon was, naturally, four laps.  The last pic shows the trail, clear of runners...reminded me a little of Frodo's hazardous trail to Rivendell (but I saw no mushrooms or sinister riders).   Everyone in both distances started at the same time and shared the course. My personal goal was simply to keep running and set for myself a 12 minute/mile pace, which I was gratified to be able to adhere to.  I ended up with a negative split for the race, finishing with a time of 2 hours 34 minutes 42 seconds and somehow managing to win my age group...click HERE to see the complete results.  I had no problems like I experienced with the previous half-marathon and had a lot of energy left over.  Still, my feet and legs ached too much as the race wore on, and I think that was because I was wearing shoes that did not provide enough cushion.  The next race...whenever that is...I'll definitely be using a pair that is better padded.  There was a very friendly, sweet spirit coming from the organizers and participants, and I appreciated the coffee, bagels, and doughnuts after the race.  I probably would have won a trinket award for my finish but wanted to get on home instead...that's okay, I run for the sake of the run, a true amateur...the medal in the top picture is given to all finishers.  Now my body is in the recovery stage, and I'm taking it easy for the rest of the day...

Ran the "Run the Good Race" 10K This Morning

Running In the USA is a good website that has a detailed running race calendar for just about anywhere in the country...I regularly consult it, which is how I first found out about today's race.  Back in 2019 I ran one local race here in Gainesville, titled "Run the Good Race" and which features a 5K (3.1 miles) or 10K (6.2 miles) option, the course being in the North Florida Regional Medical Center office park and the hilly residential area behind it.  Back then it was held in April...click HERE to read about my experiences...but after the Covid-19 cancellations it was revived last year, moved to October.  Since at that time I was still recovering from my July open heart surgery, I didn't participate.  Early this morning, though, I was able to and managed to pull my sorry old body out of bed and get down there.  There were some similarities and contrasts with last week's 10K on the Hawthorne Trail...let me discuss the differences first.  I mentioned last Saturday that there were too many "Galloway runners" in that race, runners who would go through a repeated cycle of walking for a set time and then running for a set time: I didn't encounter any of these today.  Neither did I experience the annoyance of bicycles buzzing by me at high speed as happened last week.  There were not only indoor bathroom accommodations at today's race, but participants could also huddle indoors from the cool early morning temperatures before race time.  Also, last week's race was runner-centered, organized by the Florida Track Club.  Today's event was Christian-themed and had as a goal to raise money to fight the trafficking of women, a very noble cause.  And, of course, this race didn't take place way the heck in the middle of nowhere as did the other!  As for similarities between the two, the biggest standout was the hilliness of the course in both of them and how I have not trained for hill running...I need to insert something for that in my future routine.  For today's Run the Good Race 10K I passed the finish line as the timer read 1:03:20...for the complete race results, click HERE...

Ran Gainesville's Five Points Half-Marathon This Morning

 

This morning I ran Gainesville's Five Points of Life Half-Marathon, the sixth time I've run this event (2010, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018) and my overall thirteenth half-marathon.  Last year's race was cancelled due to Covid, and the 2022 edition features a modified course that winds through the city but in a different direction...although the NW 16th Avenue stretch of hills and the stadium run remain on the course.  I woke up at 5 and managed to get out there in plenty of time, parking in front of the Thomas Center and walking the few blocks to Bo Diddley Plaza in the heart of downtown where the race was to begin and end.  It was cold, in the upper thirties with high humidity, but once we started running the weather wasn't any bother.  The Five Points Half-Marathon uses pacers who run the race just to finish at a specified final finishing time: the one I selected, who incidentally is an ultramarathon runner, held the sign for 2 hours 40 minutes, five minutes slower than my previous half-marathon time in 2019.  She told us up front that she would alternate two-minute runs with thirty-second walks...that was fine with me since I like those brief walking breaks.  After the race began a few delayed minutes past 7, we headed east on University Avenue, turned south on East 7th Street and made our way to Depot Road, which we took to the trail that passes over US 441 just south of the University of Florida campus.  Then we passed through the area of the various UF medical buildings, crossing busy Archer Road and beginning the hilly part of the course.  Eventually we passed Lake Alice, made it back to University Avenue and then ran through the Florida football stadium before running through the heart of the campus.  After that we went north to NW 8th Avenue, cut through to 16th and ran east to 441 before turning right.  After that it was more or less a matter of going back to the downtown area where the finish line stood near the Hippodrome Theater.  I liked our pacer's run/walk strategy until we began to encounter some substantial hills...then I found it tiring since she'd often run up a hill and walk down another.  By the time we reached 16th...home of the really "bad ass hills" as legendary seniors marathoner John Wallace has termed them...I had decided to abandon following a pacer and employed my own strategy of tackling the hills: it worked and my finishing chip time was 2:33:51, more than six minutes faster than the pace I followed for the race's first half.  My feet got sore early on, and by the end I was essentially focused on putting one leg in front of the other until it was all over.  The police (who regulated the surrounding traffic) and volunteers were all very friendly and encouraging...for the last three miles of the run people on the side would keep yelling at me that I was "almost there": that kind of got tiring.  But the end was sweet, and Melissa and Will congratulated me on getting through it...I even got a photo op with Albert, the Florida Gator mascot!  And now it's time for my poor sore, crampy body to recover from the ordeal before I get ready for the next one.  Click HERE to view the race results...

