A big red beacon

 Earlier in the month was the Croom Zoom which totals out at 32.2 miles.  A 2.2 opener and then 3 x 10 mile trail loops.  Was able to practice the run/walk for most of it.  This resulted in negative splits for each loop and an average final pace of 12:32.  It was a good result for me and yielded 33 from 81 finishers.  Much confidence gained for Ice Age.

 In other news, Cookie (11/5/2006 - 1/11/2023) crossed the rainbow bridge as we say.  She started out as a dog for the kids and ended up living with us in 5 locations.  She would eat anything except Vienna sausages.  Not sure what this means because she'd eat dead rodents you mowed over once or twice.  She vibrated.  Her body constantly shaking.  Like she was missing a potential meal somewhere.  If a choice needed to be made to save me, or step over me for half a corn flake there is no doubt which she would choose.  A warrior dog.  No amount of any number of dogs, or size, they weren't coming up into our yard.  A cattle dog mutt.  She was one tough cookie.  Tell Wimpy I said hello.

 And now it is just the boys.  The two Guinea Pigs.   They can be comical.  The wife does 99% of the care for them.  I suppose if we start doing more traveling they will come with.  For whatever reason when women address them they do so like they are addressing infants.

 No special training plans for Ice Age.  Try and stay around 50-55 a week.  Was out 3:10 Saturday and 2:00 on Sunday.   This yielded 24.5 miles for the weekend.  There is a run here in March about 33+ miles.  Maybe I'll do that.  Also another 50k in early April.  I'd like to hit at least one of those.

Put the hammer down

 It was the late '70s when a competitor was relaying a story about Dunbar from Grove City turning on the afterburners to win the half at a District meet.  Afterburners.  Wow, who doesn't like the story when someone just torches the field at the end?  We all have our favorites.  Who doesn't love Mills in '64, or Wottle in '72?  I've seen the Wottle one so many times I and still don't know if he's going to pull it off.  Interestingly, he supposedly negative split each 200m segment.  Word.

 When attending meets, I found it easier to yell, "Put the hammer down" rather than yelling an afterburner phrase.  So in life, if you are around me I'm constantly uttering this to both colleagues and complete strangers.   Hundreds if not thousands of times and not one person has ever questioned why I yelled this at them.  You know why?  I said it earlier, everyone loves the idea of being in the hammer zone.

 People liked Prefontaine because the hammer seemed to always be in operation.  Now here is a guy with legitimate sub 4:00 speed and he had to start way out.  You know why?  Because there are some really big hammers out there.  So big, I could never pretend to fathom for a second what that universe is like.  I remember in the day when Filbert Bayi was know to set a blistering pace off the bat in the mile.  In one old clip at an indoor meet, about 2-3 short laps in Pre decides to blow by him.  Forget about anything else, for me that's what was great for the sport.  Because in the end, I have no idea who won, but I enjoyed seeing the hammer come out.

Same as it ever was

  The last three days have been just over 2 hours each.   Tomorrow the plan is to do the same as most are off work.  Then on this coming Saturday participate in a 50k.  It is a trail event and it would be a good time to test out the .35 jog and the .15 walk strategy.   This will be a good marker for Ice Age, as 6 weeks ago it felt as though this Spartan was finito.  

 Yes a Spartan.  The Laurel Spartans is the diminutive rural high school attended by your blogging friend.  At least that's how Wikipedia used to describe it.  That a XC program for boys was started in 1976 was a real stretch looking back.  After my 3 years there it disappeared again for a long number of years.  We were the only school who did not have a program.  It did make it challenging for the T&F team to have any distance savvy.  Looking back to those days it was so much fun, though we were definitely a doormat.  The best part of XC was when the little starter pistol cracked we ran like banshee's the first half mile.  Sometimes hooting and hollering and generally having a blast doing it.

Notes from the beginning:

- When the coach wheeled off the course I demonstrated how his math was wrong and the 2 loops equaled 5 miles and not 3 miles.  Of course I was a kid and when we ran the course they randomly stopped us around 4 miles.

- Coach broke out a box of sugar cubes before the race for us to use.  I explained basic blood download characteristics of this exercise, but again I was the rube.

- There was a popular product like Bengay we used called Mint Glo to limber up and feel the burn.  Some guys put it around their nose because it would open up the breathing channel.   I strongly advised against this.  Just read the data on the label. These guys were Seniors.  Again, I was a kid, but the results nevertheless created hilarity.

- We somehow won our first meet ever, but as I have written before, did not find out until almost back home and I pointed out the low score wins.

- Philosophical differences in traning and remember I knew nothing.  Two loops around the pond and back (maybe a mile) and 6 x 100 on grass most days.  Probably better if we jogged 3-4 miles, but coach wanted to keep us sharp because we were in season.  Remember we all showed up for the season having done zero running (though the general condition of kids in the '70s was pretty good).

 It was a lot of fun.  You just figured stuff out.  No fancy race shoes, just the sprinter spikes from the track team.  One thing which sticks out when you suck was how the other teams top guys were beasts.  They had the experience, the cool running threads, and the nice varsity letter jackets.  We had Hickory Speedway, Steeler, and First Presbyterian t-shirts.   

