Every Race is an Adventure!

I came so close to not running today. When I awoke it was only 7°. The road conditions for running are still treacherous (not much better for driving). I really didn't want to run on the treadmill again. Karen told me it was okay and to just wait until Monday. I actually had the shower running and heated up, but I couldn't get in.

I have three goal areas for the new year: 1) better time management, 2) better money management, and 3) better health and fitness. I stayed up late last night, slept in this morning, ate some conveniently located chocolate covered raisins and nuts just after I got up, and then was about to skip my planned 5 mile run. It didn't seem like a good way to start the new year, so I turned off the hot shower, put on my running clothes, and headed to the treadmill in the garage/gameroom.

It was about 44° in the garage, comfortable for running. About 2.5 miles into the run I took off my knit gloves and outer long sleeve shirt. It's actually quite a blessing to have the milder temperature treadmill option so easily available during this unfriendly-to-runner weather and road conditions.

I ran the planned 5 miles, most of it at 8:34 pace (7mph), with some slower warm up and cool down at the beginning and end, and a half mile of 9:00 pace in the middle. I realized that easy pace for me doesn't include sub-9:00 pace...yet. The 8:34 pace felt a lot like a tempo run.

The good news is that I didn't feel any numbness in my feet. My right hip was pretty stiff and sore to begin with, but loosened up. I think it was aggravated by my first-time-in-a-long-time-and-probably-for-too-long-because-it-was-a-holiday basketball outing yesterday morning with my son and my old basketball buddies. I enjoyed it, and performed quite a bit better, than I expected. It was great. It may have convinced me to hold off my retirement from church basketball for another year.

After I finished my run I walked laps around the pool table to cool down. I noticed the dart board with 10 darts sticking in it. We got some new darts for Christmas, three identical sets of 3 darts each, and there was one old dart in the board with them.I grabbed the darts and stopped and threw one on each cool down lap around the pool table.  My experience led me to write the following parable this morning. It is factual, and describes quite accurately what really happened. I'm not much better at writing parables than I am at throwing darts, so don't expect too much:

The Parable of the Old Man and the Darts

An old man found himself alone in a game room. He noticed a dart board with ten darts.

As he collected the darts he noticed that nine of them were identical, new and in great condition. The tenth dart did not match the others; it was old and worn.

The old man stepped to the line. His goal was to hit as close to the bullseye as he could with each dart.

Without much thought he tossed the first dart. It hit within a few inches of the bullseye. He didn't have much experience throwing darts and was encouraged.

He threw a few more darts, each landing within a few inches of the bullseye. He pondered how he might improve his accuracy.

He focused on squaring up his body to the dart board and throwing from a steady position with a smooth cock and release. He hit a little closer.

He steadied his breathing as he threw. He hit a little closer.

He focused on lining up the throw horizontally with the bullseye. He hit a little closer, knocking the fins off one of the previous darts.

He focused on lining up the throw vertically with the bullseye, feeling the weight of the dart and judging the speed and trajectory required to hit the target at the height of the bullseye. The dart hit within the outer ring of the bullseye! He smiled at his success, but he had not yet hit the center of the bullseye.

The old man held the last dart in his hand. He had saved the old dart for last. It wasn't as shiny and new as the other nine, but it's shape, size, and weight seemed the same as the others. It reminded him a little of himself. He could still do much of what he could as a younger man, but he was beginning to see and feel the affects of age. Still, it seemed to him that his body, like the dart, was still in good enough condition to serve its purpose. With the added wisdom of experience, he wondered if this old dart may have even a better chance at hitting the center of the bullseye than the other nine.

He was confident as he steadied his body and his breathing, concentrated on his horizontal and vertical aim, judged the weight and required velocity of the dart, smoothly cocked his arm, then smoothly released the final dart toward its target. He anticipated the gentle thud of the dart hitting the center of the bullseye.

The dart hit high and to the left. It was inside the inner ring, barely, but farther from the bullseye than any of the previous throws.

He was a little disappointed, but not discouraged. He chuckled. Maybe it really is a little harder when you're older. He went on his way, feeling good. He had thrown all of the darts inside the inner ring, most of them grouped within a few inches, one close enough to knock the fins off another, and one had hit the bullseye, if only the outer edge.

With age comes the wisdom of knowing that happiness is found where the results of effort meet or exceed expectations. A key is the balance of knowing when to increase effort and when to lower expectations.

-- end of parable -- 

The parable is very applicable to my current running situation. 

I decided to skip the treadmill and try the roads this morning. Due to icy roads, cold weather, an extra stiff hip, and the fact that I'm in recovery mode, I ran at a very easy pace (about 11:00/mi) with the two main goals just getting up early and out on the roads again, and getting a little more time and distance on my recovering feet.

My feet felt good, but at the end of the 5.5 mile run I could tell my right foot had had enough for today. There was no pain or numbness, just enough of a message to remind me that I should continue to avoid doing too much too soon.

I can't remember for sure, but I think I ran 5.5 miles on the treadmill on this day.

I planned to run later in the day this day, but things got busy and it never happened. That's why early morning usually works best for me...not many unexpected scheduling conflicts occur at that time.

