2020 Half Way Marker

Hey are you still running?

Like many many other people out there, all races for this year are mostly cancelled or rescheduled. I was taking some time previously to come up with what I was doing. Then, well you know the world shut down, and I did not want to spread more thoughts through everyones minds on what I was worried about.

Let me get this out of the way. RACES ARE GOING TO BE CANCELLED. That also means for many people who love Medal Monday's its going to be a bit of time before you get to go out and compete for a while. I love my race bling too, but it will be a while before I get my hands on some shiny new bling after crossing the finishing line. 

That brings us to this one question, "Why am I running?" I have heard so much about this sport has become an outlet for many during our COVID-19 world. Many get into running for the health benefits. Many others get into the sport as a type of therapy. As I have shared previously, I am in it for the health benefits. My professional life also means that I lucky and happy to be able to work from home for as long as needed.  Just like many people in my profession, I have not left my desk since being remote. So the picture here to the right was just the other day. I was in fact working outside and cooking dinner at the same time. Lately, I run to break away from staring at a screens for a point of time.

Did I say break

Funny to say I use the sport to break away from anything. In my area in Pennsylvania, USA, during this pandemic, we have been allowed to at least go outside for runs even during the lockdown. Which was good, because at the time it all started, just like many others, I was heads down training for my spring races. (IBX Broad Street 10 Miler & Love Run) As of the time I writing this post both are rescheduled for the fall. Needless to say in the beginning I was still training. Spring was coming on full bloom in March. I used the opportunity to at least enjoy some of the signs of spring in my area.

It's nice to see the plants blooming and coming back to 'life'.  Through out I kept saying to myself, life will go back to normal sooner than I think. I can pack up my running masks and covering for the warm weather months and be basking in the sunshine any day now. March I logged about 45 miles running. Not bad.

Training Never Ends

April

I do not like to dwell on the negatives. Just keeping in mind that I am still training for something. If it is not a race per-say, I am in training mode. I stuck to my program, kinda, and still ran the HC 15k race virtually at the trail in April. When I got to the trail, I see more and more people out. Which is good. A vast majority had the same idea as me. Still do the HC races virtually on the trail. People were practicing social distancing and wearing masks and face coverings. I had my face covering on when I got near others. My brother got me a t-shirt to not only lift up my spirits as a birthday gift, but he thought it would be good for me to wear next time I was out on the trail. It could bring smiles to other people. I thought this would be a good day to wear it. I think he was right. At least it made me feel better. 

April felt like it started and the end was no wear in sight. Time almost felt like it slow down in April. I am not sure if it was the a full month of lockdown or what. Adjusting to my daily schedule is a little different. For some strange reason, I a little more on my mind than usual. Some of my runs turn into therapy to clear my head. I start listening back to a couple of audio books that allow me to just be entertained while I go with the flow. I work a little bit on my cadence. On my breathing. Lastly on my body mechanics and stride. When I feel myself slouching, I straighten up a little. Get my legs back under me in the right way and just breathe as I relax my mind and just let some of the stress go.

As I noticed on the weekends with my trail getting more popular. I decided to finally change things up a bit and check out a portion of the Schuylkill River Trail in Conshohocken. I have been meaning to run it, but something always comes up. I was going to do 5 miles, however, I got out later than I planned. It was getting crowded and the trail is really popular for cyclist. I opted to just do 5k. The upside was I did not take this run in particularly serious. I just wanted to enjoy being outside. I took a few pictures of the area from the river banks. Wish I got views like this more often.

I even did a Virtual 5k through NYRR at the end of the month just to help me stay motivated.  I found myself cutting a few runs short lately. This virtual race helped me stay motivated. Closed out April 45 Miles running. This is typical for me. 45 to 50 miles is a typical month running. Additional miles logged for other activities. 

