Walk Into the Future

2023 OUC Half Marathon

OUC Track Shack

“Don’t dream of winning, train for it”.

(Mo Farah)

My Walk into the Future continues to seek out new opportunities and challenges to move me forward.

Distance running and racing have become a huge part of this process. 2023 generated an aggressive running schedule that allowed me to run new half marathons to add to my medal rack. The 2023 OUC Half Marathon was the 10^th time I tackled this race. I missed the 2018 race to run a smaller half marathon on Amelia Island. The OUC Half Marathon was also my first half marathon so I guess you can say this race launched my distance running program.

I love the races put on by Orlando Track Shack so expect to run this race annually until I can’t anymore.

The 2023 OUC Half Marathon was scheduled 8 days before the 2023 Palm Beaches Marathon so viewed this edition as an extension of my marathon training. My long training runs ended the week prior but never want to feel like I’m missing out on the great vibes at the OUC race. My training plan called for me to taper my running since I was at the end of my training cycle but decided to toe the line at the OUC half anyway. The course is flat and friendly so decided to have fun and enjoy the process of racing in downtown Orlando.

I arrived early this year since I had trouble finding parking last year. Didn’t want to feel rushed when I arrived so found parking in a downtown parking garage and made my way over to the race village. I had time to stretch and socialize a bit prior to lining up for the start of the race.

The temperature was in the low 70s at race time with equal humidity. The forecast called for a gradual rise in morning temperatures so wanted to get moving to beat the heat.

I decided to line up further back in the start corral and use that as part of my race strategy. I tend to go out a lot faster when I’m close to the front so wanted to create a steady pace and stay measured throughout the race. I didn’t have a set finish time in mind but wanted to test my fitness to gauge how ready I was for the 2023 Palm Beaches Marathon.

Targeted the first 8 miles of the race as my strategic marker to see how long I can run without discomfort and determine my marathon pace for next week. Eight miles seemed like an appropriate test—my plan was to pull back on the pace once I hit eight miles and then just take in the race day environment and the cheering crowds.

I wanted to stay in the 9:50 per mile pace for this race to clock miles and work on strategy. I had to keep reminding myself not to push too hard or fast since I had a full marathon coming up in 8 days. My normal strategy is to push the pace for this race since the course is flat and I can normally get a fast time. I set my personal record (PR) on this same course in 2019 and always think I can beat that time. This was not the day to try for another PR.

I hit the eight-mile marker without any pain or discomfort. I was still running high 9-minute miles but decided to race smartly and began the process of pulling back to save my legs for the full marathon. The rising temperatures and humidity made the decision to pull back a lot easier this year too. 😊

Completed the race in 2:22 (two hours and 22 minutes) for a 10:50 per mile pace. Very happy with this pace and effort considering the temperature, humidity and a pending full marathon coming up next week.

Got a chance to catch up with some of my Orlando running friends at the race after party. Nothing like a 13.1-mile race, donuts, and beer all before 10 am in Central Florida.

Next stop? The 2023 Palm Beaches Marathon!

Irie!

“I’ll be happy if running and I grow old together”.

(Haruki Murakami)

Leadership lessons from the GOAT

“Complacency breeds a blatant disregard for doing what’s right”.

(Nick Saban)

Leadership lessons are available daily. I normally write about my preferred style of Authentic Leadership but continue to seek out new ways to improve my leadership knowledge.

One of my 2024 goals is to read two books monthly. I naturally gravitate to leadership topics and found myself shopping for a new leadership book on Amazon. The algorithm used by Amazon always provides me with recommendations based on my past book selections. There were several interesting books available but the book “The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban” caught my attention because of his continued success and recent retirement.

Always knew Nick Saban was a great coach who won a lot of football games and put a ton of players into the National Football League (NFL). His players ranged from high first round draft picks to solid contributors that spent years as professional ball players. He is known as an outstanding recruiter and an even better developer of the talent he recruited to the University of Alabama.

His ability to recruit players at a high level and then the development of those players were reasons I wanted to explore his leadership style and techniques. Opened the book without any knowledge of how Coach Saban was able to become successful but wanted to learn directly from him on how he led his teams to multiple championships.

The book opened with the concept of building a team framework. This provides a solid foundation for the team and sets the tone needed for success. Coach Saban’s first meeting was designed to inform everyone of his vision for the team and how team members would operate. Recruiting was identified as the life blood of the program, and everyone needed to be on the same page when it came to recruiting players.

