Michael: On Deck

Between the thunder
That rolls through my life there is
Some silence at night.

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

With my two long races out of the way, and 0-2 in accomplishing my prime goals; one of finishing a 50 miler in 8 hours (8:17) and the other of going 12 hours in the 100k (12:22), it’s time to turn toward disappointments that won’t take nearly as much time both in time on my feet and the recovery afterwards.

Last year I didn’t finish a mile under 5:30, a 5k under 20, a 10k under 40, a road half marathon at all, and only competed in one duathlon.

That last one, duathlon competitions, may be put off indefinitely as I was scheduled to race in one March 9. If it weren’t for moving I’d probably push myself to get up for that event as I love those type of races and enjoy the course and format of the Pasadena Du. But it’s just one of those life glitches where the unexpected gets in the way and we’ve got to move by the 15th so it’s hard justifying the time and expense of that race.

I’ve also got a carry over from last year that would allow me to race at the Goleta Beach Duathlon later this year, but that’s on a Sunday and I just started working those, so that may also get nixed.

And then the marines took away one of my favorite events; closing off the Devil Dog Du to military personnel only.

I also thought I might not have to face the embarrassment of getting whooped in the mile this year like I do annually at the State Street Mile. That’s also on a Sunday, but I just saw that on Memorial Day there’s a mile billed as “Foothill’s Fastest Mile” in La Canada/Flintridge. So I’ll probably get to go another year with testing myself in my old high school track event.

The great thing for me about all these races, except possibly the mile, is that they aren’t going to require me to really modify my training. I always do speed work, tempo runs and long trail runs. I enjoy them and it gives me the flexibility to compete well enough at most distances not to worry about being unprepared for any particular challenge.