Lessons from a Fun 5K

So, yesterday I ran a 5K called the Heather Hurd 5K.  It is organized in remembrance of a young woman killed by a distracted driver.  The pictures of multiple individuals killed by distracted drivers on display at the race yesterday (left) is haunting.  There are many reasons car accidents happen and will continue to happen. This one can be avoided.  Maybe someday everyone will catch on.  The race and the idea of avoiding senseless death and injury in the future are part of #WhatMakesYouSoar for me yesterday

So, what else did I learn yesterday?

First, I learned that I could run about the same time as I ran last year.  I ran a 19:16 this year.  Last year I ran a 19:11.  This year, I could have run exactly the same time and I would still have gotten the 5th place overall that I did (instead of 3rd place).  The field was faster this year.  That is a great thing for the race--to attract not only more runners but better runners.   My first mile was fast (and the first mile included both a serious downhill and a serious uphill).  I lost a good bit of speed on the second mile and then regained a little on mile 3.  At the start, I was off to the side in row 3.  (The rows were not all that wide.)  I got out in the lead group that consisted of about twelve to 15 individuals.  That shook out to where I was in eighth about a half mile in.  On the climb up the hill as mile 1 ended, I ran past one guy up the hill and another guy as we topped out on the hill.  That left me in sixth heading into the second mile.  I had my eye on the two guys closest in front of me.  By the end of mile 2, I was able to catch the guy who was one in front of me.  I believe, when all was said and done, that it was more his getting tired than my acceleration, but I did set my sight on him and get him.  I had the guy who was fourth clearly in sight the whole time.  But I ended up finishing about 9 seconds behind him.  (I've gotten good at estimating as I had thought it was about 10 seconds before I saw the official results.)  The other three ahead of us were about a minute ahead of me and the winner broke 18 with no one near him.  When all was said and done, I was able to run with the idea "don't let anyone pass by me again," and there were 22 seconds between me and the nearest runner behind me.  So, it was all a good lesson.

The other part of yesterday's lesson comes from my bib number "57".  It didn't occur to me immediately when I saw my bib number, but I had used "57" indirectly with a friend recently (although it was neither a bib number nor a race time at that time).  The reference 2 Cor 5:7--a verse commonly interpreted as "walk by faith and not by sight."  How did the relate to yesterday?  Well, I tried to look at my watch as little as possible throughout the race and just run hard.  No "sight" of the pace as I went along.  Just the faith that running my hardest would be the right thing to do.  Might I have found the encouragement to push a little harder if I stared at my watch?  Perhaps.  (Especially since I ran 6:01, 6:33, 6:29 for the three full miles, maybe I could have found a way to pull just a little harder.)  But since I could see a guy ahead of me the whole time, I'm not going to put too much emphasis on seeing in this case.  It is what it is.  The race was fun.  I was first in age group and brought home a lovely medal.  I love the cause.  

Before I talk about other spiritual/numerical insights from yesterday, I do want to say that when I was running "against" a walking bunch yesterday (on the course at the same time) and the bunch was students from Harford Community College, one of them shouted out "great job, sir".  I suppose being the first one over 40 to pass them, I should simply take that as a sign of respect, but it always sounds weird to be called, "sir."

Two other numerical insights.  First, with a time of 19:16, I went looking for some inspiration there as well.  And I found it in Luke 19: 1-6.  It is the beginning of the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector.  The story is that Zacchaeus was a wealthy tax collector and short.  He wanted to see Jesus so much that he climbed a tree.  Jesus invited him down from the tree.  Zacchaeus climbed down to receive Jesus and take Jesus to his house.  It is the story of someone who wants something so much that he will make every effort to get it.  And it is about the faith that I seek to show.  As I continue to lead my life (running or otherwise), I hope to keep my faith as a guide at the center of it.  

The final insight comes from my 2000 mile goal.  With 7.1 miles yesterday (I did 2 miles of warm up and 2 miles of cool down--to the surprise of a race marshal who asked if I was going for a second run in my cool down.  I didn't tell her it was actually the "third.")

I sit at 1930.5 miles today (a rest day--giving me more time to write).  I will pass 2000 miles two weeks from today during the marathon.  My goal is to add 0.5 miles total to the remaining workouts over the next two weeks. (I run on 9 of the 13 days between now and marathon day, so this is adding only a small amount to each or even just a half mile to one.)  If I add the 0.5 miles, I will then hit 2000 miles at exactly the 20 mile point.  