Quote of the Week...from Brian Flores

God has gifted me with a special talent to coach the game of football, but the need for change is bigger than my personal goals.                                             ---Brian Flores

As I wrote a few days ago, I was greatly dismayed at the announcement that three-year Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores was being fired following his second straight winning season...the first time that's happened with this franchise since 2003...and winning five games in 2019, a year the team was widely expected to go winless after it had deliberately divested itself of its star players. And it was that 2019 season that soured Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, an incredibly wealthy New York real estate magnate (~$70 billion), to prematurely end Flores' tenure.  You see, Ross, who apparently holds no appreciation for the sanctity and dignity of the game and doesn't care about Dolphins ticket holders who shell out their money and attend games expecting a reasonable effort from their team, WANTED Miami to tank that year in order to pick up star quarterback Joe Burrow in the next year's draft. Earlier this week Flores announced he is suing the National Football League, the Miami Dolphins and two other NFL franchises for racial discrimination as well as what he alleges Ross offered him in 2019: $100,000 for each game he lost...Flores did NOT give in to this affront to the game's integrity and instead inspired his players to play beyond their talent level.  The lawsuit is designed to be class-action, apparently intended for others to come forward with their own stories about racial bias and abuse with coaching in this league. One ex-coach, Hue Jackson, has already stepped forward, claiming that while coaching the Cleveland Browns that club's owner paid him the same hundred grand for losing games. Also, after Flores was fired, he applied for an open head coaching job for the New York Giants...they scheduled an interview but before that happened, he discovered that the team had already decided on another candidate and that HIS interview was only a cynical formality to comply with the 2003 Rooney Rule that mandated teams have at least one minority candidate interview for vacant coaching positions.  Brian Flores alleges discrimination in NFL coaching hiring...the figures confirm his stance since the number of black head coaches in this 32-team league has dwindled in 18 years from 3 to just 1 while the vast majority of players in the league are African American.  But noting disturbing trends and relating an unprovable conversation may not be enough to convince a civil court of one's allegations, however compelling they might be.  Still, for my part I believe Brian Flores is a man of integrity...and Stephen Ross is quite the opposite.  May the good guy win this time around...and that Flores will continue to be able to exercise his obvious coaching gifts in the future.  But I don't think I'll ever again be willing to follow the Miami Dolphins while this amoral and manipulative owner is running things...

Ran Depot Parkrun 5K This Morning for First June Race in 11 Years

Now that the Parkrun 5K held (almost) every Saturday morning at 7:30 at Gainesville's Depot Park has resumed after a long layoff due to the Covid pandemic, I thought it would now be feasible to try to get in at least one race per month...at least for the time being.  So this morning I woke up uncomfortably early (I'm more a night owl) and drove on down there.  At race time it was warm and very muggy, 76 with 90% humidity...not my favorite running conditions.  I could tell early on that I would need to slow down and every four or five minutes I took brief walking breaks...until the last of the four laps, that is, when I slogged on through to a pretty slow 33:06 time.  Still, I ran the good race as they say and look forward to trying it all again in July, most likely under even hotter and more humid conditions (groan).  The Depot Parkrun is run by volunteers...once I get a number of races in I plan to join them.  It's also free...you sign up online and get your barcodes printed out, one of which you take to the race for them to scan to record your finishing time.  The website also has race results, past and present...today they warned me there was a glitch with the barcodes and that I might be listed a couple of places from where I finished...oh well, I know what my time is anyway.  Sometimes the race will skip a week here and there because the park is used for other events...next Saturday with be the celebration of Juneteenth there, so the next Parkrun will be June 26th.  This is the first June race I've run since the Chad Reed Memorial 5K in Cross City, Florida on 6/5/10....

