1765 miles for the year, 123,943 Total in 58 + years.
331 miles to go for 200,000 km which is the next big "mile"stone. Other than that, Biggest 2025 target? My acceptance in the Marathon du Mont Blanc 23k in late June.
Looking forward to the Alps!
Happy New Year! Run on.
Two things jump out:
1) You can set goals anytime. It doesn't need to be January 1 for you (or me) to create the trajectory of where we're headed.
2) I've also read that it takes 21 days to form a new habit (we got that idea from Maxwell Maltz's book Psycho-Cybernetics). I've also read that it takes 90 days, 6 months, and that humans never change (that must have come from The Pessimists Guide to Life).
All of that leads me to beginning TODAY on my quest to make 2025 a fabulous year as well as maximize the next fifteen days as the launching pad. Most, if not all of the goals/habits, shared today are going to focus on running and health related areas of my life. I'm pretty sure most of you have little or no interest in my work goals, AND I strongly believe that if I take care of ME, the work will be fine.
First and foremost, I want to finish the Mont Blanc 23k before they pull me off the course. I have six and a half months to prepare and know what I need to do. Execution, then, becomes paramount.
This year I will end up with about 1760 miles (give or take 15-20). That's better than last year, but short of my 2000 miles needed to reflect "seriousness," something of a self imposed generalization. It's about 38.4 miles a week over the year to get there, but as I notice every year, consistency is the key to annual mileage. This year I probably had at least 2-3 very down months.
All of this hinges (pun intended) on my knee. I plan to see Dr. Romero late in January to chart out the strategy to whip this long annoying appendage. Many factors, I believe, will be involved.
Next, I need to be able to focus on the activities that I am great in the beginning, but terrible when it comes to consistency. Things like: strength training, the bike, yoga and stretching, core work, the sauna, and consistent use of other treatment platforms. Usually I create a vague plan for these without implementing specificity. So NOW, I will be placing these activities in my calendar. I like to say, "if it isn't in my calendar, it doesn't get done." Well, time to broaden the reach of that philosophy.
Finally, the weight. It looks like I will end the year with a net loss of about 28 pounds in 2024. In order to blaze Mont Blanc, I have at least another 28 to go. Obviously, that must also happen to maximize overall health anyway.
BY THE WAY...... ran two more races since the last post. A Denver Turkey Trot (not too bad) and the Colder Bolder (absolutely horrendous). Yeah, no comment except that both T Shirts were nice additions to my collection.
So with a fifteen day head start, I am juiced to dive in (juiced, but not illegally so). What about you?
Run on.
It took 20 minutes to track it all down, and most applicants received a NO, but finally the answer was: OUI! I'm in the Mont Blanc 23k at the end of June in 2025!!!
I've been trying to get in this thing for six years and each time missed out. This year, I adopted a new strategy: swing for the base hit. SO, instead of the 42km marathon, I entered the drawing for the 23k trek in the Alps.
Very exciting.
Other than that, what else is going on? Miles.
The seven weeks since the last offering of this blog has seen the following mileage totals: 41, 40, 38, 42, 45, 27 (took two days off that week) and 47. The goal is to continue gradually increasing the volume to where 45 is a low mileage week.
The KNEE? Well, it's not like it is magically been cured. There are basically two kinds of days: bad ones and decent ones. The biggest difference from a year ago is that the decent ones far outnumber the bad ones. The plan is to continue to shed pounds and eventually get to a point where I can try some things like gel injections. Just from the 30 pounds I've lost this year, I already see an improvement. 30 more and it should be even better.
Oh WAIT! He raced again????? Uh, yes "he"/me did. Shortly after my last post I ran the Indian Creek 5 mile trail race near Sedalia. While it was named a 5 mile, it was explained that it was actually a 5.7, and my watch said 5.96. So, whatever.
