Sore Muscles

My quads are sore from Sunday. That’s a good thing, because it means that those muscles are learning a lesson about speed. But it also meant that today’s run should be a recovery run. Now I don’t really know what “recovery run” means except that I probably shouldn’t push those muscles very hard or run too far. So the rule for today was to run six miles at a pace SLOWER than nine-minute miles. I almost made it - the last mile was one second too fast. Tsk.

Splits: 9:42, 9:02, 9:01, 9:04, 9:03, 8:59, total 54:50, pace 9:08. I’ll take it. Muscles feel better than they did before the run.

This morning's post-run brunch. Pears are a Christmas gift from our West Coast son, delivered through Harry & David. We found two different brands of organic kefir at Fresh & Natural on north Lexington. That's the white stuff. The Christmas cookie is gluten-free, of couse.

Indoor Track Racing

Indoor Track Races by Charities Challenge at Bethel University, Snelling at I-694. We enjoy these events and wish there were more than five per year. Two have gone by now, including this one, with three left in January and February 2010. We missed the first one because we were in New Orleans, but glad we made this one. The deal is that you pay a single fee for running the first step, and then you can run to your hearts content (being careful not to be in the way of racers) and you can enter any number of the events.

Today there were races for 60 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, one mile, and 1-mile race-walk. Most of those races had more than one heat, and if so, you can enter multiple heats if you’re a glutton for punishment. One guy who did that says "train by racing!" Indeed.

There is a good spirit in that place. People are very, very supportive and there are plenty of spectators. Todays racers ranged in age from 5 to 71, including some of the best runners in Minnesota. I mostly just ran around the track today, both directions to reduce the annoyance on my adductors, but I did run the 200 m in 39 seconds, four or five seconds longer than my best time in 2007. I also ran an untimed 60 m dash by myself, just to see how it felt. Felt good!

Otherwise, 8 miles of running, not all at once but also not including any walking or racing. Most of that was at a pace of 9:15 or so I think. It’s a masterpiece!


Breakfast with a Christmas theme.  Indeed there is oatmeal under there.  The milk is actually organic kefir.

Brooks Launch & Nike LunarGlide Shoe Review

Three shoe models: (1) Brooks Burn III (discontinued model), (2) Brooks Launch, and Nike LunarGlide. I’ve purchased 21 pairs of Brooks Burn shoes over the years (they really ought to make me a tester and give me shoes), and now I’m looking for a replacement. Brooks says the Launch is their replacement, and I've had very good luck with Brooks, but I’d sort of prefer to find a Nike model instead because my son works at Nike. I don’t really know if the LunarGlide is an appropriate alternative to the Launch, but I was baffled by the overchoice on the Nike web site and finally settled on that one. I am a neutral runner, a midfoot striker with an efficient stride. My feet are average width, size 11 to 12 depending on the shoe. I want a light but cushioned shoe for both training and road racing, up to marathon distances.

Brooks Launch:
Men’s size 12, weight 22 ounces per pair, 11 ounces each. Sole curved upward beginning behind the ball of the foot, toe curved up significantly, heel curved up only slightly. The sole is flat from the arch all the way back through most of the heel. By contrast, the sole of the Burn is curved throughout, and the Burn has a "lateral arch lug" on the outside of the arch, not present in the Launch, though the heel of the Launch does come farther forward than the heel of the Burn. The tread has lots of narrow grooves which will pick up sand and small rocks.

Here is what Brooks says about it: "With an incredibly flexible outsole and seamless transition, this lightweight neutral trainer will get you from start to finish, whether for a tempo run or in a race. Add to that the lower-profile midsole and minimal upper, and it's 3, 2, 1 . . . blast off! Weight: 9.3 oz" Helpful, isn’t it? Marketing hype is so impotent when it replaces actual information.

The Launch is listed on Brooks’ web site under "neutral" and under "competition" shoes. List $90.00. I paid about $80. Made in China.

