Joe's Running Blog

How It Took Running Across the Country to Turn Me Into a Runner (And Other Hyperboles)

This is an essay I wrote for the Central Vermont Runners newsletter. I thought I would share it here as well. Enjoy!

I am not a runner.

For fifty-one years I took comfort in that fact. I did not run, could not run, would not run. I had very little interest in running.

I suppose I should asterisk this. Of course I had run in my lifetime. It was unavoidable as a kid involved in sports. But that was running, not Running. And I wasn’t very good at it. I was “husky” and slow. This was best illustrated in my last year of playing Babe Ruth league baseball. I was one of the oldest and biggest kids in the league that year, by virtue of my birthdate. Playing a game at the high school field, I sent a ball over the center fielder’s head, and slid into third with a triple.

“I wanted to send you home,” my coach said. “But it took you forever just to get here!”

So no, I was not born a runner. This truth was self-evident.

I moved to Vermont in 2014, to work for an employer that thought of the Corporate Cup as a perfect team building event. Every year we entered several teams, both walkers and runners. I joined a walking team in 2015, and again in 2016.

One thing I am is a person who is interested in data, and sports statistics, and standings. In poring over the Corporate Cup results, I saw that there many “runners” with times much slower than my 51-minute power walk. I figured I could jog the course as a runner and not be particularly close to the bottom of the field.

So in 2017 I joined a running team. I had two goals: run all the way to the end, and don’t finish in last place. I was confident of the latter at least. I did manage to run the full course, slowly, and finish ahead of more than 900 other runners. Success! But this success was joined with a benchmark. Surely I can run a 5K in under 32 minutes.

I actually did some training for the 2018 race, both on the treadmill and on the streets. By now I was recording my runs on Runkeeper, via my phone, and hitting a near-10-minute mile pace for 5K. I was very pace-oriented, trying to run a little faster each time. This was a training plan I had made up for myself. Unfortunately the evening before the race I stepped in a pothole on my walk home and twisted my ankle. It was swollen and sore, but not broken. Thanks to a combination of stubbornness and ibuprofen, I ended up running the whole race. It was slower than I had been hoping, but I still cut a minute-plus of the previous year and finished ahead of 1,100 other runners. This was the first time in my life I had ignored an injury in order to go for a run. It would not be the last.

The disappointment of having an injury impact my race I believe made me more motivated. I was now determined to break 30 minutes and finish in the top half of the field the next year, so I continued to run once or twice per week through the summer. I even entered a couple of other races along the way to check my progress.

One of those was the New Year’s Eve 5K in Montpelier, and since the weather was good that day I decided to sign up. There were two things about that race. First, this was the first time I had ever run uphill, which was a pretty impressive statistic considering I had been running in Vermont for almost two years by then.

Second, at registration, I was asked if I was a member of Central Vermont Runners, or was I interested in joining? I of course said no. I am not a runner, so why would I join a running club? I am just getting practice to run a respectable Corporate Cup here. But I was curious about CVR; I discovered that membership was cheap, and that they had a race series. I suddenly found myself curious if I could avoid finishing last in a race season. I signed up.

I quickly found out that I had a great capacity to finish near the bottom in my age group. Race after race I was either last or next to last in the M50-59 category. I decided that my phone was no longer cutting it – I needed a watch so I could monitor my pace while running. And I LOVED having a watch on my wrist. I was constantly looking at my pace, no matter the run, and calculating how fast I would finish my run. I figured the way to get faster was to try to run faster each time I ran.

I obviously had no idea what I was doing. The other evidence to that effect was the fact that so many of my 2019 races were, at the time, the longest distance I had ever run. The first time I ran 10 kilometers was a race (Kaynors). The first time I ever ran 10 miles was a race (Paul Mailman). I cracked my tibia on a hike on Memorial Day, which set me back two months. So the second half of the year was much the same, trying to just build up to the distance of the next race. Eventually I decided to run the Leaf Peepers Half Marathon, which in turn was the first time I ever ran more than ten miles.

It was also the first time I got any decent points in the race series. I was very slow (2:15), but was the only CVR member in my age group who ran that distance. That earned me 100 points and vaulted me into second place for the season, behind only Jim Flint, who won our age group for pretty much every race he entered that season. If there was a prize for second place, it surely would have counted as a participation trophy.

If 2019 was about running races, then 2020 was about running miles. I ended up with 411 miles in 2019, which was more than I had run in my previous 53 years combined. Having built up my weekly miles at the end of the year, along with an appetite for longer races, I set a goal of 1,010 miles to run in the year 2020. It was a big stretch but also seemed achievable.

