Fall 2013

October 15 , 2013

Time on my hands or in my pocket or losing the opportunity to be out running.

Sounds like a runner who has to take time off from running doesn't it?

That's right!

I am suspect of having a hernia or a pulled muscle in my groin. (Inguinal hernia)

So I have been ordered to take it easy until the docs can be certain what the problem is. I have been having some pain in my right groin. I am going to have a C A T scan tomorrow and then I will know what the outcome will be.

I have been doing more speed work to see if I can get back to at least to run a 10 minute per mile pace. My pace has been 12 minutes or slower per mile.

When running a marathon I cannot keep running under even 6 hours for the 26.2 miles at my slow pace. For me that is too slow!! I know my age again but I can train too run  a little faster.

Sometimes I am just too lazy to put out the effort in my training!

It is the middle of October on the Olympic Pennisula and no frost yet. The coldest night here has been 35 degrees.

Maybe we will have another mild winter this year.

I found of all things a free 1/2 marathon in Tacoma, WA that I was going to run but the surgeon said to take it easy until the problem can be taken care of.

The yard and garden are looking very ragged. I need to dead head the Dahlias and other flowers.

Frosty nights will take care of them!

I walked 2 miles on the beach with our 2 poms. It was a sunny day great for a walk.

Trying to wait patiently for tomorrow for the TEST.

June 14, 2013

Wow, time for another post.
I have been doing more in my garden then running. Although I did run a marathon on June 2, 2013.
I have been trying to keep my marathon time under 6 hours. I know all of you fast er guys out there, this time is slow. But for being 80 years old I don't think it is too bad.
I started out at a slow pace at the back of the packl In fact I was lalst at the 100 meter mark. My longest run for the last two months was 16 miles so that I knew that I could not sustain any kind of a pace. So I started out running 10 minutes and then walking for 5 minutes from the beginning of the run. The temperature was 62 degrees when the marathon started and the high for the day was in the low 70's.
My 1/2 marathon time was 13:05 per mile which would have been a 5 hour and 55 or 58 minute time for the race. But I did not keep this pace up. My time for the race was 6 hours and 7 seconds! Seven seconds. My goodness it seems like I could have made up that 7 or 8 seconds and came in under 5 hours. Oh well next time!!!!!!!!
I had asked a sophomore at Sequim High School that was a first year track person if he wanted to run the last 13 miles with me. He did and easily ran the distance. His longest run up to this point was 4 miles. But he did a great job.
Now for the rest of the sunner I am training for the summer Senior Games.
Senior Games are for men and women over 50 years of age. The ages are divided in the following manner. 50 to 54, 55 to 59 and then on up for each age group.
This year I am in the 80 to 84 age division.
I am doing the PV, HJ, LJ, SLJ, 50 M, 100M and maybe 400M.
This is my usual events that do at the meets that I am doing.
These meets are at Bremerton, WA, Greshem, OR, Olympia, WA and Port Angeles WA.
I will be reporting my progress for these meets.
                FINIS

       

May 2013

MAY 25, 2013
I have run 2 races in the month of May, 2013.
The first one , May 5, was the Bloomsday 12K in Spokane, WA. It was a warm day but not too hot. The course has a  couple of long hills. One is called the Doomsday Hill. There is a vulture waiting at the top of the hill to get people who die before they reach the top. My time for the course was 1 hour and 91 minutes. My slowest time since I first ran it in 2005. I was 3rd place in the 80 to 84 age division.
My next race was the Rhody Run which was also a 12K race, 7.46 miles. This race was in Port Townsend, WA. I did a little better on this one. I set a record for the 80 to 89 age group division. The old record was 1 hour, 24 minutes and 46 seconds. I ran it in 1 hour and 24 minutes and 19 seconds. I set the new record by 27 seconds. It also was a hot muggy day. And it is just as hilly as the Bloomsday run.

I am holding a book that was given to all of the 1rst place winners for the Rhody Run.The author is Kim Jones who was one of the excellent U.S. marathoners in the late 80's and early 90's. She was autographing each copy that she gave to the winners of their age divisin. As you can see from the picture, I am tired and hungry and thirsty and tired and hungry and thirsty.