That would be cool.  Why?  The 20 mile point has been my "issue" in each of the marathons I've run.  I have been able to hold pace for that long but struggled through the last 6.2 miles.  What is the name of the town I am heading for in my virtual pilgrimage?  Truth or Consequences.  What will be my truth?  What will be the consequences of making or not making it to my goal?  I will find out in the 10K that remains after I hit my 2000 mile goal.  What is the name of the church that I am running to in my virtual pilgrimage?  Our Lady of Perpetual Help.  That is such a great image for what I will be asking for in prayers when I am at the 20 mile mark--help through the rest of the race.  

Life continues to scream out for me to connect the dots in some pretty incredible ways.  And doing this continues to nourish my soul.  It gives me strength.  It gives me meaning.

I hope that readers and listeners find meaning as well.  

Seven More Miles and a Follow-up to Transformation Tuesday

Today was a very simple run.  It was raining just enough to be annoying.  So I went to the Y.  Set the treadmill for 0.5 incline and 7 MPH, and ran for an hour. 

The rest of the morning was not boring as I then rodw the commuter train between Baltimore and Washington DC and there was a gentleman who was speaking to no one in particular and not getting any feedback from anyone on the train but spoke incessantly.  If someone had chosen to take offense or wanted to pick a fight it could have gotten nasty quickly , but at 8:10 in the morning most people just want to get to where they are working so he was ignored.

Today was easy after yesterday’s day off.  Total mileage for the year is now at 1919.4.  I should have noted that on Saturday when I ran the 24 mile workout, I passed last year’s total mileage of 1867.  I am now within 80 miles of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, on my virtual pilgrimage.  I am so close to meeting the goal.  It is amazing to realize that I will exceed it and quite handily, and I may never run that many miles in a single year again.

What I didn’t talk about this week was Tuesday.  I was thinking about having something to say on Tuesday because on Facebook several days of the week now seem to mean something.  Thursday we have “throwback Thursday”.  Many people are celebrating “transformation Tuesday.”  This seems to be particularly true for people who have taken a lot of weight off.

I don’t even have a lot of pictures from the time I was near or slightly above 180 pounds.  I’m not even sure what it would feel like to put that much weight back on at this point.  (Other than the fact that I know I would not like the way it feels.)  In any case, we have a lot of pictures of the kids from all periods. Not so many pictures of me.  So, it would be hard to show my “transformation” in a way that people could really appreciate.

With respect to physical transformation, I am reminded of a photographer back at the School of Public Health who saw me at two different shoots and commented on how I was svelte at the latter one. 

However, I can talk about a transformation that I have gone through over the past eight and a half years.  The transformation of expression.  The transformation of seeking.  The transformation of confidence.  The transformation of socializing.  So many parts of my life have been transformed by 8½ years of exercise and running. 

I suppose I don’t need to talk about all of the transformations in one day.  There is a lot of transformation that has occurred.  But let’s begin with the transformation of expression.

I have written for years.  I kept a journal in high school.  I wrote prose.  I wrote poetry.  I envisioned songs.  I mostly wrote about things that are symbolic of male teenage angst.  Who I was interested in?  Whether there was any evidence they were interested in me?  What I would do about it?   (Most often, nothing.)  I continued writing in college but not nearly as much. Although some of the songs got turned into music.  (Not that I was ever much of a musician.)

Then I went for years where most of my writing was professional.  And I went for years without running.

On January 1, 2006, I got back to exercise.  By mid-2007, I could run the half marathon distance again.  And then in 2009, I actually registered for a half marathon.  Then, since 2010, I have run at least one marathon a year.

And in 2010, I started writing again.

This time, not in journals hidden from eyes forever.  No, this time in a public journal called a blog. 

I have honed my story telling.  No, I’m not a Stephen King or Tom Clancy.  I have my own style.  I have my own voice.  I reflect my own ponderings.  I write in what is essentially a memoir format.  I sometimes ramble.  And my writing reflects a search for meaning.  But the biggest key is that the story telling has translated into mentoring.  The story telling has translated into telling people what I want to do and why.  The story telling has translated into leadership. 

