Happy 2024!  I hope you ran, swam, biked, or paddled your way into the new year safely and enjoyably.  I know I did.  I was able to run the traditional New Year’s Day local 5k, then worked on some finely crock potted pork-n-sauer kraut.  It’s gonna be a good year!

I’d like to start the new year by asking you a question – did you establish any new year’s resolutions?  You know, the thing where you pledge to make wholesale changes in the way you eat, work out, interact with others, don’t interact with others, etc…   And did you notice who was the title sponsor for this year’s Rockin’ Eve celebration?  Planet Fitness!  I smell a resolution for some corporate folks.

Now, my next question – as a runner, did you establish any goals for the coming year?  You know, break the world record in the 5,000m or win the Pikes Peak Marathon, OR something somewhat sane like try a new race distance or setting a PR in the mile?  By the way, those personal goals rarely have corporate sponsors.  Pity. 

I’d like to ask you a favor.  Please give up that resolution now… right now!  Replace that pesky pledge with an achievable goal that gives you something to work towards and a sense of accomplishment when you get there.  And if you don’t get there?  It doesn't smack you as a failure but rather asks for you to work harder or smarter, or both.

In my 60 years, I have never established a resolution. I’ve been asked to be a part of joint pledges by friends and family, in the hopes of the ‘teamwork makes the dreamwork’ mentality.  Personally, I think it was more ‘misery loves company’ for when the failure hits (not if but when). 

But goals… ah, I could talk about goals all day long.  My past goals have included running the Boston Marathon (my first was in 1987), participating in the Hood to Coast Relay (did it in 2015 on a team of other 50+ geezers… we placed 26^th out of 1,100),  and breaking a 5-minute mile when I turned 45 (I kid you not, I ran five races between 5:00 and 5:02 that summer… never quite made it). 

To me, goals have a life.  Goals have a give and take.  Goals have a pathway to success.  Resolutions don’t.  As a lifelong runner, I want that pathway to success, not the road to failure.  Of course, I could probably run on both. 

So be kind to yourself this year.  Establish some well-thought goals AND the plan to get there.  Without the plan, it really is a glorified resolution, after all.  Failure to plan is a plan for failure, I believe is the mantra.  Setting a goal is setting yourself up for success.  And after all, isn’t that was our running journey is all about? 

Oh, and I did once make a new year’s resolution that I have kept.  I resolved to never make another new year's resolution. 

I hope to see you on the roads, tracks and trails. 

“Aren’t you gonna get out of the car?”

“I will... in a little bit.”

“What are you doing, anyway?”

Truth be known, I wasn’t sure how much longer I was planning to sit there or even why I was sitting there.  It just felt good.  And in a million years, I couldn’t describe it.

I started running in 1978.  Back then, there were far fewer people running and just as few topics of discussion bantered about.  Things like cardiovascular health, flat feet, knee joint health and how bad running was for women were the topics du jour.  In 1978, runners were still considered fringe weirdos.  Hey, I resemble that remark.

I do vividly recall one such discussion topic was ‘the Runner’s High’.  Since Timothy Leary was such as cult figure to the generation, I suppose getting into an altered state of mind was all the rage.  And far be it for runners to miss out on the movement.

Just what is a runner’s high?  How does one attain this mystical state?  And why doesn’t everyone experience it?  Quite simply, it’s a feeling of euphoria and/or ultimate relaxation that accompanies a run.  And it’s not a universal experience for endurance athletes, according to researchers. 

Now I’ll be honest, experiencing this ‘high’ was never part of my end-goal as a runner.  In fact, I was rather happy that I didn’t reach for something that seemed a bit surreal or even made up.  I mean, don’t runners feel good just from running, racing and experiencing?  Why do we need to invent some other worldly sense of peace?  And what the heck is an endorphin and an endocannabinoid anyway (your homework assignment for today)?

Here seems to be the anatomy of attaining a runner’s high – go for a run, the body releases chemicals into the blood stream which interact with the brain, there is a unique-to-each-person response, the body returns to equilibrium, end of run/end of fun.  That seems to be the science behind it.  And spoiler alert… scientists are pretty sure endorphins have nothing to do with it (something about their molecular size and inability to cross the brain-body barrier… sucks for them!). 

The body reacts to the chemicals responsible for the runner’s high much like the body reacts to morphine or cannabis.  Really.  So Timothy Leary may not have been a good runner, but I bet he would have been a great coach.  Oh, and the feeling isn’t universal to all runners, nor is it the same from one run to the next.  It depends on…. Well, it just depends…

I don’t recall the first time I had the sense of being pain-free and totally relaxed.  I’m not even sure I would call it euphoric.  But I recognized I felt ‘really good’, sitting in the car after having returned from a trail run. 

My runs are more uncomfortable as I’ve aged, and in some cases downright painful, but I still run.  The sense of ‘wow, this feels good’ is in stark contrast to a 30 or 40 minute slog in the woods.  And when I do experience this sense which isn’t often, it’s almost always sitting in the car either before I head home or when I pull into the driveway.  And it’s worth every ache, pain and grimace. 

If you’ve experienced it, you know.  If you never have, there may come a day (like me) when you will.  And if you never do, sitting in the car after your run will still provide you with all the health benefits running is known for…. So there’s that.

“I’m coming in now…”.  Moment over. 

I hope to see you on the roads, tracks and trails. 

I awoke this morning at my customary 4:50 am.  Within +/- 5 minutes you can usually count on me waking up at 4:50 am.  Why 4:50?  Probably the same reason all my staff meetings are scheduled for 9:17 am (or 10:43 am, etc…).  I awoke with my dog’s face staring at me.  His walks aren’t until 6:36 so he just wanted to make sure I was up.

Today’s workout plan was a double cross-training session – 15 minutes on the rowing machine followed by 30 minutes on the stationary bike.  It’s an OFF day from running and a nice way to stay cardio-ed without the abuse.  But today, I just wasn’t feeling it. The body and the mind said, ‘total OFF please’.  Ever hear Asics’ new slogan?  Sound Body, Sound Mind.  Sound OFF!

There are two types of OFF days (actually, three, but we’ll get to that in a few paragraphs).  Today was an unplanned OFF day.  I’d run fairly hard yesterday and planned on a longer run tomorrow, so today was a good day to cross train.  But I just wasn’t into it.  There are days when you just need to listen to what the machine is telling you, and my machine needed another cup of tea. 

The other type of OFF day is one that has been scheduled into the training grid. These days are necessary to continue to train at your best.  My training grids shifted from a 7-day plan to a 10-day plan years ago.  A 10-day plan allows for more recovery and flexibility.  Two days off every 10 days helps the body (and mind) recover.  Two days off every seven is too much and one day off isn’t enough.  No, it’s not cheating.

Something I have always preached (as it was preached to me in my younger days) is that rest is a part of the plan and not a deviation from it.  Even those odd unplanned OFF days are the wisdom come to fruition of knowing when the mind/body machine just needs some extra downtime. 

Now, about that third kind of OFF.  The training equation, universal truth for all athletes is the following: effort + recovery = improvement.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a miler or a marathoner, a plodder or a speedster.  Without the recovery, eventually the machine starts to break down beyond its ability to heal and recover.  And guess where injuries come from? 

In 2005, I was having some kind of year.  I’d just turned 41 and was really layering on the training.  I ran two marathons that year, was averaging 48 miles a week, with 60 mile build-ups, and had just missed a sub 17 minute 5k.  BUT… the aches, the discomfort and the lack of OFF days finally took me out.  TWO stress fractures (motrin much?) and six months OFF. 

So when your 4:50 am alarm clock goes off (internal or otherwise), and it’s just not there, don’t force it.  The key is to listen and learn how to decipher between the machine and the friendly dog licking your nose.  But always err on the side of machine (and the dog).

I hope to see you on the roads, tracks and trails!   

Thoughts on the Run – Awards Ceremonies:

Be honest… who likes post-race award ceremonies? The delays in result compilations, the endless 3 year age groups, the mispronounced names, the 30-second delays waiting for the no shows… it can be mind-numbing!  Count me in the ‘can I just go eat now’ category. 

A number of years ago I made note of the length of said post-race awarding.  It seemed to me to be getting longer and longer and longer.  And the number of folks waiting around was getting smaller and smaller and smaller.  I’m here to tell you, some of it wasn’t my imagination, and some of it was.  Do tell!

Race organizers agonize over details of the event, from the accuracy and safety of the course, the preregistration process, race day number pick-up and that pesky finish line.  And yes, they do ponder the post-finish line stuff, too.  Sometimes I think not nearly as much as they should, but they do ponder it. 

In my mind, here’s what makes a great post-race award ceremony – speed and efficiency.  I’ve won a handful of overall and age group awards in my day.  I find the process of the awarding cumbersome when pictures are involved (especially those ‘everyone hang out afterwards for a group pic’) or when calling up winners one at a time, then waiting to see if they’ve even stayed.  Speed and efficiency… nope. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I think post-race awarding is a great part of the overall presentation of any race.  And nothing juices me more than to see someone who either never wins a medal actually win or a surprise ‘I nipped her at the wire for 3^rd’.  Those are great reactions from the awardee AND the family there supporting the awardee.

I’d like to offer some suggestions to race directors.  First off… random prizes for both entrants AND spectators.  Maybe three to five items of value that would juice up those just waiting around sipping their free diet beer.  Age groups need to be awarded in groups of three rather than individually, especially if a picture is involved.  And do away with the group shot at the end.  14 year olds ain’t waiting for the 70+ group anyway.  It’s the digital age. 

If a race starts at 8 am, awards should start at 9 am for a 5k and 9:45 for a 10k.  I’m hungry and your watermelon isn’t really cutting it for me.  And unless your event has 225+ entrants, 10 year age groups are sufficient (maybe go top 4 or even 5?).  Five year groups slow things down a lot.  Now I know the average 49 year old is gonna have issues with racing the average 40 year old.  But guess what?  Next year, you’re the average 50 year old!  Just wait til those 59 year olds start to complain.

So my imagination hasn’t been playing tricks on me.  Award ceremonies go like this – Overall male and female, overall master’s male and master’s female, the endless parade of age groups (12 and under, 13-15, 16-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, etc…), walkers, ‘thank you all for coming, time for the group pic’.  As I have gotten less young, my age group has moved further and further to the back of the ceremony.  And fewer and fewer people hang around for the geezer grades.  Gosh, I hope I was a bit more considerate and supportive of those hard-earned 60-69 age group winners when I was 18. 

Award ceremonies can be great.  At a recent event, my group noticed the deejay was piping in an applause track for each award winner.  Talk about a creative way to congratulate every recipient, even if their support crew has long ago headed for the water ice truck.  So while we sipped our beverages, discussed the errors in our race strategy and marveled at the humidity that was imported just for the day (dew point of 77), the applause track was kinda neat. 

Race directors… be unique at your end-of-event ceremony, set a schedule for awards (and stick to it), and be efficient.  Your participants will thank you for it and remember you as well.

I hope to see you on the roads, tracks and trails. 

Thoughts on the Run – An experiment of One:

August 15, 2023 marks my 45^th anniversary as a runner.  I recall the date I started running (it was 1978), where I ran (Hempt Road, Mechanicsburg, PA) and how far (3 miles – and no, I didn’t stop).  Call me obsessed if you must, but oddly enough it works for me and I thought remembering all those runs, races, locations, etc… would someday come in handy.  Or allow me to bore people to death at parties and gatherings. 

What’s the point of my little retrospective here?  The great running philosopher George Sheehan once wrote ‘All running is an experiment of One’.  By that, he simply meant that what works for one person won’t necessarily work for another.  What is one man’s trash may truly be another man’s treasure.  And only you can figure that out. 

On my home office bookshelf, you will find books on history, mental health, travel destinations, humor and yes, running.  LOTS of running.  Okay, lots and LOTS of running.  There are numerous running DVDs as well.  Some are documentaries, some are training guides, some are biographical, some are stories about specific events, and some are even fictional (although ‘Once a Runner’ by John Parker has some fact in it).

In my ‘experiment of One’, I have discovered things that fit for me, and those things don’t (like running with music).  I do love to read about my chosen sport and learn from others.  My current book is ‘Racing the Clock’, by Bernd Heinrich.  Bernd is an ultra-marathoner and biologist, who writes about the confluence of both in his pursuit of the finish line.  Oh, and he’s in his mid-80s and still runs ultras. 

I have trained with runners who will not take step one until their GPS is synched properly with the GPS satellite du jour.  Their gateway into the running world is to know where they are, how far they have run (as precisely as GPS will allow), how fast they ran it, and even if it makes some fancy design as seen from space (I love to read about runners using their GPS to map out words, designs, etc…  Pretty cool!). 

Ever run with music?  In my ‘other than running’ training, I have begun to appreciate the presence of music.  Rowing for 45 minutes is boring as sin, unless the soundtrack is good.  But running with a soundtrack?  I can’t.  Many of my running buds do indeed iPod up before step one and off they go in solitude, accompanied only by Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift or the Foo Fighters.  That’s their gateway. 

Even when it comes to training, what works for one person doesn’t always work for another.  The #1 runner on my college cross country team my senior year was (and still is) a phenomenal talent.  Unfortunately, the poor guy couldn’t string two 50 mile weeks back-to-back without getting injured.  For the rest of us, 70+ mile weeks for 10-12 weeks was the norm.  He was able to remain competitive and lead the way, simply by staying healthy with reduced mileage and extra cross training. 

A few years ago, I finally embraced supplemental workouts like rowing machines and lifting weights in an effort to remain healthy.  My ‘experiment of One’ has finally led me in another direction.

As you plan your goals and embrace your training, make sure you are embracing YOUR training and YOUR goals, not somebody else’s.  Coaches are great for helping set up strategies and such, but make sure those strategies work for your experiment, not just the other 10 or 20 athletes with whom your Coach may be working. And don’t get me started on those cookie cutter marathon plans. 

So please allow me to bore you at the next gathering we attend together.  And I’ll allow you to ‘attempt’ to bore me.  However, something tells me both of us will be enthralling. 

I hope to see you on the roads, tracks and trails.

So, how far did YOU run today?  It’s water-cooler fodder for anyone who runs and for anyone who knows you run.  People are fascinated with how far runners have run.  Most runners are also retentive to a fault about their mileage. 

How far is a 5k?  How many miles is a marathon?  How many miles do you run every week?  That one is, of course, is always followed by, “I don’t even drive that far!”.  Gotta love predictability.  How many miles, how many miles, miles, miles, miles.  It’s like ‘Marsha, Marsha, Marsha’ (a cheesy Brady Bunch reference).  But it wasn’t always about Marsha now, was it?  Sometimes Jan or Cindy got a storyline, too. 

Too many runners are obsessed with how far they run.  A number of years ago, I trained with a pretty competitive group in Virginia.  One of the runners was a 3:45 1500 meter runner in college who had a problem with the time-space continuum.  A 7.5 mile run would end up somehow being 9 miles.  11 miles became 12.  In other words, he ‘fudged’. And at the end of the day, he was really cheating himself.   

I’ve run into way too many obsessed runners, more concerned about getting in ‘miles’ and not so concerned about the quality of those miles, or by way of the paragraph above, whether they actually RAN those miles.  Silly me…

On the other end of the spectrum, there are those runners who can’t seem to get past a certain mileage threshold.  Whether it’s two miles or 12, they hit a wall.  It could be a mental one or it could be a physical one. But that next mile is almost impossible to get to. And to be honest, going from two miles to three miles is somewhat daunting.  I mean, it’s a 33% jump! 

I’ve gotten less concerned about miles, miles, miles the past several years and have instead started doing more of my training based in minutes, minutes, minutes.  It may take someone 60 minutes to run six miles, but then again it could take them 66 minutes or 54 minutes.  But 60 minutes is 60 minutes.  By removing the ‘how many miles did I do?’ from the equation, runs become more manageable, meaningful and pleasant.  No pressure.  If only my Virginia friend would have realized that.

Running by minutes is also a great way to get over that hurdle of lengthening your runs.  Going from three miles to four miles may seem huge, and it is.  It’s a 25% increase!  But going from 30 minutes to 34 minutes, then 38 minutes, then 40 minutes… the progression seems natural.  AND the pressure of how FAST you run those miles is removed. 