May

A couple of my personal favorites events are in May. One The Broad Street Run and the Ordinary Marathon! I really enjoy doing the Ordinary Marathon because the proceeds go to the Sam Fund. The Sam Fund provides support to young adults with cancel educational material and financial support. I also like to participate in the marathon because over the course of 10 days I get to see if I can actually run a marathon distance.  

May also turns out to be one of my busier months because several things seem to coincide at the same time. The end of April kicked off the annual walk challenge at my job too. This will last until June. With all that going on, it just means I make my miles in May count. 

I started off the month still doing my Broad Street 10 miles. Only this time I ran on my home trail. There were several other people out doing the same.  I had almost forgot the the family and I were also participating in doing the March of Dimes Walk virtually too. That is what we did in the afternoon. I have been a supporter of the March of Dimes since I was a little boy. And I very proud to say that my wife and I carry on the tradition with our family. This was wonderful day.

The next day the weather continued to be gorgeous.  I did some grilling outside. However, I am in a walking competition remember. So while I am monitoring the grill, I also walk around my backyard. I managed to clock a mile doing loops around my backyard. The best part about the whole experience, dinner came out perfect.

Over the next couple of weeks I continued to mix it up by hitting the treadmill and going for a few runs around the neighborhood. One of my best outings was doing a half marathon the the treadmill. I participated in the Social Distance Shuffle sponsored by the SlowAF Run Club. This was a fun virtual event held by the run club to "keep everyone motivated, inspired, and provide a little light at the end of the tunnel while regular races can’t be held." I picked my own distance for this race. What I like about this virtual event is that I did not have to do the entire distance at once. I could have logged my distances and times in increments until I achieved my goal distance.  The other aspect of this race was to encourage safe social distancing and following local protocols  if a participant did run outside. I am not going to lie, I also did it for the bling. I know I said earlier that I am not running for bling. But this medal I had to earn.

The rest of the month I continue to mix it up. Getting friendly again with my indoor treadmill runs and getting out through the neighborhood routes. Only going to the trail early on the weekend for my long run days before it got crowded.

 I actually added to my running by getting my bike out and going for a couple of rides. I surprised myself by ending the month with a 12 mile bike ride around the area. Out of curiosity, I checked my total stats for the month. I did about 99 miles total for the month. 76 of which were on the ground running. I think this is the most miles I have logged in a month in quite some time. 

June

June is finally here. That means that school is about out for the kids and summer is officially here. It also means that the work walking competition will be over after a couple of weeks. If It was not for the competition I think I would just stay in bed for the whole month. I am not the only person that cannot wait for it to be over. I continue to mix it up between inside and outdoor runs. At least when Im stuck to the machine, I can turn on a movie or Neflix and feel like I am at a private gym. 

Due to logging a lot of miles on my legs, I also rediscovered my love of being on the bike. Some long runs are now substituted with bike rides. All the while during the first couple of weeks as the weather has gotten nicer, we have to figure out other ways to keep the kids entertained. The kids ride bikes or scooters up and down the street, play with jump rope, chalk, play hide and seek and even invent a couple of their own games along the way. Great imagination. Kids will keep you young this way, that is for sure.

Sunday June 14th, I actually get up at a decent time and get to the trail early. I find myself just start off doing my thing. I also noticed another path at what is the end of the main part of the trail. I have seen a few people continue up this path before, so today I decided to see where it goes. 

Only looks a little spooky in daylight

This path takes me all the way to the Fox Chase Regional Rail Station. To think I could have went this way over the last year, instead of coming out the park and running that one hill in the adjacent neighborhood.  I could almost kick myself. I will not come down on myself because that hill does motivate me to keep getting stronger.

When I get I reach the end of the station I see this beautiful mural. Then I turn around and head back. I started of the day wanting to do about 8 to 10 miles. By the time I get to the parking lot where my car is and my hydration pack are, I come across Joe. He saw me coming down the path and waited for me. We chat it up a bit and before I know it I cooled down too much. I called it a good run for myself and head home after a couple more laughs. 