The transformation is a transformation in expression.  A transformation of what I express and how and with whom I share it.  That transformation is critical to my future.  We will see where it goes. 

One new feature.  For anyone who has read my blog but not met me, here is a link to my first "audio blog". 

Taper and Abundance

Weekend blog entry—All Souls Day, 2014.

I could write about the 24 miles I ran yesterday and the 7:48 pace overall.  There are a few things worth mentioning but I do not want to spend a lot of time on that.  I’d prefer to spend my time talking about the start of the taper.  The taper can be a challenge for some runners as they switch from high levels of activity to lower levels while waiting for the race.  In today's entrym I will explore why I do not think I will have any problem with a lack of things to keep me occupied while I am in the taper stage.  

But let me write a few observations from the 24 mile run first.  Running at that pace put my total time at 3:07:03.  If I continued for 26.2 and allowed for the fact that my Garmin invariably say 26.3 or more at the end, it would have been on pace for a sub-3:30 marathon.  It was not intended to be at race speed.  It was, according to plan, supposed to take the same amount of time as the amount of time in the race I will run.  It did that—almost.  I’ve been thinking 3:10.  We’ll see how I perform on race day.

It has been an amazing training season.  Yesterday was my fifth run of 20 miles or more.  That is the total number of 20+ mile runs I did for my first three marathons combined.  Moreover, I ran 20 at 7:30 pace, a more difficult 20 after the weather had gotten cooler but then warmer again, a great 20 with a partner, a great 22, and then yesterday’s 24.  The 24 was nice—7:48 pace.  Just three seconds behind my planned pace.  A comfortable start.  An unplanned rest stop at 8.3 miles.  Started up again just fine.  Ran 5 laps around Lake Montebello.  That was mentally challenging.  Then climbed up Greenmount and York to get home.  The last few miles were slow.  I had a good overall pace because of the pace I ran around the Lake.  I stated focused to try to meet my ambition as I’d mentioned in a social media post on Friday after I left work.  

Lessons learned.  One—while I had some workouts go better than planned, not every workout goes as planned.  Accept it and move on.  Two—since I don’t care for the fruity gels from one company what ever made me think I’d like the fruity gels from another?  I don’t know but while I have a few fruity gels remaining I don’t use them before the marathon in Philadelphia.  Three—for a workout of 3 hours or more I probably should carb load. 

Good lessons to learn and happy to move ahead. 

So, today was the beginning of my taper.  #WhatMakesYouSoar: My answer today is an easy seven miles run a running partner to chat with and not worry about the pace.   The plan gave no particular time—run them as slow as 9:00/mile or even more slowly.  My running partner and I decided to meet in part so that each of us would be accountable and get our miles in.  I don’t usually need to have someone else to guarantee I’ll get a run in, but after running 72 miles in seven days accountability helped.  We ended up running an 8:07 pace.  It was comfortable.  It was simple.  It was not pushed.  That was despite the wind blowing pretty hard.  And it all felt right.

So what else have I learned?  My body has been trained to be incredibly resilient.  How long will it last?  I can’t say.  What I can say, however, is that I have really enjoyed this training season.  It has pushed me to limits that I didn’t know I could push through—miles per week, miles in a year, times that I have only dreamed of.  Now there is just the goal of the Philadelphia marathon during which I hope to have a friend by my side most, if not all, of the way. 

We will see how I do.  There are 59 days left in the year, and I am at 1895.4 miles.  The only question is whether I will run the last 105 before marathon day or whether I will hit the 2000 mile mark during the Philadelphia marathon. 

I may never have another race during which I shoot for a 3:10.  I may never run another 72 mile week.  I may never run another 24 mile workout.  I may never follow such a workout with a seven mile run that I do easily on the day after a 24 mile workout.

Recently I have been asking myself, what comes next?  I’ve been thinking just some easy runs for a while, then I’ll come up with an answer after that.  But that will be hard.  I haven’t run like this since I was 17.  I do not want to waste what I have achieved.  But there are so many other things in life. 

And that is what I have to sort out. 

I know I’ve got the support of family, lots of friends who like to run and run with me, and lots of life ahead of me.  I have an abundance of choices. 

How to sort out a life of abundance is a lucky “problem” to have.  Taking the idea of a life of abundance into my taper will mean that, as I pointed out at the start of this entry, I am not going to be at a loss for things to keep me occupied during the taper.

