Whoomp here it is

I just mapped my 20-mile run for this Sunday.  You can see it here.

I crossed the street...

For some reason, I used to think that the ABBA song 'I Had a Dream' contained the lyric, 'I crossed the street' in it.  Presumably, the line should be, 'I crossed the stream/I had a dream' since that makes much more sense.  But I still think of my version when I hear this song.  And today, I did just that.  I crossed the street.  Prior to today's run, which was 18 miles, I could find ways of circling around the northern part of the golf course neighborhood, thereby avoiding having to cross a relatively major street.  Today, since I had to add another mile from the last long run, I decided the time had come.  I was rewarded with some pretty good Florida scenery:

You can actually see parts of the Hillsborough River on this side of the street because not everything is built up.  This picture was taken near a public boat launch.

More of the Hillsborough River

If you're curious to know what this part of Florida would look like had northerners not descended and built golf courses, here is an idea:

Vacant lot right next to the river.

The street next to the river in this neighborhood is also called Riverhills Drive, only it's the southern part and the other half -- which had some of the houses featured previously on the blog -- is the northern part.  They have some pretty ritzy homes on the southern part too:

I just wonder about their cooling bills.

You can actually look out on the river from that giant porch.

Overall, though, today's run was not nearly as enjoyable as the last long run.  In part, this was probably because I shouldn't have been doing a long run today after only 5 days' rest from the previous long run and a 9-mile run on Tuesday.  Physically, though, I didn't feel too awful, at least not any more awful than I would expect from a long run.  And good news, body: you only have one more this week, and it's only 5 miles!  The real problem is that the spectacular cold front is going away.  The temperature at the start of the run was a very palatable 58F, but unfortunately the humidity was around 80%.  By the time I finished the run (many, many hours later), the temperature was already 75F; the RealFeel on Accuweather calculates it at 82F.  Let me tell you: it felt closer to 82F than 75F.

I could actually feel when things were starting to go wrong physically because of the weather.  For instance, before I had my last dose of sport beans, I could really feel my mind starting to wander.  I opted to take three packs and had one each 4.5 miles, which I think was fine overall, but the last one was definitely a necessity.  How could I tell?  I would start coming up with alternatives to my route or thinking about changing what I was doing.  Bad idea.  After I had the sport beans, I just continued on and all went well.  Another issue: if I was in the sun for too long, the same kinds of things started to happen.  Luckily, there was a shady version of the route near the end, but at one point, I think that I was in the sun for a bit too long.  My brain definitely got off track there.

I almost fell again today.  It's time to admit that these aren't flukes, but probably fatigue errors.  It happens.  Not much that can be done about them except to hope that I don't actually fall!

Modular Homes of the Future!

Today's run, 9 miles, was actually quite nice.  The temperature was in the low 70s to start and as long as I stayed in the shade, it was fine all the way through.  Nice change!  Here's hoping that it doesn't get hot and icky again (I can always dream).

Yesterday was a day off and I took a pass on the gym.  My legs are feeling a bit tired, so I thought that this was for the best.  However, I did move a couch, so I can pretend like that was exercise, despite the fact that it was not a heavy couch and I had help.

I took some more photos today and am calling this collection Modular Homes of the Future!  These are mostly from Riverhills Drive again.  I chose them because they look like they were designed in the 1960s to look like futuristic homes.  Actually, some of these homes were designed by semi-famous architects (I am not an expert, so I'm not sure on these points) and are part of the Mid-Century modern movement, but I have no idea if it is these specific homes.  Anyway, enjoy!

This is the quintessential Modular Home of the Future in my view.

Does this remind anyone else of a fort?

I've noticed that several Modular Homes of the Future hide their modularness through flora.

This one seems more Floridian, somehow.  Maybe because of the lighter color?

This one is more like a Modular Home of the Bayou

I think that this one is the most imposing of the Modular Homes of the Future.

Modular Home of the Future: Now With Silver Metallic Door!

This last one is not a Modular Home of the Future but rather a Weird Retro Home of the Past (and I didn't actually run by it today, but I did recently and felt that it was noteworthy):

Riverhills Drive

Today was the first of the official long runs.  It was 6 miles.  Perhaps understandably, I found it hard to equate 6 miles with a long run.  After all, the actual marathon will require 6 miles, then another 20 and change afterward.  But 6 miles is still a decent distance, particularly when run in Florida summer conditions -- as I learned once the run was over.

The first 'big' race that I did was 10k, which amounts to 6.2 miles.  This made me feel like I had made it as a runner, for some reason, even though my time was horrid.  My run today, in Florida summer conditions, was better than that run.  It was the Tufts 10k, which I highly recommend if you live anywhere near Boston (and are female).  You run on the Cambridge side of the Charles, then back on Commonwealth Avenue, which is the wicked pretty part of Boston.  The race finishes in Boston Common (remember the Frog Pond?).  It's very well organized and a great day.  When I did it, friends and I sat on the grass afterward for a while, just enjoying the weather.  I highly recommend.

This is one race that I wish I could run again, particularly since I am now a better runner.  I think that it was a stretch at the time.  What I mostly remember about miles 4-6 was trying to push myself through mentally.  We were on Comm Ave, which is the part of Boston where the streets are organized alphabetically (NB: this is the only part of Boston that you can really say is 'organized').  I kept counting down the streets, but each one was taking far, far longer than I thought.  For instance, I remember thinking that I was almost past Exeter Street, then realizing that not only was I not past it, but I was not even there yet, and the intersection itself felt like it took 10 minutes.  And that was only the 'E' street.  I still had Dartmouth, Clarendon, Berkeley, and Arlington to go.

Anyway, today's 6 miles didn't require quite so much mental push, although I would have been utterly fine with stopping after 5 miles.  But I didn't, which is the whole point.  I need to be better about running to finish rather than running to finish well; this mentality will be really important during the marathon.  Six miles is still at the point where I could probably do decently well if I raced it tomorrow.  That cannot be said of 12 miles or anything beyond that, when it will just be about finishing.  I need to get more in that mindset, particularly since the conditions in Florida change (get awful) so drastically from the start to finish of long runs.

I ran around the golf course neighborhood, past some of the really nice sections.  This was on Riverhills Drive, which you may have deduced is near the river.  This was the oldest part of Temple Terrace that was built up and has a lot of very nice and interesting homes, plus plenty of shady oak trees.  Here's a sample of some of my favorites from today:

Near Ben Lomond Park.  There are a lot of Scottish names, presumably to go with the golf course theme.

One of the best aspects of Temple Terrace, in my opinion, is that the flora has grown in so nicely.  Other, more recent neighborhoods in Tampa don't have this.

I love the roof tiles!

My run today started on Riverhills Drive, turning about 2 miles in at Florida College.  I went by a spot of historical note: the exact place on the Temple Terrace golf course that Reverend Billy Graham received his calling from God.  Yes, he was out golfing and God spoke to him.  This is the fairway where this momentous event occurred:

Actual fairway where Billy Graham received calling.  It is the 18th hole.  Good thing he had almost finished the round.

I, however, had no such experience today.  The final photo I took as I was heading home, but it serves as a lovely encapsulation of the fact that yes, this neighborhood is built around a golf course: