The Raven's Roost

In one more month it will be 24 weeks until December 1, more or less.

If that seems like a convoluted statement, I understand, but there's also some method to the madness here. You see, I'm thinking about doing something stupid this fall. I'm considering doing a 40 mile run.

This year we don't have any major races. We weren't able to sign up for Wine & Dine, and Fox's work means we can't do any other out of town races if we wanted to because they're pushing some major changes through and need all hands on deck. So my calendar is open. Normally I would be starting to train with a specific race in mind, usually building up marathon distance, but with no formal racing going on I felt it was time I started training to do something fun/stupid I'd been thinking about.

In 2026 I'm going to turn fifty, and I've had this idea for a while now that I want to complete a fifty mile run when I am fifty. I've done some 50k runs (which is 31-ish miles) and I'm sure that with the proper buildup of distance I can hit forty. That will let me know I can manage fifty the next year. I've found an ultra coach - a woman who lives in the southeast and understands the unique challenges and opportunities of running here (humidity is the southerner's version of altitude training). I've got a 24-week training plan to get me through, and I'd be making my attempt on the first Saturday in December.

I have some very weird ideas about what "fun" is.

At this point my chief concern is WHERE I'm going to do this. I can head into Duval and run around Jacksonville, where there are sidewalks and such, and plenty of support in the form of convenience stores and fast food. I don't know where I could get across the St Johns River on foot, though. The Shands Bridge is being rebuilt, and it will have a pedestrian and bicycle lane down the center, protected from the car lanes, but that's not going to be done until maybe 2028. I know Fox has biked across bridges in Jax, but a bicycle at least has a chance of keeping up with traffic and legally can belong in a car lane. So I may need to just circle around on this side of the river, maybe heading to 17 and coming back towards Fleming Island. I know most of this means diddly-squat to anyone reading, I'm just thinking things through.

My temptation is to sign up for the Daytona 100 ultra in 2026 and put myself in the 50 mile category. I've long wanted to do this race, and I can start working up to a 100-mile distance, but the 50 miler would give me a taste of a road ultra run at night, and Fox could crew for me. I think he could handle crewing for the 100 as well, though I thought I saw the race director recommending two crew members for each runner.

Anyway! That's my big plan. I've got one more month that I can use for base building, though I lost a couple of weeks to being sick. But since I'm not a total beginner the distance should come back to me pretty easily. It does mean I'll have some Saturdays where "long run" really and truly means LONG run.

It's "warmer" today, and I'm going out for a short run soon. While 45 is warmer than 33, the difference feels quantitative rather than qualitative. In other words it's still cold as ass outside. But I dreamed about running last night and I just want to go.

( I actually remembered this one. )
I'm going to take another stab at reading The Count of Monte Cristo. I am stealing an idea from decemberthirty about "Tome of the Year," wherein one reads a large, ponderous tome of a book. I'd thought about re-reading War & Peace but I feel like I'd enjoy Dumas' hulking adventure novel if I can just get far enough into it. I dropped out last year while he was still setting up characters and plot lines because I felt like I couldn't keep track of what was going on. I still could probably use a "who's who" guide to keep everyone in line.

I am also considering filling out the formal application through the State of Florida to be a state park volunteer. Volunteering is a good way to get a foot in the door to be a park ranger, which would be a pretty awesome job. Even if I didn't, it would still be great to help out. And maybe get to pet a bear. Petting a bear is completely safe and nothing bad would ever happen to me.(I should maybe delete this if I want them to actually consider my application.)

It's getting to be about as warm as it's going to get, so I need to go run.

We survived the 10k!

I decided to run with Fox. For fun and moral support - I know how discouraging it feels when you're digging as deep as you can, and it feels like everyone is passing you. But we maintained a decent pace and even were able to sprint the finish. Well, I started running a little faster in the finish chute, then Fox caught up, and I think we both developed "horse race mentality" at that point. He iced his leg after and seems to be all right, just tired. We both slept pretty poorly.

I believe today's plans include Magic Kingdom to see the Christmas decorations that have gone up, potentially lunch at Pecos Bill's since they upgraded their menu. I'll be grilling up chicken thighs and making pasta with vodka sauce and shaved parm here tonight. I bought the vodka sauce bottled for ease of prep.

I was having a brainstorm last night, or maybe more like a brain fart. I've got a pizza stone meant for use over live fire. I could grill a pizza out here. I'm not sure how I'd handle the dough, so I'd probably want to do a trial run at home but it might be a yummy option during Marathon Weekend that doesn't involve needing to go to Disney Springs or anything.