By this time I was firmly situated at the back of the pack. There might have been a family with little kids behind me and maybe someone else. The course was up the hill, downhill through the woods and back to the start line and then reversed. So on the way back, the almost two miles through the woods was pretty much all uphill, and what those people didn't know was that "I like me some uphill."
One by one I moved past the "I went out too fast" masses. At the top of the hill, after passing a younger couple, I did something I rarely do anymore, I opened it up a bit. It was fun!
Upon hitting the finish line, I discovered that I had passed a dozen or so fellow trail runners and had gapped the closest person by over a minute coming down. All in all, a nice morning in the mountains.
ALSO: Registered by the family for the Denver Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, and also have myself in the ColderBolder 5K in December. Then, we'll see. Maybe a trail/mountain race; something with elevation gain. There's going to be plenty in the Alps.
Mileage-wise almost at 1600 for the year and it looks like I'll see 1800 by New Years Eve. That's not too shabby considering that in the first three months I had, like, 320. So, nice recovery. Next year we'll try to get back to 2000.
On the whole, all is pretty okay. What about you?
Run on! OUI!
First and foremost, I have no recollection about the last time I participated in a "race." I suppose I could look it up but actually, I don't care. Mostly, I went to this one (The Boulderthon 5K) for the fun of being AT/IN a race. And lo and behold, it WAS fun.
This all begins back in June and July when my weekly mileage crept up to the forties and even three weeks over 50. This increase in fitness originated in two places: 1) better eating habits was causing (or at least supporting) weight loss, and 2) my knee, oddly, responded better to uphills and downhills but did not like the flats. In the end, I had dropped in a nice 13 week build up in mileage. Then, I got greedy.
I was in the Bay Area the week of July 15 got in a 9 mile effort in the Marin Headlands and followed the next day with a run that ended on a 1.6 mile steep uphill (to my Brother-in-Law John's house). Flight home was stiff and sore. Adding to that in the previous days were Bayou Gulch (all hills), The Palmer Trail Loop #16 in the Springs, and some others and BAM! Broken knee.
The cost was two weeks of barely running at all, plus another two weeks at 25-35 miles. But then, I got on the roll once again. Consistent mileage in the 40s with only the occasional sore day created optimism for the future (and optimism is always good). So, the "race."
The Boulderthon 5K was set in downtown Boulder starting and finishing on Pearl Street. The first mile plus (maybe 1.3) was a slight downhill. The rest of it minus the last .1 was a gradual UPhill. Everyone was sent off in waves and I tucked myself back into wave 11 with some walkers, stroller pushing people, and people like me who were just strolling without pushing anything other than their bodies. It was really the perfect place. Most everyone in our group went out too fast and that made for fun in the second half of the race picking them off one by one.
I had a three tiered goal setup. The C goal was to finish without any kind of knee incident. The B goals was to run under 42 minutes (roughly 13:30 ish). And the A goal was to break 40.
None of this is dazzling, even by my standards. My PR (long, long ago) is 15:09. My 45+ year old PR is 18:14. So, 40 minutes was not going to get me too excited. But it did.
40 minutes equals 12:52 pace ORRRRR a minute per mile faster than my pace for what I would consider a good training session. Most of my runs hover between 13:45 and 14:30. For now, I would take that. SO, I run/race.
Most of the way, I felt pretty good. I had one moment where I thought my knee was complaining but it barely lasted only 10-15 seconds. The rest of the time, I felt like I was moving pretty well. The finish, the last .1 was downhill, more downhill than the start (meaning a bit steeper). I worried about that a tad as I hit 10 minute pace there and wondered what my knee would think (it thought, yeah baby!).
Final time on my watch 40:01!
WHAT?????? 40:01? No way. Well, MAYBE the official/chip time would be 39:59. So, I waited...
all freakin' day.....
40:02. NOOOOOOOO!
That's okay. Still fun.
Look out baby!
Five awesome weeks were strung together: 41 miles, 47, 55, 51, 50. Then, I went to California. Now, I don't want to blame California solely for this, but as a Coloradan, I blame California for most things.
