Where Am I Supposed to Be?

Where am I supposed to be right now? Olympic Trials in the new Hayward Field.

Why am I not there? Politics.

More on that later, or maybe not.

So I have had some good weeks of running of late. 52 miles, 54 miles, 55 miles, and on my way to about 55 this week. I appear to be getting somewhat fitter. Now, "fit" is a relative term. As my average mile creeps down below 14 a mile (yeah, baby, look out!), it is clear that I am not "fit" on anyone else's scale other than mine. BUT, as all we have is our own experiences anyway, so I'm going with that.

In another two days I will cross the 1200 mile barrier and that is more miles than I ran in all of 2019. All in all, I have very few complaints. Yeah, my knee is still bothersome, and any over-striding whatsoever can lead to my knee popping (not a good thing). But I've come a long way when it comes to my form and foot strike, and that's a good thing. The other good thing is that I run so slowly that others running type injuries are pretty non-existent. The plan is to get that pesky left knee replaced right after Thanksgiving.

So back to the aforementioned Olympic Trials. The plan was to go. We had SOOOO much fun at the 2016 Trials that we could not wait to head back. And then this Virus thing hit. 

And so far, it would have been great to witness LIVE. It is, nonetheless, still fun on television.

Loved watching the  Men's 10K and seeing CU grad Joe Klecker make the team. FABulous women's 1500 and 5000 meter races (nice job Niwot CO girl, Elise Cranny, and one of my fave runners, Rachel Schneider), and more to come.

The thing you have to love about the Olympic Trials in the USA is that you race, and the top three go to the Olympics (with a few exceptions - but we won't go into Olympic Qualifying marks here). That makes it exciting, AND keeps the politicking out of it (many other countries have committees decide who goes and who stays home).

And speaking of politicking and politics..... well, never mind.

Run on.

Running Bucket List? Yeah, I've Still Got One.

June has arrived and the weather has made a change to FABULOUS. Moisture and chilly was much of May (sounded like Yoda said that), but the wait for Spring/Summer is finally over. Obviously, this had made morning running a much more comfortable happening.

I ended May at 989 miles. Considering I barely passed 1100 back in 2019, I consider this pretty awesome. I also (and if I were even a bit superstitious, I wouldn't write the following words), have yet to miss a day in 2021. In fact, my last day-off was October 12 of last year and that was after 165 days in a row. Hmmm, not bad, I guess.

As the weather gets nicer and race juices begin to flow, my mind is wandering to things I'd like to do once this knee thing is in the rear view mirror. And by the way, I'm 80% sure I'll have this pesky left knee replaced, and if it is, I'm thinking early December.

So, here is the quick top 12 of what's left on this old man's running bucket docket.

12. Nine more marathons. Don't care how fast, just want to end up with 26 finished marathons in my time as a runner. I wasted lots of prime years before they were cool, and who knows where I'd be if I'd made different choices (HA! we all could go there, but let's not). Nonetheless, at 17 now, let's get more.

11. I would love it if two of those marathons were New York and Chicago. I've run New York three times (1993, 94, 98), but one more would be nice. And Chicago, well, I made it to 9 miles back in 2019, so I have to make it to the end. Boston? Eh, too tough to qualify and been there, done that without much motivation to return.

10. I want to run some track races. 5K, 10K, don't care, maybe even a mile. It would just be fun (maybe I'll invest in some "cheater" spikes).

9. a 50K and a 50 miler. And let's add Rob Krar's running camp to the ultra mix.

8. Pikes Peak, either the real live race or just on my own. My last up and down journey on Pike's Peak was in 1979.

7. To run either The Mount Blanc marathon or one of the UTMB series. I got accepted to the Mt Blanc for 2019 but that was NOT a year when that was going to happen.

6. Grand Canyon Rim to Rim. This is a biggie and maybe one of the most important runs on this list.

5. Marathons in Rome and/or London.

4. To run in Kenya

3. To get to 200,000 kilometers. That's 124,274.3 miles. So only about 7000 to go. Than, we'll see

2. To run without the extra-curricular pain. There will always be issues running. I would just love to get to that spot where I'm not constantly nursing some knee thing and able to no have every old lady on the trail passing me.

1. To run until I no longer can. Running has given me so much in this life, I can't imagine being on the planet and not partaking (that's the only reason I'd even consider letting someone stick metal, or whatever it'll be, in my knee).

There you have it. My list, subject to revision, especially addition, at any time. What's on yours?

Run on.