Click on this link for the results from today's run...looks like they sorted out that glitch I mentioned earlier...

Just Finished Reading Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King

I just finished reading Gilbert King's historical work Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America.  Published in 2012, it won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction the following year.  It's an account, earlier in Marshall's career before his tenure on the United States Supreme Court, of when he was an NAACP lawyer defending blacks across the country, and of a case in Jim Crow-segregated central Florida in the late 1940s and early 1950s where four young black man were framed in a white supremist justice system for a rape that probably never happened.  Called the Groveland Four case after the southern Lake County town at the epicenter, King examines the deeply entrenched racism of the white community there at that time, with an extremely corrupt, racist sheriff and deputy who would stoop to any level to see to it that Charles Greenlee, Earnest Thomas, Samuel Shepherd and Walter Irvin would be executed for their alleged crimes.  If Marshall represented the virtuous, rescuing hero of this story then Sheriff Willis McCall would be the archvillain, closely tied in with the Ku Klux Klan and illegal gambling operations in the area.  On one evening outside Groveland, a poor rural white married couple, the Padgetts, got their car stuck in the mud...Shepherd and Irvin were together driving by, and stopped to help them get their car free.  Unsuccessful, the husband, Willie, got angry at them and after insulting them got on the short end of a fist fight with Shepherd.  That was the incident that later was turned into a gang rape allegation...the other two eventual defendants were nowhere near at the time and were sucked into the case by McCall.  Thomas, hearing that he was being accused of this capital offense, fled to the north Florida woods while the other three, while in detention, were beaten and whipped into forced confessions by deputy Yates and his partner...with McCall looking on.  I'll save relating the fates of these four innocent black men, two of them brave, returning World War II veterans, in case you decide to read or research the case for yourself.  Instead I'll discuss how the author chose to present it...

Gilbert King split his analysis of the Groveland Four case into sections whereby he described Thurmond Marshall's philosophy of defense and his different partners and associates within the NAACP, as well as his communications and relationships with the FBI, Florida governors, and the judges and prosecution.  The endemic racism of the South...and of Lake County, Florida in particular...of that time was emphasized as King related incidences of previous horrific lynchings of blacks.  This was crucial to the story as it showed the defense strategy Marshall would employ in trying to save his clients from the electric chair.  The citrus growers would use cheap black prison labor in their groves...Sheriff McCall would see to it that he provided the necessary bodies. The author also presented the corruption and ties to the KKK of the local law enforcement as well as the inherent racism of the local justice system at the time through the principals involved.  And of course, the sequence of events that first led up to the arrests and what followed to the end was revealed through the course of the book.  This is not one of your "whitewashed" Yankee Doodle Dandy American history texts that paint our past in generally idealized terms, but rather is an important testament to the underlying reasons for the racial divisions still plaguing our society in this Black Lives Matter era...I recommend it although its content is very disturbing and pulls no punches about the extreme violence that happened: if you're white and grew up in Lake County back then you most definitely enjoyed a much different experience than if your skin had been of a darker hue...

Quote of the Week...from Thurgood Marshall

Each of you, as an individual, must pick your own goals.  Listen to others, but do not become a blind follower.                                                         ---Thurgood Marshall