Nike LunarGlide:
Men’s size 12, weight 26 ounces per pair, 13 ounces each. Sole even flatter than the Launch, toe curved up less than the Launch, heel curved up only slightly. It does seem to have a structure similar to the Burn’s lateral arch lug, though the Nike web site doesn’t mention it. The tread is a bit more aggressive than that of the Launch, but with deep groves to pick up larger rocks and some small grooves to pick up sand.

Here is what Nike says about it: Boasting ultra-light, ultra-strong Flywire and the next generation of LunarLite system technology, the men’s LunarGlide+ combines a soft core within a firmer carrier to achieve a previously unattainable blend of cushioning and response from heel to toe." Equally helpful.

The LunarGlide is listed on Nike’s web site under "cushioned" shoes and under "stability" shoes. List $100.00. I got them at an unusual price of about $60. Brand new, though. Made in Vietnam.

I ran ten laps on an indoor track with my last pair of Burns to get warmed up, then ten with the LunarGlide shoes, then ten with the Launch, then LunarGlide again, then Launch again. Both pairs of shoes were perfectly comfortable and well-cushioned, fitting properly in the heel, arch, and toe box. Both felt smooth, with no hitches between footfall and toe-off. I felt no noticeable knee or hip twinges during any of the runs. The Burns were the quietest, the Launch next, and the LunarGlide last. The LunarGlide shoes were pretty noisy, in fact. Note that the noisiness seems to correspond to the flatness of the sole.

I’ve always assumed that the slap-slap sound indicated an inefficiency of some sort. Doesn’t it take energy to make sound? Truth be told, though, the LunarGlide shoes seemed to be as efficient as the Launch. I was surprised when I laced up the LunarGlide shoes for the first time and slapped through the first two laps nine seconds quicker (total) than I had averaged during the warmup in the Burns.

I tried to run with the same "perceived effort" throughout, resulting in a pace of 9:03 min/mi for the warmup laps (always slower), then an average of about 8:23 for the rest of the test. Perceived effort is iffy, of course. The result does not show a clear advantage in speed versus effort for either the Launch or the LunarGlide, no surprise. I’d be happy to run a race in either.

The LunarGlide shoes did, unaccountably, seem to want to propel me forward. Nike’s web site mentions "men's-specific flex grooves to encourage an efficient stride." I don’t know what that means, but if you already have an efficient stride, does that help make you more efficient, or does it just encourage you to run a little harder? I couldn’t tell in this short test. I'll try both pairs on the road - neither is going back to the seller.

Good stuff:

• Both pairs of shoes fit nicely and felt good.
• Both seemed as efficient as my old beloved Burns.
• The LunarGlide shoes have "Nike+" monitoring technology, if you care. I don’t.

Complaints:

• The LunarGlide shoes are too noisy. I really don’t like that.
• Both shoes have treads that will pick up rocks and sand. We mostly run on roads and trails, not tracks, and these shoes will drop sand & gravel in the house and, what's worse, into each other. Why don’t shoe manufacturers get that?
• The Launch is not quite a direct Burn replacement because (a) It has no lateral arch lug, and (b) The sole is flatter. I don't think it's made for a midfoot striker, as the Burn was.

Despite the drawbacks, I haven’t found anything better yet. I may end up settling on one of these, without a lot of enthusiasm. But road testing is yet to come. Perhaps these will seem better with some road miles on them.

Splits for ten laps (0.74 miles): Burn 6:41, LunarGlide 6:10, Launch 6:20, LunarGlide 6:13, Launch 6:07.

Two More 6-Mile Runs

Sunday, March 1:

Bethel University Indoor Running Track, six miles at about a 9-minute pace. Good enough considering that I ran Saturday too. And the distance is approximate - I ran the outside lane of the track, which is about seven laps per mile. Further, I do think that the rubber track takes away more energy than it gives back. For pure running efficiency I prefer a less-padded surface, like the one at the North St Paul Community Center, or even just an asphalt road. Anyway I’m happy and it’s a masterpiece!

Gary of Charities Challenge sent out an email Sunday morning, taking pity on his friends who might otherwise have to run in sub-zero weather, and inviting us to come run at Bethel. We left the house within ten minutes of opening that email. We all like to run there.