Last Thursday I ran a 16 mile training run in prepration for a marathon that I am running on June 2, 2013. I am still recovering from that run. I started out too fast and it was a hot day for here. The temperature was 67. The last 3 miles were stumbling slow. I was in my survival shuffle and made it back to the car.
 I was running on the last 16 miles of the Marathon course that I am running in June. It is the North Olympic Discovery Trail Marathon. The Marathon will start in Sequim and end in Port Angeles, WA.. 18 miles of the marathon is on the Discovery Trail. The first 8 miles is on the road. It is a mildly hilly course and will be tough for a person who has not trained on hills.

You can look up the course on the web. WWW.NODTM.COM

I hope to average 13 minutes per mile for the race. That is a 5 hour and 40 minute time. When I was in my 40's and 50's I was running right at 3 hours and 30 minutes
But that was several years ago. After the marathon I am then going to go back to my training for the Pole Vault, Sprinting, High Jump and Long Jump.
I am still having trouble motivating myself to get out the door. But am still going...
The weather has finally been half way decent. The rain has let up a little. Who knows what the weather will be on June 2. It could be 45 degrees or 75 degrees.

I am going to go to Flagstaff, Arizona in August and run a 50K race. I will train down there for a few weeks before the race. I am going from sea level to 7000 plus feet. It will be a challenge!!!!!!
 FINIS

Tulip Run Apriol 6, 2013

April 13, 2013

"I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs."
-Jesse Owens

 When I think about the reasons for my running, I like to be able to go when I want to, race when I want to, go any direction when I want to, and also fast and slow when I want to. And then when I stop running for the moment I have no one to blame for my selfish attitude about my running but myself and I and happy.
 I ran a 5 mile race in Mt. Vernon, WA April 6, 2012.
What a day. It rained and rained and rained most of the morning while I was running. My time for the course was 59 minutes and 55 seconds. 11 minutes and 54 seconds per mile. Most of the course was on a trail.
I drove the motor home to Bay View State Park from Shirley's Cataract removal appointment in Silverdale. She did well considering her fibromyalagia. The doctor said her eye is healing very good.
 Oh, one more comment about the race. It was raining and very wet all the time I was running and what was funny was that some of the runners tried to run around the mud puddles because they did not want to get their feet wet!! I laughed at them and splashed right through the mud puddles and enjoyed myself every step in the muck and mire!!
 After the race I drove through by the Daffodil and Tulip farms. The Daffodils were beautiful. The tulips were not quite blooming because of the cooler weather that we have been having lately.

But this is what it looked like in 2011. I think that Kim took this picture of the tulip fields near Mt Vernon.
 Monday I am increasing my training for the Discovery Trail Marathon. My goal is to finish close to 5 hours and 30 minutes or under 6 hours.
I am running the 12K in Port Townsend and Spokane in May. Both of these races are hilly races. But they serve as good training runs for the Marathon in June.
    Continued
                                            Finis

MARCH 23, MONDAY  2013 

“It’s very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit.” – George Sheehan

Boy this is a true statement. How easy it is to quit!!! But sometimes the voice is stilled by the first step out the door. I have been running very inconsistently the last month.
Today I did some hill work. 8 times on a hill that was about 300 feet up and was  doing knee lifts. I am going to have sore quads tomorrow.

My tulips and daffodils are blooming and looking beautiful. Boy the weather here was great. In the 50's.

This hummingbird is our adopted bird. He claimed the hummingbird feeder for his own and will not share it. He or she fights off everyone who flies near.

I will try to keep my blog up for those who want to see how an old geezer is training and doing. 

Oh, I forgot, I did run a 10k on March 16 in Port Angeles. It was an out and back route on the Discovery Trail. The first mile was protected  and THEN I hit the wind!!! It was blow directly in my direction at about 30 miles an hour. It seemed like I was as slow as a snail. My first 3.1 miles to the 5K turn around was 37 minutes and my return 3.1  with the wind at my back was 35 minutes. Total time was 72 minutes. That is 11 minutes and 37 seconds per mile. Not to bad for the weather. I am looking forward to running a short race on April 6. It is a 5 mile race in Mt. Vernon, called the Tulip Run.

This is all for this week. 

Finis

"Life isn't about how you survive the storm, but how you dance in the rain." Enjoy life now--it has an expiration date!!!

I don't know who wrote this quote but it is great!