 The rest of June I continue to mix it up with running and cycling. One week get another 10 miler on the saddle.  Cycling around my area, I get to explore other more streets that I do not get see when I am just running. But not everything keeps clicking like clock work. My last cycling outing does not go to plan. My ankle is acting up on me. I decide to keep the pressure off it by riding the bike around instead of running. Once I get the blood flowing I think I will feel better. This was one of the longest 7 miles I have done on bike in a long time. You cannot win them all. I can only say I gave my best shot that day. 87 total miles in June. Approximately 27 miles were cycling.

Difficult 7 mile bike ride

Motivation

The last few months, I have picked up little bits of motivation along the way. Sticking with doing a few race distances, even virtually, so I did not feel like I trained for nothing. Signing up for a virtual race or two just to add some additional motivation to get me out the door. Some of the best motivation comes from my family. When I kind of over sleep on my long run morning, they ask me if I am going for my run. That gets me moving and out the door. 

I also draw some motivation from the running community. Being a part of a few groups, I get motivated just by seeing others squeezing in a run during a busy day. Some people I am connected to share funny excerpts from their experiences. I get asked every now and then what keeps me motivated. I can only say, that running allows me to get away from the computer and work. It allows me to pause and reset my mind. The well gets replenished, hence I keep going. I try to learn from my good days and my bad days. Lastly, I am still motivated because there is a small glimmer of hope that maybe one of my fall races could actually happen this year. I will keep training. If the miles are not being logged for a race, they are being logged for the fun and enjoyment in life. Besides my home office chair is not as comfortable as I once thought. I wanna make it jealous by choosing and even less comfortable bicycle seat. 

Until next time, keep up with the positive movement. Good things will happen sooner than you expect.

2019 Reflection

With 2019 winding down and all my races for the year being complete, looking forward to recharging the batteries.

Reflection

I had some success this year, but I did have a few setbacks. Setbacks are what show us how we get know what we are capable of. The real point is how do we handle the setback. How does one learn from the experience in order to move forward?

Bad Race Day

Every now and then you have a bad run. Some of us wasI ran the Mayor's Cup this year. When I run I like to still have fun and this is a great team event that I could participate in. The earnest lands squarely on me. According to my training plan, 10k distance was in the plan for my long run. The race was held at the Belmont Plateau, not a far travel from my home. I think I was too quick to sign-up for the race and participate with the Black Men Run Philadelphia. I saw that the race would be held on the trails and thought "that's no big deal, I can handle a little trail running. And its only 10k, I can handle that no problem."

I was in for a rude awaking. First of all, I do a lot of running on the roads. Yes, I do run a couple of trails however, for the most part these are easy access, smooth trails with a mix of pavement, gravel, and dirt. No roots, ruts, rocks, slippery stones to get in the way. I was not thinking trail running like when trail hiking. I was thinking trail running, as an in easy stroll on Sunday morning listening to Lionel Richie and sipping coffee looking at the birds and deer. To put it bluntly, I was not prepared for the terrain. And last point, I was still thinking in my mind, that less than half 10k was on the trail and most of it would be roads and what not. BIG mistake.

View from Belmont Plateau of the Philadelphia skyline

I was running with Black Men Run for the Mayor's Cup festivities. I have been a member for a while, but this is the first time I have been able to attend an event with the club in person. I arrive early, because I want allow plenty of time for  fellowship before the various events. I had a great time meeting up with everyone before the 10k trail race. Only a couple of us were running this event. As I was walking over to the start area, our Captain David gives me some great advice, gives me the lay of the land, and cracks a couple of jokes. He could tell I was getting a little nervous. The most important advice he said was "... run your race and have fun." And that really was what I came out for the day to do. A lot of the clubs running today had members that were really familiar with the course due to that is big cross country training section with people in the area. I sigh a little bit to myself just hearing that. However when the start horn goes off, all that goes to the way side and I run towards the trail entrance with everyone jockeying for position before the trail narrows.

