Just a Little Faster

Yesterday we visited our favorite indoor track, where I walked three miles as fast as I could, no running. I forgot to bring my watch, so I don't know how fast that was. No significant pain in my left knee.

Today I did bring my watch, and logged the best times for three miles in recent history, 14:33, 14:17, 14:09, total 42:59. I'm plenty happy with the times, especially with the increase in speed as the miles went by. Again no significant knee pain. It's a good head start on 2020.

Don't you like that year - 2020?   2019 always seemed awkward, but twenty twenty just sort of trips off the tongue, or the keyboard.

Have a wonderful Christmas season and a safe and happy 2020.

Don

Mostly Walking

I have a new item on my bucket list - I'd like to run/walk the Moose Mountain Marathon near Lutsen, MN, for my 101st marathon. When people ask about my favorite marathon I say there are three: (1) The New York City Marathon (millions of cheering spectators); (2) the Avenue of the Giants Marathon (no spectators but the silent and stunning redwoods); and (3) the Moose Mountain Marathon, with its incredible array of north woods forests, hills, and vistas. I grew up near there and the Superior Hiking Trail engages my heart.

I've done the Moose Mountain Marathon twice, but others have discovered it now and it's so popular that registration has become a lottery. According to the web site, "the number of applications for the [marathon] has grown exponentially each year," so I'm not at all certain of being selected. One can only hope. I don't have a fallback plan.

After finishing 100 marathons in 2016 I switched to sprints, running in the State and National Senior Games at distances from 200m to 1500m. That was fun, I love to let it all out on the track, but it may have been a mistake because I injured the meniscus in my left knee during training. Now I believe that I will need some sort of surgery to be able to run very far again, and I'm not anxious for surgery. But I can still walk, pretty fast too, and I think that I can walk 26 miles. I'll find that out as I build the training for a marathon.

Mall of America Indoor Theme Park

For right now we three are running and walking at indoor tracks and walking at local stores and malls. We do something almost every day. Yesterday we visited the Mall of America for a couple of hours, exploring the complete loop on each of the three levels. We did a little shopping, too, it being Christmas  season and all, but we certainly traversed enough distance to make the walking worthwhile.

The day before that we went to our favorite indoor track, where I go just as fast as I can walk. 9 laps make a mile, according to the signs, and I think that's pretty close, so the miles are easy to measure. My times for 3 miles were 14:56, 14:42, and 14:12. I got faster as the miles rolled by, and I like that. This was the fastest three miles I've done on that track so far this winter - next I'll probably extend the distance while trying to maintain the speed.

St Croix Crossing 5K

We three all ran in the St Croix Crossing 5k in Stillwater, MN, last Saturday.  No big hurry - I'm still nursing a bum left knee, so I just kept up with Ardis and Sarah, mostly walking. I did coast out ahead in the last mile, finishing in 50:12, nothing to brag about but the knee felt good all the way. I'm still running and still happy.

On the St Croix Crossing Bridge at Bayport, MN