The Choice Marine Corps Marathon vs. Steamtown Marathon The Pros and Cons I missed Marine Corps last year because of an injury, and I really want a redemption race. I thought that signing up for the Nike Women's Half Marathon in DC next month might serve as a redemption race, but I'm not sure it will (although I'm still excited about the race!). Mainly, I'm afraid I'll always feel that I let myself down for that race. And then there's all of the to-do of Marine Corps that I keep hearing about: running through the historical landmarks, being encouraged by tons of local crowd-supporters, and being greeted by all of the Marines at the end (okay, that last one is the main draw). But that is both a pro and a con, because I don't like feeling stuck in large, overpopulated spaces. I don't think that would happen at nearly the same level at Steamtown, whch takes place in Scranton, PA (yes, of Office fame). Also, Steamtown is a net downhill race, which see...

Over two weeks ago, the time changed to Daylight Savings time, and today is the official marker of spring. These events are a herald of two things, in my mind: hotter days, slower times. While I just run my fastest half-marathon and my fastest five-miler  to date, I know these successes were largely due to the colder, drier weather we've been having in Tampa. But as the last two evenings' runs have shown me, I'm going to have to start working harder if I want to keep my pace down. Monday night's run was actually more positive than negative. I met up with the usual Monday night crowd at Flatwoods. I'd had a lazy weekend and didn't run at all (that was not my intention; I just kept oversleeping), so I felt I should be able to have a decent run that night. For this particular run, the guys usually stick together and run in a pack at the same pace, while the ladies sometimes partition off into couples, or maybe a small group, but almost always at a slower pace th...

This morning I ran the Tampa Bay Lightning Bolt Run 5-miler . This is a smallish race that takes place in downtown Tampa, starting at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, home ice to the Tampa Bay Lightning (did I mention Tampa?). I ran this race last year for the first time, and I remember it well. I didn't have much of a time goal prior to the race, but when a runner friend asked me my goal, I decided to go for a 45-minute race. I came in at 44:59, and that was with a lot of help from another friend Lyle, who is also a Team in Training coach. I remember that it felt tough almost the whole time, my legs burned, and I wasn't sure I'd make my goal. So this morning, a little less than one year later, I only knew that I wanted to PR, which I was on target to do pace-wise since my recent Gasparilla victory  (victory is a relative term, of course). It was a cold morning (for Florida), in the low 50s, which is a perfect running temperature for me. I've been taking things pretty easy...