Tomorrow's half marathon should go well. I'm not sure how Fox wants to run it but I assume if we just go the same as we did today we'll be fine. I'm not out here to PR or anything, and it's more fun if we get our photos together. He'll always be more photogenic than me but sometimes that makes for some pretty damn funny race photos. I know in one this morning I was probably making "angry cat no banana" face because the flood lights bother me.

Yesterday was supposed to be the first day of new trash pickup services in our county. We even got issued trash cans and stuff - the kind that the truck can hook onto and lift. I put mine out early in the morning because I don't want to give the bears any reason to come sniffing around. The can won't fit in the shed we built for our smaller, self-purchased cans so we've got to rebuild it. Being able to lock the cans up has really helped with keeping her and her cubs from hanging around human habitation too much.

While I was out there I also heard the Barred Owl calling, but I couldn't quite figure out where it was perched.

Why do you suppose the truck came, stood next to my can, then picked up everyone else's trash? It wasn't even the big truck with the hook - the man had to get out, open the cans and lift the bags out by hand. I watched him do it. I know it's stupid to take such a thing personally but it felt like a "fuck you in particular" moment. This is the same company that had a contract in St. Johns County, but the county terminated it early because they were so dissatisfied with the service. So I'm sure this is going to be a real roller coaster. My neighbor was livid on my behalf, too, and we had an amusing text conversation while I was on hold with the garbage people. Of course, no one ever picked up the phone.

I have one-kilometer intervals to run today, but I also need to go with Fox into town for some stuff, and he's going to be going to PT. I'll probably do those on the treadmill, with an easy shakeout run tomorrow, and then the 5k on Saturday. I wish they'd scheduled it later in the month - it's going to be 72 for a low that morning, but a week later it's forecast to be 61. We're in the awkward transition time for this part of Florida, and for me, even five degrees can make a big difference in my running performance. Or I could just stop griping and go run.

It's muggy and hot outside, well before sunup, so I'll be doing today's workout on the treadmill. I have five minute threshold intervals, which can go very badly on gross days like this because the hot, humid air makes it so hard to breathe. I return once again to the joke that humidity is the southerner's version of altitude training.

Fox has a follow up appointment this week about his leg. They did an MRI last week, and hopefully he'll get some sort of actionable information out of this. He thinks that he may need to avoid using it at all, and that being told to do physical therapy exercises on it has prevented whatever is going on from healing properly. Space Coast will allow him to drop from the full marathon to the half, if he feels he needs to, and if he does I will do that along with him. I haven't told him that yet because I don't want him to feel like he's preventing me from doing something, but I also don't want him to have to run alone ... or to wait forever for me to finish. Going all the way to Cocoa for "just" a half marathon seems a little over the top, but we've been racing this one long enough we're up for challenge medals - I think it's "Mission To Mars" this year. And depending on how he feels about running on his own, can always use the fast & flat course and relatively light crowds to try to PR. I have PR'd at Disney but they can have some pretty bad choke points with all the runners, so it's never a given that you'll be able to run the whole way.

He helped me turn over one of the garden beds and I got my Everglades Tomatoes set out. I also have an army of tiny basil seedlings where the two bigger plants were so instead of trying to start anything I'm just going to let a few of those get big. I trimmed around the pumpkin vines, harvested two more pumpkins, and found another starting to form. There's one bed that I want to do pest control on (wireworms) before prepping it for winter potatoes. We can get two rows of potato mounds in there, which would provide us with a pretty generous amount of 'taters. I may also set out garlic, because I think the intense summer heat wasn't kind to what I started in spring. A lot of that is vanishing from stores here, because everyone operates on a general timetable, rather than what you can actually plant from region to region. It's probably great if you live in Ohio, but October is when we can really start growing things here. So if I can't find seed potatoes and stuff locally I'll just order some online.

I may try growing ube yams, too, though I think they're technically considered invasive here. But think of the desserts!

Today is mostly baking - sourdough sandwich bread, potato waffles for running snacks, garlic knots.

I'm diving back into the problems of fueling long run efforts, carb intake, and all that jazz. So this post is allllll about that.

As the start of marathon training approaches I'm again pondering my fueling strategies. I feel like I have pre-race down pat. I have reliable digestion with minimal gut distress, which is a nice way of saying I have the cast-iron stomach of a scavenging bird. But I'm also reading about this newer high-carb intake curing race efforts lasting over two hours and thinking about actually giving this a shot.

