Because it's done.

Met with the superstar marathoner guy as scheduled. Thought about editing the last entry to update. Then thought about adding another post about how it went. Considered saying a final goodbye to the Loop. Finally decided I needed more time to process things before I could put anything down.

Anyway, here we go.

The visit was a total disappointment. I won't say he just blew me off, but he sort of just blew me off. The basic message was, "You'll old now and have to do more than just go out and run. Look up some ITB exercises on the web and call me in a month."

I agreed and I'm doing them but I'm not happy. Side leg raises, clamshells, hip thrusts (not as fun as it sounds), side hip bridges, pistol squat, hip hikes, side shuffle (with resistance band). Easy stuff, except for the pistol (one legged) squat, which stresses the spot in my ITB that's been the issue since September. Not running.

And so there will be no comeback this year, certainly no marathon. After another month of zero running miles we'll see what's happening and if I can put in some miles on the legs again. 

On the bright side, I do enjoy the riding. The wheel upgrade was definitely needed and certainly worth the $450 I invested. I don't feel any envy about skipping the $X,XXX+ price tag for a Trek or Specialized or one of those other higher end machines, either. Busting out 10-15-even 20 miles any day of the week with no DOMS is nice. Longer rides means more miles, means more scenery to see. Butt's a little sore.

Spent $20 for a handlebar phone mount and started using a set of airpods that my dad gave me a few months ago. Someone gave them to him and he didn't use them.

I sure miss not training for a marathon, though. I miss the long Saturday morning runs. I miss the hard, long intervals, mile repeats, Yassos. I miss thresholds. I dearly miss Tempo Tuesdays. I miss researching races and putting travel plans together. I miss spending those weekends away with Mrs. Dave, visiting a new town or city. I miss expos. I miss new t-shirts. I miss new shoe day.

I miss a lot of things.