Tagged

Someone tagged me a while back and it seems like an interesting project.

1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago?
   Ten years ago my knees would hurt after just a short run, and I thought that running was out of the question. Then six years ago I lost 40 pounds in Weight Watchers, started by walk/running, and my knees responded by toughening themselves up.


2. What is your best and worst run/race experience?
   I have no worsts and four bests, all of them marathons:
   • Grandma's Marathon 2006. I was born and raised in Duluth, and in 2006 I came home and won my age group. A very good day.
   • Moose Mountain Marathon. I've run this twice, both times finishing the difficult trail in pitifully slow times. But the trail is so incredibly beautiful that I don't care about my time. Much. I might run it again this year.
     
   • Avenue of the Giants Marathon. Almost all of the 26.2 miles are on gently rolling blacktop roads which wind among the enormous and incredibly beautiful redwoods of northern California. It's the tallest shade I've ever run in :-)
   • New York City Marathon. What can you say - there is no other place like New York. Great organization, spectators, volunteers, everything. They get it right. The hills aren't bad, and they're called bridges.
3. Why do you run?
   Because I like the feeling of scooting across the landscape; because I love how I feel afterward; because I'm a competitive old SOB and like to race even when I don't win (but winning is better); because it's something that we three do together; because I like what running does for the shape of my body; because I REALLY like what running does for my overall health and thus my ability to combat the cancer.


4. What is the best or worst piece of advice you've been given about running?
   Coach Tony once advised me not to let more than 48 hours pass between runs, because the muscles may begin to freeze up or even atrophy after that time. I don't know the truth of this, actually, but the 48-hour limit has more than once prompted me to lace up the shoes when I otherwise might not have. It's been a guiding principle, along with at least one or two rest days per week. Thanks Tony.


5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.
   I love to travel by train, especially Amtrak or ViaRail in a sleeper. If I won the lottery I'd hop the train with my sweeties, traveling every Amtrak & ViaRail route, and not get off for a month except every other day just long enough for a run. Maybe someday I should buy a lottery ticket.

Consider yourself tagged, if you like.


Sunday, June 15:

The purpose of this run, besides enjoying how it feels, was to let my legs know that they can’t afford to go soft on me. Not training so much as holding whatever conditioning they have, treading water as it were. That’s the mode I’m in right now during the taper. 3.3 miles in 28:45, pace 8:43. This was a hilly course in warm, sunny 68-degree conditions, and I had hoped to hold the pace down to 9:30, but alas no such luck.

I really will need to run with a pace team in the marathon. I tend to get bored doing that, and inevitably end up motoring down some slope out ahead of the team and losing them, sometimes to stay ahead but often to watch them pass me later when there is little I can do about it. This time I’ll try harder to hold it down and conserve energy at least until the last six miles. That’s when the real race begins.



Breakfast: Glutenfree oatmeal with organic flame raisins and dried cranberries, banana, blueberries, cantaloupe, organic walnuts, organic plum, lowfat organic milk, organic pomegranate juice.


Dinner: Free-range bison pot roast, organic parsnips, kiwi, organic pomegranate juice