I arrived on Monday. The plan was to get in a good run that afternoon and a great one on Tuesday. I wasn't in the mood to run, I didn't really want to drive to any particular destination to seek out my fab-Monday run. And did I mention I wasn't really in the mood?
So, I ran from John's house. John is my Brother-in-law, and an all-around good guy except for one thing. He chose to live on the top of this hill in Benicia, CA. Not just any hill, by the way, a 1.6 mile hill that has three kick-ass steep sections. Nonetheless, off I went.
The downhill was annoying. The steepest parts actually hurt (definition of hurt being any amount of pain higher than I expected). Once at the bottom, I cross the road to enter Benicia State Park. I love this park. It winds around an inlet, has some hills on the backside, and is lined with eucalyptus trees near the entrance. Mmmmmmm, nice smells. Then, because there was no escape (although a ride was available if I'd make the call), it was time for the climb to John's..
If the story is truthfully told, it wasn't that bad. Were there times when I wanted to summon the chariot? Yes. Were there times when walking seemed like the best plan? Yes! AND were there times when I was absolutely, positively, sure that John had moved his house further up the hill? YES!!!!!
On one of the steeper sections, my wife Linda drove by and said, "Do you want a ride?"
"No, don't need one," I said.
"Are you sure? Will you make it?"
"Thanks, but I've GOT to do this." So, I did.
Frankly, the Muir Woods are beautifully divine. After about half the loop, I saw the "Trail Construction Ahead" sign and decided to turn it back around and make it an out and back. No problem, especially since "you can only go into the woods halfway, then you're coming out," anyway. All was good until I began the descent on the Coastal Trail.
First of all, parts were steep. Worse, however, was that mountain bikers had ridden on the trail after a thunderstorm and had created a BIG rut in the middle of the trail in many spots. These were a nightmare for an old guy with a vulnerable knee. Came close to falling several times as I dodged the ruts at a speed that bordered on out of control. Happily, I made it to the end.
I flew home that night (knee very stiff), ran a lame 5 miles the next morning (knee was very sore), and then took the next 10 days off as even walking was a challenge. The knee was swollen, very sore, and my nice little run had ended. As I expected, it made my sad, disappointed, and extremely cranky.
Today, is Tuesday. Sunday I mostly walked 4 miles. Yesterday, it was 4 miles of 50/50. Today, i ran (jogged) 95+% of a 5 miler. It seems to be coming back. That would be nice.
Unfortunately, this yo-yo knee thing doesn't really fix the problem and the problem is I have a pretty damaged knee.
So, for now, I take the Scarlet O'Hara approach: "I'll worry about that tomorrow."
Run on.
I call this a rare question because, for the most part, when you're as slow as I am no one cares about your running. It's boring. AND I have to confess that up until a few weeks ago, I didn't actually care about my running. I did it. I rarely missed a day. But it was without inspiration, without motivation.
What changed?
In all honesty, I don't know. I'm sure there is a multitude of factors including weight-loss, overall better health, clearing my mind to allow real, live me to come through, new shoes, a cool shirt..... who knows. And really, I don't care. I'm riding this baby for as long as I can.
It's been close to six months, like all of this year, that I have been highly motivated to get a more serious attitude about my running. Serious, mind you, does not mean fast. Serious means motivated, serious means committed. In his book, Marty Liquori's Guide For the Elite Runner, Marty wrote, "A commitment to serious Training (I substitute running) means that no matter what else you are in this world - doctor, lawyer, Indian Chief - first of all you are a runner." Marty, I'm in.
When something has been a HUGE part of your (my) identity for close to 58 years, it's very difficult to feel like you (I) should when that thing you do isn't being prioritized. I've been lost for a while now, and to be honest, maybe ten years. Sad, but probably true.