As it turns out, race motivation wouldn’t be an option anyway. I only ran two live races in 2020. The first was a half marathon in Phoenix that was meant to be a tune up for the Vermont City Marathon, which I had entered in the half marathon relay. Before the next race could be run, you might recall, a pandemic hit.

The shutdown occurred in March, and I ended up running 100 miles in a month for the first time. Then again the following month. And again. And again. During the summer I decided to run every street in Montpelier. I ran every virtual race that came my way. I had even learned some better training methods, and found myself lowering my times without constantly monitoring my watch. I ran with friends who took me to the hills of East Montpelier and on trails. In October the Half Marathon Unplugged was run as a live race in Burlington, and I managed to cut 20 minutes off my Leaf Peepers benchmark.

I exceeded my goal in early November and finished the year with 1,250 miles run. Once again, this was more than I had run in my entire life to date. So naturally I increased my goal for 2021 to 1,500 miles. This would require me to run nearly 30 miles per week, which would have been unfathomable just two years prior. With the promise of races coming back, and the hope to move beyond the half marathon distance, I was reasonably confident that I could achieve this goal, though there would be little margin for error. I probably couldn’t afford an injury.

SPOILER ALERT: I got an injury. Actually a couple of injuries. This may come as a surprise to the reader, but it’s true. In the spring I dealt with an Achilles problem, which mostly helped me focus on proper form along with pre- and post-race routines. I still managed to hit 100 miles every month, though February cut it close.

The second injury was much more significant, even though it wasn’t running related. I suffered a broken arm while playing baseball. As it turns out, when a bone is in two pieces, any jostling causes a great deal of pain. And running jostles arms as well as legs. I was completely sidelined for over two weeks, and limited for a few weeks afterward. In September I failed to reach 100 miles for the first time in 18 months.

A funny thing happened along the way. September and October were meant to be heavy race months, and I ended up dropping out of almost all of them. Similar to the 2018 sprained ankle incident, this spurred me on to do things I likely would not have considered otherwise. In this case, Matt Caldwell, one of my Runderachievers buddies, mentioned the Race For DFL coming up in November. This is a “last person standing” event, in which everybody runs a 4.16 mile course every hour until only one person remains. It seemed crazy, but I was itching for a race and there weren’t a lot others to choose from.

Before I signed up, I decided to do a practice run in Montpelier, out and back on the bike path for four miles. I did this five times, for a total of 20 miles run. It was the longest I had ever run before, and I discovered that I really liked it. This was pushing myself, but being able to take time to regroup after each lap. It was an eye-opening day for me, one that seemed to completely change my relationship with running.

A few weeks later I headed to Chesterfield Gorge in Massachusetts to run the actual race. I expected to be able to best my 20-mile run, but my stretch goal was 8 laps, or 33 miles. It was an interesting day for me, experiencing the camaraderie of the Ultra community for the first time. My feet and knees were ready to be done after 25 miles, but I managed to run two more laps to get over 50K and make this an official ultramarathon. Not bad for someone who had never run more than 15 miles a few weeks earlier.

I came out of the Race for DFL with a different perspective, and a different understanding of what kind of runner I was going to be. I find myself motivated by races, and also by the idea of pushing myself past my comfort zone. I am less motivated by the notion of punching out 4-5 mile runs every day to meet an arbitrary mileage goal. (Which I still did over the last six weeks of the year, because although the goal no longer seemed important, well, I still needed to do it.) After three years and 3,000 miles, I may have finally figured out why I am doing this.

2021 Year in Review: October to December

Oof! It’s been a minute since I wrote my last update. Here’s the 2021 finale.

After a lost September, I started October with a seven-mile run, and was basically back to my normal running schedule. Early in the month I swapped out my hard cast for a removable soft one, which made everything that much more comfortable. I built up more miles and then ran the Heady Trotter Four Miler mid-month, with a pretty good result.

A funny thing happened somewhere along the way during the September slowdown. My Runderachievers friend Matt mentioned the Race for DFL, which the race director was planning for November if there was enough interest. Perhaps as an overcompensation for having my fall race schedule go up in flames, I aggressively considered entering this race, which I had no chance of being competitive. Before committing to the entry fee and the travel, I decided to do a practice run. I ended up going 20 miles, at the time my longest-ever run, and really enjoyed it.

The month finished with another in-town 5K, the Autumn Onion on Halloween. It rained like hell, and I dressed up like The Most Interesting Man in the World. I won the costume contest.

