BANGLE

I'm doing a virtual 5k tomorrow. Like you, I just couldn't resist the opportunity to "race". It cost $10 and we can run it any time in a two week period. The course is a segment on Strava, so results will be tabulated from there. I even get a medal. So I'll run. Not sure how hard I'll push, but pretty hard, knowing me. Shoot for last month's virtual 5K time, I guess.

Looks like two days well spent!

Flyby is only on the PC strava, not the phone app. Well, sometimes I talk to a runner mid-run and then later I find them on strava and give kudos, and then we start following each other etc. I haven't actually met someone "after" stalking them. But sometimes I will give kudos to people who I have only waved or nodded to if I want to acknowledge their accomplishment. Usually it goes nowhere but it doesn't hurt to share kudos to a stranger, right?

I get my kudos on Strava now. I also use the flyby feature to stalk any runners who I see on my runs. Actually made a few friends that way.

No races, yet I am breaking all my records for mileage. I'm running more than ever, yet the body is hanging in there just fine - no injuries or even sore spots to speak of. Without race goals, this year is about adjusting to running more and seeing how that goes. Well, it has gone exceedingly well! In January I committed to 4 days a week for the whole year. Ever since age 18, I've always thought I needed rest days. For 30 years I never ran more than 3 days a week - sometimes much less. Then even when I got more serious for the last ten years, I usually ran 3 days a week, with 4 when I was in marathon training and very occasionally would do 5. I ran too hard usually, and felt like I needed rest days. Well this year I am discovering that I don't need to pamper myself. I've just been gradually increasing the miles. Doing less speedwork since track club is cancelled and there are no races. In April I switched to 5 days a week and committed to it, and have hit 5 days for 16 straight weeks. This week I'm switching to 6 days a week and I'm going to keep that up for at least 8 weeks if all goes well. I have not run 6 times in a week since college! But now it seems normal to just do a run every day. Because I really have little else going on in my life. I'm looking at 198 miles for July which is a record for July, after record highs in June, May and April. I passed 1,000 for the year last week, much earlier than ever and am on track for over 1,800 miles which is a huge record since high school. So I'm feeling great about the endurance. The speed is still not what it was a few years ago, but it's getting better. This year is all about endurance. Because I do have a new goal. Chicago cancelled, and my planned local backup in Big Bear cancelled, so I figured my Fall marathon plan was dead. But then I checked St. George again, and they recently said they are still planning to have their event on October 3rd. So I went ahead and signed up. It's a downhill marathon which promises to be even easier than Chicago to get my BQ, as long as I don't trash my quads too much. So I am re-energized and motivated and excited to have something to train for. With nine weeks to go, I have averaged 43 miles/week for the last 8 weeks, and I'm going over 50 this week, and hopefully for the next 7 weeks. My long run is already to 15 so I am readier than I have ever been at this stage. Just need Covid to stay out of Utah and my body to stay healthy. Tomorrow I am doing a 13 mile run which is almost all downhill, about 1,000 feet down from the local peak down to the beach, and than 3 miles flat on trashed quads. We'll see if I can train my legs for the beating they will take. Then two easy days and 16 on Sunday. If I survive this week I will feel pretty good about my chances.

It's June 1st. Time to check in and let any curious folk know what I'm up to. With no races in the foreseeable future, running is different. I'm used to racing about every month or so and it has now been 3 months since the last one. But I keep training as if there will be a marathon in the Fall. Without the small races I don't have cutback weeks or rest weeks so the training has been consistent and the miles are piling up. My totals for April and May were not HUGE (146 and 173), but were enough to be the highest in 40 years for those particular months. Because I've never done marathon training in April or May. Earlier I wrote about my plan to run four days a week every week for the whole year. Illness killed that in March as one week I ran once, and the next week I ran three. But otherwise I am staying on schedule! In fact, I was feeling good enough to change the goal to running five days a week. In the past I've never done more than three consecutive weeks of 5 runs (since college), but I just finished my EIGHTH consecutive week doing 5 runs! It has become my new habit. I'm tired a lot, but the body is adapting and I'm starting to see some improvement - although not a whole lot. I'm still disappointed in slower times, but I'm trying to accept whatever I can do, and hope that this big base will pay off in the Fall. Maybe I will even do 6 runs some weeks. I have not done that once since college. But maybe rest is over-rated. Is a 5 mile easy run better than a rest day? Does the accumulated mileage really matter? I believe the answer is yes, so stay tuned. So far the body is holding up. No injuries. Just the usual soreness. Worst is the bottoms of my feet which don't seem to have the padding that they used to. Even with new shoes. That's all I've got.