I do most of my runs these days based on time, and not distance.  I can guess how far I ran, but that’s not the point.  The point is to enjoy the run with little or no pressure of performance.  Occasionally, my runs take on different forms, but my runs are for my mind and not my log book.  By the way, I train most of my athletes by minutes… almost guarantees they’ll all be back in time for the group stretch. 

Whether you’re at a training roadblock or are tired of being driven by miles, miles, miles, start doing more of your running by minutes and stop obsessing so much about the distance.  30 minutes of running is 30 minutes of running, no matter how far you go.  You may find yourself more relaxed and able to jump to that next level. 

Oh, and if you REALLY want to mess with your running friends, start doing what I did back in 2012… run by kilometers.  My Virginia friend would approve.  And wow, my running log totals looked really impressive that year. 

I hope to see you on the roads, tracks and trails.  And bring your watch. 

I have had the pleasure of coaching young Delaware runners for nearly 15 years, in both a high school and collegiate setting, and both cross country and track & field.  And (I’m not making this up), nearly every day before practice starts ‘Youth Gone Wild’ is the coaching walk-up song that plays in my head.  Who doesn’t love a good Skid Row tune.

Working with young runners, especially high school athletes, reveals two types of participants; those who want to be there and those who don’t.  It’s a pretty cut and dry split.  Track & field athletes can usually be coaxed into trying different events, but cross country is, well…. Cross country.  You either run three miles or you don’t run three miles.  There is no high jump pit in a 5k.  However, that gives me an idea…

Youth runners need to be nurtured.  Running is by its very nature a one-dimensional pursuit.  We run.  I was recently sent an Instagram sketch where the comedian questioned why cross country was called ‘cross country’, rather than just ‘running’. 

That I ever became a runner is a mystery.  I had no role model; my family had no real athletic prowess (two of my brothers were not very good wrestlers but my sister was a decent hurdler).  But once I did start (in 1978), I found a tribe of friends, coaches and a local running club filled with mentors, partners, and competitors.  No one pushed, no one insisted, and no one shamed.  It was a very supportive network.

I recall a Peach Festival 5k event several years ago.  As the official race starter, one of my jobs to make certain that faster runners were up front, and ‘less zippy’ runners were further back at the start line.  It’s a safety thing, people!  One very young runner (maybe age 10 or so?) was in the very front, middle.  I asked him if he could run a 6 minute mile and before he budged an inch, his father started yelling at me that indeed he deserved to be there and that I should mind my own business (parental gloater, take a bow).  You can guess what happened next.  Fortunately, the young runner was not hurt or knocked over, but he finished nowhere near the front.  I wonder if he’s even running today. 

Young runners, heck young athletes in general, all deserve our support, praise, and, when appropriate, constructive instruction (NOT criticism and not being forced).  What ends up happening can affect not only them, but those other young athletes around them. 

I am not a fan of the ‘everyone gets a ribbon for participating’ in athletic competition.  ‘Competition’ is the operative word here.  There’s a reason some youth runs are called FUN RUNS.  But when the competition starts, the young athlete needs to be prepared, because winning and losing are realities.  It’s a skill many aren’t prepared for.    

Youth athletes need to be nurtured and guided in the skills of athletics.  It comes from parents first, coaches second, tribe third.  You can call him arrogant all you want, but Joe Namath once guaranteed a victory.  But he was getting paid to do that.  Guaranteeing anyone will be victorious isn’t the way to make them victorious.  But it could make them the Youth Gone Wild.

I hope to see you on the roads, tracks and trails. 

Last month, I wrote about my discovery of a long-gone power point plan about how to devise a training plan.  Now to be completely honest, after 45 years as a competitive runner, I don’t spend much time ‘writing down’ my training plans, goals, etc…   Heck, some weeks, just getting out the door for a 5-miler ticks off the box of ‘training goal attained’.  But still, the innate need for planning is still basic.

As a reminder, here are SIX truisms when it comes to devising your training plan.  And as I suggested last month, the purpose of the plan isn’t to suck all the fun out of running but rather to give you a ‘less unstructured’ direction (like that double negative?). 

