Tales of 2024 PCB Running

Here are some random stories of my running in Panama City Beach in January and February 2024. You may find some of them interesting and amusing. Or not... Read at your own risk.

~

"Earn this," says the Tom Hanks character to the Matt Damon character in Saving Private Ryan. It's my theme for today's run.

I had packed an overnight bag for our stopover in Pulaski, TN on our way to Panama City Beach. I knew I probably wouldn't feel a whole lot like running there on New Year's Day, but I had to do it anyway. A lot of clothing (cold weather had been forecasted) for a very short run.

Short it was - only 3 or so slow miles around Pulaski. But at least I started the year off right. I earned it.

~

It's January 2nd, and I'm running my Beachside Six route. Twice. This route is my old stand-by; I've done it many, many, many times whilst staying at Beachside Resort here in PCB. It feels very familiar this morning.

The weather is cool, yet pretty and clear. I start slow, but each mile gets slightly faster. By the time I'm on my second go-around, it's getting lighter and I'm moving ever faster. My final three miles are fast enough to be considered tempo pace, and my last mile is my best.

It's Something of Substance, and it's a good thing to kick off my running down here.

~

Panama City Beach Conservation Park. It's where long runs get done. I've written about PCBCP before, most recently in last year's PCB running post. Well, guess what? I'm back. After a couple of easy days, it's now time for a long run. I know: it's been less than a week since the Brunswick Marathon but hey, I've got the Big Beach Marathon (BBM) coming up at the end of January.

It occurs to me that I can classify the long runs I've done here as A) Went as well as could possibly be expected, B) I got through it, but I only just managed to get the distance done, or F) A complete and total failure. Surprisingly, I've had very few F's and arguably more A's than B's. What would today bring?

I begin in the dark. The stars are beautiful. By about 6:00 AM, I'm a couple of miles into the run and it's already beginning to get light. As I often do, I'm running the first 9.5-mile loop around the park perimeter counter-clockwise, and the second one clockwise. This is so that the bright rising sun doesn't bother my eyes too much during the long east-facing parts of the trail as it's getting ever higher. 

It doesn't work. As I'm completing the final miles of loop one, the sun is already as blinding as it can get, and it's unavoidable - no shade or turns to help me avoid it. The counter-clockwise loop is better in this regard; there are fewer areas of bright sunlight shining directly into my eyes. I should probably just run all my loops here in this direction.

Although I start slow, my pace gradually improves during the first nine. This bodes well for the second half of my run. I take a gel and some water, and sure enough, my per-mile pace continues to improve during the first half of loop 2. Until it doesn't. I slow down and struggle to make it all the way to the finish. How to grade such a thing?

It's a B; I made the desired distance (19 miles, although I'd had thoughts of running one or two more), but I didn't quite continue improving my pace throughout the run. Maybe I can improve on this.

PCB Conservation Park

PCB Conservation Park

~

After that long run, I also managed to do another tempo run yesterday. Today's goal is a Yasso workout. I will do two Beachside Six circuits and in the process, complete ten 1/2-mile pickups. As usual (and due to my time goal for my upcoming marathon), I will attempt to do each repeat in four minutes or a little better. I've done this kind of thing before.

It's dark, cool, and windy, and I can't get motoring very well for the first one and my time is 4:20 or so. Not good. I manage to speed up just a little for my next few, but they're still well slower than 4 minutes. I am finally getting closer to that four-minute goal as I complete my sixth repeat during the first 6-mile loop. But that didn't go so well; I've now got four more to do during my second loop - maybe they will be better.

They aren't. The times wind up about the same. And I'm exhausted. I shuffle through the rest of the run, slightly disappointed. My average 800 time is around 4:09. I need to do better.

One slightly good piece of news comes when I look back at my runs from last year at this time. Those 800s are actually a bit slower, but I improved from there. Can I do that again?