I don't know where the above quote came from, but it sounds like a school's commencement speech, doesn't it?  Thurgood Marshall, a champion for civil rights in the twentieth century, is best known for his tenure as a U.S. Supreme Court justice from 1967 to 1991 as well as the attorney successfully arguing for the plaintiff in the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education case that the same court ruled to outlaw segregation and overturn the earlier 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson "separate but equal" ruling.  But before that 1954 case Marshall repeatedly risked life and limb in the segregated Jim Crow south defending blacks against unjust charges, having to contend with lynchings, white-instigated race riots, police mistreatment of prisoners, and a general atmosphere of hostility toward his presence there as a black northern lawyer...of course he had to abide by the discriminatory segregation rules as he went about his business there as well.  I'm learning all this as I am currently reading Gilbert King's excellent historical account of a 1949 central Florida case he was involved in, titled The Devil in the Grove...very, very disturbing.  As for Marshall's quote, I picked it because it is so universal in application.  I'm afraid that more and more people these days are wasting their God-given ability to think for themselves and instead place all their beliefs in the hands of media gurus, celebrities, and politicians who seem to have a queer hold on them.  Also, in deciding how to behave during this pandemic I'm afraid that too many of us are like animals in a herd, knowing the right, publicly responsible thing to do but holding off on doing it for fear of rejection by the rest of the "herd" we interact with...in particular the alpha dog leaders who often espouse questionable tenets.  For me, no longer concerned about herds or alpha dogs, Marshall's quote had a deeper meaning to me.  I will be turning 64 in less than two months, and when it comes around to forming goals...especially those requiring a substantial investment of my time...this more advanced age may imply to some that my doors are closed in some areas.  But I'm not a blind follower of other peoples' dictates or views and instead hold to the notion that no matter where I am in this journey called life, I have the present moment to make my choices in...what the future holds for anyone is always going to be a mystery...

Just Finished Reading Light in August by William Faulkner

A few years ago Oprah Winfrey selected three of early twentieth century American writer William Faulkner's novels for her book club: The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, and Light in August.  The first, the most famous of the three, I have yet to read...and the second I read back in 2014.  A couple of years ago I read his 1948 novel Intruder in the Dust...I thought it was a good time to delve into another of his works, so I read Light in August.  As with other stories of his, the locale is Faulkner's fictional Jefferson County in Mississippi during the time he wrote in, the 1920s and 30s.  A young woman, Lena Grove, has largely walked here from her home in Alabama...she is looking for the father of the child she is pregnant with, who came here to find work and had promised to marry her: Lucas Burch, who is now going under the name Joe Brown.  He gets a job at the local mill where he meets with two other of the story's main characters, Byron Bunch and  Joe Christmas.  Bunch is upright and wants to do the good thing for Lena, with whom he has become smitten, while Christmas has led a life believing that since...at least in his own mind...he is partially black, then he consequently belongs to neither of the severely racially segregated communities in the South in this era.  Bunch also confides regularly with a disgraced former minister, Gail Hightower, who has his own story to tell as well.  And the story of Joanna Burden, descended from abolitionists who moved into the area following the Civil War and who now lives in reclusion, adds a further tragic dimension to the story.  The language used by the novel's characters reflects that of the sharply segregated and discriminatory Deep South of the Jim Crow era...it's pretty racist, to say the least, so if you're into retroactive political correctness you might want to avoid the many "n" words sprinkled throughout.  Faulkner bluntly lays out the prejudice against blacks of his white characters and their society at large...this story is definitely not a presentation of America living up to its stated ideals.  He also very intensively goes into the life histories of his characters, meticulously analyzing their distinctively individual personalities and the experiences they had which shaped them.  I felt uncomfortable reading Light in August, and for good reason: I had difficulty bonding with any of the characters the way most fiction presents a clear, central protagonist to focus on.  Hightower and Bunch did present a sense of reason, Christmas' childhood past drew some sympathy from me, Lena's predicament with her situation did as well in its own way, and Joanna Burden's story was compelling...but that Lucas Burch had no redeeming qualities that I could see.  The author did such a good job with his characterizations that I'm tempted to look around me and see this or that bit of a character's personality in different people...including myself.  One other thing: Light in August wildly jumps around in time with multitudes of flashbacks...that, combined with no clear central protagonist, might make this a difficult reading choice.  But I still recommend it for being a cultural snapshot of a time in our history as well as a sobering look at people not at their best moments...

Three Televised Presentations with Compelling Narratives about Reality

A week or two ago I was sitting comfortably at home in my recliner, in a desperate search to find something worth watching on TV...finally settling on a funding drive show on Public Television featuring Dr. Steven Gundry, who was promoting his most recent book titled The Immortality Paradox.  I was intrigued enough by his presentation to check that book out online from my library...I finished it and plan to add it to my Kindle collection of books, I was that impressed.  Yet something in how the good doctor presented his thesis on how the "gut" bacteria in our bodies determine our state of health and longevity gave me pause: Point A logically led to Point B which logically led to Point C...and all led back to repeated affirmations of his main point.  I get the appeal to reason, but something inside me still rebelled because I don't think that reality is that well organized: it's a lot more chaotic and the systems described are much more complex.  Yet I recognize and accept several points Dr. Gundry made and am partially changing my diet to improve my health...