Please keep drinking and blogging.

My AG%s were 66.44 on the 10K and 64.32 on the half, so you beat me on both! Pretty impressive weekend, in the rain and wind. I can't believe they are still publishing yellow pages! Haven't seen one here in years. Way to steal their bag. I was sitting home after the half thinking I kinda felt like I earned a medal or something - a vague emptiness. I hope your shamrock medal filled that void for you. Well earned.

Would have been a nice 10K without the injury problem. Not sure about the triple. I may just focus on a hard 5K. My Age graded times were 1:30:45 and 40:12 on RW. Glad I had a birthday recently. But I think Steve M beat us both running a 1:42. How old is he...?

It's a start.

Wow, that is impressive. You were certainly ready for a good one. Downhill in Nevada probably a 3:40. Good plan to include walks. And the medal is awesome - great idea!

So I had a birthday last week. Since we are all bored stuck at home and looking for meaning in our lives, I tried to think of a birthday run. 58 miles? No chance. 58KM? Still way too long. 5.8 miles? Nah, too boring. 58 laps on the track? That would be 14.5 miles and possible, but challenging. But all the tracks are closed, so forget that. So then I thought an appropriate challenge during these "Stay-at-home" times would be to do 58 lengths of my block. I would never get more than 200 yards from my front door. Garmin measured it out as .12 miles, so 58 back and forths would be about 7.2 miles. Easy peasy. I figured I could spend each block reflecting on that year in my life. About one minute per lap to think about what happened during that year. Then I texted the boy about the plan and said he could join in on lap 31 and run the rest of the way. Or Do 8 laps with me, and then 10 laps where he only does half a lap, and then he can take off. I told the wife she could join in at 41 and do the last 17 laps with me. I did not invite the ex to do laps 25-39 with me... Shockingly, the boy agreed to join in. And the wife said she would give it a try. So the plan was on. I went out about 10AM and walked to the end of the block and got started. It was just me going up and down my block. I picked a manhole cover to be my turnaround cone at one end (a dead-end), and the stop sign line on the other end. Only a few neighbors were out and they may have wondered why I kept going by, but didn't say anything. I cruised through my childhood... 5: Kindergarten... 6: 1st grade, OK not much to reflect on yet... 8: Spent a year in England while Dad was relocated. Got to travel in Europe. Go to English schools. Quite the adventure! 9: Back to Minnesota. Started liking girls... 11: Spent a year in Northern California. 12: Back to Minnesota again. Junior High. 13: Ran 8th grade cross country and launched an obsession. 15: Run all summer. First road race (5 miles, 34:30). Start high school. 16: First kiss 18: Graduate. First true love. First marathon. Go to Stanford. Set many PRs that still stand. Quite a year! 19: Discover alcohol and weed 22: Graduate and move to So Cal 23: The year of living dangerously. 24: The year of the crazy ex-girlfriend 25: Second true love. Get engaged. 26: Marriage So I'm running alone this whole time. The boy said he would come over but has yet to show. Wife still inside. The running is easy. The street is a little U-shaped so that there is a little down hill and up hill each direction. It's actually pretty nice. By the time you notice the uphill, you can turn around and cruise down. I get to 30 and take a little walk break hoping the boy shows up. Wife happens to come out so she checks on him and says he is on his way. So I keep going. 28: 2nd marathon 29: Buy a house 31: Have a baby! 32-36: Baby jogger years As I run 34 the boy shows up. He jumps out of the car and joins me. With bandanna. He's not in running shape, so I drop the pace a little and we jog and chat. Now the wife and dogs have come out to watch and she alerts the neighbors about the whole thing and soon I have people cheering us as we go by each lap. It's pretty fun actually. People need something to cheer for. I attached a video, but not sure if it works here. So I keep going. Not so much reflecting, but the laps roll on. 39: Divorce 40: Unemployment 41: Rebirth - A new job and true love #3. 43: Another wedding! The boy drops after two miles and cheers from the side. The wife runs a few laps with me. Or partial laps. The dogs are included. It's a party. The neighbors stay until the end. Because what else do they have to do? 47: Join the Loop and kickstart the 2nd major phase of my running career. 51:1st Boston 53: Layoff...er...Retirement! 57: 19th marathon The boy joins in for the last lap and I kick it in and drop a BP. Good fun. Later we celebrate with a Corona. Life is good. (see video link below) IMG_1131.MOV

I'm having those same thoughts. Every time I seem to be low on lung capacity it must be covid. And that is most days. But one good one makes up for a lot. Glad you had that good one!