October summary:
Total miles: 150.17 month / 1229.31 year to date
Vs 1,500 mile goal: -20.0 miles
Longest run: 20.0 miles
Significant Races: Heady Trotter, Autumn Onion

November is the month for the Fallen Leaves races, a series of three low-key 5Ks in Montpelier. During the first one I continued my tradition of setting a new 5K personal record, finishing in 24:16, which was still only good for 7th of 10 runners in my age group.

But the big tuna was the next weekend, the Race for DFL at Chesterfield Gorge in Massachusetts. My first Ultramarathon, this of the backyard variety. It was quite the scene. I met my stretch goal of running eight laps (aka “yards”), for a total of 33.3 miles. It was an amazing experience. I was sore for days afterward!

The tradeoff, from a running perspective, was that my streak of running each Fallen Leaves faster than the previous one ended the following weekend, as I fell a few seconds short of a new PR. Some traditions remained, however, as I was once again near the bottom of my age group.

November summary:
Total miles: 144.41 month / 1,373.72 year to date
Vs 1,500 mile goal: +1.1 miles
Longest run: 33.3 miles
Significant Races: Race For DFL, Fallen Leaves #1 and #3

I looked at December as a recovery month, without much in the way of races. I needed to run 127 miles to meet my goal for the year, however, which led me to push the mileage somewhat aggressively. I was afraid I would lose days to the holidays, weather, and skiing, so I front loaded. It worked out. I had a lovely night run on Christmas Eve, then finished the month with the New Years Eve 5K. It was another good race for me. I ended the year at 1,514 miles. I am impressed I got to that total!

December summary:
Total miles: 140.32 month / 1,514.04 for the year
Vs 1,500 mile goal: +14.04 miles
Longest run: 9.8 mile
Significant Races: New Year’s Eve 5K

In summary, 2021 was a great year for running for me. I overcame some injuries, both running- and non-running related, to meet the mileage goal I set for myself. I had some good races, and PR’d at the 4, 5, and 10 mile distance as well as 5K. In the process I transformed my running mindset, and learned the joy of running for the joy of running.

2021 Year in Review: July to September

July was a lull in the schedule, with no races until the end of the month. My goal was to avoid heat stroke while continuing build miles over the next couple of months, in order to be ready for some long races in September. I found it enjoyable to turn the Tuesday night fun runs into long runs by running to and from the start from my house, which added two miles each way. Katie and I did a big loop on Hunger and White Rock mountain to train for the Groton trail race, but sadly Katie came down injured immediately following, which dashed that dream for her. At the end of the month I ran in the Barre Heritage 5K Trail Race at Millstone Hill, which turned out okay.

July summary:
Total miles: 131.2 month / 895.97 year to date
Vs 1,500 mile goal: +24.7 miles
Longest run: 10.0 miles
Significant Races: Barre Heritage Trail Race

It was a bit more of the same in August, with a bit more “training” as the fall race season approached. I did speed work one evening, and went on another long, hilly run to prepare for Groton. The one race for the month was at Berlin Pond, where I took my normal pummeling for a CVR road race.

Then at the very end of the month I broke my arm and all that training would end up going for naught.

August summary:
Total miles: 122.6 month / 1,018.57 year to date
Vs 1,500 mile goal: +19.9 miles
Longest run: 13.1 miles
Significant Races: Berlin Pond Five Miler

I broke my arm on the last Sunday of August, from being hit by a line drive while pitching batting practice for my baseball team. I was put in a splint while waiting to get in to see the orthopedist, which took a week and a half. My ulna was broken clear through, and any jarring motion from the arm caused a great deal of pain. I started September on the Disabled List, unable to run at all.

The race schedule took several hits. The Northfield Savings Bank was scheduled for Labor Day weekend, but I was still in a splint so didn’t register for that. The following weekend was the Groton Forest Race. By then I was in the cast, but it was very uncomfortable, and besides it didn’t seem prudent to run a rocky, hilly trail run with a cast protecting a bone that was just beginning to heal. By the time the Sodom Pond four mile race came around the arm was feeling well enough for me to give it a shot, and that went pretty well considering all else. The big decision was whether to go to Maine to run the Flight Deck Half Marathon. Circumstances, including torrential rains in the forecast, rising Covid cases, and a lot of driving with a cast on my arm, led me to bow out a few days ahead of the race and defer to 2022. And for the first time in 18 months, I fell short of 100 miles run for the month

September summary:
Total miles: 60.57 month / 1,079.14 year to date
Vs 1,500 mile goal: -42.8 miles
Longest run: 5.8 mile
Significant Races: Sodom Pond Four Miler

2021 Year in Review: April to June

April brought the start of the race season. First up was the Half Marathon Unplugged, a return to site of my best half marathon to date. This one didn’t go so well, due to both weather and training, though it was far from a disaster. I gained a measure of redemption with an improved performance in the Paul Mailman 10 Miler. My maturation as a runner was evident in my evolving thinking about my training regimen.