I've been following the Tour de France, sort of. Mainly the thing where mountain bikers jump over the peloton, and of course, what do the riders eat? Amby Burfoot shared a deep dive into Tour riders' nutrition, which is what has me thinking that a much higher carb intake during racing might be what I need.

I've been relying on Gu all this time, along with whatever else is being handed out on the course. Often this is a good way to discover new energy snacks I like - Honey Stinger chews? Yes! Other times I wind up deeply regretting my choices, like with the Huma Chia Seed gels. ("like sucking down a packet of frog spawn") But I usually have an absurd number of Gu packs stashed about my person. One problem I've had with race nutrition is remembering to eat, and Garmin has my back on this one because my particular watch now lets me set fuel and water reminders to go off at set intervals. I tend to forget or deliberately skip late-race Gu because "I'm almost done." Which never turns out to be a good idea, and I keep doing it.

In my rummaging around on Google I've found some much higher-carb options and I'm probably going to buy a box of these Carbs Fuel things and try them out. Each packet is 50 grams, compared to most energy goo's 20 or so. I could easily train my gut to take two of these an hour. That's 200 calories per packet, combined with my electrolyte drink. I usually do half and full marathons with my own hydration vest so I've got 1.5 liters of sports drink of choice on my back. What I'm seeing in studies suggests that being able to handle 300-400 calories per hour might be exactly the boost I need.

I've tried a number of different fancy sports drinks, including one with CBD and THC (!) in it, and I'm more or less sold on lemon-lime Gatorade with some electrolyte powder added to it. Some runners use a similar formula with Kool-Aid. Fox and I have been joking that we need to concoct a drink with all those sugars and things but that tastes like garden hose water and market it to Gen X runners.

In other events, I've got some errands to run today. I've put aside a box of books to donate to the Friends of the Library for their book sale, and we need water softener salt. I'm not running today but I want to find out if there are any events taking place at the Twin Lakes soccer fields coming up, because I'm going to do another mile trial, and this time I really am going to run it on pavement. Yesterday I was doing intervals, and it was 70 outside. Might have been in the 60s in some of the more forested areas where the pine trees make it nice and cool. And I was hitting my 5k paces pretty easily. I was slowing down by the end but I expect that, and it was getting warmer at that point. I know I shouldn't bank on it being nice every morning like this but I'm going to take advantage of this pattern while it lasts.

How the heck did I miss Girl Scout Cookie season? Were there just not any troops selling near me? Why do I not have boxes of Tagalongs right now? WHY

In completely and utterly mundane news, we got our septic tank pumped out. Luckily for us, the second access port was sort of under the front deck, but they were able to easily dig it out and get the lid off without us needing to take up any deck boards. Our tank is pretty big, but we realized it had been a long time since anyone had done it, so I tracked down a company willing to come out here. I also find it funny that as they were packing up to leave, I heard them letting a little air out of the tanker's tires so they could get down our road more easily. So, literally, shit happened.

Fox and I have a mild disagreement. He says you have to pick between Star Trek and Star Wars. You can be a fan of both but ultimately everyone has to pick one or the other. I tend to be more ecumenical in my views and think you can be both. However, if someone put a gun to my head (over this? c'mon, chill out man) I'd pick Trek. I grew up watching both, but found I was more consistently involved with Trek in both movies and TV shows. I have to admit I have not read any of the novels, though. Fox comes down very firmly on the Trek side, and even has a custom-sewn Next Gen era uniform jacket that he looks very spiffy in.

Finally, in my ongoing quest to improve athletic performance and be in the best physical shape and health I can be, I'm watching this video that's like ... is this why my nutritionist is telling me to eat so damn much? How the hell do I eat twenty-seven hundred calories, where am I supposed to put that much food? (aside from "in my face" I know that) But maybe it also explains why ... I feel pretty damn good doing it. If this keeps up, this fall I'm going to be smoking my age group like a cheap bong. Anyway it also explains why that nutrition plan includes an absurd-seeming 260 grams of carbs. I mean, I like carbs. (See above with the GSC)

My coffee fast lasted four days, LOL. Yesterday I woke up cold and tired, stayed cold and tired, and ended up snuggling on the couch with the cats for a long time. I had a time trial run scheduled and I didn't feel like doing it. I also wasn't sure I could even pull off a recovery run, let alone race pace. So I said "fuck it, I'm having coffee." Yes, I actually said that out loud. And lo and behold I felt better. And ran my time trial exactly on pace.