A while back I saw Al Gore's 2006 movie An Inconvenient Truth, which warned in much the same manner as Dr. Grundy with his own topic about the dangers of global warning caused by man-made releases of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  The logic and reason with which Gore connected the difference sources of evidence for his thesis was very persuasive and compelling...yet once again after initially being swept away by the presentation, I thought that the system that he was describing contained many other factors that would counteract some of the predictions...just as chaos wreaks havoc with weather forecasting beyond a limited time span.  Still, as in Dr. Grundy's case, I do think it is advisable to take better care of our environment, and trying to restrict our carbon emissions is an example of good stewardship of the planet...

And the other night I watched the 2016 documentary movie 13th, directed by Ava DuVernay, which presented its own thesis that the 13th Amendment to our United States Constitution, long celebrated because it officially abolished slavery, is actually flawed in that it contains a clause that makes an exception for criminals...a loophole that has been used ever since against blacks to oppress and exploit them.  Seen in this light, as one piece of historical evidence supporting that thesis is followed by another...and then another, after the movie ended I thought that the conspiracy it exposed was real...yet once again I have to inject the role of chaos into complex ideas that sound true, and which most definitely contain many significant elements of truth.  Racism is a major problem in our society...but it is one of many factors and doesn't account for all the problems that affect us.  Yet the movie was an eye-opener for me and I highly recommend it...

The three previous examples The Immortality Paradox, An Inconvenient Truth, and 13th all deal with very important subjects immediately relevant to our lives here and now.  I'm inclined to defer within each of them to subject matter I don't completely understand...yet I am inherently skeptical of buying every conclusion they promote hook, line and sinker.  Instead I come away with an action plan from each presentation: be kinder to my own body, be kinder to my own planet, and be kinder to others different than myself.  Maybe that sounds too simple, but the way I see it our lives in the end break down to simple acts, one thing at a time...

Ahmaud Arbery, a Young Black Man in America Just Going Out on a Jog

I like to jog, something that you already know if you've read this blog...or just skimmed over the article titles.  When I run, I use as my primary routes my own subdivision, along with the neighboring one, running past scores of houses...although when on extraordinarily long runs I've been known to extend them further out into other neighborhoods.  I prefer the residential streets because the traffic is much lighter than along a main thoroughfare...and quite frankly I'm not a big fan of running on sidewalks.  But while I am very familiar with my own neighborhood, I am still wary of ever going on nighttime runs, and for one reason alone: I'm not one hundred percent sure that there isn't among the residents one or more gun-owning crazy, paranoid persons who might be liable to shoot me, seeing me as a running person in the darkness fleeing a crime.  Maybe that sounds paranoid coming from an aging, frumpy-looking white dude as myself, but if you're a black man in this country...especially the South, that's a principal of personal survival.  But apparently now, it doesn't have to be in the night...in February Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year old black man, was simply jogging down a road in plain daylight in a suburb of Brunswick, Georgia, when he was pursued, stopped, struggled with...and then repeatedly shot to death by a white father and son, Gregory and Travis McMichael, who had noticed him while driving their pickup truck around.  The father was a retired county police officer, and this fact seemed to affect the case as the prosecutor felt the need to recuse herself...ultimately no charges were filed and the McMichaels' version, that they were looking into a number of burglaries in the area (apparently untrue), became essentially the police report.  But a few days ago a lawyer who knew the McMichaels released a video made of the incident...and the case exploded onto the national stage. Now the McMichaels are being charged with murder...a case that has "Trayvon Martin" and race-tinged vigilante violence stamped all over it. I'm sure as this case develops we'll learn more from it, but it grieves me to no end about the fact that in my country someone can't freely engage themselves in a public setting without being profiled, harassed, and becoming subjected to the violent whims of others, while the justice system seems to work against them at every turn.  And it's not just blacks suffering this treatment: look just recently at the public harassment of people from eastern Asian backgrounds as they become scapegoated for the coronavirus pandemic by ignorant, bigoted jerks...