~

As I'm getting out of bed, the tornado warning goes off on our phones. It's in effect until 6:00 AM. By the time 6:30 rolls around, I can see that it has stopped raining, so out and about I go. 

It is SUPER windy! But that makes it sort of fun. I am aware that I could possibly be hit by debris, so I'm on the lookout for that. I don't get far - just a couple of close-by miles. 

By the time I return, it's raining sideways again, and the wind has picked up even more. I am greeted by a worried wife, who informs me that there is yet another tornado warning.

Jan. 9: Strong wind, rain, and tornadic activity

~

This is going to be a very important long run. Yes, they’re all important, but this one, two and a half weeks out from BBM, is especially so. My first step onto the trail at PCB Conservation Park is a slick and muddy one. So is the second, third, and all those that follow. It appears that the trails have still not dried out from Tuesday’s storms. Keen readers of my blog posts may be aware that I hate mud. I decide early on that I am not going to put up with it today.

But I will not be deterred from completing my twenty miles today. Good thing I had an alternate plan: Gayle’s Trails. Named after a former PCB mayor, these bike trails are flat and straight, and go on forever. They connect Conservation Park with Frank Brown Park as well as other areas. They’re just the ticket for me today.

 
Some of my running friends don’t like straight-shot running venues. They wouldn’t like Gayle’s Trails. Some of them don’t like running around in circles. They wouldn’t like Frank Brown Park, where I’m doing several others of today’s miles. But for me on this day, it all seems to work out.

The first few miles in the dark are slow. By about mile three, it’s getting light and I find myself at Frank Brown Park. Once there, I run several loops. The longest loop around is about two miles. I do some in the interior of the park as well – that’s where the public restrooms and water fountains can be found amongst the baseball fields. By about mile ten, I am emerging from this park. I can go West and return back to Conservation Park. It’s a little over two miles that way. Or I can go East to some new (to me) areas. I choose the latter.

At about this time, I also finally manage to get my pace down below ten minutes per mile. Now, I had better keep it there. In fact, it would be nice to finish even faster, but we’ll see about that.

I explore East and South about as far as I can before I turn back. As I pass the spur back to Frank Brown Park, I am happy to report that I’ve kept the pace steady. But now, with only a few miles left, I try to go even faster. Success. I manage to run miles 17 and 18 at around nine minutes per mile. Once back at Conservation Park, I ease up just a little for my final two.

It’s been a pretty good long run. Not spectacular, but pretty darn good.

Gayle's Trails

~

Yasso this workout is better than that last one. It's cold and windy, and a couple of the 800s went above the magic four-minute barrier, but the rest were below. Improvement is good. Now, when does it get easy? 'Cause this one was a sonofab!tch!

~

They are building a blacktop bike path along Back Beach Road. Although it will eventually extend much closer, today I have to run three miles to get to the closest completed section. It's Sunday, so they're not working on it. The mile or so that I run on it is smooth, and I have it all to myself. So the good news is that the path is nice for running, but the bad news is that it still runs along a very busy four-lane divided highway that's never more than 25 feet away. Knowing all this, I suppose that if I don't like it, it's my own asphalt.

~

Time for another long run, probably my last before BBM. There is rain in the forecast, but how bad can that be? The first raindrops appear during my first few steps. That's okay. I can handle it. Then the wind kicks in. It's not too cold, and being dressed appropriately, I can handle it. Then the temperature drops about 15 degrees within a half-hour. I can handle that too. Then the wind, the rain, and the cold all intensify further, and all at once. I can't handle it!

My planned 18-miler turns into a quite miserable 9-miler. After some pretty good running over the past couple of weeks, I finally landed a stinker.

~

I encounter my first sea cucumber of the year. I nudge it with my shoe to see if it's alive. Frozen solid. If it could talk, I think it would say that at the moment, it is not a happy sea cucumber. Why am I running on the beach? I usually don't (in fact, this is my first such run this year), because a) the sand is soft, and b) it's slanted. But since it's 25F with a windchill in the teens, I figure it won't be an A run anyway.