I'm thinking this time back will stick, even though it's really tough to know the future. I'm thinking that this, at 72 years old, might be the last shot to make this a "serious" thing.
Keep in mind, when I say serious, I am referring to the commitment. I have no aspirations of being even remotely semi fast (even for my age). That whole thing of measuring me by how I stack up against someone else left AGES ago. And I'm so blessed that it did. I'm my judge, I'm my jury, I'm my standard. Just the way it should have always been. WAY too many things in life are ruined when keeping up with the Jones' or when the standard is someone else.
Maybe, just maybe, my running has reentered the zen stage (not like Kipchoge Zen). It was there for a long time and then departed that fateful day many moons ago when my knee buckled and running was never the same.
So, my knee is healed? Hardly.
About two weeks ago, there was a shift on the pain scale. Normally the consistent spot on that ten scale was 6-7, sometimes a little lower or higher. Now, it's mostly a 3-4 with the occasional 2. I can take that. And some days, like today, I sat in the 2-3 range until around 4 1/2 miles and then we shot up to 8-9. I backed off, adjusted my foot strike, said some nice words to anyone in the vicinity, and brought it back to 3.
There is so much more to write about this, so much more to say about looking in the mirror and accepting and LIKING the person looking back. All that, for another time.
So, "How's my running coming?"
It's coming along nicely. Thanks for asking. By the way, the funky shirt in the picture was a Christmas gift that I could not even put on on Christmas Eve.
Run on.
At the close of 2023, I wrote this: "I want to simply feel better: less vulnerable, less fragile. Someday this running thing will end, but not in 2024, and not voluntarily." Luckily, 2024 has gotten gradually, very gradually, better. The weight loss thing is going fairly well (17 pounds so far - still 30+ to go). I'm hoping to have that weight thing accomplished by end of September. We'll see. In my case, lighter is better.
The running part of it has improved as well. I am currently at 690 miles for the year, and probably, unless something drastically changes, will see me around 1700 for the year. Running, of course, can often be somewhat controlled by the condition of my knee.
January, February, and early March were fairly good from a mileage perspective averaging around 35 miles a week. Late March into April was extremely lame as injury, busy-ness, and apathy hit for three weeks. Logged only 13 miles in those. As I write this, my career total is creeping upward, currently at 122,868. While 123,000 is in the near future, the next landmark is 124, 274.2 ORRRRRR 200,000 kilometers.
Here's what I've noticed: it hurts less and feels considerably more stable. At the same time, it requires constant attention to avoid sprains, twists, pops, buckles, and anything else unsavory. My focus is to get out of slog mode. The slog mode is where it feels more like I am shuffling along as opposed to propelling myself forward. Actually, the intentional forward movement doesn't feel any worse, I've just spent so long slogging around that is more of a mental shift, a discipline thing, than a physical thing. Hopefully the more I work at it, the more natural it will become.
Still working on incorporating the strength and core stuff as well as dusting the cobwebs off my bike. This is the best time of the year to become habitual on those extra goodies as I am in the slow time for work and traveling.
Have set some goals. The first one was the 8 mile trail race at the Greenland Open Space. Unfortunately I missed that one BUT went there Monday and got in the 8 myself. As for the other goals, we'll lay them on the back burner for now.
All in all, life is good (as the t-shirt says). Run on.
For the most part, I struggled to get in any amount of mileage with any sense of consistent motion. Early in the year was gimpy time, and the end of the year was the same. In between, it was a matter of slow going, but going nonetheless. Between mid-May and the end of September I averaged about 40-45 miles a week. I did cross the 121,000 and 122,000 mile thresholds during the year, so that's always good.
With two more days to run, I will end up with 1610 miles, give or take a mile or two. That's not the worst year of my adult life, but certainly does not meet the 2000 mile standard for a "serious" running year. The year was/is split pretty evenly at 746 and 874. It could have been significantly better, but the last 7 weeks have been a mileage disaster. Oh well.....
