Sweet Victory

I'm on the e-mail list for runners and alum of Solanco High School Cross Country. Last month, the coach invited one and all to the county park for a trail run. Since I've been hitting the park a lot - and figured that in December, most of the kids are just beginning to get serious about training for track I should be able to at least survive, I figured I'd give it a go. Most of the crowd was the current generation - there were two other alums that I met, but both were from only five years ago... so I was the oldest by a lot. We did five miles in the park. Myself and 1 alum. - whom I think I actually met once through my niece - led the pack for the first half, though the kids were free to splinter off on any trail they wanted at any point, and many did. Mid-way through the third mile, though, our pack was down to four and one was obviously of current generation and in decent shape. He started to push the pace a little more every quarter mile or so. In short, he was turning t...

Running-wise, I am soooo bored of December. The idea of "just running" was fun for a little while - five to six miles over lunch, sometimes pushing the pace, but sometimes not - not giving myself a hard time when I missed two days in a row and being mildly pleased when I'd done three. But frankly, I'm sick of it. Though I planned to run over lunch today, I didn't and the simplest reason I can think of is because I didn't have anything planned that was genuinely easier or harder or different than what I did the few past few days. Fitness-wise, I'm stagnating. I'm too bored to go slow on the easy days but without a plan I'm not doing any hard intervals, either. Consequently, every day is medium-ish which - if you've read - is a great way to hurt yourself and/or burn yourself out. Mission accomplished. :) The good news, though, is that the end is in sight. The plan right now is to go six tomorrow and get up early for a Sunday AM eight. It's b...

Jamie from the Diabetic Runner has posted a new challenge for diabetic, uh, runners. Run 500 or 1000 miles in '08. Sounds like a good deal to me. Click here to learn more. Actually, I like this idea. I've been kind of jealous of Anne and the other diabetic triathletes over at Triabetes . They're active and organized and they have cool shirts (which I'm gonna buy as soon as I take the time and fill out the form!). Alas, I like running more than I like training for three sports (plus, I really suck at two of them), so Jamie's cause is more closely aligned with my own interests (and abilities). And while I'm rambling, I was watching Little People Big World and saw Matt get diagnosed with diabetes (Type 2). There seemed to be the usual amount of panic, exaggeration and ultimately - ignorance - afforded to the affliction as is common when the disease is shrunken down to the tv. They toss out the risks and complications but then when the person doesn't keel ov...

Go get 'em , Lance.

The county park has a small herd of (mostly) wild deer that allow me to get surprisingly close to them. However, they've been MIA since hunting season began last week. So far this week, it's been me and the squirrels until today when I came up over the top of a trail and came within 50 feet of a big red fox. Very very cool, and the type of experience you won't find on the roads. Many running bloggers are linking to this story today and why not? It's well worth the read: The first thing to know, said Dr. Benjamin Levine, an exercise researcher and a cardiology professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, is that no one really knows what limits human performance. There’s the ability of the heart to pump blood to the muscles, there’s the ability of the muscles to contract and respond, there’s the question of muscle fuel, and then, of course, there is the mind.

The local Jingle Bell Run is notorious for not posting results online. Fortunately, I helped out with this year's race a little bit and got a copy of the results, which I've uploaded here . 5th out of 87 in my age group is pretty cool, though I was nearly a minute from placing. Ah well, maybe next year. :)

I really had no idea what to expect from this race... I'd been a good boy, basically not allowing myself to go fast since the marathon a month ago. However, I have been putting in mostly 30 mile weeks of mostly trail running, which had healed my aches and given me some greater leg strength than I'd felt in some time. And then last week, work gobbled up more time than I typically allow for it and it gobbled up one of my runs. And then on Wednesday, messing around with the kids, I banged my knee. Hard. Thursday and Friday, I had precious little time to run and when I was tempted to - noticed my knee was still rather messed up. Two good reasons not to run. I listened to them. Saturday, the knee felt 95% better but I figured running the day before the race wouldn't help, so that was that: 3 days in a row with no exercise for the first time in who knows how long? I did this race last year in 22:37. This year, I was aiming for sub 20:00, but again - I really wasn't sure where...

I've often said, is that it's not the same for everyone. You can read my blog - with my tough guy logic and talk about how it's all just a matter of simple rapid math (carbs - exercise = insulin required) - and conclude that - all in all - it's really not that difficult of a disease to manage. On the other hand, you can know a guy like Kerm. Kerm was the first diabetic I was introduced to when I left the hospital after my diagnosis. At the time, I was 13 and he was 17. His name was Chris, but everyone called him Kerm due to his resemblance to the frog that was in vogue in the 80's. While I never saw Kerm have a bad attitude about diabetes - in fact, he was a counselor at many diabetic camps - he also rarely seemed to be in good control. Truth be told, I was never close enough to him to know why he was always running high or low but - at least for Kerm - the "simple math" I preach here often didn't work. We all know that out of control diabetics are pro...

Or is it "Hookie?" I dunno. Whichever, I did it yesterday. Most weekends, I plan on resting on Saturday and getting up early on Sunday. This weekend, I thought I'd go eight and start getting ready for my new marathon plan, which I'm starting for a month. Problem was, I had a hunch that one day of sleeping in wasn't enough for me and I didn't even set the alarm early on Sunday.... told myself I'd go out later in the day if I had time, but with two kids, holiday shopping, etc.... it never happened. As late as seven last night, I thought about going out. Then I double-checked my Fitzgerald plan and saw that the first weekend in January calls for a ten mile run and the total weekly mileage will be about where I am now... in other words, I had no good reason to go out for a long run more than a month before I start my marathon plan. So I didn't. Ripped through some push-ups and sit-ups and called it a night. Back on the wagon today, though. Nearly six miles...