Not another soul on the beach for my first three (of the four) miles; I have it all to myself. It's beautiful.

~

After this week's weather and other challenges, today is the day. It's really and truly my final long run before BBM. This time, I'm back at PCB Conservation Park for my usual: two 9.5-mile loops. I'm a little nervous and apprehensive. But guess what? It goes well. The first loop is slow and easy, and the second is excellent, with 3 of the final 4 miles under 9 minutes. I'll call it an A.

~

"Running: We don't do it because it's easy; we do it because we thought it would be easy." I smile about this fav meme of mine as I arrive at the Arnold H.S. track for the first time this year. It's to be my third Yasso workout though, and I'm anticipating that it'll also be my best. Yeah, it's 33F and the wind is extreme, but really - how hard could this run be?

Pretty darn hard. The first 800 almost kills me, and the four-minute flat time is mildly disappointing. I'd hoped to do all ten under four today. Maybe the rest will be better, and maybe it will get easier. Nope. At least, not yet. Numbers two and three are also four-flat, and also not at all easy. But finally, the sun begins to rise, and so (slightly) does the temperature as well as my speed. Numbers four through ten are under four, and I finally feel a little better still.

Overall, it's a second per 800 faster than my last Yasso. But no easier. Someday.

~

It's early Sunday morning, and I'm exploring. When there's no traffic, it opens the opportunities up a bit. Today I cross over usually-busy Back Beach Road to run on some of the roads that I almost never get to. I run along Lake Powell where possible. Exploring is a good thing.

~

I'm putting in a couple of beach miles. Although I usually don't, this seems like a good way to taper. BBM, you see, is tomorrow. The weather should be good, so I will have to dig deep to find adequate excuses.

~

I run the BBM. Click here to see the race report.

~

Gonna be a down week. At least that's my Monday thought. On Tuesday, I'm still sore, but I manage a slow ten miles. Will I be able to (fairly) quickly get back to where I was?

~

Nope. Those somewhat high hopes of a strong week fall away with today's painfully slow one and a half beach miles. Okay, maybe I still need the rest. But January is done, and I ran each and every day of it. Today's miles were the fewest of any. Now, what will February bring?

~

This Gulf is pretty darn cold. I think the water is a not-too-bad 60F these days, but the air is 45F right now. It's only the second time this year that I've gone in to cool off the 'ole legs after a run. I ought to do more of this... When it warms up a bit.

~

There's a pinecone standing up on the trail in front of me. It looks like T'd-up a football, I think. Time to try a field goal! I run up to it and kick away. I knew going in that I would have to go low to get underneath it enough to launch it up toward my imaginary uprights. As much as I try to do this, I don't. My foot hits the top and the pinecone/football just dribbles down and along the path for a foot or two. Meanwhile, I have nearly pulled a muscle from the unusual leg motion. I luckily (barely) avoid winding up on my back ala Charlie Brown.

It's a good metaphor for today's run: a complete and total failure that had started with high hopes. Personal ambition went from this being a B run to an F. And that was mostly about the time when the fateful kick from hell occurred.

So it was the long run that wasn't. That's okay; it's only five days from BBM. Maybe I'll be recovered in another 24 hours or so.

~

For my second long-run attempt since BBM, I decide to run from Beachside Resort instead of driving to Conservation Park or anywhere else. This time, I've had a few additional days to recover. But how to get to 18 miles? Well, I can do three 6's, a 10 and a 6 and a 2, 9 out-and-back, or just run. If all this reminds you of the First Citywide Change Bank, it should. Here are the links to the two SNL skits - 1 and 2.  Regardless of what I decide, it's generally better to have a plan since failure to plan is a plan to fail. I land on the three 6's idea.

As usual, I change my mind within the first quarter-mile. Hey, I think, why not run over to Conservation Park, then hit Gayle's Trails at that point? By my rough on-the-run estimate I may be able to get as far as Frank Brown Park and back for the day. Guess what? It works out.