Only a single "race" this year. I did the 4 mile Greenland Trail Run. I was supposed to run the 8 mile, but a bad step mishap two days prior, required dropping down to the shorter distance.
Will end the year with 12 pounds of net weight loss. Now, don't get me wrong, that's a good thing. It's just far short of the goal. SO...... I'll do what any red-blooded American would do and move the goal into this next year.
Well, what about the coming year? Well, I hope to drop enough weight to make the running easier than it is presently. With apologies to all of the weight alarmists, lighter, in most every case, is better. So that will be priority #1. Miles? Well, I'd like to get back over 2000. In fact, if I could get to just a hair over 2100, I would hit another major lifetime goal: 200,000 kilometers. We'll see.
I'd like to ride my bike more, cross train more (yoga, pilates, riding, strength training), not to mention more vertical. I had applied for the Mont Blanc Marathon as a means of motivating myself to hit the mountains, but alas, was rejected (maybe old age discrimination - maybe Anti-American bias - maybe unlucky). I have some other wishes for the year. We'll save those for another time.
Mostly, I want to simply feel better: less vulnerable, less fragile. Someday this running thing will end, but not in 2024, and not voluntarily.
Thanks. Run on.
According to askwonder.com, about 621 million people in the world run. That's roughly 9% of the earth's population. And all we get is a DAY??? A day is like 1/3rd of 1% of a year. And all we get is a DAY???? Rip off. Moving on.
My own running has had it's ups and downs since we last visited in April. Early May was great, in fact I ran in the Greenland Trail Race in early May. Slow but steady. In fact the first mile and a half which was moderately flat was the worst part. I could barely breathe. Once we made the big turn up the big hill, big differences began. I've mentioned before that my crappy knee seems to like going uphill more than flat, well, it was on the uphill that I finally felt okay. Weird. I tried to blame the altitude, but we were at 6200 feet and I live at 6200 feet.
Post Greenland, my motivation dropped a bit as did the condition of the previously mentioned knee, as did my mileage for a couple of weeks. BUT, it's coming back a bit. 38 last week, about 43 or so this week. I like the longer light and warmer temps (although it is still CHILLY at night and early morning. And the RAIN!!!!! For the last decade, I have been positive that I was somehow transplanted from Colorado to what I will unlovingly call Eastern California. NOW, someone has stuck Seattle in the mix. Seattle, CA.......
On the Grandson front, Mason finished his "junior" year at Colorado State University with a 10,000 meter Mountain Conference Championship. He took the lead from a lagging group with 10 laps to go and gradually tightened the screws, getting rid of everyone but Ryan Johnson from the Air Force Academy, and teammate Lars Mitchell with a lap to go. Then Mason dropped a 57.6 last lap to get the win. Too much fun.
On the "by the way" addition, his 28:38 at the Stanford Invitational qualified him for the NCAA Regional Championships as well as placing him 3rd on the All-Time CSU 10K list. A good year.
Ryan, my son and his wife Sarah ran the Bolder Boulder together. Sarah's first time. Ryan's first time in a long time.
So that's it. Coming up on the halfway point of the year and will probably land at about 830 miles or so. Then we'll see how the back half goes.
Run on.
 |
| Tiger Ohbori |
Was on a run this morning listening to a podcast about shoe technology and it got me wondering....... What would my PRs be in today's super shoes?
But wait, first let's catch up. Since my last post and my optimistic return from the ortho Doc, I have slowly gotten back into some running (jogging). The main goal was/is to build slowly, lose some weight, and then explore the world of gel injections for my knee and running without as much discomfort. The 6 weeks since then have logged 23, 31, 34, 39, 36, 36 miles. An 8 mile run yesterday at Waterton Canyon felt really good and is catapulting me to this weeks 40+ mile goal. The last time I ran 40 miles in a week was May of last year. Yikes.
I've registered for three "races," mostly just for the fun. One, however, is a biggie. Maybe more on that another time.