I haven't done any running  in the last two weeks. Cannot seem to get rid of a pesky cold.
February already! One month gone. I have been turning out at Anytime Fitness and doing some exercising .
My Tulips and Daffodils are coming up. I planted 100 bulbs in December. That sounds like a lot of bulbs but when they were all planted it did not take up very much space.
A friend of mine, at least I have one friend, gave my Running for 80 Article to the Master Track and and they copied most of the article in their magazine.
My next goal for this year is to train and do well in the track and field events. I am not going to the Cleveland Senior Games this year. Too much money, unless something changes. I am going to do more open meets here in the Northwest.
The local All comers Meets start in April or May and just about run all summer.
So I can get plenty of track events to fill up the summer.
My events are:
     High Jump
     Long Jump
     Standing Long Jump
     Pole Vault
    100 meters
    50 meters
I would like to do the 200 meters but it is at the same time as the pole vault and I don't have much left in the tank after the 200M for pole vaulting.
Oh well, maybe I should do a Decathlon and that would solve the problem.
I just might try one in the summer. 10 events....... in two days.
FINIS

TUESDAY JANUARY 15, 2013

"Believe that you can run farther or faster. Believe that you're young enough, old enough, strong enough, and so on to accomplish everything you want to do. Don't let worn-out beliefs stop you from moving beyond yourself."
-John Bingham, running speaker and writer

I think that this quote by 'the Penquin', John Bingham is true for life. I sometimes let worn-out beliefs stop me. Like, 'Oh your too old for that' and I think maybe I am. But I still go on and try to do what I believe that I can do it and it turns out that I did do it!!!

I ran the Nookachamp Winter Runs 1/2 marathon Saturday. It was run in Mt. Vernon, WA. 

This is why I like this run. There are Swans in the fields and Swans flying overhead while we are running. The logo on the t-shirt has a Swan flying in the middle of it.

The race started out with the temperature at 26 degrees. No wind and sunshine....

I started out with the plan to run 12 minutes and then walk 3 minutes. I did this pattern because it is easy to keep track of the times to run and walk. But I still goofed up a couple of times and had to run farther than the 12 minutes to get back in rhythm. 

My time for the 1/2 marathon was 2 hours and 47 minutes which is 12 minutes and 48 seconds per mile.  I ran my last mile in 11 minutes and 20 seconds. Not too mad for 80 years old. 

I was next to last until mile 11 when I passed a male walking and then I passed two females who were walking and jogging and the last one I passed was at about 12.5 miles. It was a good run. 

There was hot Chile and bananas, oranges and several kinds of bread. I thought that I would get a hot mocha but they had run out of coffee beans by the time I finished. Bummer, Bummer.  

I got first place in the 80 and up category. I was the only one.!!!!

Total miles for January 7-13, 2013

           Monday 12.47 miles                                                                                                                                                
           Saturday 13.1                                                                                             

                                                Total                   25.57

Total for 2013                                                     37.57

FINIS

   

"I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs."
-Jesse Owens

I like this quote. I met Jesse Owens in Bellingham when he was there one summer in the 1970's. He was a great man and great athlete.

What I like about running is that you can take some time off and it is always there waiting for you to come back to you. It asks no questions just accepts the person back and says let's go. No status or lofty heights. Just go out and run. 

I think that I am still recovering from my 80 mile run on my birthday last year. I guess that the run took more out of me than I realized. But I am doing OK. No aches or pains. Shirley says that it is winter depression!!!!!

My running this last week has been minimal at the best. I turned out at anytime fitness on Monday on the bicycle for a set of 8 hard load workouts. Very exhausting!!!!

 I ran 6 miles on Thursday.  

Then today, Saturday, I ran 6 miles with Philip and Rosaura. Cold and windy. Ran into the wind for 3 miles then ran with the wind for the next 3 miles. Great run. 

I am going to run a 1/2 marathon next Saturday at Mt Vernon, Washington. If I can run just under a 12 minute per mile pace I will be very happy. Last year for this run it was raining , raining. Temperature was at 40 degrees for the race. Maybe this year the rain will not be present. 

This is my advice for myself for the year 2013.

                                           

                                             HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Running total for the year 2013.     

        Wednesday                             6.0 miles

        Saturday                                 6.0 miles

Total                                             12.00 miles

FINIS