I arrive at Conservation Part at a bit before mile 6. At this point, I could hit the dirt trails there, but after some water, I decide to do Gayle's Trails as originally conceived. Another three-ish and I'm at Frank Brown Park, getting more water and a bathroom break. Now, all I have to do is get back home.

The sun is rising and I'm picking up the pace, but the fatigue is also setting in. Nevertheless, mile 14 (back down to Back Beach Parkway) is my fastest, so far. I somehow manage to hold this better pace for the final four miles. An average run somehow became a pretty good ones.

~

Although most of my running is on the roads and the trails at Conservation Park, I still do run a couple of miles on the beach now and then. Today, I took my camera along for my beach run.

The Shadow Knows

~

What got into Dan today? Let me tell you: 2 mugs of coffee, about two dozen grapes, one breakfast bar, two gels, and two 100-mg caffeine pills. The result? One pretty-good 9.5-mile loop around Conservation Park followed by one pretty=great 9.5-mile loop. That second one, at a 9:03 pace, was my fastest-ever run there.

~

I fartleked the other day. Been trying to quit, but sometimes I just can't help myself. There's a separate post about it, so click here for all the details. Today, a Yasso was on the agenda. That means speed-work and not speed-play (aka fartlek). Other than said fartlek and some tempo-paced runs, I've done nothing of substance since BBM. But (and it's a Big Butt) I've otherwise been running fairly well. Anyway, we're more than half-way through February, and yet here I am, being a bum. Well, time to get off that bum. And do something of substantial substance.

For at least the fourth time, I skip the Seaside School Half Marathon because although it's nearby, it's also a logistical hassle and quite expensive. In its place, this Yasso run will be quite a serious effort. I even don my fast shoes.

The Back Beach 10-mile course. Ten half-mile repeats. Cool and breezy. It all seems to work out. I manage to keep them all under four minutes for a 3:49 average. I'll take it.

~

The crushed limestone on this part of the PCB Conservation Park Orange trail is not crushed so well. In other words, the stones are a little bigger here. Shouldn't be a problem for someone who picks up his feet when he runs. Unfortunately, that's not me. As I'm running along, I somehow kick one stone up an inch or two, and it lands back on top of my left-foot long (Morton's) toe. "EEEOW," I yell. How could such a stupid thing hurt so much and so suddenly? And how could such a stupid thing even happen to me?

Such questions are unanswerable. 

And that's not even the only crazy thing that happens during this run. I'm half-way through my first 9.5-mile loop (and the peace and quiet is wonderful) when a startlingly loud noise comes from the vicinity of my butt.  No, it's not what you think. It's an Amber Alert that couldn't have come at a more inopportune time. 

Despite all this insanity, I have myself a pretty good run. I complete the first circuit in 1:37:56 for a 10:16 pace, and the second one in 1:23:31 for a 8:48 pace and an FKT (Fastest Known Time) here. That's even better (way better) than the last time.

~

This is an experiment. Since we're leaving in two days, I'm doing my last run at Conservation Park. It's warm and sunny but breezy. I wonder what will happen if I don't take in any extra caffeine (other than my usual amount of coffee) or energy gel. Will I still be able to run as well as I have been here? Last week's FKT is probably out of reach, but perhaps I can still run fairly well.

Then a funny thing happens. I do run well. The mile splits for my second loop get faster and faster, and it almost looks like I can come close to that FKT. Alas. I slow up just a bit in the final two miles (the wind got to me, not to mention the fatigue) and I wind up with a 1:25+ for a 8:58 pace. I suppose you could call this a SFKT (Second-Fastest Known Time). I'm pretty pleased with it.

~

I finish my time here the way it started: by running the Beachside Six course. It's at tempo pace, and I'm pretty happy with it. 

I ran every single day in January and February. It's been mostly pretty darn good.