April summary:
Total miles: 131.3 month / 470.6 year to date
Vs 1,500 mile goal: -22.6 miles
Longest run: 13.1 miles
Significant Races: Half Marathon Unplugged, Paul Mailman 10 miler

The mixed bag of racing results continued in May. I did okay but fell short of my goals in the Adamant Half Marathon in the beginning of the month, but finished things off with what is arguably my best rate to date in the Infinitus (almost) Eight Mile trail race. Somewhere in there I came to the realization that the more I run, the more I enjoy running.

May summary:
Total miles: 146.98 month / 617.58 year to date
Vs 1,500 mile goal: -3.0 miles
Longest run: 13.1 miles
Significant Races: Adamant Half Marathon, Infinitus 8 Mile

June featured the Gunstock Trail Festival, in which Katie and I entered two races, the Saturday Peak to Peak challenge, and the Sunday 10K loop race. Saturday was a bit of a slog that served to lower my expectations for Sunday, which I then summarily surpassed. Trail racing is fun! The following weekend was a return to CVR racing action with the Bear Swamp race, which also went fairly well. The quarter ended on a high note, as I was pretty healthy, running record miles, and racing well.

June summary:
Total miles: 147.19 month / 767.77 year to date
Vs 1,500 mile goal: +20.9 miles
Longest run: 10.3 miles
Significant Races: Gunstock Trail Festival races, Bear Swamp

12/31/21: New Year’s Eve 5K

The return to an “old friend” race that is significant to me in my running history. Three years ago, this was the first race I decided to run on my own, and the first CVR race I ever attended. I didn’t know what I was doing, and I didn’t know anybody there (other than a baseball teammate who I bumped into afterward), but it initiated a series of events that got me ingrained with the local running community.

Today was just the second time I ran this as a live race. I was hurt for the 2019 race, and last year was run as a virtual event. The virtual race showed how far I had come: my time for the first race was 31:00, and last year I was more than five minutes faster. I was surprised by my time of 25:38, but based on my progress this year I was confident that I could do even better this time around. I established a goal to break 25:00 for the race. I hadn’t done much in the way of speedwork, other than a few hill sprints while running this course a few days earlier, but I figured general fitness and race adrenaline would get me there.

Participation was down from previous races, but the field was a respectable 95 entrants. A lot of the usual suspects from CVR were there. In particular, my old nemeses Jim Flint and Mack Gardner-Morse were in attendance, but now both had graduated to the 60+ age group. I knew there were a couple others in the 50-59 age group, but the only CVR member (and therefore race series competition) I was aware of was my friend Peter Luyckx. I knew I wouldn’t beat him, but I also wasn’t going to get thrashed like I did in the 2019 series.

I did a little one-mile warmup, conveniently ending at the start line just as pre-race announcements and instructions were starting. The race started promptly a little before 2:00. Because I am a faster runner now, I tried to get closer to the front of the pack, but I still found myself behind a bunch of slower runners in the beginning quarter mile. I wove through and found some space as the field stretched out.

I didn’t have a super firm plan in mind to hit 25:00. That’s basically an 8:00/mile pace. I was thinking a little under 8:00 for the first (flat/downhill) .6 miles. That’s followed by a full mile of climbing, and I figured I could do a “fast climb” without killing myself, not knowing what that pace needed to be. The next mile is almost all downhill, and I figured I could run that in the low-7s to make up ground, then sprint as much as I could for the final third of a mile to the finish.

So that’s a pretty solid plan, right?

People found their places pretty quickly. I jockeyed for position with a young woman on the bike path. Eventually she bolted ahead to join up with her friend. But by the time we got to the Terrace Street climb I was in a bit of a groove, and I passed them. I also passed a 9-year-old kid who started out too fast and now had to walk this hill. I’ve been there. The first mile clicked in at 8:20, which seemed right about where I needed to be.

I found myself behind Tim Noonan, a CVR veteran who is about 10 years my senior. Historically he’s been a lot faster than me, but we’ve moved in opposite directions and seem to be competitive now – I beat him by four seconds at the last Fallen Leaves race in November. I figured I would let him be my pace car.

We passed a couple of more people heading up, including a young man just as I turned on to Dairy Lane. As I approached the end of Deerfield Drive I could see the front of the pack coming back down from Dunpatrick Circle, which is where the turnaround is. I was on Dunpatrick when I saw Peter coming the other way, meaning I wasn’t too far behind him. That was good!

