2009 - End of Year Summary

I have compiled a monthly breakdown of the miles I ran this past year. I went running 123 times in 2009 for a total of 553 miles. Of the 553 miles, I ran 21 competitive races for a total of about 100 miles. My average run length was four and a half miles, which equates to an average of about 35 to 40 minutes per outing.

I began my training for a marathon on February 27th, 2009.

Month - #of Runs:Total miles [avg] / (# of Races: Race miles)
February - 1:1 [avg=1 mile] / (0:0)
March - 6:18 [avg=3 miles ] / (0:0)
April - 4:13 [avg=3.25 miles] / (0:0)
May - 16:74 [avg=4.63 miles] / (4:14)
June - 13:55 [avg=4.23] miles] / (2:9)
July - 19:80 [avg=4.21 miles] / (4:12)
August - 17:96 [avg=5.65 miles] / (3:12)
September - 12:54 [avg=4.5 miles] / (3:18)
October - 16:59 [avg=3.7 miles] / (3:9)
November - 6:46 [avg=7.7 miles] / (1:26.2)
December - 13:57 [avg=4.4 miles] / (0:0)

Christmas 2009

We had a very good Christmas this year. My wife and I have been very careful to not have our kids exposed to marketing geared toward spending money on whimsical and trendy products. While our eldest son does want things from Santa like every other kid, he does not compile a laundry list of must haves. Even when exposed to his cousins who own everything from the comical Snuggie sweater (for a seven year old) to Nintendo Wii's, he has yet to come to either my wife or I and ask for something because his cousins or friends have one. I have to commend my wife on raising both my son's to be very people oriented and not materialistic.

After a nearly a month long hangover from my November marathon run, I am finally getting back into the groove of running. I am on pace for running about 60 miles this month.

I am searching for meaningful running goals for calendar year 2010. One of them I am contemplating is to run 800 miles next year. Because disposable income will be scarce next year due to my wife attending a college an hour's commute each way, it may be a few months into 2010 before I know if I will be running any races next year.

My most important running considerations are to stay in shape, keep my weight down, and most importantly, regulate my high blood pressure. Running the races was fun this past year, but was not essential for my physical well-being.

End of the Year Thoughts

This year represented my most physically active year as an adult. The last time I had exercised as much as I have this year was in the early 1980's while at college at Penn State. I was an avid basketball player, spending many evenings playing within pick-up games in the White building. I will have run over five hundred miles this year. To give you an idea how far that is, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is about 560 miles away from our house in south-central PA.

I ran in twenty one races this past year, ranging from one mile to twenty six miles in length. I ran them in no prescribed order, the race lengths occurred this year in essentially a random fashion. Each month I would scan the internet to find upcoming races.

I need to spend more time with my oldest son next year to help him begin developing athletically. He seems to have an affinity for baseball. Ironically, baseball was the first sport I played as a youth. I had a very good arm but was only average batting at the plate.

Finances will play a much more important role next year with respect to the number of races I enter. With my wife going to school and our debts mounting, we will be forced to limit spending to food only for many weeks. When faced with the choice to spend twenty dollars on a race entry fee or our family eating for the day, it's an easy choice.

Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run - Not Selected

I received an email today saying that I had not been selected within the lottery to run next year's Cherry Blossom ten mile race in Washington D.C.. I could sign up on a waiting list used for people who will not be able to run the race next year and need to sell their spot. I have decided not to sign up for the waiting list because logistically running at this race was going to cause some problems.

My wife will be in her first semester of her return back to college and we should keep our activities as simple and inexpensive as possible. We would have had to stayed in a hotel in the D.C. area, which would not have been inexpensive.

I need to find another race next year to set my sights on and to use as a motivator for staying in shape.

Running in the Winter

I have had the opportunity to complete a few runs in sub 40 degree weather this winter. None of them have been run while in the midst of any precipitation. Supplementing my running jacket and pants outfit with a knit hat and gloves has been sufficient to withstand the cold. I forgot my gloves on one run and my fingers were pretty cold after a half an hour of running. Wearing thicker synthetic socks also helps to insulate against the wind coming through the mesh portions of my sneakers.

Another bonus byproduct of running is my ability to withstand colder temperatures is much better than years past. For whatever reason, I can wear a windbreaker outside now in 30 something degree weather and not be freezing.

I have yet to run on streets covered with snow, slush or ice. I imagine an inch or two of dry snow may not pose a higher degree of hazardous faring, but most any other accumulation would be risky. I need to be especially careful of drivers who have not defrosted their windows sufficiently to see a full 180 degrees before them.

