A New Normal for My Running?

The month of January has been an interesting one for my running.  Thanks to the challenges of work and family and icy roads as numerous snow storms have blown through (and sometimes past) the mid-Atlantic region, I have accumulated only 109 miles in the month.  

Last year I ran 2222.2 miles total.  That translates to an average of over 180 miles per month.  

In fact, I would have to probably trace back to well before my training for the Boston Marathon (so at least to 2012) to find a month in which I ran less than 110 miles.

The first question for me to ponder is whether this is the new normal.  And the second is whether I am okay with that fact. 

So, first, I think it may become the new normal.  Although I do hope to get more like 120-150 miles in each month for the rest of the year.  Those long Saturday runs of at least 10-13 miles will help a lot and they will be much easier to do after ice hockey season ends this winter and even in the early parts of ice hockey season next fall.  So, I don't expect to run 2222 miles again.  But I do hope to run more than 1300 miles.  We'll see where I end up.  So far, this is a year of trying to figure out how to rebalance the many aspects of my life.  And January and February are often challenging months to run anyway.  

Which leads me into the second question.  As long as the reason for the smaller number of miles is a healthy rebalancing--more sleep, more family, more writing, and maybe even more work, that is fine.  If the work is because there is a crisis rather than because I have the opportunity to do what I love that would be a problem. If family is to do fun things together and not some crisis then, of course, that is a good thing.  If the sleep is just to bring myself up to a healthy level rather than because I am unhealthy and my body needs repair then that is a good thing.  And as long as my writing continues to bring me joy that is also a good thing.

And I have been doing more writing, although the readers of this blog will not necessarily see it.  Instead, I am making sure to write more in my professional blog, I am writing for students, and I am writing essays that are not showing up here yet as I try to put together a series that is tentatively called Spirituality by Number.  We will see where that quest takes me.  

So, the new normal of 30 fewer miles a month is just fine as long as I continue to put that time to good use.  

How has your year been so far?  

Chugging Along, Being Noticed, Reaching Out

Today was another very cold day in Baltimore.  So, I ran at the YMCA this morning.  I stepped on the scale afterwards and weighed in at 157.  That was very reassuring for me, but I will definitely try the scale again a couple times next week to see if I am really under 160.

The distance was a short (for me) 5.5 miles.  I did 1/2 mile at 8 min/mile to warm up and then did 5 miles at 7 min/mile.  That was all I had time for this morning in my "tempo on the treadmill".  That takes me up to 137.9 miles for the year.  And it leaves me still on US 30 in southern Pennsylvania.  Following through an area where there really aren't any towns per se but there are lots of trees and farms.

This will end up being a weak that i like a "pull back" week.  But it won't be a thoroughly strategically planned pull back week.  (A friend had asked me if I planned any pull back weeks in my quest for 2000 miles last week.)  But it will be a pull back week driven by things like the weather and other non-running responsibilities.  

What was interesting about today as I move along toward my 2000 mile goal?  When I was dressed in my winter coat, sweatpants, and other cold weather gear after my run, I went to Giant.  Today's grocery list included orange juice, chocolate (including one with chili), some breakfast sausage, and some biscuits to be baked.  I made sausage gravy using my Uncle Ray's basic recipe that he had shared recently.  It was really good.  It made both breakfast and dinner for me and breakfast for one son, too.  And it seems like the sort of thing someone might find at a little dinner in the area my virtual pilgrimage is taking me through right now.  

But the trip to Giant and what I will remember it for was about more than what was on the grocery list for today.  It was also about the fact that the cashier pleasantly greeted me (as she almost always does) and the one guy employee who commented on the fact that I was in sweats (he often sees me in shorts after a run even in the winter).  He has really taken notice of the fact that I am a runner.  Though I don't know his name (and I don't think he knows mine) we are connected because of my running.

That sense of connection is something that came up in another way today.  Now that we are nearly a month into the new year, I decided that it was time to check in with a number of friends.  These are friends to whom I am connected by running, or by knowing them since middle school, or in one case a friendship that literally goes all the way back to third grade.  These are people with whom I have been in touch over the past year and the years before sharing things about life.  Sometimes more frequently.  Sometimes less frequently.  But the passing of two people at my church in the past several months has really gotten to me (and I have written about them both).  Some people are taken from the world very suddenly, very unexpectedly, and at an age that we consider too young.  What that reminds me of is the importance of staying in touch.

Running can help stay in touch.

Email can help stay in touch.

Of course, actually spending time together helps people stay in touch.

And this weekend, I will have interesting time with my wife and oldest son as we take him for an audition and spend time together learning about the opportunities that may be available to him.

Running.  Pondering.  Connecting.  Reaching out.  Being there.  

Having a circle of friends and family for whom I do that and who do the same for me makes my world a better place.