Ten Meaningful Miles

This is today's answer to #WhatMakesYouSoar.

It is another Thursday night and I am sitting in the ice rink.  This has become a Thursday evening habit as my middle son skates during the free style session with the Baltimore Figure Skating Club.  It is a great time to chill out.  (No pun intended as I usually sit in the lobby rather than going into the rink.)  I chill after dinner.  I chill after a hard day at work.  And I get to chill after a hard workout.  The other habit during this marathon training season has been hard workouts on Thursday.  I have run a combination of track workouts and progression runs on Thursday.  This week was a progression run.  A ten mile progression run.  One that I had done well on but not executed exactly in my multiple attempts to do so.

The plan for today was to start at an 8:15/mile pace.  Then to speed up at each mile marker so that my pace would get faster by 0:15 per mile until reaching 7:15.  Hold the 7:15 for a second mile.  Then work my way down to a 6:30 before cooling down with an 8:00.  And I planned to meet a training partner who had paced the Marine Corps Marathon this past weekend. She was going to help me keep up the pace, despite what she had more or less just run.

So, I left early enough to put gas in my car and be at the Dunbar track in downtown Baltimore shortly after 5:15.  The officer had already opened the gate, so I knew we would be able to use the track later in our workout  My partner arrived shortly after that and we began our run just after 5:20.  I was in shorts and a t-shirt.  She was in longer running tights and a thin long-sleeved layer.  We each know what to expect of our bodies when it is about 45 degrees.  (At least that is what my Garmin report told me the starting temperature was.)  

We planned to run on a course that we had run nine days earlier.  On that day we had run 7 miles.  a 6.5 mile course on the streets of Baltimore followed by a half mile on the track.  Today we were going to go 14 laps or 3.5 miles on the track.  So, not all 40 laps or 10 miles, but a lot more than the 0.5.  That was fine.  We headed north along Ensor, turned left to go west on Madison, and chatted.  It had been about nine days since the last time we had run together with another partner.  So we had things to catch up on including running plans, work, and her experience at the Philadelphia Back on My Feet Bash and the Marine Corps Marathon.  As we headed past the prison facilities on Madison and then turned south on Fallsway we were at a comfortable pace.  We hit mile 1 just about at St Vincent de Paul church at President and Fayette with an 8:04.  Nice start.  A little fast but not crazy.

So, we had to pull up at Fayette for traffic, the continued down President Street, hung a left on Baltimore St, south on Exeter, and west on Aliceanna.  Always love the smell of the H&S Bakery, especially on cool, pre-dawn mornings.  Second mile--7:38.  A little overzealous so we decided to be careful on the third mile.  

We continued onto Boston Street.  Chugging along the street by the harbor.  Not too many runners or others on the street that morning, but what seemed like lots of cars.  Third mile 7:45.  Right on target.

As we headed into mile 4, we turned up Ellwood.  We reached a point at which we were not talking that much.  It was time for the hard work to begin.  Ellwood crests before the south side of Patterson Park.  I do know that one comment during mile 4 was the observation that mile 5 would involve the run uphill on Baltimore Street.  That was yet to come.  Mile 4 was run in 7:22--8 seconds below the target but not out of control.

We picked it up as we ran downhill a bit to Baltimore Street and turned west to run along the north side of Patterson Park.  The climb really begins at Linwood.  We have run this a lot of times.  Today, we ran it in 7:12 as we reached Patterson Park Avenue.  Doing pretty well.

As we moved into mile 6--the last one that would be completely on the road, began by finishing going up on Baltimore Street, then headed down toward Central Ave.  The mile did not end until we had turned north and headed across Fayette and toward Orleans.  We had to stop at traffic lights a couple times.  The downhill added speed and we ran a 7:04.

We continued north on Central and turned left on Monument to run along the south side of the Dunbar High School athletic facilities outside the iron fence.  We went back up along Ensor to the entrance to the entrance to the track and ran just under 2 laps on the track.  As we had entered the track area, we were running a 7:08/mile pace.  Over the course of the two laps we sped up a little at a time and pulled some time off the pace.  As we reached the near end of the bench (in the direction you run) on the north side of the track, we found we had run a 7:01.  That was the first time we had a "slow" mile but it was slow only by 1 second.  So, no stressing over that one.