Splits: 9:05, 8:48, 9:01, 9:08, 9:10, total 45:13 for five miles, plus an untimed mile. Pace 9:03 for the timed miles. About.


Saturday, February 28:

I should probably run five miles next time, or seven, just to mix things up. :-) Nine degrees below zero this morning, with loose snow on top of the ice, I ran with my sweeties at the club instead of the Saturday morning St Croix Valley Runners.

Splits: 8:51, 8:41, 8:44, 9:00, 8:56, 8:52, total 53:03, pace 8:51. I ran low on energy and had to push a bit in the last two miles, but some days are like that.

The Brooks Ghost shoes are officially retired now, with 244 miles on them. They were OK but not as good as the discontinued Burns. Also I didn’t size them up another half size as I should have, so they’re a little short. Now I have just two pairs of Burns left, one with 237 miles on them and a "new" (used) pair bought from eBay. That pair looks almost unused, and they’re washed up and ready to be my race shoes, while I finish running 300 training miles (my max) on the pair that now has 237. Then I’ll move into the Brooks Summons as the race shoes and demote that last pair of Burns to training shoes.



Dinner: Roast no-hormone no-antibiotic pork, organic rutabagas, organic sweet potatoes, organic parsnips, organic catsup, organic black pepper, sea salt. Consumed with a delightful oatmeal stout.

Rochester Athletic Club

My monthly Mayo visit was today and I had several hours between appointments, so I visited the Rochester Athletic Club (RAC) to run on their indoor track. Fifteen dollars for a day pass gets you full access to the facilities with shower, towel, shampoo, and deodorant to boot.

I meant to run six miles. But now as I look at my watch I see times for eight miles on it, with a total time which is correct for eight miles. Dunno how that happened, but I’m sure I ran eight and not six. Huh. Well, if I’m losing my mind, let it go toward MORE miles and not fewer.

The track at RAC makes me more appreciative of the track in the North St Paul Community Center. The RAC track is advertised as "banked," and it is, but not nearly as smoothly banked as the one in NSPCC. It’s also advertised as "cushioned," but I was unable to detect that. It’s wide, though, with four painted lanes, two for walking and two for running. It’s fairly long too, only nine laps per mile, which is nice. Fine for eight miles, but I’m glad that was all I wanted to run today. More than I wanted, in fact. I’ll do my 20-milers in North St Paul. Or, preferably, outdoors.

No troubles running, no pains. Afterward I did have a strange sensation in the right foot, which was the outboard foot on this counter-clockwise trek. For several hours it felt like the foot was waking up from being asleep, sort of cool and tingly at the same time. This could be the start of peripheral neuropathy from the cancer meds, but more likely just a delayed reaction to the oddly-banked running track.

Splits: 8:45, 8:40, 8:49, 8:49, 8:53, 8:47, 8:48, 8:18, total 1:09:48, pace 8:44. I like when there is something left for the last mile.



Salad yesterday: Organic romaine lettuce, cucumber, organic tomato, avocado, stuffed olives, celery root, organic red wine vinegar.


Dinner tonight: Organic romaine lettuce, uncured ham (no hormones, vegetarian feed, etc), stuffed olives, organic cashews, pineapple, cucumber, organic red wine.

Wahoo - Good Run

Saturday, Jan 17:

Yesterday I was able to run almost a mile on the track at the club before the injured right adductor muscle made known its presence, requiring me to stop. Today I was hopeful of running longer, intending to stop at three miles if by some chance I should be able to run that far without pain. Lo and behold, however, I passed two miles with no pain and running very easily, then got to three miles and decided to run one more if the adductor held out. I stopped after four miles, still with no pain, each mile faster than the previous, overall pace 8:28. One of the best short runs in the last few months. It’s a masterpiece!

I could easily have run more miles. I stopped because we have more running to do tomorrow, and I didn’t want to re-injure the adductor or anything else. It felt very good to stop without having to stop. YAY!

