Birthday Goals

Back in January, I wrote a draft post of my goals for the year. As I haven't spent much time on this blog the past couple years, I never published it.

This year, as I reflected on another orbit around the sun, I thought I'd solidify some of those goals and a couple new ones for a birthday year rather than a New Year goal.

First off, I enjoyed my birthday very much. I spent the day before my birthday running the Chocoholic Frolic 5K with my 7 year old. I then went for another run after we got home and followed up with a buffet lunch at Bay Leaf Indian Cuisine. We ended the evening watching "Enchanted." Today I got breakfast in bed and enjoyed an extra hour of sleep.

On to the goals for the next year.

1. Run a marathon.

I got a little bummed about my marathoning. I thought I had run a marathon every year since 2009, but it turns out I'd missed 2021. I did run a marathon in 2022, so I'm ready to start a new streak. Next weekend I run the Madison Marathon, so barring a DNF I'll meet this goal.

2. Do strength and mobility work at least 45 minutes a week.

The downside to this goal is tracking the workouts. Rather than doing longer sessions, I spread my strength and mobility into lots of small workouts, so it's a little tedious recording every workout.

3. Break 19:15 in the 5K

It's a far (very far) cry from my PR, but it'll be the fastest 5K I've run in a few years. I ran a 19:25 in August, so it's definitely doable.

4. Run 1,000 miles for the year.

5. Hit race weight by May and maintain for the year.

6. Write 12 blog posts.

I've been neglecting this blog for too long, and I'd like to stop neglecting it.

That's all for the year. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and a special thanks to those who donated to my birthday fundraiser for World Vision.

Pride

While the English language can be imprecise and fickle, it is nice that there are synonyms for words that help refine and differentiate meaning.

Take arrogant. It has a negative connotation, but words in the same family have different degrees of emotional responses — bravado, confident, pompous — you get the idea.

After running the Boston Marathon in 2011, I would tell people, "I won't run Boston again until I'm 40." Running fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon assumed a lot. It assumed I'd stay healthy enough to be able to maintain an adequate training volume. It assumed I'd have enough time to put in the training necessary.

At the time, I didn't think twice about assuming I'd qualify for the Boston Marathon. Right now, my qualifying time would be under 3:10. My first Boston Marathon qualifying time (BQ) was 3:10 and I ran a 3:02 when trying to qualify. In subsequent marathons I ran 2:59, 2:50, 2:58, 3:03, and 3:04 — all of which would have been BQs.

I then had a couple of marathons in which the courses were mismarked and/or mismeasured, which would have also been BQs. But after that, with injuries and lack of time to train, I was no longer running BQs. I ran a 3:07 (which would qualify me now but not at the time I ran it), 3:20, and 3:14.  

So, in retrospect, it was arrogant of me to assume qualifying for Boston would be easily attainable when I was 40. It obviously wasn't.

It's good though. A little dose of humility doesn't hurt at all.

Run well.

Big Beach Half Marathon

One of this year's destination races was the Big Beach Half Marathon in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The morning of the race we got ready in Laura's parents' condo. I had packed a couple of neon green shirts and threw one on.

Almost everything about the race was perfect — nice weather, scenic course, well organized. The post-race offerings were amazing. There were the traditional offerings of orange slices and bananas, but there was also a box lunch of a large wrap (Laura got ham, and I got veggie), gumbo, chips, and a cookie along with two beer tokens (we only used one each).

I also had a great time running the entire race with Laura. It was awesome being able to chat with her for the race.

While almost everything about the race was excellent, it didn't all go well.

Around three miles into the race we went by a pace group. "Nice job 2:50," I cheered. Normally I get at least some smiles a waves, but instead I got confused looks.

As we passed another pace group, some said, "Are you a pacer?" "No," I said. "Just the same color shirt."

After this happened again, we figured out what was happening. I was wearing a shirt from when I paced City of Lakes Half Marathon. Not only was it the same color as the shirts the Big Beach pacers were wearing, it also said "pacer" on the back.

Once we'd made that connection, I turned my shirt around backwards and ran the rest of the racer with the "pacer" sign on front to reduce the confusion to other runners. 

I blame my wardrobe faux pas on getting dressed at five in the morning and not planning my race kit beforehand.

Still, it was an awesome race, and Laura, who's going to run a half marathon in every state, checked Alabama off the list. I'd definitely do this race again. 

Back from Hiatus

This wasn't planned. I didn't decide one day that I would write one post this calendar year after writing my fewest posts in a year since I started this blog. I just didn't make it a priority. It's been four months since I wrote a post and it'd been almost three months since I'd written a post before that one.

I didn't do a year-end wrap-up of my goals or make new goals for this year. But I want to get back at it, so in the next week I'll share some favorite highlights of the year.

My big running highlights were running a fifty mile week for the first time in a long time, running a half marathon in Alabama with Laura (more on that race soon), and breaking twenty minutes in the 5K for the first time since 2021. It's sometimes depressing running times so much slower than my previous PRs, but I try to keep in mind that I'm older and with two kids I don't have as much time to train.

The biggest highlight is that my oldest kiddo, who's seven, ran his first 5K. It started out with him running with his mom at parkrun. He planned on running just part of the race, but he decided to keep going and ended up finishing. He didn't even want to walk any of it! He's done 4 more since, and he's really been enjoying it.

Laura and I are registered for the Twilight Red Rock Canyon Half Marathon in October in Nevada just outside Vegas. We're really looking forward to this unique race. Check out the link to read about it.

Hospital Anniversary

A couple weeks ago marked six years of being out of the hospital. It’s the second longest stretch since my first time being hospitalized in 1997.

This time of year can often be a challenge. The days are still short and the weather’s still cold. Oftentimes I get down this time of year, but this year has been one of the best Februarys I can remember.

Being hospital-free feels good. There’s a lot of little things I do to stay mentally healthy, and another year out of the hospital confirms that I’m doing a lot of things right. In her book, “Preventing Bipolar Relapse,” by Ruth C. White, the author uses the acronym SNAP, which stands for sleep, nutrition, activities, and people.

To stay mentally healthy, I try to keep all these things in mind in my daily activities. I go to bed about the same time every night. