Out with the Old and In with the New

When I first started running, I wrote down my training runs on pieces of scrap paper.  My wife thought this was a rather messy procedure and bought me a running log for Christmas -- as a matter of her own enlightened self interest.  Now, I get a new log every year at Christmas to assure that I do not fall back to my sloppy habits.  It is time to make the switch from the old log to the new one, making this the final installment in my year-end series

TOTALING UP 2009

Miles

Total Miles: 1,878.8

Racing Miles: 155.1

Races Run: 27

My running history is divided between pre-injury and post-injury.  I had a serious injury in 2007 that prevented me from running for about five weeks and limited my running for months afterward.  In terms of total mileage, I still have not fully recovered.

2009: 1,878.8

2008: 1,677.4

2007: 1,089.0

2006: 2,123.7

2005: 2,119.6

2004: 2,100.5

Racing

Thanks largely to the DSE Summer Race Series, I ran a lot more races and race miles than any other year.  In the past, I have tried to limit my racing to one a month with a few extras where favorite races fall in the same month.  If you subtract out the summer series, it was a typical year.

My most common distance was 4.5 miles (12 races) as a result of all those races around Lake Merced.  The other repeated distances were the 5K (4 races), 12K (3 races) and half-marathon (2 races).  I had one race each at 4 miles, 9 miles and 10 miles.  I also had three races (The Relay) at odd distances between 3.6 and 7.1 miles.  I did not run a single 10K, which used to be my standard distance.

Shoes

Running shoes are generally good for 350 to 500 miles, depending on the model and conditions.  That would work out to about four pair for 2009 based on mileage.  I actually retired five pair last year.  Although, most of them were carried over from 2008  I started four pair during the year and still have three in service -- two road shoes and one pair of trail shoes.  I also had a new pair in the box that were waiting for today to be put into service.

STARTING 2010

First Event

January 1 was the first event in the new log, the DSE Hangover 4 Mile Fun Run.  The run starts at the South end of the Golden Gate Bridge and runs across the bridge to the North vista point in Marin and back.  This was a regular race until the Bridge District raised the minimum permit fee to $5,000.  For a small event like a DSE race, that is not economically possible.  So, now it is a fun run.  No fee, no timing, start when you want.  It is just a group of friends getting together to run.  You don't need a permit to run with your friends.  Take that, Bridge District.

First Adjustment

The running log saw its first training and racing adjustment on January 3.  I had planned to run the last DSE race of the year on December 27.  However, a series of foot and shin problems caused me to rethink that and switch to the elliptical trainer for the day.  I had not planned to run a race in January until the DSE 10 Miler on January 24.  I reconsidered and did the DSE Lake Merced 4.5 Mile Run as the middle loop of a three loop training run at the Lake this morning.  It was a beautiful day, although a little windy.