Last February it took ten days to get past this little injury, and this time it took six. The difference is that I recognized the injury immediately last Sunday when it started, and I stopped running without making it any worse.

The Meet of the Miles one-mile race was last Monday, and I had hoped to run it. But I couldn’t with the injured adductor, and even if I could have run it, driving to the event was risky at best because of the weather that evening. We stayed home. Before we knew we weren’t going, though, the question was "how fast can I run a mile?" Last year I ran 6:12, but this year would be much slower. How fast should I TRY to run it? A 6:00 mile calls for eight laps of 45 seconds each, and an 8:00 mile calls for 1:00 laps. I thought that I could do an 8:00 mile, but not a 6:00 mile, so how fast should I try to run the laps? 52.5 seconds comes out to 7:00 - I wonder if I can do that. After today I’m sure that 8:00 is too easy - I should go for 7:00 or so. Perhaps I’ll try that at one of the Charities Challenge Events.

Or not. I hate the mile. Shorter runs and longer runs hurt my lungs and throat less. The mile is the worst, because of the intense breathing for the required six or eight minutes. I end up coughing for hours afterward, even the next day, and it’s likely that my throat and lungs are vulnerable to infection for that time, especially since my immune system is somewhat compromised by the cancer. Maybe it doesn’t matter how fast I can run it - I don’t HAVE to run any miles this year. Just say NO! Sounds good. I'd rather tun a marathon. Really.

Splits: 8:50, 8:31, 8:24, 8:06, total 33:52, pace 8:28. Love that last mile!

Friday, Jan 16:

Today is five days after the beginning of the pain in the adductor muscle, and I was able to run almost a mile before the pain reappeared. Yesterday I could run three laps at the club, today it was twelve. That’s good progress. Try again tomorrow. :-) Pace 9:20 in the short mile.

After the run I spent another 300 calories on the elliptical and a bicycle trainer. Found some muscles that I don’t usually use!

Thursday, Jan 15:

Nuts. I tried running at the club, and was pain-free for 2 ½ laps. Then the adductor muscle started to yell again. Hmmm. Looking back at last February when this same injury happened, it took about ten days for the problem to resolve. Meantime I used the bicycle, elliptical, and steps machines with no pain. Walking is pain-free too.



Tuesday's lunch: Alaskan wild-caught sockeye salmon with yogurt and herbs, organic vegetable mix, organic pickled beets.

Good Start to 2009

Saturday, Jan 3, 2009:

St Croix Runners regular five-mile Saturday run. Dave, Dave, Tom, Luke, & Paul. Everyone finished ahead of me but Paul, who is about my speed right now. But I did well enough considering other recent runs and today’s conditions, which were slippery with some loose snow. Also, I had some unexpected soreness in the quads from Thursday's 200 m race. Who'da thunk? Time 44:24, pace 8:53.

No pains of any kind. Nike miler shoes.


Thursday, Jan 1, 2009, New Years Day:

Another Charities Challenge event at Bethel University . Last month I ran the 400 m race once and then didn’t run any races at all in the second event. This time I ran the 200 m, in 36.7 seconds, which is only about 2 seconds behind my PR from last year. Not bad! I’m very happy with that result.

Slight pain in the right knee as I ran around the indoor track for the remainder of six miles. And a little No other pains until the next day :-)


Tuesday, Dec 30, 2008:

I had a coach once who said a runner should never let more than 48 hours pass between runs. He believed that muscles would atrophy or freeze up after that amount of time. By that measure, today’s 6-mile run at the club was a day late, more than 72 hours after last Saturday’s run.

But this was a good run, with no evidence that the extra delay caused any harm. I started out at a pace that felt natural, and finished the first mile a little more quickly than usual. The miles after that were also quicker than usual, with an overall pace of 8:36, the best I’ve done for a six-mile run in a while.

Breathing was four footfalls per full breath for the first five miles, with an occasional increase to three footfalls in the last mile. Slight pain in the right hip flexors toward the end - wish that would go away. I’m trying a new stretch to see if that helps. Slight pain in the right knee after the run was over.