My personal goal was to stay within sight of the pack. This way I could see everyone stepping over and around various obstacles on the trail. A small trick I learned as a kid when I was in Boy Scouts when I would go through various hiking trails with friends in other troops at scout reservations. I should have listened more to the younger me, because about a mile into the trail, as I think I am making decent time even for myself, I get to a muddy section. I did not wear my real trail running running shoes. Merrell by the way. I was wearing my Hokas. Still breaking them in for my half marathon coming up September. As I was saying, getting to the muddy section, I tip-toed around...whoops. Yup, your man slipped. The spot looked firmed. At least the guy running with me checked on me. I was not hurt, just my pride. From this point I heard the young me say, "Didn't I tell you to just put on the trail shoes?"

As I said, I was not mentally prepared for the terrain. I should have listened to my inner voice and wore my trail shoes. That would have given me more confidence with footing. After falling, and dusting myself off, I did move slower around the trail. I had a lot of fun running up, down, around, over, and kinda under everything. There was one spot around the halfway point, where the course directors yelled out stay to the right, because the left side coming down hill was washed out and you could not tell from your advantage point. Really great looking out. However, I still got slower as the day went on.

Let me skip to almost the end of the race. As I get towards the 5 mile marker, I get passed by one lady, who thought she was lost. I could see the course markers and knew we were not. She exchanged pleasantries, and continued on to the water station. I figured, I will pick up the pace when after I got to the last water station. I get out for the final loop to the finish line and Ann (whom I met on the trail earlier that day) came running up to me. Ann thought I got lost. Nope, I was just enjoying the scenery. Then she broke the news to me, I am the last person on the course. WHAT! I mean, I know I am slow. And I have been one of the last people on a lot runs, but never the last person. With that news Ann ran with me the last mile to the finish line. She timed us and we covered that last mile in 11:30. I was really impressed because thats one my fastest miles to date. My finishing time was 2:00:00, and also placed DFL [Dead F***ing Last] for the 10k. Well, that was an experience.

What did I learn

Now I would normally be dejected from my performance that day. Going into the day I wanted to have a great time and enjoy a nice day at the Plateau. In hearing so many other runners stories on their worst race day, some of them reflected back on their bad race experience as a lesson in life. I asked myself how did I really feel about my performance? I think I should have ran faster if I was 1) More familiar with the terrain 2) Just listened to my inner voice and wore my trail shoes for better footing. 

I needed to run 10k as part of my training program and I did that. I still felt great physically and really felt like I had more miles to run, even though it was August and really hot. I did have an excellent time with finally attending an event with BMR Philadelphia. Lastly I had fun. And having fun is what the day was about. Just running and having fun. 

Not ever run is your best run. You will have good days and bad days. There will be times you go out and feel like you are giving it all you got. When you get home and look at your watch or running app on your smart device just to find out that it was not a great day time wise. Then there are other days, you go out the door, and the whole time you are out there, it feels like a struggle from the very first step. It feels like quick sand the entire time. The whole world seems to be moving faster than you. Then you look back at the  data, and what do you know, it's one the best outings you have had in a while. I thick back on some of my not so fun moments for the year. I learned a little something each time:

• Stay true to my fueling the day before a long run
• Get enough rest and listen to my body
• Hydration is still key, keep the cramps away
• Cross training, even a little bit, can be beneficial
• My timing is not the end

I on my agenda for  2019 that I would run at least one half marathon race. I did that by running two of them in the fall. Using the Rock' N Roll Half as a tune up for the Philadelphia Half Marathon in November. Everything I learned along the way helped me get to my goal race for the year. And best of all, I still had fun along the way. So I will take that into my off season as I gear up for my spring races and try to tackle something else next year.

No matter what, keep up with positive movement. Good things will happen.

Finishing the RnR Half Sept 2019

Philadelphia Half Marathon Nov 2019