The race returns on Dunpatrick and then takes a left back on Deerfield, where there is another short climb. I was passed by a woman on this stretch, which bummed me out because I like to be doing the passing once we are into a race. Tim was still ahead of me, but not for long as I found my downhill stride and passed him on Greenfield Terrace. Mile two clicked in, also at 8:20. That also seemed where I needed to be. If I could run the last 1.1 miles, mostly downhill, in 8:20 I would break 25:00. That was doable. I had brief visions of breaking 24:00 that turned out to be unwarranted.

I passed a tall guy as we turned onto Dairy Lane again, then was on my own for a bit running down Clarendon. I felt a little stitch of a cramp in my side, and was reminded how I likely was not properly hydrated for this race. It slowed me down for a moment, but I found myself gaining on a high school kid and soon forgot about it. I passed him on the last little uphill, then really let myself fly down the steepest downhill portion. I wasn’t looking at my watch, but Strava shows me going slightly under a 6:00 pace. That’s really fast for me!

By now I wasn’t close enough to anyone to chase them down. I was running my hardest on State Street, but was not feeling incredibly fast. I saw my friend Tom Mowatt ahead of me. I was gaining ground on him, but he was not within reach. The race ends with one last little climb of about 100 yards, at which point the young man from Dairy Lane sprinted past me to the finish. Katie was there cheering me on, and tried to let me know I had competition, but I didn’t figure that out in time. Darn it!

There were a couple of other runners, including the high school kid, who were fairly close but unable to catch me. I crossed the finish line in 24:41, well below my goal and nearly a full minute ahead of last year’s time. All in all it was a really successful race for me.

RACE SUMMARY:
Distance: 5K
Time: 24:41
Pace: 7:57
Place: 38/95
Age Group: 3/4
CVR Points: 92.6401

2021 Year In Review: January to March

As we approach the final day of the year, I would like to take the time to recap the running adventures of 2021. It was a year of growth and development, and I am definitely a different runner now than I was 12 months ago.

January began with me in good health. We were still in the throes of Covid, with all races cancelled for the coming months, not that there were many to begin with in the middle of the Vermont winter. Vaccines were starting to roll out, and we had hope for better days to come. With nothing to really train for, I focused solely on the annual goal that I had set for myself: 1,500 miles. That was a 500-mile increase from my 2020 goal, and 250 more than I ended up running for the year. It seemed audacious; the goal would require me to run 125 miles per month, or an average of 4.2 miles per day.

I am not one to run every day, particularly not in ski season, so my general approach was to run a minimum of 4.2 miles when I did go out, with the knowledge that long runs and hopefully long races would give me the extra miles needed. I had a did a couple of long runs on Fridays, and joined one CVR Saturday run during the month. Without access to a treadmill, as in previous winters, I learned to appreciate outdoor running in all weather conditions.

January summary:
Total miles: 125.63 month / 125.63 year to date
Vs 1,500 mile goal: -1.8 miles
Longest run: 10.5 miles
Significant Races: None

The big challenge in February was to keep my 100-mile-per-month streak alive. It started in March 2020, meaning reaching the milestone again would make it a full year’s worth of 100 mile months. But February is short and snowy. And to make matters worse, I had a crash on the ski slopes early in the month that bruised my butt and made me miss a few days of running. I fell way behind, but I made a big push the last few days of the month to get just over the goal line.

February summary:
Total miles: 102.52 month / 228.15 year to date
Vs 1,500 mile goal: -14.3 miles
Longest run: 10.0 miles
Significant Races: None

In March I paid the price for ramping up too fast at the end of February. Early in the month I developed an Achilles injury. That slowed me down for a couple of weeks, but it also led me to doing research on injury prevention, and resulted in changes to my stretching and warmup routines that seem to have paid off in better health for the remainder of the year. Toward the end of the month I signed up to run the Half Marathon Unplugged in early April, which kicked me into race training for the first time in months,

March summary:
Total miles: 110.85 month / 339.0 year to date
Vs 1,500 mile goal: -30.9 miles
Longest run: 10.0 miles
Significant Races: None

12/25/21 Training Update: 1,500 Miles Achieved

Last night’s Christmas Eve run among the luminaries left me just two miles short of my goal to run 1,500 miles in 2022. Winter weather – snow and freezing rain – led me to stay in Vermont rather than drive the 120 miles or so to my father’s house in Maine. Left alone on a holiday, what better than to wrap up the goal.