So, shoes...... My first marathon was in 1973. I ran 2:58:24. I died like a dog. Today with a 4% super shoe discount (I wore Tiger Ohbori's at the time - very light and nothing to them), my time might be 2:51:12. Oh, that's better, but let's dig deeper. I ran this time in Gainesville, FL and at the finish the temperature was just a tick under 80, WITH Florida humidity. So, let's knock off another, what, 5 minutes, maybe 10? Then let's factor in bad coaching. The week before my race, I was placed in the Motor City Marathon with the intent to race 20 miles as a test for the marathon. The result was a 1:50:05, 5:30 per mile average, and I felt great when literally pulled off the course by my coaches. I'm assuming I could have held the pace through the end, but let's say I dropped to 5:45. I'm still finishing around 2:26 or so. Instead I pass through 20 in Florida in 2:09 going backwards (BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP). So, I don't know, I think I'm getting hosed here.
NEXT...... my 3:10:33 as a fabulous 49 1/2 year old. Well, first the weather was good, no adjustment there. I ran a negative split, so no stupidity adjustment there. But the shoes, yes the shoes. I get 4% (that's what Nike says). So I'm in as a 3:02:59. I'll take it. Can we update that, please?
You know what, let's do them all..... 5K, 10K Half Marathon......
Nah, never mind. Where can I buy some shoes? and a knee.....
Run On!
So, he had an X-ray taken and found that all is well in the foot world. Just keep adding movement steadily and expect occasional flair up issues for up to 4-6 months. It'll heal completely slowly.
Then, I bravely asked, “can we talk about my knee?” It had been briefly discussed four weeks ago, but mostly tabled for the future.
The last time anyone medical said anything decent about my knee, it was 2015. Today, that changed.
We began reviewing my knee history, quickly made it to the micro fracture surgery that never happened because, as the Doctor (who will remain nameless) said at the time, “WAY too much arthritis in there to do that.” So, she scoped around, charged me a bundle and it hurt within 8 months.
A few years later came the ortho surgeon guys (who will also remain nameless) in Denver. “There’s a lot of arthritis in there. The best thing you could do is get it replaced.” We actually scheduled that little "procedure" twice, first time cancelled by me, second time by COVID. And I should make this clear: I was NEVER comfortable with the idea of a replaced knee.
Dr Romero then asked, have you had an X-ray lately? Uh, nope. So, he poked and prodded, twisted and played, then sent me off to x-ray. In the end, here is what we discovered today: the italicized stuff is from his notes:
“Examination of the left knee demonstrates that the patient's skin is intact. There is no significant soft tissue swelling or edema. There is negative patellar grind. There is range of motion from 0-125. There is tenderness to palpation peripatellar medially. There is a ligamentously stable knee and a grossly normal neurologic and vascular examination distally.
Other than my range being off, supposed to be 0-135, all of that stuff is pretty “normal.”
Then came the biggie: The patient's left knee he has underlying moderate grade osteoarthritis greatest in the medial compartment. Today we discussed multiple different modalities to help him continue running. We discussed the option of having an off loader brace utilized. He has expressing some interest in this but is not ready to commit. We also discussed the option of viscosupplementation (gel injections) versus PRP. He would like to wait until he is closer to returning to running after rehabbing his ankle before he makes a decision on injection therapy.”
SOOOOO…… he said that the surgeons I had visited were mostly interested in doing what most surgeons are interested in doing which is surgery. He thought a strength program, along with weight loss (duh?), and then trying the gel injections might lead to a return to pain free running. The early key: cycling. He said it’s the quickest way to build strength in the knee, increase circulation, and help with range of motion. So set up that bike trainer!
I have spent the last, almost, decade, being without any concrete hope. Today, I have some.
Hope is good.
Run on, maybe?
6 miles on the East/West Trail today. Cold and Windy! It is/was the last run of the year. 2024? Not a good first quarter of the year but a d...