Splits: 8:53, 8:34, 8:31, 8:34, 8:39, 8:26, total 51:37, pace 8:36.



Bison Burger Dinner: Everything is organic.

Woofed

Six nice miles at the Challenge Courage races on the Bethel University indoor track, followed by an solid hour and a half of snow shoveling. I’m tired. But the driveway is clear.

When I visit Mayo every month the doctor always asks if I get unusually tired. Well, I’m mighty tired tonight but I have a good excuse, so I won’t bother the doctor with it.

This time I didn’t run any races at all, just enjoyed the ambiance and watched others race while I ran my six miles at about a nine-minute pace.


Breakfast: Gluten-free oatmeal, blueberries, organic strawberries, organic walnuts, organic low-fat milk, Dove dark chocolate. Oh yeah.


Salad: Organic romaine salad, cucumber, avocado, organic grapes, organic strawberries, macadamia nuts, organic red wine vinegar.

Bethel University Track

Gary held a racewalking training event today at the Bethel University indoor 200m track, and invited runners to come and enjoy the facility too during that time. We three are not racewalkers, but we do enjoy running on that lovely track. My sweeties ran 6k, and I ran five timed miles and then fooled around for another mile. I’d like to improve my sprint speed, so I did a sprint and some other track work.

To be honest, though, after running five "fast" miles today on top of six last night, I didn’t have a lot left for sprints. Perhaps next time I’ll do most of the track work first. Also, I found myself running too a little too fast today in the timed miles, I can’t explain why. The rubbery track surface makes me feel like I’m going slow even when my breathing says I’m going too fast. Experience on the track will help.

I ran in lane 6 of the track, the outer lane, counting seven laps per mile. That is actually about 83 feet longer than a mile, which amounts to about 10 seconds at my 9-minute pace.

Splits for five timed miles: 9:13, 8:43, 8:35, 8:43, 8:58. Take about ten seconds off each one to get the time for a real mile.


NOT OATMEAL! For a change, this is a gluten-free granola from Trader Joe's. Yummy stuff, and good fer ya too. Add blueberries, strawberries, organic milk, and a nice little Dove chocolate.

Charities Challenge Indoor Track Events

Sunday, December 7:

Charities Challenge indoor races at Bethel University in Arden Hills. What a wonderful time. We go and pay $25 ($16 if we remember to pre-register) and run as many races as we want. Or none. There is a 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1500m or one mile, depending on the day, all on the very nice, soft 200m track. In addition there is a judged race walk. I ran one heat of the 400m, but some people ran several races and, last year, one man ran almost every heat of every race.

I really went there to run around on the track, not to race. Nobody minds people doing their own thing so long as we make way for the racers, which is easy enough. So I ran five "warmup" miles before to my short race, two clockwise and three counter-clockwise. I have no idea how fast I ran those 40 laps, but it was good enough. Maybe next time I’ll run every race instead of those warmup miles, taking it fairly easy in all of the races except maybe the 200m or 400m.

Those indoor races are much more than just races. A time to do whatever I want on an indoor track, schmooze with friends, help as a lap counter for an event, log some miles, watch some good races by people who are VERY fast and some who are brand-new at running, and maybe set a PR at a distance that I never run in the summer. Further, my sweeties are right there doing the same. A very nice Sunday morning.

My 400m time was 1:30, to be compared with 1:16 in my best 400m last winter. That’s not good, but I wonder if I can do better it I don’t run five miles of "warmup" first. Maybe I’ll point to the last race in the winter series, train for the 400m distance a little bit, and see how well I can do.

Saturday, Dec 6:

St Croix Valley Runners. Today I was definitely the slowest. Dave took pity on me for a while, until I encouraged him to run on ahead. Tom and new Dave were already out of sight, finishing the standard 5-mile route several minutes ahead. I did take a modest shortcut, which may have reduced the distance by as much as two tenths of a mile, but that didn’t help a lot.

This was a difficult run for me, very hard work. Friend Dave was chatting away while we were running together, as I was gasping to say "yes" or "no." We had an inch and a half of new snow overnight, covering the entire route, so running was difficult. On top of that I just didn’t feel very energetic this morning. But we got through it, to run another day.