 No matter, twern't no grizz left anyway.

State Champ

 The year tapped out at 2,211.9 miles, which was 699.3 less than last year.  Two non-running injuries affected the total and also increased the percentage of walking miles.  That's okay.  Averaging 6.06 miles a day means I'm still in the game.  

 Every year I post who went out with me, or we met up for a little movement.  The top 10 does not have 10 in it this year.  My minimum is 3 efforts for the year.  Now folks ask about the dog.  Unless I'm counting the mileage as a recordable effort, the dog does not receive credit.   We went out, but at 16 years old  it's mainly a sniff fest and hey watch this once type of slow effort.  Plus she would have won 12 years in a row had I counted the glory days, so I excluded her.  

State Champ - 26

Ten Bears (or beers) - 24

John Wayne (real name) - 18

Ginger Rockstar - 12

The Wife - 10

The Robert - 7

 There was a time long ago, when we were young in which we modeled parent behavior. One such behavior was transacting business.  Generally seen at the gas station (when they did it for you), grocery stores, and rarely some type of restaurant.  There was some verbal direction and then the payment part which was almost always straight cash.  Don't hold up anything at any cost because others need this service as well.  Also it's 5 degrees at the gas station and Goober doesn't need to waste time in the cold.

 It was real good training.

 But somewhere this waffle iron of consistency and being a good American disappeared.  I could stand on my head and spit $25 dollars in nickels before some customers and patrons figure it out.  The whole thing can be a circus.  Am I the bad guy?  Just pay, don't ask questions and move on.  

 

A time

 After talking with my sister on Saturday, we briefly began talking about ridding our lives of the excess.  We have gotten to this subject maybe 2-3 times, but never fully explored.  Mainly because we had been on the horn so long it was time to make a realistic run at accomplishing something the rest of the day.

 Is it necessary to accomplish something?  A good question.   I have learned what I accomplish probably has little to no value to anyone else, unless you domicile with other humanoids.  Then things such as general participation of cleaning and presentation of the abode matter.

 Now those things were not taught in college.  It was not until my participation in the family structure began in which everyone plays a role. Here is how it worked.  For five days a week you accumulated money to pay for stuff.  All this gets put in the fridge, bank, closets, and the shed.  On the weekends you had time to use some of this stuff and you moved it around until the five days started back up.

 Decades later you realize almost all this stuff is worthless, except the stuff in the bank. The bank stuff is another subject.  Not only is this worthless, but many of the activities, vocations, and minor milestones one may have achieved mean nothing to anyone.  Then, one day you realize they mean nothing to you.

 And this can be so freeing. 

 I'm not going to take the time to merge this into the excess.  Now is the time to look into achieving nothing and expecting nothing.  If the dog looks cold then I cover her up.  If the armadillos dig up the yard I repair it.  If we have food that needs ate up then I grill it.  One day a week I go into town and get two slices of cheese pizza for $4.77 and toss a dollar in the tip jar.  It is a weekly highlight.  

 Oh, and I jog around some in hopes of completing a 50 miler under the cutoffs in May.  I found the Florida National Scenic Trail is 6 miles from me.  Such a bonus.  Here's how many other joggers I've seen to date...zero.  Only hikers and dog folk.  Good by me.  Can't forget about the kayak and bird watching.  Love it.  Occasionally someone will ask about it.  You can pick up some good stuff from other junior enthusiasts when discussing birds.

 That's kinda how life is.  Be more interested in others than yourself and you get something out of it that doesn't go in the shed.

Word salad

 Off work today so just out attempting to be the best version of me.  This looks different for everyone, but today's version is geared towards not really letting the man over extend into my terrarium.  At some point what one does for earning cashola is going to cut bait and work on getting off the grid.  Nothing could be finer.

 So off I set on a 4.5 mile kayak at the first break of daylight.   It was a cool 40-41 degrees.   Not a soul out.  Saw the usual bird action and a couple to look into.  The smaller song bird types are hard to see that flitter between backyards and marsh.  It was very peaceful.   

 Saturday was 22 miles.  Ran the first 6 miles and then went to .35/.15walk mostly on trail.  I was not rested so I could test myself.  At about 17 I went to .15/.10 walk and turned it around.  I ran the last 2 miles and ended up averaging 13:17.  Not bad.  Completely different  body to work with compared with last Saturday.   It's good though. 

 

Stone Elephant

 It was a good week for me.  I am pleased with the ability to run more, recover well, and just go with what works that day.

Monday: 7.0 (13:02 pace) .3/.2 walk

Tuesday: 6.5 (11:39) run

Wednesday: 8.0 (12:13) run

Thursday: 6.6 (13:50) random / walk w/Wayne

Friday: 7.0 (13:16) .3/.2 walk

Saturday: 18.0 (11:55) .38/.12 walk

Sunday: 7.5 (12:23) mostly run

Total: 60.6

Special happy birthday shout out to my friend Kris H today.  I miss our conversations and commeraderie.  Hope to see you at Ice Age.  Not sure, but this one might be a new age group.