To Excel In Life...Run!

     Admit it, you love walking into work knowing your morning run mileage is more than 95% of your network will run in a week. You stay humble, because you also know your running can be knocked back with the simple twist of a knee or the hyper-extension of a hamstring.      At this time of year, as dawn breaks a few minutes earlier each morning, and the sun lingers longer in the evening sky, we are anxious for the days of shirts and shorts as our only running gear, and  yet we are melancholy as we peel off the winter hat, tights and windbreaker for what may be the last run in our arsenal of layered, cold weather, tech gear running.      It isn't that we're going to miss the extra fifteen minutes of gearing up for a six mile run, or doing loads of laundry each week, or trying to remember to keep enough batteries stocked for our headlamps. What we will miss most is sharing the roads and trails with just the few other ha...

Spring Marathoner Runners - Top Ten Training and Race Day Do's and Don'ts It's that time of year again! Soon, the crowds will be massed and the voices will be cheering! No, I'm not talking about the next Presidential primary, this is something much more intense! It's spring marathon season! As we emerge from our winter slumber of lumbering miles and bouts with cold weather, head colds and, well, just way too much cold stuff, spring is here and we are dreaming of that one line that reels us back every time we step over it: The finish line! Parks are now being populated with runners, walkers, hikers and bikers that have dug out shoes and sprockets. Asphalt trails are filled and flowing like the avian flyways of Nebraska's wetlands. People are out and runners are gobbling up the miles, gearing their training for what may be their very first marathon, or one in a string of 26.2 jaunts that may date back years, if not decades. As the excitement builds...

At my age, running is measured in decades, so I've got that going for me. Setbacks that last a few weeks, or a couple of months, don't cripple a competitive season for me as it would a younger runner. Seasons are measured in years, not weeks or months. The cumulative effect of training from year to year is my friend, and I've embraced the fact that life throws curves, sliders and knuckle balls just when you're feeling the groove and crushing down-the-pipe fastballs. It's not that things get in the way of running, there's always time for a few miles each day. My heart is comforted knowing that the ups and downs of training are as natural as the hills we encounter on our favorite trail run. Last year was a great example. It started with a nice base that culminated with a 15k trail race in early spring. Late spring brought on tempo, speedwork and endurance runs, geared toward racing some shorter distances. My brother, Al, finally got me into a couple of track...

     I know winter has not officially arrived, but today was as nice a winter run as can be. Our feet were cushioned by two inches of fresh snow that had become stable enough to keep a decent pace without fear of slipping. The sky was clearing as we ran, the sun chasing dusk to the west with pink rays of morning light bouncing off the one stretch of clouds to the north. As we made our way along the path in the wooded park, the beauty of the morning kept getting better. No wind, just the breeze of cold air as we ran. The air temp was a balmy 25', just right for a pair of tights and a couple of layers up top, only slightly bound by polyester.      As the three of us ran we had many moments of silence. One mark of a good running group is the ability to run as if alone, absorbing the surrounds, letting your mind wander, enjoying your personal run and at the same time silently sharing the experience with others.       I lo...

     It's late October, and here in Minnesota autumn continues to impress. The beauty of this years fall colors has been captured on everyones cell phone. Trees bursting with hues of red, gold and orange, showing off natures foliage fireworks display. We talk about the weather in conversation, mostly in awe, also in humbled terms after last winters record setting beat down.      As I leave work around the five o'clock hour, I find myself smiling on the walk to my mini van. Last night it was the gentle warm breeze against my face, coupled with the clear sky overhead. I want to walk home and soak in this incredible gift of 68' degrees and save it in my memory bank for a mental withdraw come February. I think about getting up early the next morning for a run with J'net and Dave, and that we'll be in shorts and a light long sleeve shirt, maybe thin gloves, maybe not. I become anxious with visions of us running through Bunker Hills Park, headlamps on, chat...

Stravinsky: Rite of Spring      About this time last year ( February 5th ) I was yearning for spring. I won't take credit for the extended wait, but I did post ( Winter is Half-Dead! ) that I thought we were just a few weeks away from mild running weather. Little did I know my wife Jeanette and I, along with our good friend Stan and a few hundred others would be running in sleet and snow in mid May during part of the Lake Wobegon Marathon.      No such prediction this year. In fact I'm kind of hoping for a bit more winter weather, not Arctic, just a few more days of regular cold stuff. You see, I don't feel like I've earned my winter stripes yet.      With the Polar Vortex keeping me in more than out this winter, it's hard to look at my calendar and see all the DNR days. No treadmill, no gym membership, it's run outside or try and get in some sit-ups and push-ups, maybe a few minutes on the bike stand. Ugh!   ...

     It's fall, for sure. Walking out from work it was nearly dark, another week and it should be totally dark around 4:45 or so. Yucky.      Weird that it's the same time of day as just 60 days ago and yet the mental challenge of getting out for an early or late run is so much tougher now. But as always, it's well worth it. We'll have different runs due to the weather and darkness, slower, more bundled up, more laundry to do! Yet, we continue on through the fall in preparation for a couple of very cold winter months.      What keeps me going is the freshness of each and every day, the newness of a cold crisp morning with stars shining and creatures treading quietly through the woods where we run. It's a very different running-scape versus our warm weather months, some days the snow covered park is so strikingly beautiful if feels as if I've run to the mountains of the Sierra Nevada or the Big Sky lands of Montana.    ...