He ensured the team understood that there needed to be other leaders in the organization—he set the foundation but needed others to step up their leadership. He created player leadership councils and allowed players to lead each other. He demanded that players get involved in the daily operations of the team activities. This created multiple leadership voices within the team but that all resonated with Coach Saban’s message. This translates to all organizations that want to see staff and process growth.

Coach Saban also welcomed staff turnover in his organization. He saw staff turnover as a way to improve the organization as new staff members brought in their ideas. These new ideas were added to Coach Saban’s routine to enhance his overall message. He lost staff members yearly but was able to regroup and still win multiple championships. His core beliefs remained but he was willing to adjust based on new staff members input and continued to lead a championship program.

Coach Saban was known for The Process which is the system and mindset everyone must follow. Coach Saban stressed winning each play as the goal instead of winning the game. The concept of do your job each play led to the success his team maintained. This focus gave the players a more immediate outcome than simply saying we need to win this game. Win each play over and over and the game will be won—in theory. This translates directly into the work environment for employees. Teams that focus on the next task and complete it well win—sounds simple, huh? The Process can work for us all.

The last concept I will explore is Be True to Yourself. This resonates with me because it parallels Authentic Leadership and the need to be self-aware. Internal moral perspective requires leaders to evaluate themselves daily to ensure they are not doing anything that compromises who they truly are. You don’t have to rant and rave to get staff members to do the right thing. Leaders can remain themselves and not have to try to become something or someone else. You can be a quiet leader and still get positive things accomplished.

There are a ton of other outstanding leadership lessons in this book. Highly recommend this for your leadership library.

https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Secrets-Nick-Saban-Alabamas/dp/1637740832/ref=sr_1_3?crid=OXEKTRCUTPZ2&keywords=nick+saban&qid=1707356155&sprefix=nick+saban%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-3

What are you currently reading?

Irie!

“Success is not a continuum; it’s momentary”.

(Nick Saban)

Operational Gears

close up photo of stainless shift knob — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

“Winning requires reaching inside of yourself for that extra gear to accelerate challenges”.

(Orrin Woodward)

How many gears do you have? This may be the first time anyone has asked you that question, but I leverage this daily in my work environment.

Yes, I know people are not machines with a gear shift like cars. I use this concept to identify team members who can handle more responsibilities and help the organization grow.

My goal is to hire 5-gear staff members or work to help current staff members develop additional gears. This is not a simple process considering staff may have already maxed out on the number of gears they possess. The Peter Principle identifies a person competent at their job will earn a promotion to a position that requires different skills (gears). I added the word gears to this definition to highlight my thought process.

A 5-gear staff member in theory will have the emotional intelligence, intellectual curiosity, and grit to continue to get positive things accomplish. My view centers on the 5-gear staff member being able to take in information, process this information and then put it into action quicker than someone with less gears. I view myself as being a 5-gear person and this allows me to take on more responsibility at work and continue to thrive. I may not be the smartest person in the room, but I have an insatiable curiosity that serves me well. Organizations with a large contingent of 5-gear staff members can pivot and grow because of their ability to handle and process information and tasks.

Now, imagine what would happen if an organization was comprised mostly of 1-gear, 2-gear, or 3-gear staff members. Things would continue to get done but the organization’s growth would be limited by the capacity and capability of these folks.

Think back to the gear shift analogy. A vehicle moves the fastest when it is shifted into 5^th gear. It can move in 1^st gear but there will be limitations on the speed the vehicle can travel. Same with 2nd gear, 3rd gear, and 4th gear. The higher you go up on the gear shift the vehicle performs better and you can fully enjoy the ride.

Bring this concept back into the workplace and my theory is this translates to staff members as well. All the gears are needed but to fully engage the 5^th gear needs to be present.

Professional development and training are two key components to gear building. I’m not sure a 1-gear staff member can ever be developed into a 5-gear person, but professional development and training needs to be present to bring out the best in everyone. These programs need to be consistent and prescribed for everyone in the organization. The concepts need to focus on helping staff members improve in areas they are lacking. A healthy dose of self-awareness is needed for the staff to provide a real assessment of their gears and identify ways to develop additional gears.