My 13.3 Mile "Defiance" Run Today

For the past few weeks I've gotten back into the habit of going out on long runs on Saturday afternoons.  Last week I ran 10 miles while today...with wonderful weather conditions of almost clear skies, near-calm, around 75 degrees and 40% humidity...I covered 13.3 miles using my convoluted designed course going up and down the streets of my neighborhood and the adjacent one, along with the more sloped stretch of asphalt pathway on NW 53rd Avenue between 34th and 43 Streets.  I have long used walking breaks within my training runs...they help to conserve energy and alleviate problems associated with repetitive motion: the slower times reflect this as the time for today's run was 2:51:25...then again, I have a tendency to be a bit competitive around other runners and in a race setting I probably would have pushed myself harder.  During the whole run I listen to a shuffle on my MP3 player of some of my favorite musical acts, including R.E.M., Regina Specktor, Beck, Metric, Gorillaz, Spoon, Sufjan Stevens, Kasabian and Radiohead, to mention a few. With the stay-at-home emphasis going on in these times, I encountered on my journey many people out in their yards, jogging, walking with family or by themselves, walking dogs, riding bicycles and a couple of skateboarders...I crossed streets to ensure distancing although that 3-mile stretch up and down 53rd Avenue presented a challenge with its narrow path.  Everyone seemed friendly and we would wave or say "hi" as we passed each other...

I was a little miffed that due to this pandemic the half-marathon race (13.1 miles) I had intended to run in Ormond Beach on March 21st (along with enjoying a beach weekend with Melissa) understandably was canceled, so today's "half-marathon-plus" run was a happily defiant way for me to thumb my nose up at the disease...we'll see about getting to the beach later on when it all settles down...

Skipped Recent Running Races Because of Rain and Health

I had been planning on running either in last week's Ocala Half-Marathon or today's Newnan's Lake 15K (held on Gainesville's east side)...turns out I skipped them both.  Last Sunday morning it was raining, and I did not want to be running that distance on slippery backroads with puddles concealing holes in the pavement...the falling rain itself wouldn't have bothered me.  And with today, I have been feeling under the weather for a few days and just didn't see the point in taxing my body for a 9.3 mile run...too bad, the weather this morning was beautiful, perfect for running.  The last time I ran a 15K, back in early December, I had a painful recovery...I have to look at this running of mine with a mind on my overall health.  Still, there are more events to come and I can always opt for the free 5K race at Gainesville's Depot Park on Saturday mornings after I'm feeling better.  In the meantime I'm taking it easy...

My December 2019 Running Report

In December I ran a total of 102 miles, missing training on three days with 9.3 miles being my single longest run.  That run occurred on December 7, the second year in a row I ran the Seasons of Hope 15K along the Hawthorne Trail southeast of Gainesville.  I had reported on this blog a couple of hours after the race that my recovery seemed to be going well...unfortunately, later that evening my body was aching badly and it was painful moving and resting in certain positions.  The next day it cleared up substantially, with the aching completely disappearing the following day.  I'm going to need to reconsider my recovery strategy following a race, rehydrating much more and cutting out the coffee (I drank several cups going into late afternoon that day).  I also wonder whether I pulled something as I was straining at the end of that 15K race...no more straining for me!

I am still considering trying out that Ocala Half-Marathon on January 19...I hadn't run it since 2013.  If I do, though, I will be going at it slow with walking breaks every few minutes.  And there's the Newnan's Lake 15K race at the end of the month as well, something I've grown accustomed to running in recent years.  I'd like to continue with my long weekend training runs as well...I have the courses already mapped out.  And thanks to my wife Melissa, who has become quite a walker, I plan to increase my fitness walking in the months to come...should running become untenable to me as I journey through my senior years, it seems to be the logical next "step" for me...