We had been running side by side throughout.  During mile 8 an ever so slight gap opened up.  We train with partners to benefit from each other.  But we also train with partners who understand when we need to meet a goal.  My watch signaled the end of mile 8 slightly before I returned to exactly four laps from where I'd begun.  So, I hit the lap button again when I reached the exact lap point, and when I added up the times later had a 6:45. Right on schedule.  Now was the real test.  I had never gotten much lower than this all summer and fall thus far, except on a treadmill.  No treadmill today.  Just the need to keep pushing.

So, with four laps at pace, I picked it up some more.  Each lap went by easily.  I don't know where all the energy came from.  But I watched the average mile time go down.  My watched beeped at a 6:20 but that was a little early.  I was running faster than in mile 8, but even if it had taken me the same nine seconds extra as in the eighth mile, I would have still run a 6:30.  That was a crowning achievement in my marathon preparation.  

Final mile at what seemed like a really slow pace was still below 8:00.  The total time was 1:13:09.  That is exactly the same time in which I ran my first 10 mile race back in June 2011.  What a long way I have come.  

So, I had finally executed a progression run with the goal of finishing at a 6:30 not on a treadmill at the proper time.  That combined with my excellent 22 miler 12 days earlier really gives me a shot of confidence about the Philadelphia Marathon in 24 days that I didn't have before.  

My training partner is quite confident I can run a sub-3:10.  The person who developed my training plan says maybe even 3:07ish.  Either would be amazing.  But I take nothing for granted.

I have to earn a marathon finish.  I have to earn an PR--even just running a 3:14:24.  I have to earn that 7:20 pace (an improvement to 3:12-something.)  I have to earn the 3:10.  And I would have to earn the 3:07.  These will be earned (or not) on race day. But they are also earned every day when I take a series of steps on the road or on the track or on a treadmill.  They are earned by missing some sleep and awakening at crazy hours and sacrificing other things that could be done.  They are earned through focus, strength, ambition, perseverance, and love.  They are earned by being me.

And if I complete it will show, once again, that I can complete something I begin.

I am looking forward to this marathon more than I ever would have imagined.

I am now at 1864.3 miles.  Somewhere on County Road A020 in Corona, NM.    

Athletes and "This Cures Everything"

Today's entry will be a short one. I ran 10 miles on the treadmill to simulate a track workout that included 7 separate 1/2 mile runs at 6:00/mile pace.  That puts me at a total of 1847.3 miles.

The most interesting observation for today is that according to my wife, the two hockey players (age 9) whom she drove home today said, "Hockey is the cure for everything."

A lot of runners say that.

I don't know that I'd ever heard any other type of athlete say that.

The key is that for nine year olds to recognize this and feel this suggests that the feeling goes pretty deep among athletes.  People who love what they play.  People who are good at what they play. People who in participating in an activity get into a "zone" feel that it can solve just about anything.  It allows them to shed the cares of the day. It allows them to change their focus.  It allows them to chill out (no pun intended in the case of hockey).  It allows them to relax.  

All of these things are good for this 44 year old.

All of these things are apparently good for my nine year old son.

#WhatMakesYouSoar--knowing that there is an outlet that feels like it can make everything better.  Does it really?  Of course not.  But it can make a huge difference in how I feel and in many cases half the battle is just feeling better about something before I take on more critical aspects of solving a problem. 

Out of My Element

Today's run was an unusual one.  Even the city's wildlife could tell that.  This morning began with my leaving home just past five taking the oldest car that we still have and filling it with gas on the way downtown.  Once there, I parked it on Howard Street for my oldest son to pick-up and use for a trip he needed to make today.  As I was sending three texts--one to my son to let him know where the car was, one to the person I was going to meet for a run, and one to someone I wanted to wish good luck for the Marine Corps Marathon, I saw a rat run what seemed to be within 3-6 feet of me down Howard Street.  It did pause long enough to look over at me as if to ask "What is a human doing here at this  time of morning?"  There were not man others around.  

On the rest of my run, I saw one more rat as I headed to the Patterson Park area to meet the person I was running with and then had an otherwise uneventful run from Patterson Park to Boston Street to Aliceanna to President to Pratt to Light then looping back to Charles just as we got to Key Highway and making the long trek up Charles to 25th where I cut over to Guilford and then wound my way to 30th and Greenmount before coming home.  

