Takin' it To the Streets

One of the things I learned while training for San Francisco is that I really like to run my long runs outside. Let's face it, I'm not a machine and three, hours give or take, is more than I want to spend on the treadmill. Don't get me wrong, I do love my treadmill, but outside is pretty nice too.

Saturday I had 14 miles to run. Friday afternoon I was trying to figure out where I could run those 14 miles. Last time I ran the Tavares Trail I went out four miles. I know that less than three miles further, where I would then be in Leesburg and on the sidewalk, or by the airport where there is road construction and no sidewalk. It wasn't what I wanted to do.

I decided to call my friend Cheryl. We roomed together in San Francisco and we have run many long runs together. Cheryl is training for the Disney full and she told me she had 16 miles to run. I was faced with a decision. Run 14 miles by myself or add two additional miles and run with Cheryl. I opted to run with Cheryl.

We went to the Seminole Wekiva Trail and ran from Lake Mary to Altamonte Springs. I started slowing down at about mile 13 and stopped to walk a few times. Sometimes I feel like I can run forever, other times, not so much. Which leads me to believe that I might have been better off sticking with the 14 I had planned. But the company was nice.

I was debating running the Thanksgiving 10 miler in Deland tomorrow. But I have decided not to. We made a last minute decision to visit with some friends near Sarasota over the weekend. We'll be leaving hear Friday afternoon. That means I will rearrange the remaining runs on my schedule for this week. Tomorrow morning I will most likely run my 14 miles intended for Saturday. Somewhere. Outside.

There has been very little talk about the OUC Half. It is rapidly approaching. A week from Saturday. I will be running it, as will Marathon Chris. Anyone else going to be there? Last Year it was like a summer's day. 81 degrees when I finished. It was a disappointing race. And I never got into a groove. By mile three I knew I was in store for another difficult ten miles.

This year, I'm hoping for cooler temperatures and finding my groove before mile three.