I guess I'd forgotten that the point of this was to reduce my coffee intake, not abandon it altogether. And it would be different if I had to dress mine up with cream, sugar, flavor shots, and other stuff. I like the taste of basic, strong black coffee. But Fox and I put our heads together (bonk) and now I'm going about my mornings a little differently. Today was good, we'll see if it stays good going forward. In winter I want something hot when I get up, so I made a cup of Lemon Zinger first thing and let it steep while I fed the cats and got the fire going. After yoga, I had some breakfast and drank my first cup of coffee. I brewed a pot of three cups instead of my usual five.

The time trial I did was for Gate River Run, the 15k coming up in about a week and a half. We submitted time again this year and I'm in the green starting wave, with Fox right behind me in orange. We think perhaps they weighted the times, since his finishes usually put him in the top fifty percent of male runners, but my similar times put me in the top ten to twenty percent of females. Anyway, I'm feeling more optimistic this year. Last year I bonked again at around mile five, the crowning failure to a season full of crappy races and poor performances.

Fox is feeling under the weather so he's gone back to bed, and I'm just catching up on household stuff I didn't get a chance to do over the weekend, keeping the fire burning.

We ended up getting 1.75" rain this weekend total. The road is better since we've worked on it, but it's pretty soft and rutted out. It just doesn't have the massive, deep washouts it used to. Hopefully it dried out enough this week to firm up. I'm not exactly looking forward to running today as everything is just a soggy mess.

I'm home! I didn't get my entire 35 miles, but I did 32 and I actually feel pretty good. It went well. I stayed well-fueled and avoided a mental meltdown, bonking, and the usual crap I've dealt with on long runs so I'm very pleased with that. Not to say that I'm not tired and sore, I am. Very.

I'm going to go to bed pretty soon here.

We finally caught a break and have some nice weather - I guess even the most die-hard summer fans were sick of sweating. It was 46 this morning, which is a record last set in 2000. I got out and ran this morning, which went okay but for a very stupid equipment failure. The rubber pads on the nose piece of my sunglasses can come loose, and today it did this about halfway in so I got thrown out of my rhythm. I'm wondering if I should use a small drop of glue or something to keep them on.

Anyway, I have my first race of the season coming up. Saturday is the Penney Farms 5k, which is yes, named for that JC Penney. Built up in the early 20th century it's a pleasant retirement community with its own post office, doctors' offices, and other amenities in "town." It's also so close that if I were to use logging and private roads, I could run there easily. We can see their cell phone tower from the top of our radio tower.

So, 5k Saturday. Then early next month is Walt Disney World Wine & Dine Weekend, where we're running the 10k and half marathon. I'll be wearing my black bear stuff for the 10k, and yes, I'm going to get pictures. I have a plush hat, fingerless paw-gloves, and a Florida Wildlife Commission shirt that I had printed up just for this. I'm also thinking of looking for some infant-sized Micky Mouse ears to attach to the bear hat.

After Thanksgiving we have the big one. Space Coast Marathon in Cocoa Beach. This is what I've been training for. I'm hoping to PR this race, but I'm also plagued by doubts. I've been following a training plan based on the Hanson Method, which among other things only calls for running two or three hours tops for your long runs. But people swear by it.

In January we're taking a step back from Dopey Challenges at Disney and "just" doing the Goofy Challenge. That's the half and full marathons. After five years, I'm okay with missing out on the 5 and 10k races. After getting up early every morning and waiting around in the corrals, you're just mentally and physically done by the fourth day.

I'm also hoping to PR the 5k this weekend, but my last record was set before I had Covid. I've trained on speed and I know I can easily run under a half hour, but I do wonder if I still have the aerobic capacity to do any real sustained speed. According to Garmin though, back over the summer I got back to the V02max level I was before I got sick, so I made up all that lost ground.

For that 10k with the bear outfit, I am not planning to PR or even run super fast. Because depending on which characters are on the course that morning I may be stopping for photo ops. If I'm lucky and the stars align correctly, Tale Spin will be one of them. That's a rare one, though. Jungle Book Baloo would also be awesome. One year they had some performers dressed as the Country Bears. You can see where I'm going with this. And depending on the temps that day I might wear my bear hat to the parks.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, y'all. And on Space Coast weekend, if they offer a way to track the runners I'll throw my info on here for anyone who wants to watch me slog it out up and down the Indian River.