1. Every workout has a purpose
2. Plan your work and work your plan
3. With wisdom comes age (yes, you read that right)
4. Don’t forget the small stuff
5. Definition of insanity
6. Be flexible

In February, I highlighted numbers 1 & 2.  They’re simplistic for a reason.  Remember, there should even be a purpose for the plan!  I suggest you have an understanding of what you hope to accomplish with every mile.  This is especially true if you have a coach. I take a dim view of any coach who says ‘go do this because I said so’.  Ask questions! 

#3 is a little difficult to grasp.  Since running is truly an experiment of one, it takes time to figure out what works and what doesn’t.  I’ve taken 5, 6, even 7 years to hone workouts and learn lessons.  Unfortunately, by the time I’ve learned the lesson, I may be past the ability to execute the lesson.  I’ll never run a sub 16 minute 5k ever again, but I can still ‘get after it’.  The lessons learned just need to be tempered for the aging process.

What’s the top recovery aid for ANY athlete?  (waiting… waiting… waiting…).  It’s SLEEP!  I am truly amazed that I was able to run so well for so many years with such a total lack of sleep, hydration and dietary structure.  The small stuff can be the difference between a PR, a medal position, and ‘just another goal race that came up short’.  Small stuff includes stretching, good warm-up routines, extra recovery days, learning patience, and even selfishly avoiding people two weeks before a big race.  Don’t forget those small things add up to big returns.  If it matters, you’ll do it.  If it doesn’t, you won’t (one of my favorite coaching sayings).

One of my favorite authors is Edgar Allen Poe.  Why bring up the master of the horror short story?  Well, the dude was insane!  Fortunately, Poe’s insanity isn’t what I mean.  #5 really means that if you keep doing what you’ve always done and expect results to be different, you’re just nuts.  Okay, so maybe Poe’s not far off from where you’re heading. 

Variety is necessary for growth, in all ways, and especially in the pursuit of sport.  If you run the same 4-mile loop day after day after day, you’ll eventually hit a point where you will no longer improve.  This also goes for the same interval session, or the same hill session or the same long, slow run.  Vary your pace, vary your scenery, vary your training partners (or not partners).  Run 5-miles slow on Monday and 3-miles quicker on Tuesday.  These variations in your training help teach the body’s systems to react and improve in a positive manner. 

The last truism of the 6 is simply this… be flexible.  Life gets in the way.  Work calls, kids have a band concert, vacations fall in the middle of marathon training, the flu sets up shop in your carpool.  All of these things can get in the way of a good training plan.  When a major shoe company offers you $100,000 to run for them, your mindset may be different, but until then, be flexible! 

There you have them – Andrew Shearer’s 6 truisms of training plans.  Feel free to add, subtract, embrace or ignore as you see fit.  After all, it really is about the pleasure and enjoyment you get from the pursuit in the first place.  But no insanity pleas, Mr. and Mrs. Poe. 

I hope to see you on the roads, tracks and trails.  

During one of my recent insomniac nights, I did what you’re advised not to do… I turned on the computer and lit up my brain even more.  Well, I wasn’t being productive at being sleepy, so I might as well be productive WHILE I was sleepy.   

I came across a power point presentation that I had done 10 years ago entitled ‘How to devise a training plan’.  The fact that 10 years ago I even knew what a power point presentation was is an amazing fact… but not relevant. 

Breezing through the slide show was a great exercise for me; both as an athlete, a coach and a purveyor of running knowledge (only when asked, of course – I try not to ‘know it all’).  The concepts are as accurate today as they have ever been, and I wanted to share them in a short-format, in hopes of passing along a few new or reminder nuggets.

Here’s the general gist of the presentation – there are SIX truisms when it comes to devising your training plan.  But before I share them, please note that a training plan isn’t necessary in the pursuit of enjoyment of running and racing.  It really only matters if you’re looking for an improved chance of attaining your end goal.  So here goes…

1. Every workout has a purpose
2. Plan your work and work your plan
3. With wisdom comes age (yes, you read that right)
4. Don’t forget the small stuff
5. Definition of insanity
6. Be flexible

The concepts are quite simple, but sometimes the simple things are the toughest to grasp, simply because they are simple!  And as I often remind other runners, you probably ain’t working/running for a major shoe company for your income, so remember your WHY!

