Where Have I Been

It's a new year and I've gotten into a bad habit of not blogging enough.  Part of my reluctance stems from my ownership of the running store.  I feel pressure to stick to all things running, when in fact, I like to ramble on about other things like K.U. basketball and on rare occasions, politics.

I have been running consistently and doing a little bit of racing.  I raced a Thanksgiving Day 5K in 23:55 which felt okay and then ran a horrible 10K about 10 years later in 50:40, about 2 minutes slower than I expected.  Part of it was the weather, the other part was the fact that I have not done anything resembling speed work.

I started incorporating more tempo runs into my daily grind.  I think this was something that was sorely missing from the routine.  I like doing tempo runs on a track, but the local high schools are like prisons and it is nearly impossible to penetrate the facilities here.  A track, despite the monotony, is ideal because you know exactly where you're at in terms of distance and pace. 

I'm lucky in that I have really good asphalt paths to run on adjacent to my neighborhood.  I take full advantage of them. One is even marked every half mile.  But I still miss doing work on the track.

I'm focused on the Naples Daily News Half Marathon which is 10 days away.  I first ran it in 2013  and missed it last year because of a leg injury.  I'm hoping to run about 5 minutes faster than I did the last time.  Anything under 1:50 would be good.  My fitness is much better despite the loss of speed.

I'll probably follow up the half with a few 5K's including one of my favorites, the Edison Festival of Light in late February.  It's probably the best road race in Fort Myers.  It starts downtown and follows the route of a parade that starts about an hour later at dusk.  The streets are lined with crowds and that certainly makes for an enjoyable time.

As I approach my 60th year, I'm not willing to concede that I can't run under 7 minute pace for a 5K.