The forecast had called for snow, but Montpelier received a steady dose of rain. The sidewalks were coated with ice, but I surmised the recent snow underneath would make the park trails more palatable. Plus, I really wanted to hit 1,500 in the woods.

Last year, Katie and I purchased YakTrax Run nanospikes, which I have only used once before. I decided this was a perfect time to break them out, and they worked great on the crusty sidewalks. I decided to do a Mr. Hubbard or Count Chocula run, which encompasses trails in both Hubbard Park and North Branch Park. Because I wanted to ensure I was in the woods for the 1,500-mile selfie, I went the reverse of my normal route, starting in Hubbard Park from the Meadow. I think this was a good call.

The gravel roads heading into the park were very slick, though the YakTrax were doing well. I made the choice to not do the full Mr. Hubbard route, as none of the ways to get up to the tower appealed to me. Instead I went across the Hemlock Hill trail, which ends just before Seven Fireplaces. I then cut across to the Nose trail (my name – it’s now part of Hubbard Park now, however, so I expect it will get an official moniker). Somewhere on the tip of the nose, my watch buzzed two miles. Mission accomplished!

My suspicion that the trails would be better than the roads was mostly correct, though there were several areas where snowmelt runoff crossing the trails made a mess. I continued on to the Fitch Road trailhead, then across the street to the North Branch Nature Center. The perimeter trail, along with the North Branch River trail on the park side of the river, were the worst traction of the run, with loose footfalls causing slippage on almost every step. I found this to be strangely tiring, as it resulted in slower and less-efficient cadence.

I ran 4.5 miles, and now am sitting at 1,502 miles. I will miss a couple of days due to skiing and my rescheduled visit to Maine, but I expect to be around 1,520 after the New Years Eve 5K race on Friday. It’s been a fun target, which always seemed in reach despite a couple of injury setbacks during the year.

I am not planning to set a mileage goal for 2022. This was a good year in building a base and changing my mindset when it comes to running, but I want to see how my motivation responds without the goal in place. I expect to run as many or perhaps more miles during 2022, because I hope to run some longer-distance races which will demand more miles in training. There are a few questions that need to be answered before I set the first schedule for 2022, but those will come soon enough. In the meantime, I’ll be going for some non-obligatory runs just for fun!

Today’s Run: Christmas Luminaries (12/24/21)

Covid-19 continues to wield influence over our everyday lives, even as we are about to move into 2022. One such aspect is family get-togethers, holiday or otherwise. At one point not too long ago, I was considering heading to Maine on Christmas Eve to spend a couple of days with my father. But the sudden rise of the highly-contagious (though seemingly less-harmful) Omicron variant, combined with the substandard vaccination status of some of my family members, made me rethink my choice. I chose instead to do an over-and-back drive on Christmas day, but now that’s going to be delayed a couple of days due to winter weather.

Katie’s family is a bit more compliant with Covid protocols, so she went up north today, leaving me alone on the night before Christmas. The weather was good, so I decided to go for a run. The other day I rigged up some lights on a fleece vest to wear for the Runderachievers solstice week run, and I thought I would wear them again. Last year Katie and I did a lit solstice run, which turned out to be lot of fun. Passersby really enjoy seeing folks wearing lights.

My plan was to run about six miles, which would be half of my remaining miles to reach 1,500 for the year. Last week I ran the New Year’s Eve 5K course through the Terrace Street/Parkside neighborhood, and since I hadn’t checked out the holiday lights over there yet this would give me the opportunity to do so. It would also give me a chance to practice the course again just a week before the race. With the distance to and from my house, this would be over five miles, and I could tweak the return as I saw fit to record a little more.

When I hit the Meadow shortly after the start, I was met with lines of luminaries extending the entire distance of Pearl Street. How festive! As I ran my normal route it became apparent that the entire neighborhood was decorated with luminaries, all created from gallon milk jugs. Given the lack of traffic on this holiday eve, the atmosphere was peaceful and calm.

When I exited the Meadow I turned down Elm Street to Court Street, where the race course starts. From there it turns left on Governor Davis Avenue, across State Street onto Taylor Street, then right on the bike path. When the bike path reaches Bailey Avenue, runners take a right, cross State Street again, then go uphill and left on Terrace Street. (And more uphill.)

There were some nice lights on Terrace Street, and I could see some others in the Parkside neighborhood. I continued the climb all the way to the end of Dunpatrick Circle, which is a cul-de-sac at the high point and turnaround for the race. Dunpatrick didn’t have any over-the-top light displays, but a couple of tastefully-decorated houses at the cul-de-sac made the climb worthwhile.