Ran the 2019 Seasons of Hope 15K This Morning

Last year in early December I ran the Seasons of Hope 15K, held for the purpose of increasing awareness and funding for research and treatment of dystonia, a debilitating neurological disorder.  That race, which took place on Hawthorne Trail in SE Gainesville with Boulware Springs Park as the starting and finishing point, was overflowing with participants...largely I think because one or more local elementary schools were involved.  This morning I tried my hand at it again, but made sure I drove down to Boulware Springs Park in plenty of time to ensure myself a parking spot.  I need not have been concerned, though, because it seems there were much fewer racers this morning...and not a whole lot of kids, either.  The event is split into two races, the 15K (9.3 miles) and the 5K (3.1)...the latter naturally tends to draw more runners, as well as walkers (an activity I'm appreciating more and more as I age).  This morning it was in the low 50s with about 90% humidity at the start of the race at 9:00...by the end it was 63 with 72% humidity.  The earlier forecast indicating rain thankfully was wrong...it was partly cloudy (and now overcast).  Since they stagger the starts for the 15K and 5K races, I enjoyed the unusual situation at the beginning of not struggling to avoid tripping over other runners...especially the ones who would suddenly stop running while directly in front of me.  I kept at a sustainable pace while pushing myself the whole way...I finished with a time of 1:35:48, better than last year's Seasons of Hope time but slower than I've run other past 15K races.  The stretch of the Hawthorne Trail that this race (as well as last month's Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon) uses has a section with a lot of slopes and a couple of small hills...much different from the relatively flat courses I run around my neighborhood while training.  Still, I stayed running for the entire race, chugging up the hills when necessary (but not liking it a bit).  When I finally finished the race, I was spent...a good sign indicating that I was honest with my pace.  The event's volunteers as well as other runners were very supportive, shouting out encouragement when I passed by.  And as usual they had water/Gatorade stations along the route every couple of miles.  The only problem I had was my smartphone losing its internet connection at points along the course...I had been running while listening to classical music from WQXR/New York.  I'm writing this a couple of hours after the race and seem to be recovering well from it...other than some residual leg soreness I seem good to go.  Here's a link to the official results: [2019 Seasons of Hope].  For the immediate future, I don't plan to run any races in December unless I decide on a Saturday morning to run one of those free weekly 5K races at Depot Park in Gainesville.  In January I want to run the Ocala Half-Marathon on the 12th and the Newnan's Lake 15K on the 25th...I've experienced both of them before, even tackling the marathon distance in the Ocala event back in 2011.  In the meantime I'll keep on running...

Season of Hope 15K Race Coming This Saturday

When I first glanced at the month of December this year on the running race calendar, I was only looking at half-marathons scheduled in my vicinity.  But I missed on a race I ran a year ago: the Season of Hope 15K race, which benefits research and treatment about the debilitating disease of dystonia and other neurological disorders.  The race will be held this Saturday morning (the 8th) on the Hawthorne Trail, with the parking, registration, start, and finish to be at Boulware Springs Park on SE 15th Street in Gainesville.  Starting time is 9:00 for both the 5K and 15K events...you can read about my experiences last year by clicking on the following link: ['18 Season of Hope].  Since at this early time the weather prognosticators are giving about a 30-40% chance of rain on Saturday, I'll wait until later in the week before deciding whether to run in it.  It's funny...on the same day at 7:30 am the free weekly Depot Park 5K will take place at that site off Main Street and SE Depot Avenue...if I had the wherewithal I could run that one and then scoot down the road to tackle the 15K.  After all, I did plan to go on a long run this coming weekend.  But no, better stick to the 15K if the weather's okay. Then again, if it's raining maybe there won't be such an annoying number of people cramming the parking lot and race course: I know, I know...I shouldn't think like that since it's all going to a good cause. Still, I've never run a race in the pouring rain before...

My November 2019 Running Report

In November I ran a total of 120 miles, missing three days and with 13.1 miles being my single longest run of the month.  I ran two races: the Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon (on the Hawthorne Trail) on the 10th and the Gainesville Turkey Trot 10K (at Tacachale) on the 28th. In the half-marathon I ran a slow pace while the 10K was a bit faster.  In the middle of the month I had to take a break from running for three days, as I was undergoing some kind of allergic/inflammatory general attack on my body, which hits me from time to time and makes me feel pretty crappy.  But I recovered and feel good...

I'd like to continue with my established pattern of training, especially with those long weekend runs.  I don't see any particular races coming up for me in December, but in January there is the Ocala Half-Marathon...an event that I've run twice before and has a great course south of the city in horse country.  I still wonder to myself whether I might not again try to tackle the 26.2 mile marathon distance in a future race...for now, I'll just take it from week to week and see how I do with my progress...