Nice way to start the day.

Well, I told Dave I would do the Half, so I had to do it. My plan was to choose my flattest course - out and back at the beach - and see how close I could get to Atlanta's hilly 1:46:59 from 4 weeks ago. But then they shut the beaches down, including the walk and bike paths, so that was out. I didn't really want to do a virtual race in roads with all the stoplights and stuff. So the best option was to go up to Palos Verdes, where there are no stoplights and not many cars. Nice beautiful roads with sweeping ocean views. And lots of hills. I thought about switching to a 5K or 10K. But I wasn't feeling the speed lately, and I really needed the miles. So I stuck with it and committed to the hilly course. Dave posted a 1:52 time, or 8:35 pace, so I thought that looked like a pretty good goal to shoot for. I would try to average 8:30s with the downhills balancing the uphills. The day was sunny and cool, but warming up. Stupidly I dawdled and did not get started until almost 10:00AM. Temps were low 60s by the time I finished, which was pretty hot given all the sunshine. I carried no water or fuel. There was only one water fountain at the turnaround. I parked at the base of the hill, which is normally jammed with runners and bikers on weekend mornings. It was about 1/3 full with a few people hanging around and practicing social distancing. So, without any warmup, off I went. Mile 1 starts with 1/2 mile flat and down to get warmed up, and then a 200 foot hill for 3/4 mile. I ran comfortably and started up feeling OK. Treating it like a regular weekend long run for now. 9:06 In mile 2 I crested the first hill without dying too much and started a nice long downhill section. Lots of people were out walking and jogging, but in a good way. Parking lots near the coast were closed but people just parked in the streets. They were well spread out though. 8:31 and 8:06 for 2-3 had me near an 8:30 average and feeling like my plan was good. Miles 4-5 were 8:29 and 8:26 despite including a big hill. But I was feeling pretty tired. But it was a race, right, so about normal. Mile 6 was supposed to be a nice flattish trail along the coast, but I was surprised to see it closed as well. So that meant I had to add ANOTHER big hill, both ways. Did not improve my mood! My energy was flagging. 8:38 up and over that bastard. Now I looked forward to a drink at the turnaround. After another hill. Then I added a little bit extra to be sure I had enough mileage before stopping at a restroom for water and a pee. Yes, I stopped my watch for 2 and a half minutes, but I figured if it was a real race I would have drank on the run and skipped the bathroom. It was my only chance for water so I drank a lot. Caught my breath and headed back. Mile 7 was 8:27. That put me at 8:32 pace through 7. Right on track. But then it all went to hell. Another big hill had me hating life and gasping for air and feeling the legs get heavy. The nice downhill did not help as it should have and 8 was 8:45. Mile 9 started flat and I still couldn't get the pace down and I started wanting to quit. So, just like a real race! Then the steepest hill of the day approached - one that I often resort to walking up. I had no energy left so I accepted my fate and walked up it. I may not have been able to go any faster running anyway. Mile 9 was 10:16 and I knew I was not going to catch Dave. Mile ten was all downhill, but I was on survival legs and could only manage 8:21, and even then I really wanted to quit. I started re-evaluating goals. Certainly I could still do sub-two. Keep my average under 9:00. Let's see, that would be about 1:58. Did some math...Yeah, no problem. But you have to run. Mostly. At ten, I took another walk break even though it wasn't a hill. I just needed to catch my breath. Galloway became my new coach. 11-12 promised almost all uphill, but then 13 would be down, so I focused on just getting through 12. I did what my lungs allowed. I took two more short walk breaks, and got through 11-12 in 9:51 and 9:59. I was going to break 1:58 at least. The last downhill was nice. Pace dropped in to the 7's as gravity was my friend. A little uphill for the last 0.4 was not fun but I tried to keep up the best I could and finished gasping for air. 13 was 8:17 and I got to 13.1 in 1:56:03. 8:51 pace. The total elevation gain was 1,001 feet. A bit more than "hilly" Atlanta's 736. I was pretty wiped out and dehydrated and hungry, but happy with my effort. "Race-like" I'll call it. Good to have a challenge. But I think I'll be doing the 5K next month.