The run was an "easy" 14.  Most times on the weekend I begin and end at the same place unless I am running a race that makes provision to transport runners.  Today was an oddity, and I ran the first three very easily, the five with my friend harder, then four of the final six relatively easy, with the last two being up tempo and pulling the last one in at race pace.  

Why do I title this "out of my element"?  Because of how unusual it was and the look I got from the rat early in the run.

Was there anything else out of my element this weekend?  Only that I continue to be amazed when friends turn up Bible verses that I did not know about that are incredibly meaningful to me.  For example, my one friend pulled out 1 Cor 9:24.  I actually like 1 Cor 9:24-27:

Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win.

Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.

Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing.

No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.

This rings true with me in a few ways.  First, the "Run so as to win" is like advice that my boss gave me.  Don't play to tie.  Don't play to just play.  Play to win.  Not running aimlessly--although some people think that training for a marathon really doesn't serve much purpose.  The key is that no activity in my life should be aimless.  Or if there are things that are aimless they should be in "measured portions" as stress relief.

In any case, I appreciate my friends who point out such things.  And I love to keep running.  I'm now at 1830 for the year.  Within 170 miles of my goal.  This is today's answer to #WhatMakesYouSoar.  

Those are the two main tie ins.  

My Blogging Version of #tbt

I have posted very few pictures for throw back Thursday.

In general, I use words rather than pictures. More accurately, I try to paint a scene with my words.

Today, I have no new words. Instead, I received a gift in the mail from a former student, running mentor, and dear friend.   Today's answer to #WhatMakesYouSoar. To put the gift in context, I draw on a post from August 1, 2010--where my blogging began.

August 1, 2010--A Spiritual View of a Marathon

The marathon this fall has a lot of meaning and a lot of meanings for me. The meanings have evolved over time: getting in shape; proving I could do something I did more than 20 years ago; a promise to myself; a promise to others; overcoming an injury; running for charity. Today as I ran 15 miles and attended a memorial service, my outlook on the marathon took a spiritual turn.

I’ve never run 15 miles continuously before. Today felt good. Despite having an opportunity to train with others, today’s run needed to be done early so I did it myself. During the run, I focused on thinking about Gerry, the fellow parent at my kids’ school who recently lost his battle with cancer—in whose memory I will be running and for whom the memorial service was today.

Later, at the memorial service, I realized just how blessed Gerry’s life was. He could find the good in just about everyone and every experience.

During the service, someone shared an incredible story. While the story-teller’s faith and Gerry’s faith were different they shared a bond through faith. And when she took her family to Israel for her son’s bar mitzvah, she asked Gerry what he would like her to bring back. Gerry asked for five smooth round stones. Remember that David had five stones when he went to face Goliath although he needed only one. The five stones were at the memorial service today.

I don’t necessarily plan to carry five physical stones 26.2 miles while I run in October, but I could have five “figurative” stones in my pocket representing love, strength, perseverance, ambition, and focus. Each could help me achieve my goal in the way that any of the stones could have helped David. But, as David needed only one, I really need only one; the others are just backup. The one I need—love. Love for my friends, colleagues, and family members who have been touched by cancer. Love for my children as I show an example of setting and achieving a goal. Love for my wife who has endured the extra time I’ve spent training this year. Love of and thankfulness to God who has given me so many gifts. Love will guide my way, and everything else will just fall into place. I should not even need the other “stones”—even if having them does provide reassurance. 

In addition, I post a picture of the stones I carried with me during the marathon in 2010.

And below is a picture of what I received today.  The words my student shared with me led to my first reaction of "what a gift to know how much my journey has had an impact on someone else's journey."

Today, there are no more words to say. 

Still Progressing

Today's run was a progression run.  It was fun as I was joined by the person with whom I ran the 2 person marathon relay on Thanksgiving weekend two years ago and the person with whom I'm going to run the same race this year.  We had a fun 7 miles running a loop from the Dunbar track back to the Dunbar track and then two laps around the track.  The pace was conversational for most, but not all, and we ran from a bit under 8:30 for the first mile down to 6:54 for the last.  And the last didn't feel like we were pushing all that hard--although having half of the mile running around the track didn't hurt.