Self-aware staff members will have a full understanding of their strengths, values, and weaknesses. Building a self-aware staff is a foundational process to increase the gear potential for the staff member and the organization. Imagine the lack of productivity that happens when a 1-gear staff member fully believes they are helping the organization at maximum capacity. This staff member would frustrate their teammates unless they put in the effort to gain and/or display additional gears.

Organizations begin to thrive with higher gear staff members because they have the capacity to bring new ideas and concepts into the workplace. These new ideas provide a new level of growth for the organization and help move everyone forward. Too many 1-gear staff members and things remain stagnant. This is never good for an organization looking to produce at a high level.

So, I ask again. How many gears do you have? What are you doing to gain additional gears in your work environment?

Irie!

“God, I hear you giving me an earful but I’m gonna cruise in 5^th gear until I’m near you”.

(Joe Button)

The Return to Gatlinburg

Gat Waterfall3

“Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing”.

(Barry Finlay)

Not a huge secret but I love Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains! There, I said it again!

I deviated from my normal Gatlinburg trip in 2022 and headed to Asheville, North Carolina instead. Asheville and the Black Mountain area were beautiful and happy I got a chance to experience the area.

My winter getaway is designed to allow me to get back to nature and wander around in the mountains to relax and recharge. Asheville is an eclectic city with a ton of things to do and a restaurants to choose from. This is not a bad thing but not really what I need for my mountain retreat time. Black Mountain was a pleasant surprise with the views and trails available to explore. May look to add Black Mountain on a return trip in the future.

Decided to make my way back to Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains this year. Yes, I’ve explored most of the trails there but love the environment and smalltown appeal Gatlinburg brings. I can park my vehicle and walk the downtown streets to hit restaurants, attractions and moonshine tasting venues. Downtown Gatlinburg also provides direct access to the Gatlinburg Trail which is the gateway to the Smoky Mountains.

I started my adventure on the Gatlinburg Trail again since this provides a nice warmup and allows me to capture some great water views. The Gatlinburg Trail covers just over two miles of trails with minimal elevation and is connected to the Sugarland Visitors Center. The Gatlinburg Trail is used by hikers and joggers looking for a quick mountain adventure. I like this trail since it allows me to take a quick break and then hit the Sugarland trails. These trails are smaller and popular with park visitors. There were several tour buses at the visitor’s center, so the trails were crowded this year. Cataract Falls is a popular spot, and I was able to make my way to the falls and get a few pictures before heading back down the trail towards Gatlinburg.

Clingmans Dome is one of the highest points in the Smoky Mountains and is a great spot to take in the smoky hue of the mountains. This was another popular spot and parking was a bit of a challenge this year. I parked a little down the road and made a small hike back up to the trail that leads directly to the Clingmans Dome observation tower. The trail to the observation tower is paved so that makes the climb a bit easy, but it takes effort to get up to the top of the mountain. Once there you get a panoramic view of the mountains and can see points in North Carolina and Tennessee—very cool place to take in the Smoky Mountains.

Decided to head back down to Gatlinburg before it got dark—not a fan of driving in the mountains at night. Made my way back to Ole Smoky Moonshine shop to see if they had new flavors to try out this year. The folks at Ole Smoky seem to create a couple new flavors each year and this year did not disappoint—they added pineapple and pickles into moonshine to create special edition flavors. I’m not a fan of fruit in liquor so passed on those flavors but got a chance to sample my favorites: Blue Flame and Hunch Punch again. Got a bottle of Blue Flame to add to my collection so I could drink when I got back to Florida. Fun fact, most of the Ole Smoky moonshine flavors can be found in Publix, Walmart, and Winn Dixie liquors stores. Prices are good there too.

Hiking on day 2 was centered around the Cades Cove area as I searched for waterfall views again. Parking was tough again, but I was able to get a spot that required a short walk to get on the trails. I hit this trail back in 2021 and wanted to explore the waterfalls a bit more this year. This was another paved trail so climbing up the mountain was easy. There were a ton of people out again, so the trail was crowded but manageable. The waterfall area provided a great view of the mountains and was a convenient spot to rest up before heading back down the mountain. Got a couple nice pictures before making my way down the mountain.

