Larry Hoover

Larry Hoover

Hey, if Rick Ross can use him in a song, I can use him in a blog! Lol

(If you're reading this, that means I didn't get struck by lightning!)

Running in Florida is tough. Actually, It's downright brutal. What makes it tough are 3 things: the heat, the humidity, and the sun. The "Big 3" can make your life miserable.  The biggest and baddest of the 3 is the sun. When the sun comes out, it's best to run indoors or seek shelter because nothing good can come out of dealing with it too long.

So I call the sun LARRY HOOVER. Hoover was/is the leader of 1 of the biggest, deadliest, most violent  street gangs in Chicago and across the country. I have plenty BAD memories of growing up and dealing with them. When he and his boys came around, it was best to go indoors!

Saturday I went for a run. I got up as early as I could stand w/o waking up in a bad mood (8am) and was ready to run 10 or so miles. I'm NOT a morning person, so this was the best I could do! Lol

I got to Bayshore and it was already hot & humid. It was partly cloudy, but Hoover was already up, claiming his territory and causing havoc.




The weather here is weird. It can be partly cloudy, but it seems as though the clouds rarely block the sun. They may be close, but never fully cover it. Even the clouds are scared of Hoover! Lol

There was a little breezy headwind  today, so that helped me quite a bit. As I've said before, running in the Big 3 is really tough for me. It totally drains my energy. I run at half the speed (literally) of when it's 15 degrees cooler with cloud cover and no humidity. But in order to do triathlons, I have no choice but to run in the heat to prepare. 

I get really frustrated running in the heat, and moreso on partly cloudy days. You'd think the clouds would eventually cover Hoover and give you a brief relief, but most times they don't. 



So what can I do? Getting mad won't help. All that does is waste my energy. So I just keep running at a slower pace

After about 55 minutes, I get to Ballast Pointe, which is my turnaround. 
It's getting hotter out now but I try to ignore it. As I start to head back I see horses out at the horse stable across the street from the park.  I take a quick pic:



Notice it's still partly cloudy, but Hoover is still in control!

I'm about 70 minutes in and I'm really getting tired. The wind starts to pick up & I notice storm clouds coming in. Then I hear thunder in the far distance.  Next thing I know there are some clouds  right over head:



Finally! Relief! The clouds have stopped  Hoover like The Guardian Angels!   

Before I said Florida weather is weird in several ways.  Another thing about it is the rain. It can rain on 1 block and the next block be totally dry. Then there's the rain on partly cloudy days. The sun will be out to the point you need sunglasses AND an umbrella at the same time! WTF! I'm still not used to that one.

Needless to say, my run went from being in direct sunlight to running in a lighr drizzle and watching a thunderstorm come right towards me:



If you look closely, you can see the heavy rain in the distance, and I'm running towards it:



As I was running I started to get nervous: Florida is the lightning capital of the world and i'm running right into a damn thunderstorm and my car is a good 2.5 miles up the road. Sunofabiatch!!!!

There are 3 things that I don't like: lightning, the dentist, and those big a** flying roaches/palmetto bugs. I hate those things!!

Well, Hoover is now long gone, but now I'm running toward a storm and I'm PRAYING for no lightning...

I get closer and the rain picks up. It's cooler out now and to be honest, the rain feels good!

Thankfully there's no lightning and i run in a heavy rainstorm for about 15 minutes. Rain doesn't bother me at all. I've done triathlons in the rain before. Long as there's no lightning I'm straight! Lol

I finish my run in 1 hour, 55 minutes. I was soaked and pretty tired when I was done. The rainstorm came as quick as it came, and as always, the sun started to come back out as soon as it could:



Soon as you turn your back, Hoover comes  back with a vengeance!

This run reiterated something I already knew: running in the heat really wears me out, and I have much more energy when it's cloudy and cooler out. I honestly felt fresher running in the rain, an hour into my run.

I'm also making it official: I'm racing on September 12th. I know it won't ve easy, but riding on those hills won't stop me. And neither will Larry Hoover!

But I don't back down from a challenge. You only live once. Gotta make it happen!

Thanks for reading! Till next time, peace!