I've been trying to go T,Th,Sat during my recovery, but a colonoscopy scheduled for Wednesday, with a liquid diet and laxatives on Tuesday, I decided to run Monday instead of Tuesday. As I recall, it was cold, with a light dusting of snow. I just wandered around the side streets near my home trying to avoid icy spots. Average pace about 10:30/mi.

Colonoscopy screening today (because I'm 50). Found nothing. Good for another 10 years until the next screening.

I experienced some blurry vision this morning. I think it was a side effect of the Propofol anasthesia they used yesterday for my colonoscopy. My daughter Brittany kindly volunteered to drive the car pool. It cleared up soon enough for me to get Daylight Donuts for my son Andrew's birthday before I had to go to work.

Aside from the slower pace, and only 6 miles on a Saturday, it felt very much like "the good old days" of running today. Larry, Wayne, Kevin and I got out together with Ozzie and Dash (Larry and Kevin's dogs). I think Kevin is the only one who had gone 6 miles or longer in a long time. It was great being back with my running buddies. We all survived and plan to start running together again on T,Th,Sat as we all try to get back into the running groove.

Average pace: 10:14/mi 

With the holiday today, Larry, Kevin and I made it out for 4 easy miles this morning. The most exciting part was the dog fight near the Jr. High. We had spent much of the time up until then trying to get Dash to let Kevin put him on the leash. Ozzie is Dash's father and a seasoned runner who is rarely on a leash.

In front of the Jr. High we met a small woman with two very large and muscular Golder Retrievers (we found out they were brothers). It turns out one of them doesn't like Ozzie very much. They apparently had a violent encounter recently when Larry's wife Jolene was out running with Ozzie.

Ozzie, not being on a leash today, went up to greet the dogs. The one that doesn't like him apparently decided to try to eat him for breakfast. His brother joined in. The poor woman was helpless to stop these big strong dogs. Kevin wisely skirted the situation with Dash on the leash. Larry and I helped break things up, get Ozzie on his leash, and get the dogs back to the lady.

She was shaking, felt terrible and was very apologetic. Ozzie was apparently uninjured, so we chatted a bit and then went on our way.

I empathized with the shaken woman. Our golden retriever Skittles passed on last fall. I still miss her, but I don't miss the times when I took her running and she tried to eat small dogs (attached to their owners) as a mid-run snack. I had to body tackle her and lay on her more than once. Why can't we all just get along?

Only Wayne and I made it out this morning. His Achilles was bothering him a little so we took it easy and only went 4 miles. During the run we decided that rather than trying 6 miles on T/Th this week, we would switch to 4 miles everyday. I was planning to try to run everyday this week anyway, which I haven't done since before St. George last fall, and at this point 6 miles would have probably been too much too soon.

Average pace: 9:42/mi 

With the heavy wet snow this morning, I wasn't sure who would make it out, but I headed over to find out. I didn't see anyone. The Lindon route I was planning to run took me back past my house. An unexpected cold wind prompted me to stop for ear covering. Kevin drove up just as I got to my house. With the slushy, slippery roads, dropping off at the high school took him longer than planned. He headed home to get his dog and I got my muffs then went back to his house to meet him.

We ran the same 4 mile shortened Lindon loop Wayne and I ran yesterday. It was a little messy, but wasn't too bad. Because of the running back and forth I did before the run I ended up will a little more the 4 miles. Average pace was 9:13/mi, not really speedy, but about 0:30/mi faster than yesterday, 1:20/mi faster than Monday, and nearly 2:00/mi faster than some runs I've done this winter.

Three 4 mile runs in a row doesn't sound like much, but I'm encouraged. It's not the speed or distance but the direction of my training I'm encouraged about.

Monday I ran with Wayne, Kevin, and Larry. Tuesday I ran with Wayne. Wednesday I ran with Kevin, so today, of course, I ran with Larry. I ran the same shortened Lindon loop each day, just with a different buddy each day, with the other two not showing up. Each run was equally enjoyable, including today, but the paces were different (9:15/mi, 9:45/mi, 10:15/mi, in no particular order - you'll have match the pace to the partner).

It's interesting to me that I ran the exact same course on consecutive days, and no run felt any easier or harder than another, yet the paces were up to a minute per mile different. This reinforces in my mind what I have experienced many times, that, within certain pace ranges (slow to moderately fast tempo pace), it doesn't seem that much harder to run faster or much easier to run slower. The difference, in my experience, is related to focus, form, and efficiency. If I focus on my form, it helps me to run more efficiently, and I get more productivity from the same effort. I sometimes call it shifting gears. I find myself coasting along, with my mind drifting. When I mentally focus back on my form, and kick my turnover up a half gear, I can speed up 15-30 sec/mi or more with very little additional effort.

Experiencing the relationship between mind and body is an interesting venture.

To my amazement and pleasure, Larry, Wayne and Kevin all joined me for the run this morning. That's almost unheard of on a Friday morning. We varied the route from the one I ran with each of them during the week, but still went about 4 miles. Our group pace on Monday was 10:34/mi, today it was 10:00/mi. We're still slow, but headed back in the right direction...and longer, warmer, and sunnier days lie ahead.