Mapped out the Cades Cove area and my plan was to hit every waterfall in the area. Made my way down the road a bit and ventured to a new area to take in the water views. This was the last water I got a chance to see while out. The park rangers came out in force to let everyone know there was a wind advisory, and everyone had to leave the mountains. They were concerned about campers starting fires in the high winds so everyone had to go. The rangers directed everyone in the same direction, so I found a new way back to Gatlinburg. It was scenic but not exactly what I planned for the day. The high winds shut down most of the entertainment attractions to include the Gatlinburg Sky Park. Decided to find some good Tennessee BBQ and beer to ride out the storm—pun intended.

Discovered Pigeon Forge has a Tanger Outlet so headed over there to get some shopping in. I never miss an outlet mall, so this was a great way to complete my mountain adventure.

The mountains called and I answered. Already planning my 2024 trip back to the Smoky Mountains. 😊

“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so, get on your way”.

(Dr. Seuss)

New England Visit

Breeze HOF

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth”.

(Henry David Thoreau)

My Walk into the Future continues to expand with new adventures. I would like to thank Breeze Airways for helping me find destinations to excite my journey.

Not sure Breeze Airways was thinking about me when the airline began flying to Vero Beach. The first flight arrived in February 2023 and Breeze adds new east coast destinations periodically. They currently fly to White Plains, NY, Hartford, CT, Providence, RI, Long Island, NY and Durham, NC. The routes are adjusted to match the snowbird migrations south. Breeze flies to Virginia Beach during summer months and I took my first Breeze flight for the Virginia Beach 10-Miler race back in September.

I received an email from Breeze Airways to promote low fall airfares and the prices immediately caught my attention. I love being a running tourist but have never ventured into New England states. Never had a real reason to hit New England but wanted to cross off a few states I’ve never visited. I started looking for half marathon races I could sign up for to give me a real reason to fly up. Discovered the Hartford Marathon and Half Marathon races were scheduled for early October and the entry fee was reasonable. Breeze Airways has direct flights from Vero Beach to Hartford so decided I will head up and enjoy New England in the fall.

My roundtrip flight including bag fees was $247. I couldn’t ask for a better price so booked my flight with the intent of running the Hartford Half Marathon and then doing some sightseeing. Well, it turns out my flight would not arrive in Hartford with enough time for me to make it to the race EXPO to pick up my race bib. They did not have same day pickup so my thoughts of being a running tourist were eliminated. No worries, I love adventures and going to Hartford, Connecticut would be an adventure without the need to run a race—what a concept, huh? LOL.

My flight from Vero Beach to Hartford was…a breeze. No issues checking in or on the flight up.

Hartford

Arrived in Hartford, Connecticut with the intention of sightseeing and making my way down to the race sight to watch the marathon and half marathon finish. I discovered getting to the start/finish line was impossible since the race had already started, and streets were blocked. I take this part of racing for granted since I’m normally running and never pay attention to which streets are blocked due to road races. Met a super friendly police officer who gave me directions on activities he suggested I tackle since I was not going to be able to get downtown Hartford for a few hours. I wrote the Basketball Hall of Fame as a possible destination and Officer Friendly recommended I head there and then come back downtown after touring the Hall of Fame.

Springfield, Massachusetts

The Basketball Hall of Fame is in Springfield, Massachusetts. Turns out my hotel was only 25 miles south of the iconic venue. Turned around and headed north with intent to visit the Basketball Hall of Fame and enjoy my first time in Massachusetts. This was a bonus to my trip since I didn’t realize how close these cities are to each other.

The Basketball Hall of Fame is a great place to embrace the basketball greats and their roles shaping the current basketball landscape. I was impressed with the displays and how each era had a place within the Hall of Fame. My favorite NBA player is Julius Erving (Dr. J) so was happy to see his display and read a bit about him during the tour. There is a great display for Kobe Bryant within the Hall, and I came away with a new level of respect for the Black Mamba.

Made my way down to the gym portion of the Hall to put up a few jumpers. I have not played basketball in years and my jumper was beyond rusty—good news, I didn’t hurt myself or anyone else. LOL.

Headed back south to Hartford to get some downtown sightseeing done.

Return to Hartford

The drive from Springfield to Hartford was uneventful but I was happy with my exploration so far. Decided to hit a downtown park before trying to make it back to the race village. I always heard about the fall foliage from friends and wanted to experience the leaf color changes. Made my way to a lakeside park and walked around a bit just enjoying the cool weather and nature. Got a few pictures by the lake and on a walking trail before it got too cold for me.

