run run run

nike renew 083024

I’m running again. Not very fast admittedly, but longer distances than usual. I’m not sure what I’m running from; maybe I’m running towards something. Regularly enough for it to be a habit, not too regularly that I do myself an injury. I did that last year, when I overdid it training through the summer, and caused myself a leg injury not long after the Labor Day run, sidelining me for weeks. Rest days are important, kids. I am still running in my comfy Nike running shoes from a few years ago. They still give me a spring in my step, but maybe it’s time for a refresh. I ran the Labor Day Race 5k a few weeks ago; my participation medal is below. I came tenth in my age/gender category. Three minutes slower than last year, but I have not run as much this year; my last race was the 7k Lucky Run in March, and I’ve not run as much this summer. I’m a lot heavier too, carrying around all those extra thoughts I guess. Still, running is good for the head. I am preparing for my biggest challenge yet, which is the 10k at this November’s Davis Turkey Trot. All my practice runs lately have been longer than before, as I am edging towards that distance, though they are still slower pace. I can’t wait though, and would love to do it sooner, but I don’t want to sign up for a 10k in some other city on roads and paths I’m not as familiar with, the first one should be here. I know someone in England who did ten 10ks in one month earlier this year, for charity, so I’m inspired and hope this one coming up won’t be my last, unless I really hate it. Once I put my mind to something though, I can’t easily be dissuaded, I am well up for it.

I’m not going to run a Marathon, or even Half-Marathon, any time soon. In fact the only reason I would is so that I could say, “I ran a Marathon. I took so long, by the time I reached the finish line it was a Snickers.” (Another long-running gag there)

Labor Day Run Medal 2024 sm

what d’you want, a medal?

labor day race 2023 medal sm

This has been the summer when I got right back into running, and I did lot of it. In the period from the start of August to the end, I went from running 2 mile average to 3 mile average and cut almost two seconds off my mile, nearly getting up to the pace that I was running back in 2020 when I was disrupted by all the wildfire smoke. I’ve had periods of running since and run a few races (getting my best time in the Turkey Trot back in Nov 2021) but the past year has seen a bit more weight gain than I’d like and not enough running, largely compounded by getting some horrible plantar-fasciitis in my foot which took a long time to get over. Anyway, I ran the Davis Labor Day Run on September 4th, a different route than I’m used to, and there were a lot of people involved this year. I missed the same race last year due to those issues with my foot (it was also one of the hottest days of the year), but this year I can say that I absolutely caned it, and got my personal best 5k race time of 26:53 (my previous best was 27) though I did feel I could have done better, having had some pretty good training times that week (usually my race pace is a bit faster, motivated by other runners). I started immediately pushing for the next race. However, a couple of weeks ago I felt a bit of a pain in my right leg that I’ve not wanted to make worse, so I’ve given running a bit of a temporary forced rest until that gets better. It does pound the old legs you know, and I probably overdid it in August. I have good running shoes, but I might want to upgrade again. The Turkey Trot is in November, a week before Thanksgiving, and I want to get in good shape for that, get this leg better, lose some more belly, and try to beat my time. Anyway, I got another nice finisher’s medal, and had the usual celebratory breakfast at Black Bear Diner.

Pete Labor Day Run 2023