Larry, Wayne and I headed up 2000 N intending to run on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail starting at the Dry Creek Canyon parking lot. After enduring the long climb, we hadn't gone far on the trail when we changed our minds and cut back across to the paved road we had climbed. The trail alternated between uneven frozen snow and mud. Neither surface was very appealing. We ended up winding through the hills of Lindon, climbing another big hill along the way. My watch showed 13 to 14 min/mi pace on the steep uphills.

It's been over 4 months since I've run this far, or run 6 days in a row. I'm encouraged. My feet felt great, as did most of the rest of me except for some pain in the muscles around my right hip. My cardiovascular fitness is down from recent years, but improving. Next week the plan is to wet, lather, rinse, repeat...maybe running just a little farther or a little faster on a day or two, weather and body permitting.

I'm trying to keep the "back to consistently running" ball rolling. Only Larry was out this morning. His stomach wasn't feeling quite right so we just ran 1/2 mile loops around the block to stay close to home. He made it a couple of miles, then ventured farther from home alone for another couple of miles.

Average pace: 10:00/mi. It was cold and my right hip was pretty stiff and sore again this morning. 

We had Larry, Wayne, and Kevin all out this morning. The temperature was 10 degrees warmer than yesterday (30 instead of 20). We ran the same shorter Lindon loop that we've been running lately. Average pace was 9:28/mi today. Aside from the "just won't go away"  right hip pain, I felt good this morning. About halfway through, on a downhill transition to a flat stretch, I decided to push the pace a little for a half mile. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my pace was 7:25/mi, and it didn't really feel that much harder. It gives me hope, but I plan to be patient.

Larry, his wife Jolene, and I ran the short Lindon loop. The roads were really icy so we tried the snow packed canal road. It was less slippery, but with the new snow hiding the treacherous ruts and uneven ice underneath, we opted to go back to the icy roads. Jolene's running buddy Keri fell a day or two before and hurt herself (hence Jolene running with us) so we prudently ran a slow and careful pace (about 11:00/mi). The company outweighed the poor conditions. It was a good run.

Larry, Kevin, and I ran the short Lindon loop. It's been our course of choice these past couple of weeks. With our decision to run later in the morning for a bit, our other routes have too much traffic.

We're still taking it easy as we build up our mileage (9:42/mi pace today), although Kevin is chomping at the bit to pick it up. Of course he's not 50+ like the rest of us. He's just a babe in his mid-40's.

Saturday we're planning to run at 5:30am, and then starting next Monday we're going back to our traditional 5:45am start time. It'll be hard to make the transition, but we can do hard things.

Karen and I attended the play "The Foreigner" at the Hale Center Theater Orem last night with Larry and Jolene. The playbill had information about the Hale Freezes Over 5K and 10K. I think I may have run it tomorrow if we didn't have a family conflict.

I knew I was in no shape to race a 10K, but I was curious about how I would do. So, as I started my run this morning, since no one else could make it and I was alone, I decided to run the normal (6 mile) Lindon loop and tack on an extra 0.2 miles and run my own 10K.

I was curious to see if I could hold good running form (good for me anyway) for that long without too much of a drop off at the end. It as much a test of my mental fitness as my cardiovascular and muscular fitness.

My mile splits were:  8:42, 9:04, 8:28, 9:25, 9:34, 9:14 and 8:17/mi for the last 0.2. I feel pretty good about how I did mentally. I maintained pretty consistent form and effort. You can pretty much tell where the uphill and downhill was by the changes in pace, although there was some slight slowing in the last couple of miles as fatigue set in.

A 56:06 10K. It's at least a couple of minutes per mile slower than past years, but it's way faster than walking...or limping...or rocking in a chair. I've got a few minor aches and pains, but overall I'm feeling pretty good. I think things are still headed in a good direction.

The old (aged and familiar) running gang seems to be getting back in the groove. Larry, Wayne, Kevin, and I all made it out at 5:30am this morning. It was cold and dark, but as I told Karen when she asked why I was up so early this morning, we're real men...we can do hard things.

It was actually quite enjoyable. It was nice having little to no traffic on the roads so I could run away from the edges of the road. I have a church basketball game with my young adult sons at 8:00am, and I pushed the pace some yesterday, so I just took it easy this morning (10:16/mi)

This makes two full weeks of running in a row. So far, so good.

I headed out into the cold alone this morning. About a mile out, my right foot suddenly started hurting. So much so that I stopped, walked carefully for a bit, and did some light stretching. It started feeling a little better, but rather than continue farther from home I turned around and headed back towards home. After 1/4 mile or so it was feeling fine so instead of continuing home I began to wander some of the streets west of my neighborhood. As I was heading north on 280 W I saw a dog that looked like Larry's dog Ozzie...then I saw Larry. He had come out about 20 minutes after me and decided to run the route backwards in hopes of meeting up with "us", which ended up just being me. We ran together for a bit but his GI tract was acting up so we headed home. This morning's run didn't go at all as planned, but I got my 4 miles in, got to talk to Larry for a while, and finished with no foot pain so it was all good.