Left the park and went downtown Hartford just to look around. I had no idea there were still runners out on the course and watched the last marathoner cross the finish line. Surprisingly there were still people there to cheer him on and he looked elated to complete the journey—good for him.

Got a few pictures of downtown Harford before heading back to my hotel to warm up and map out my next adventures.

Providence, Rhode Island

Decided to maximize my time in New England and hit my third state in two days. Providence was only an hour and a half away from Hartford, so I pointed the rental car east and made my way through the Connecticut countryside to Rhode Island. The drive provided a scenic trip with a lot of fall foliage to admire. Googled attractions in Providence and decided to make my way to Roger Williams Park so I could walk around and get some pictures in. The park is huge and has multiple sections including a zoo and walking trails. This was the perfect place to take in a bit of Rhode Island culture and scenery.

Spent two hours in the park before heading back to Connecticut.

Thought about driving up to Boston to extend my tourist trek but decided I will wait to head back up and experience Boston as a separate trip. Yes, Breeze flies to Boston from Vero Beach and I plan to head back up in the spring when it warms up a bit.

My goal is to travel to all the Vero Beach Breeze Airline destinations before 2024 is over. I will look for races as part of my travel plans but will not let that limit me from making my way back up to New England. I still need to travel to Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire to complete my New England adventures. I will turn my travel efforts out west to make sure I visit the Dakotas, Montana, and Wyoming. Thinking of booking a dude ranch so I can live my cowboy dreams. More to come. LOL.

Where have you always wanted to travel?

Irie!

2023 WordPress Stats

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“I made a decision to write for my readers, not try to find more readers for my writing”.

(Seth Godin)

Love this quote as it reflects my original thoughts when I started the Walk into The Future blog back in 2018.

My intent has always been to create content others would want to read but not seek out followers for the blog. Some of you are stuck with me because we grew up together, so happy to have you along for this journey. Others have found my writing via WordPress based on my content and/or topics presented.

I’m happy to have you here regardless of how/why you read my thoughts—appreciate the company on this life I live.

WordPress provides authors with daily, monthly, and yearly statistics directly on my dashboard. I’m able to identify when my work is viewed in another country and my reach continues to expand. Again, not driven by this but it is nice to see someone in Spain or India has read my latest blog post. Not sure how I attract folks so far away, but it feels great and inspired me to write a bit more and with more substance.

My 2023 stats can be viewed here: https://wordpress.com/annual-report/walkintothefuture.blog/2023

I’m back in the writing lab working on new topics and adventures I will begin sharing next week. I am also entering the busy portion of my racing schedule so there will be race recaps to include my 2023 Palm Beaches Marathon experience and the next BIG race on my 2024 schedule. Hint—I got accepted into the Chicago Marathon. This is exciting news for me and will be the largest run event I will participate in. Thanks to Orlando Track Shack and the global running impact of this organization—it helped me get into the Chicago Marathon.

Big things coming in 2024—stay tune! LOL.

Irie!

“Do or do not. There is no try”.

(Yoda)

Student Success Karaoke

Student Success 3

(Prince, Luke Combs and Gwen Stefani)

“If work isn’t fun, you’re not playing on the right team”.

(Frank Sonnenberg)

Work hard and play hard.

How many times have you heard this phrase? Do you agree or disagree?

Well, my Walk into the Future journey provides a perfect dichotomy to both sides of this concept. I continue to seek adventures that allow me to maximize my personal time when I’m not trying to change the world one tree branch at a time.

My work as Associate Vice President of Advising and Career Services allows me to impact a lot of people in positive ways. There are days where I’m not the most popular person in the building based on decisions I must make as part of my daily duties. This is a part of the business and makes my work interesting. No two days are the same.

I leverage my Organizational Psychology knowledge to build a team environment and culture to help the team thrive daily. We have built in team building activities with cohorts to help our communication and ability to get positive results for our clients. We started using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to enhance our internal communications and build on our goal towards positivity within the workplace. The process to improve culture is an ongoing project and one I put a lot of effort into for continuous improvements.