Running that distance with the times we hit and keeping pace up Baltimore Street running east to west along the north side of Patterson Park is my latest answer to #WhatMakesYouSoar.

Today's run brought me up to 1800 miles.  As for my virtual pilgrimage, I am still on US 54 west of Santa Rosa.  I continue to move toward Truth or Consequences, NM.

The miles came easily and other than a little tightness in my right calf this evening, I'm feeling like I didn't do 22 miles at a 7:41 pace on Saturday morning.  Three days to recover seems pretty surprising to me.  Pleasantly surprising.  Surprisingly resilient.  Learning more about what my body can do.

The title of this entry it "still progressing" rather than progression run.  How am I progressing still? I am progressing toward the goal at the end of nine years of running.  I will continue to run after the marathon on November 23, but I have reached a point at which I can see that this is the end of the line for running at this level of intensity.  I have made the decision to put a big effort into this marathon.  I am progressing quickly toward the end of this road.  I am glad to see the end.  But I am also scared to see the end since I have put so much mental and emotional energy into this one race.  We shall see how much further I can progress.

God Weaves in Pure Joy

The past two days of running have brought one thing--pure joy.  The past two days have not been fast.  But the mornings have been an awerome temperature for running (better Sunday than today).  Neither morning had any pressure attached to it.  And I just went through what I mostly think of as "gliding motion" miles.  The plan I work under calls them GM miles--standing for general maintenance.  But I have come to call them gliding motion.  Everything just feels easy at an 8:22-8:35 pace.  Days like these are the answer to #WhatMakesYouSoar--the question posed by Back on My Feet Baltimore as it prepares for the Sixth Annual Bash in November to celebrate the many miles the many residential and non-residential members have run and to continue to seek new heights for all its members.

The two runs have put me up to 1740 miles.  In some ways this is "exactly what I have been working for."  But in other ways it continues to amaze me.  I am pretty sure I will hit 2000 even before the marathon in Philadelphia.  On my virtual pilgrimage, I'm taking a route up toward Las Vegas rather than directly from Tucumcari to Truth or Consequences.  I'm 45 miles outside of Tucumcari along NM 104 in pretty much the middle of no where.  If this were an actual pilgrimage rather than a virtual one I am pretty sure this would be one of the toughest parts with a need to carry lots of water with me each day.

Along the way for my virtual pilgrimage, it has been wonderful to see what others see in running.  On Sunday, I caught up with my friend Joselyn. I had not run with her in two months.  She told me that she had received her bib number for the Marine Corps Marathon--10023.  That was meaningful to her because she remembered what I had done with my first marathon bib number--1313.  I had chosen to focus on the Bible verse 1 Cor 13:13 for inspiration.  She focused on Psalm 23 ("The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want") and Psalm 100 ("...shout joyfully to the Lord, all you lands...").  Given the tough time she has had preparing for this marathon, she took this as a good sign.  I had not realized that any of my friends still thought back to that type of inspiration I had (and sometimes continue to draw).

In fact, I have been thinking about my goal of 3:09:59 and with 3:09 as the focus, I would choose 1 Samuel 3:9 in which Eli tells Samuel, "go to sleep and if you are called reply, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.'"

Why that one?  Well, it has to do with the rest of the title for this blog entry.  I didn't just call it "pure joy" which I got from my last two runs (and which will be much different from the very challenging run I face in the morning).  I called it God weaves in pure joy.  What did God weave in the midst of my joy yesterday and today?

Well, when I arrived at church and looked at what we would be singing yesterday during the 5:30 mass the responsorial psalm song was an arrangement of "The Lord is My Shepherd."  How interesting that God should have woven two references to that song in my life so close to each other.  Then, Fr Ray in his homily talked about the Gospel reading (Matthew 22:1-14) in which the people who were invited to the king's feast completely underestimated what they were invited to--we should avoid that happening in our lives with respect to what God invites us to.  He also pointed out that the readings talked about God being able to fill our true and deepest hungers and thirsts.

I have thought about what that means.  The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.  I should be happy with what I have.  Material goods.  My running.  My relationships.  I should figure out what is really most important.  And focus on it.  And when God chooses to offer me something (in other words, when God speaks to me), I should be listening.  For it is through listening that I will be led on the way to fulfill my deepest hungers and thirsts.

And experience more ways of feeling pure joy.

Life all comes around.