I have never believed in the concept of ‘junk miles’.  Every mile run brings with it a purpose and an outcome.  Knowing what you intend that mile to bring helps keep everything else in balance.  Without balance, in most cases burnout and injury will be the outcome.  I’ve never known anyone who strives for injury as their purpose for running.  By the way, ‘I needed a break from work/school/kids/traffic/etc…’ is indeed a purpose.

The expression ‘failing to plan is planning to fail’ has always bothered me.  It’s one of those life truths that business coaches have shoved on type B personalities.  BUT, generally speaking, it sorta does make sense that planning helps achieve the goal.  Having NO plan isn’t really the best way to save for retirement, and neither is it a good idea to start marathon training without one.  You don’t need to account for every minute of the journey, but you probably need to account for the journey.  Oh, and a failure isn’t really a failure unless you fail to learn from the failure.  I hope that statement didn’t fail.

Next month, I’ll focus on rules 3, 4, 5, and 6, since they tend to get a little bit more specific.  But I think the titles give you a pretty good idea of what the content is.  There are some specifics that ‘should’ be part of your training plan, such as training cycles, goals events, highlighted workouts, personal care and the like.  I’ll highlight those, so I can pretend to be that ‘know it all’ we all dislike… hee hee hee. 

I hope to see you on the roads, tracks and trails. 

Welcome to another new year.  Funny how those things pop up annually, eh.  May your 2023 runs be flat, fast and with a tailwind!  Are you planning any resolutions, goals, or new habits?  I have an idea for you…

For Christmas, I received my annual paper running log stocking stuffer.  And this year, my son received his very first paper log as well.  I’m excited to show him all that a paper log can do and say.  Strava, Garmin, Nike, etc… all have nice on-line logs that allow for everything from pace, distance and location to weather, heart rate, stride rate and even ‘pit stops’ (yes, you can usually tell).  But a paper log has DEPTH! 

Some of you may recall that I have paper logs dating back to 1984.  I started running in 1978 but didn’t really understand tracking my runs until my junior year in college.  And it’s not just about tracking mileage and pace, it’s about tracking YOU.  See, I’m not sure Captain Kirk’s oral star date logs were ever shared with anyone else but Captain Kirk.

Here are a few random entries from my years gone by –

12/15/2005 – Kent Island trail with 8 x 20 second accels.  7.5 miles/56’00.  Mizuno Riders – loosed up from yesterday’s treadmill run.  I HATE treadmills!  Groin is sore but improving. 

7/25/1993 – So. Chester County team Triathlon.  1^st overall team!  5-miles in 26’44 (last two downhill in 10’09).  I’ve never been envious of the swim leg, until today… 86 degrees when I started! 

3/12/2016 – Creek Road/PennDel trail from UD Fieldhouse.  Good LSD effort!  11.7 miles/89’48.  NB890 v4.  Avg. 7’40 pace for most of this.  Feeling stronger but need to start peppering in more speed sessions.  Turnover is off. 

On the surface, these individual entries don’t really tell much of a story, but looking at the days before and after… oh the places you (and Captain Kirk) can go!  For example, I recently determined that I’ve run over 40,000 miles just in the state of Delaware.  There are stories in those pages.

I’m not poo pooing digital uploads and the like, but let’s be honest.  I’m sure there are those special diary entries that we don’t want our friends and social media clan to know about.  But if you don’t write it down (for your eyes only), those moments of clarity, need or epiphany may be lost forever.  How many people do you really want knowing your groin hurts? 

There are those who also don’t want their competition to know what they’re doing, or their egos won’t let their friends know they ran at 9’00 pace rather than 8’00 pace.  A paper diary allows you to keep those secrets AND provides you with the training guidance you may need.

My suggestion for 2023 is to try your hand at ‘writing it down’.  Give it 21 days and see how it goes.  It doesn’t need to be in some special runner’s log or triathlete log.  Heck my first year was written in a stenography notebook.  And you can be as complete or as vague as you want or need.  It’s all about YOU learning more about YOU.  Happy running for this coming year! 

I hope to see you on the roads, tracks and trails.