Almost Half Time

Half time is creeping up on me. I've been in a bit of a slump since my first marathon this past summer, but I've always kept one eye out on The Half as the last opportunity to turn this ship around before I fall into a perpetual slumber. I've run only two 5Ks in the meantime, and while they were both relatively decent for me, I could have done better if I was actually running more than once a week.

I did 6 yesterday while out of town in Tampa, FL. I'm still here in Ybor City, where I put in some miles while training for the marathon earlier this year. It's nice to retrace some of my old steps here, knowing those miles paid off in the end. I'm going to shoot for a longer run tomorrow, maybe 9 or more if I can handle it. There's a route I take from Ybor City into downtown Tampa, out the other side and onto Bayshore Boulevard which hugs Tampa Bay. Along the way, I go from turn-of-the-(previous)-century Latin Quarter with quaint cobblestone streets and old cigar factories, to concrete jungle office skyscrapers and cookie-cutter municipal buildings, to an actually pretty decent boulevard with a wide running and biking path on the water side and grand old homes on the land side overlooking the water of course. If I can push it tomorrow, I'll try to reach historic Hyde Park before turning around and coming back.