We started hosting a large Student Success activity during Halloween week back in 2021. That year we put on an 80’s Dance Battle between one of my friends and myself. It started as a simple joke, but the staff heard us talking and decided seeing older guys battle dance at work would be fun. We turned this event into a full fledged 80’s party where staff dress in 80’s gear and we played music from the decade. Fast forward and this was successful and we entertained colleagues from around campus. Never saw so many smiles, people laughing and having fun at work.

Student Success decided to run this idea back for 2022. We graduated to the 90’s with Music Bingo and a modified dance battle. The intent was to engage folks in a different manner and still have music in the process. We drafted dance teams and then had them battle in front of their colleagues to pick a winning team. Our President got involved and handed out prizes to the winning team—we didn’t know he was going to do this. Again, we created and hosted another fun and successful event that got the campus vibing and enjoying time with colleagues.

My VP texted me over the 2022 Thanksgiving break with an idea for the 2023 fun activity. Yes, we started planning the next event a full year in advance. 😊

Her concept was to host a karaoke event and encourage staff to dress as their favorite artist. This sounded good to me but did not fully process how this would work format wise, but we had a full year to bounce ideas and put the program together.

Turns out Student Success Karaoke has been our most creative, ambitious, and entertaining event so far! Did not realize how many folks enjoy karaoke and the ability to dress up at work. We added a few wrinkles to the format where participants had to dress as their favorite artist and had to sing a song by that artist.

We had performances by Prince, Luke Combs, Steppenwolf, Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, Sia, Lil Nas X, Radiohead, Salt n Peppa, Gwen Stefani and Run DMC to name a few. Everyone was dressed appropriately and had fun while entertaining the crowd. This was my first-time singing Karaoke, and I was completely sober—no alcohol in sight! LOL. We had folks from every office on-campus in attendance and they all signed up to sing. Some even hit the stage multiple times to show us how talented they were.

We had three local food trucks pull up outside our building and provided folks with multiple lunch options in between our song sets.

Another successful event for the Student Success team! This process may seem simple, but it goes a long way towards building the team dynamics that will allow us to grow and thrive together.

Yes, folks are already asking us what we have planned for next year. No idea at this point but it will be epic—I promise! 😊

What do you do for teambuilding?

Irie!

“Where people aren’t having fun, they seldom produce good work”.

(David Ogilvy)

Marathon Training Update #2

Medal Palm Beach

My Walk into the Future is closing in on the 2023 Palm Beaches Marathon. I am heading down south on Saturday for my big race on Sunday.

The training this year went by smoother than last year. I chalk this up to having a better mental and physical understanding of the training program and what is required each week. I also view my hydration and nutrition planning as much improved from this time last year.

It is amazing how quickly you learn the things not to do to get prepared for a 26.2-mile race. Excited and terrified at the same time. Runners are a unique group of people with an adventurous mindset.

I didn’t have my friend Lauren training for a marathon with me this year, but she was always available to listen to me share about my progress. Hoping we will both get into the 2024 Chicago Marathon and enjoy this process together again next year. We both signed up for the marathon lottery system and will find out today if we get in. I will focus on the 2024 Chicago Marathon as my big race next year if I get in—fingers crossed!

The 18-week training plan has allowed me to increase my mileage safety as I built up my base miles. I added hill and speed training this year to increase my endurance towards the full marathon distance.

Here are my total weekly miles so far this year:

Week #10: 38 miles
Week #11: 23 miles
Week #12: 32 miles
Week #13: 34 miles
Week #14: 22 miles
Week #15: 39 miles
Week #16: 28 miles
Week #17: 29 miles
Week #18: 33 miles

I have logged 465 total miles during this journey to include multiple 5k and half marathon races. The process of racing brings me a level of enjoyment to my training program and is a lot more exciting (for me) than simply going out for long runs on my own. I got spoiled a bit in Oviedo by having an active running environment with all the Orlando Track Shack events to choose from. There are multiple running clubs in Orlando so finding a running club to get a few miles in with was an easy process there.

This week is dedicated to carb loading, extra stretching and getting a lot of rest. The full marathon beat me down last year so I’m adjusting my daily routine this year to conserve as much energy as possible.

Still have not decided my race strategy—will look to listen to my body and go out with a comfortable pace that I can maintain throughout the race. I started to struggle at the 18-mile marker last year so want to extend my progress beyond this point in 2023.