Things really picked up when the downhill portion hit Clarendon Street, which also was lit with luminaries. This wasn’t as uniform as the Meadow, as many houses lacked the lights, but most did. Again the predominant luminary was the milk jug, but some houses had paper bags or lanterns instead. I was almost tempted to run up Hubbard Park Drive, because things looked really nice up there, but it’s not on the race course. And also, it is very steep.

I ran by some people who wished me well, and one person in a car called out the window to say she liked my outfit. As I continued back down to Bailey, I decided to run over to the College Street neighborhood. Katie and I had driven through just last night to see the lights, but I wanted to see if they were also in on the luminary thing.

I finished the race course on Court Street. As I jogged over to cross Main Street, some teenager roared out the window at me, then laughed. I suppose I thought shit like that was funny forty years ago.

I went down School Street, then zig-zagged on Hubbard to go up Marvin Street. The bottom part of Marvin was a dud, lights-wise. The street goes back downhill, and there’s a little cluster of houses where the streets come together, with some nice lights and a few luminaries. Then more uphill to College Street. There aren’t any houses on this steep stretch, and thus, no lights. All-in-all, Marvin was a disappointment given all the climbing.

I turned left on College to I could run the little Hinckley/McKinley/Arsenal loop. From previous runs I know that McKinley Street’s residents are very committed to the lighting, so this stretch did not disappoint. Back on College Street I ran by one house whose people had put out little electric tea lights. That was nice, but the street itself was a little lacking. I suppose the fact that much of it is a college campus doesn’t help.

I deviated from my normal route to run down Summit Street. I arrived at Edwards Street, which was fully lined with luminaries (milk jugs), as were Foster and Charles Streets. There were some families walking along and enjoying the lights, and one woman suggested that I should also have jingle bells. A great idea for next year!

I climbed back up Charles Street to Ridge and then Nelson down to Barre, where I turned right to go back to Main Street. I was on the home stretch now, but I decided to run up East State Street a bit to get to Cedar Street, where I had lived for a year when I first moved to Vermont. For a short street, Cedar had plenty of lights. Then I cut over to St. Paul Street, which was mostly bereft. I turned left on Liberty, then crossed over Main to go down Franklin and through the condos. Franklin was one of the most brightly-lit streets in town. Then back across Elm via Vine, and back into the Meadow.

I had left my phone at home to charge the battery during my run, but I decided to go get it then return to the Meadow to take some photos. My run was over eight miles when I got home. I had fun jogging back and wandering around to get photos, but sadly my phone can’t capture the beauty the way the eye does. After a bit I returned back, having turned my six mile run into almost ten miles by the end.

RUN STATISTICS:
Distance/Elevation/Time: 9.8 miles/629 Feet/1:42:58
Weather: 23 degrees
luminaries: countless
Random screaming teenagers: just the one
Smiles generated: a few
Other runners seen: One who passed by my house just as I was walking out the driveway
Overall Rating: 10/10. Highly recommended

12/9/21 Training Update: The Road to 1,500

Back in January I set a goal to run 1,500 miles this year. I set a goal of 1,010 miles last year (“1010 in 2020”), which I exceeded by nearly 25%, and I wanted to stretch that again. I added 20% to last year’s final tally of 1,250 to arrive at the 2021 goal. The 1,500 figure also came out to an aesthetically-pleasing 125 miles per month.

The path hasn’t been quite that straightforward. There have been injury setbacks that put me behind pace, along with a few months where everything was clicking and I racked up some big miles. My broken arm at the end of August made me take two weeks off, which cost me 60 miles (at a time I was supposed to be piling up miles with some long races), but I started catching up again and I was back on pace after the Race for DFL.

“On pace” means I was averaging 30 miles per week for the whole year. It also meant that I had to average 30 miles per week for the rest of the year. But the R4DFL beat me up a little. I had sore feet and a strained IT band by the end. The feet cleared up immediately, but the IT issue lingered. By necessity I followed that race with a couple of lighter weeks. Not super light – I only dropped a few miles behind – but light enough to keep me “on pace” instead of “ahead of pace.”

And really, I would have preferred to hit December ahead of pace. Running in December kind of sucks. The days are extremely short, meaning a lot of times I end up running in the dark. It’s cold, the roads can get snowy and icy, and there are many days (like holidays and ski days) where it’s difficult to do any running. And that means I need to make up the slack on days I do run.