Time 45:33 for 4.8 miles, pace 9:29. It’ll have to do.



One of my favorite dinners: Canned wild-caught Alaskan sockeye salmon with yogurt and dill, organic broccoli with parmesan cheese, organic nectarine. To think I once disliked salmon.


Fruit bowl - particularly nice after a long run: Blueberries (underneath), pineapple, organic apple, mango, organic strawberries, organic low-fat yogurt, Dove dark chocolate.

Oh Happy Day

Sunday, Feb 17:

Gosh it feels good, bouncing along on the rubber indoor track at Bethel University. Today my only race was the 800 meter, and I finished within one second of my PR, one way or the other, at 2:50 or so. I went out WAY too fast, a 37-second first lap when the average ended up 42.5, but that didn’t seem to hurt the end result. The race is four laps of 200 meters, and the third lap was undoubtedly the slowest, but I think I drove a little harder on the fourth. I don’t know the actual splits, except the very first one. The good news is that if I can run 2:50 with a bad strategy and without training much in the past few weeks, I may be able to do quite a bit better. Is 2:40 possible? I may have to follow a rabbit with a better sense of pace than I have.

Even better news is: No pain in the left achilles, and no pain in the right knee, which has started to lock up on occasion. Even going downstairs, the acid test for both, there is no hint of trouble. Regardless, I’m going to visit my very wise primary physician ASAP about the knee. I may not have a lot of time left to run, so I’ll probably treat this aggressively, if treatment is possible.

Unfortunately, the primary objective of this race was not to make a PR but to discover my maximum heart rate (HRMax). I may have gone about it wrong, by warming up too much beforehand. During the race I saw the heart rate monitor (HRM) showing 189, but I have seen that before when it wasn’t making good enough contact with my chest, so I don’t believe that number. Immediately after the race it still showed 189 until I pressed the HRM strap against my chest, and then it showed 155. I don’t believe that either, because I’ve seen it higher in races; I believe the max is somewhere around 167. By the time I held my wrist and counted my pulse for 30 seconds, it was back down to about 105. But still I want to measure my HRMax, because certain training goals are calculated from it, so I will have to come up with a new plan.

I probably warmed up too much today for a good HRMax measurement - almost three miles of warmup, mostly easy jogging. Better to surprise the system a little more? And for sure I’d like to find some sort of contact gel or paste for the HRM, so that the contact with my chest doesn’t dry out while standing at the start line. I could do the running outdoors, of course, but it’s nice to use a track because a tumble or other injury event is more likely during speed work, and tracks are softer. Perhaps I’ll wait until spring, when outdoor high-school tracks will be available. Or find another indoor track where I can do this on my own. Or dreadmills? That’s possible, because the pace is only about 10.5 mph, but I really don’t like the dreadmill at that speed. Suggestions invited.

Back to today’s race, though. To my surprise, I’m very much taken by this sort of racing. Who’d have thought that circling a 200-m track could be so enjoyable? I’d like to find a way to do more of it, if my old bones and ligaments can take it. All the more enjoyable today because friend Jim joined us at Bethel, and ran a very nice 5:53 mile. In a couple of weeks, I believe that he could run a mile in 5:35 to 5:40. Oh yeah.

Saturday, Feb 16:

North St Paul Community Club, three miles in 25:04, pace 8:21. This was intended to be an easy three miles, and it was, but I felt very good and ran a litle faster than the 9:00 pace I’ve used of late. Splits 8:38, 8:19, 8:07. No pain in the left achilles, which is very good. My right knee did sort of “lock up,” though, in the very last (fastest) lap, and I stumbled and hopped for a few seconds before it cleared up again. I’m sure there is a piece of cartilage sliding around in there. I need to find out (1) if it can be taken out or fixed somehow, and (2) if that should be done now before the knee joint chews itself up.



Don running the 800m.


Last night's dinner: Wild-caught sole, organic sweet relish, organic blackberry preserves, shredded mango chutney, fresh-squeezed organic lime.