I have four separate programs I am using to keep track of my runs. Two of them are online, Garmin Connect and Running Ahead while the other two are pc applications, Garmin's Training Center and Zone Five's Sport Tracks. Each one of them is generating a different calendar year 2009 total for the miles I have run. They span anywhere from 480 to 510 miles. I need to reconcile them and determine what the official amount is for the year. I suspect I may have some biking miles included in the running totals somewhere. As it stands now, two of the programs indicate I have eclipsed 500 miles for the year, while the other two have me a couple miles short of the mark.

I have run a little more than 20 miles this month.

Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run

The first event I anticipate running within next year is Washington D.C.'s Cherry Blossom 10 mile run on Sunday April 11th. Entry into this event is done with a lottery system due to an overwhelming response to this year's event resulting in their web servers crashing due to the high volume of people registering for the race as soon as registration was opened. The 2010 race will be limited to 15,000 runners.

The lottery results will be posted by 10 a.m. on Tuesday December 15th on the web site http://www.cherryblossom.org.

Since there are so many runners, there will be six starting corrals used to help alleviate the congestion on the course. The fastest 2500 runners will start first, then after a period of a few minutes, the next fastest 2500 runners will begin the race. This will continue until the last corral has started. Each runner will have a color coded racing bib corresponding to the corral you need to be at within the staging area.

You are seeded in a corral based upon a time you estimate running the ten mile run which you enter during the registration process on their web site. Their is no verification you actually have run the time you entered.

In the past it has taken me about 90 minutes to run ten miles, or about nine minutes per mile. I anticipate starting in the next to last corral.

This race should be a very scenic one with the pink cherry blossoms in bloom and a large part of the race run along the Potomac river. At this point, I have no idea whether this is a hilly course.

Logistically, I would like to take the family to D.C. for the weekend. The race starts at 7:40 AM. I will be done by 9:30 am, leaving the entire day for the family.

Saying Good-bye to 'On a Wing and a Prayer'

I am looking forward to running competitively next year because I will have over 365 days of training behind me. This year, 2009, I had seven years or over 2500 days of inactivity behind me. The seven years dates back to the birth of our first child. In many of the races i entered this year, especially early in the season, I was aspiring to merely finish the race.

I was competing against many runners who had been training for over 2500 days. I was disappointed with some of my performances this year. However, I need to keep my calendar year 2009 performances in a healthy and realistic perspective.

Also, in many instances I was trying to race at events before I was sufficiently trained for them. This resulted in a fair number of muscle pulls and strains that contributed to several weeks of recovery time.

If you were to map out my paces per mile over several events this year, you would see I had a precipitous decline in my pace after the two and a half mile marker in most races. I would like to increase my stamina in 2010 to the point where I will be able to run four solid miles before my pace declines.

While I will most likely be running in only six or seven races in 2010 because of a financial re-prioritization of our family's goals for the year, I hope to enjoy as much road racing satisfaction as I did this year.


Excerpted from http://www.phrases.org.uk

On a Wing and a Prayer - Meaning
In poor condition, but just managing to get the job done.

Origin
This phrase originated with the WWII patriotic song Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer (1943), by Harold Adamson and Jimmie McHugh, which tells of a damaged warplane, barely able to limp back to base.

Adding variety to the Diet - Kefir

A couple of months ago i read an article within Runner's World about a nutritious food called kefir. I have never heard of this product before. While walking through the organic section in a local Giant food store, I noticed a product line of kefir from a company named Lifeway. At three dollars for a thirty two ounce bottle, I only purchased one bottle.

In a nutshell, kefir tastes like liquified yogurt. It has a thick viscosity, but nowhere near that of a chocolate milkshake. Lifeway produces a diverse set of flavors ranging from pomegranate to cappuccino. The company touts this drink as a probiotic drink.



Excerpted from mayoclinic.com

Your body contains billions of bacteria and other microorganisms. The term "probiotics" refers to dietary supplements or foods that contain beneficial, or "good," bacteria that are similar to those normally found in your body. Although you don't need probiotics to be healthy, these microorganisms may provide some of the same health benefits that the bacteria already existing in your body do — such as assisting with digestion and helping protect against harmful bacteria.

Per the Lifeway website ...

All Lifeway organic products are certified USDA. Which means they come from animals that were not given antibiotics or growth hormones and were also fed mostly without the use of conventional pesticides. Then there’s all the good stuff they do contain, like calcium, protein and fiber. And, of course, those ten live and active probiotic cultures that boost immunity, strength the digestive system and fend off a whole slew of diseases.