I’ve been focusing on 5-6 miles per day, with an occasional longer run, to build some cushion so as to not be cramming a lot of miles in the last week of the year to reach my goal. In deference to my knee, I’ve been running mostly flat routes. We had some snow last week, but then it got raining and warm and all the trails in the parks turned to ice, so I’ve been staying off them and on the streets, which is probably best while nursing the knee. It doesn’t really hurt, but it also reminds me that it’s not fully healed. Barring another injury, I am pretty confident that I’ll get to 1,500 miles by the end of the year.

I am also pretty confident that I am not going to set a mileage goal for next year. I am glad to have done it this year, it’s made me push myself, but this month the goal feels more like obligation than motivation. And I no longer need this kind of motivation. I have gotten to the point where running is a truly enjoyable activity for me. For three years I’ve been trying to accomplish something, whether it be a mileage goal or a time goal for a race, but these days I realize that running feels better than not running. That I think will be enough motivation for me next year.

That and a robust race schedule. I’ve got unfinished business with some races I wasn’t able to compete in this year, and a few other things I am interested in. I’ve been going down rabbit holes and finding a bunch of races that look fun, and I’ve already started to plan out what can fit in the calendar. I am getting excited thinking about it. But that’s a post for another day.

In the meantime I’ve got 22 days left to run 82 miles. That’s 3.7 miles per day on average. That seems doable, even if it might not be the thing I really want to do the next few weeks. But I will be glad to have it done.

Today’s Run: Seasonally Dark

December. Temperatures are getting colder, precipitation is getting firmer, and skies are dark at 4:30. It’s treadmill season for a lot of people in Vermont, and I can’t say that I blame them.

I also can’t join them, for I do not have access to a treadmill at the moment. Sometimes the motivation to get outside is difficult to muster. The fact that running routes are limited by darkness does not help. It’s like hopping on a hamster wheel sometimes. Actually, a treadmill wouldn’t help in that regard.

You might be getting the sense that I did not want to go for a run tonight, and you would be correct. More to the point, I wanted to run but I also am feeling overwhelmed with things that have to get done. And none of the things I just mentioned were helping. But I also am trying to reach my 1,500 mile goal for the year. I only have four weeks left, and while I am on pace, there’s not a lot of time to make up for any missed days at this stage. I don’t want to be on the hook to run 40 miles the week between Christmas and New Years.

The fact that I had to go to the office to complete a task sealed the deal. I could start my run from a completely different place than usual. Sure, it would be the same basic streets, but starting from the other side.

I was feeling anxious about all the other things I need to do, so I wanted to do something fairly short and get it over with. I decided on the T Rex Route, an old standby when I was in the office every day, so named because the map (vaguely) resembles a T Rex when viewed just so.

After finishing my chore, I warmed up and was on the bike path by 7:00. The route goes out the bike path, loops back to Barre Street, up over Hubbard Street, then to Liberty and through the Franklin Street Condos. Then up around through the Meadow and down around the State House before finishing back along the bike path. In my mind this was a 5K route, but I forgot that when I added the Meadow variation (Rex’s “head”) it added over half a mile more running.

I felt like I started out faster than normal, though the data doesn’t really bear that out. Perhaps I was just a little more amped than normal. The streets were very quiet, with hardly anyone on the bike path and very little traffic. I found myself running in the street a lot rather than on the sidewalk, as the sidewalks tend to gather puddles. I still splashed through my fair share of those.

As I got to the Meadow I noticed that the road surface was getting slippery. This surprised me, as rain was falling from the sky and I did not think the pavement was cold enough to cause freezing. However when I got to the end of Pearl Street and turned left to go down the hill on Winter Street, there was a woman walking quite tentatively. She warned me to be careful, but I already knew.

Footing was mostly okay as I continued my jaunt around the State House. The worst bits were the three bridges, the Bailey Avenue bridge over the Winooski, and the bike path bridges back over the Winooski and then over the North Branch. It turns out those signs on the highway are correct – bridge freezes first!

I went for a little speed on two segments toward the end, and though they were faster than other recent efforts, they weren’t all that fast. I’m sure footing has something to do with that, but I think you actually have to train for speed, and I haven’t been doing that. I did concentrate more on faster cadence and a “lighter” stride, hoping to gain more efficiency from the effort I am putting into my runs.

All in all this was quite the uneventful run, but that’s just what I needed. By the end the anxiety had gone away and my body felt great. I enjoyed watching the steam rise off my body as I stretched afterward.

RUN STATISTICS:
Distance/Elevation/Time: 3.8 miles/136 Feet/36:10
Weather: 37 degrees and rain.
Puddles splashed: many
Minor Slips: many
Darkness: abundant
Other runners seen: Zero
Overall Rating: 7/10. Conditions and entertainment factor were both “meh,” but it felt good.