Recent salad: Organic salad greens (under there somewhere), cantaloupe, organic baked blue-corn chips, pineapple, Sunshine's homemade guacamole, organic brazil nuts. This photo turned out a little more suggestive than the salad seemed in person. Anyone want to offer a title for it? Salad fantasizing about dessert?

177 Laps, 708 Corners

On the North St Paul Community Center indoor track, 13.11 miles in 1:55:17, pace = 8:48. Interesting run. I think the “natural” pace of this run was about 8:40, but I slowed (walked) to take water after miles 2, 4, 6, 8, & 10, and took gels twice too, which slowed down the average. Then I clocked a final mile of 8:10, which improved the average again just a little.

Some muscle soreness remained today, but happily the right knee was mostly quiet. The track went counter-clockwise today, so the 708 corners were all left turns. That might have been a good thing for the right knee.

I feel great after the run! Splits: 8:59, 8:43, 8:57, 8:39, 9:14, 8:37, 9:06, 8:42, 9:19, 8:44, 8:56, 8:35, 8:10, 0:48. This completes 33 miles on the week, shooting for 36 or 37 next week if Christmas events permit.



Today's recovery breakfast: Organic oatmeal, organic nonfat milk, banana, cantaloupe, ginger, Don's fruit/berry/nut mix, papaya, chopped cocoa beans. The ginger helps settle my stomach after a hard run.


Yesterday's salad: Organic head lettuce, cucumbers, avocado with organic lime juice, Danish (hormone-free) blue cheese, organic grapes, nut/berry mix, raspberry vinegar.


Tonight's dinner: Gluten-free parmesan biscuits, local honey, organic broccoli, parmesan cheese, red cabbage with pineapple.

I Had Fun Today!

Sunday, December 16:

I started running in 2002, and have raced in distances from one mile to 26.2, but until today I’ve never run any shorter “track” distances. The Challenge Courage indoor track races were held at Bethel University in St Paul today, the second in a series of five winter Charities Challenge indoor track events. And it was fun, the entire event held in a spirit of affirmation and good sportsmanship. Race distances were one mile, 200m, 800m, one-mile judged race-walk, and 400m. Several of the distances required more than one heat - we were never jammed up with too many runners on the track. I ran three distances, all of them new to me. Results are not posted yet; these times are as I recall them:

• 200m: 0:35.5
• 400m: 1:19
• 800m: 3:01

Since I wandered in there rather clueless, I’m happy with all of those times. They’re not PR’s - if I beat any of those times, that will be a PR :-) I hope to beat them all.

What a great morning! Two parts of running are most enjoyable for me: (1) Cruising along at a pace that feels as though I could keep it up forever; and (2) Sprinting full out for a short distance just as fast as my skinny old legs will carry me - that feels so good I almost don’t care who wins the sprint. These track races offer some of the first during the warmup on the track, and plenty of chances for the second. One stalwart actually ran all five races, and all heats of most of those. He got his speed training, and logged some miles at the same time. Going into today I thought I would finish dead last in every race I ran, but I was neither last nor dead in any of them. Today is a masterpiece!

One story: One of the runners is a twelve-year old named Casey. In the 200 meter, runners line up in a staggered start, each runner on a mark according to the lane that they are to run in. Just before the start I looked back at Casey, lined up in the first lane quite far behind me, and I thought perhaps there was one runner in this heat that I might beat. But I had picked the wrong runner! A few seconds after the start, Casey shot by me as if I were standing still. I was so surprised, I almost stopped to watch him. I don’t know his time, but I have since discovered that he ran the 200 meter race in the previous event on December 2 in a time of 25.8, the best time of the day. Casey is someone to watch!


Saturday, December 15:

St Croix Valley Runners, five miles in 44:26, not a bad time for zero degrees and all of the clothing that goes with zero temperatures. We runners agreed that it really felt colder than zero, as reported at St Paul’s Holman Field; I think it was more like ten below out in the boonies where we ran. Roy, Dave, and I all ran together for safety in the cold. Nike Miler shoes again.