My goal is to beat my time from last year and set a new PR for myself. I’ve got a race goal time in my head but will not reveal it here just now. I will brag later if I hit my preset goal. 😊

Wish me luck!

Irie!

Treasure Coast Half Marathon

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“It’s not the distance you must conquer in running…it’s yourself”.

(Michael D’Aulerio)

I set an aggressive running schedule for myself this year. My goal continues to be multiple race personal records (PR) over the 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon distances.

The 2023 Race for Recovery 5k allowed me to clock my fastest 5k since 2020 back in September. Still not my fastest but less than one minute and twelve seconds off. Not bad for someone still nursing piriformis issues. I’m still able to run fast but must stay careful with my training program and warmups prior to races.

The 2023 Game On Run Hutchinson Island Half Marathon provided me with a local race to help with my full marathon training program. I ran this race last year and thought it would be a great way to get a long run in while competing with local Fort Pierce runners. The 2022 race highlighted I needed additional work to get marathon ready and was an eye-opening experience with humidity and long runs.

The 2023 half marathon identified similar issues. Northern races provide a great break from the Florida humidity, but they also provide a false sense of race preparation. My 10-mile race in Virginia Beach allowed me to navigate the course at a 9:37 per minute pace. This was accomplished in the first week in September and was done with a relaxed format for me. Didn’t press too much during the race and was able to complete with a smile on my face.

I took this Virginia pace as a positive sign for my training program and my current marathon preparation. This is still true, but the Florida humidity makes breathing a bit harder with the heavy air and slows me down. I’m sure I’m not the only one but need to remember a September race in Virginia does nothing to identify how fast I will be during an October race in South Florida. Lessons are lessons!

My marathon training called for a 15-mile long run so the 2023 Game On Run Hutchinson Island Half Marathon fit within my training needs. My warm-up, cool down and actual half marathon allowed me to hit my mileage goals with plenty of miles to spare.

This half marathon is completed on Hutchinson Island with most of the course on the actual route I normally train on. We cut through a few neighborhoods before heading south on Ocean Drive and then turnaround due north before heading back towards Causeway Cove.

Made sure I got to Causeway Cove with plenty of time to warmup, stretch and mentally prepare for the miles in front of me. This is a smaller race with 111 runners in 2023. Why does this matter? Well, there are not as many runners available to pace with so most of the race strategy is to find a comfortable pace and then maintain it.

Toed the line towards the middle of the half marathon pack at the start line. This gave me a few runners out front, so I did not have to worry about getting off the correct race route. The start of the race winds through multiple neighborhoods and we start at 6:15 am so it’s dark for a majority of the race. It’s easy to get off course so I like to hang back and follow as many runners as possible to get me through the neighborhood. There are course markers out but again, we are running in the dark for the first 5 miles.

My race strategy was to go out with a comfortable pace through the neighborhoods and then increase my pace once we made it on Ocean Drive. This concept would provide me with a gauge of my fitness and help determine what areas I need to improve (pace, endurance, nutrition, etc.).

Fast forward and the first phase of the race went by without any issues. My pace was balanced, and I felt good through the first 4 miles. I pressed the pace more in the second phase of the race to test my physical fitness to determine how much additional work I needed to put into my training program. Felt good from miles 5 through 8 but it started to rain, and the roads got very slick during this portion of the race. Slick roads, wet shoes and Florida humidity made the final portion of the race a battle to finish. The race organizer has aid stations on the race course but not as plentiful as some of the larger races I participate in. Water and Gatorade are needed to complete a half marathon and there could have been more available to runners. I started to fade in the last portion of the race, but this was part of the learning process. I signed up for this race to gauge my fitness—I still have work to do to prepare for the full marathon.

My prerace and race nutrition needs to improve for me to maximize my race day. I’m still learning this portion of the race game and need to adapt to a Florida specific preparation program. Extra hydration and carb loading prior to races to ensure I don’t deplete my reserves too early in a race. Also, carry extra energy gels and take them more often than I would during a race in Nashville or Virginia Beach.

I’m still learning and working towards maximizing my training to prepare for the 2023 Palm Beaches Marathon. I will be ready! LOL.

What did you learn today?

Irie!

FYI—this may be my last Game On Half Marathon. I entered the 2024 Chicago Marathon lottery and will find out if I’m in next week—fingers crossed! 😊

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!

Thankful for you Walking into The Future with me!

Irie!

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