Am I really gonna run San Francisco

The worst of winter is over and I'm thinking more and more about 26.2 in San Fran in July. With no long runs in ages I tried a little 11 miler today and that seems like something I can build on, so far so good. I also tried some speed work last week before snow covered the local tracks and while I only punched out 4 x 400 the workout had a decent feel to it. Add in a few tempo runs with some decent pop and maybe I'm on my way. BUT, lest I forget I'm also slower and fatter than I've been in a long time. AND OLDER

Let the games begin.

Running ain't new no more

I had lunch with a couple of guys from way back when today and we rehashed High School sports, who we knew, where we were, what we did, and of course now. Nice day !!! I had a 2 hour ride home and somehow I began thinking about how simple play is when its new and and how it changes as time passes and we complicate the game. Some examples:

- Play as a kid is running around and maybe inventing a game or two, play as an adult involves buying lots of stuff and making a ton of plans.

- The first time I sailed a boat ( Sunfish) was simple and easy. Owning a cruising boat was a lot of work, money and time, eventually it owned me.

- Skydiving was a big thrill the 1st time, got scared, looked down, jumped (static line jump). Later it was how many people on the jump, how many formations, who funneled the dive, etc.

- Hunting!!, cool but you can only shoot one gun at a time and squirrels as a kid were probably the most fun.

- Skiing, were long drives to Vermont or flights out west really any better than just driving to Camelback and getting a morning pass?

- And then there is running, in the 60's it was gym shorts, cotton socks and a tee shirt. Now its tech shirts, tech shorts with liner and just the right pockets for whatever, road shoes, racing shoes, trail shoes, ice shoes, lots of pairs to rotate and a sock collection that's just plain shameful. Oh! and winter gear, rain gear, 2 to the 3rd power times pi pairs of gloves, hats, balaclavas, ear warmers, Gu, sport drinks, Cliff bars, 3 watches, and I'm on my fourth GARMIN. An Excel spreadsheet for a log and lest we forget a BLOG, gotta simplify now.

I didn't dwell on winning here but if you have to win it can be rewarding, fulfilling, satisfying, blah, blah, but it ain't PLAY.

No 20K

I passed on the Boston Buildup 20K today not because my knee was bothering me, but because the cutback in miles has been offset by an increased caloric intake. I've been trying to drop 12 - 15 Lbs for years, now I can just make it 20 some. On the bright side I ran the OCA from Croton Dam with Mike and Michelle Saturday and it was fun. Just slick enough to make it interesting and the only time in history that just one person fell and it wasn 't me. We all hadn't run together for a while so I was also able to dump the sarcasm file over 5 1/2 miles. Today it was the 7.1 loop around Titicus reservoir, slow start but a lot of pop at the end which is good. My plan now is to get training for some as yet unknown spring races and see if I can have one good showing. Then in April train for the San Francisco Marathon. Right now I feel I have as good a chance of running a marathon as I do of an out and back to Peru. The memory of my bonk at mile 17 of the "Run for the Red Marathon" after my bypass a couple of years ago and my inability to do long training runs lately are my current wall of fear. So the challenge is defined and put up time ain't that far away.

RUNNING - WESTCHESTER CO. NY STYLE

- Rockefeller Park, the trails up on the Eastview side, the adjoining bridal paths, Rockwood, and the OCA. Nothing is better than a moonlit night by the old cemetery, where is that horseman anyway?

- The North County Trailway & the South County Trailway

- Running home from Van Cortlandt Park via The Putnam Trail and the Bronx river trail.

- Blue Mountain and the Briarcliff Peekskill Trailway.

- The Colonial loop and adjacent trails.

- Run around a reservoir, Croton, Titicus, Amawalk, Byram Lake, Kensico all are cool runs.

- The roads in Purchase and Rye (like Mill Pond or Milton Pt.) and the Colleges too.

- Park Lane, West Harrison and North St, White Plains, why I'll never know. Maybe they're just close by.

- Cherry St and Croton Lake Rd in Katonah. Fox lane, Rt 22, Succabone, and Guard Hill in Bedford.

- Rt 128 in Armonk and Bedford road in Greenwich.

- Ward Pound Ridge

- CROTON DAM

- And the Bear Mountain Bridge, the Goat trail, and the Annsville trail. Be careful there that's where the reaper made his move.

I wonder how many times I've almost been run over on Anderson Hill Rd.

1/18/10 - DUCK HUNT

What makes a good duck hunt? Droves of mallards diving into the spread? Lots of action? Good people and dogs? Well they all help, but today was one of those really good days because with 3 grown men and a big lab in a 13' duck boat and a north wind ready to push us 12 miles or more across L.I. sound, the engine quit. Ahh, but it quit in the right place (a 200 yard row to a spot we could hunt and still get home) not far from the ramp at the beginning of an afternoon hunt. It could have been a dark morning, it could have been much colder, the wind could have been stronger and we could have been at a point where we could not row to safety.

But it wasn't any of that stuff, instead we paddled to safety, threw out some decoys, shot a couple of geese, and walked and paddled the boat back to the launch at low tide right after sunset.

It is always better to be lucky than good. Oh yeah, there was a banded bird in there too!!!

BOSTON BULDUP 15K

Well, that's out of the way. Pretty much a rehash of the 10K. I felt better after a rough time on the hill up to the turn, except my right knee still is popping on downhills so I really laid back on them. That pretty much turned this into a workout not a race, but it was fun anyway and the weather was good (cloudy, mid 30's and no wind).

The 20K is basically 10K up and 10K down, while I have made some progress in the knee dept. if it does not continue to improve I may pass it up.

BOSTON BUILDUP 10K

They say fighters can get old between rounds, for me it's between races. Nov 16, 2008 I ran the Swamp Devil 15K in 1:19 and change which for me was a good effort. That was it, downhill ever since. Today was windy and cold and I felt real good for 5k (26.54) but at 7K my knee did some funny stuff and next thing I know I can't get out of oxygen debt on the hills. Walked a 150m or so and got running again but there was no fire, just a meltdown in progress.

Now like any runner (or reasonable imitation) you need an excuse, or something or someone to blame. So who or what's it gonna be? The cardiologist!!! How dare he give me large doses of Beta blockers or statins knowing they could interfere with my ever running a PR again. Doesn't he hear my pleas for a higher max heart rate or less big muscle cramps on long endurance runs?

Or maybe I'm forgetting how these guys saved my life, fixed me up and sent me back out again with re-engineered coronary highways and a fresh lease on life. And oh yeah, his job is to keep me out of a box, not pushing negative splits in the dead of winter. Bring on the 15K in 2 weeks, make it colder, hillier (it is), and slower (probably - so what).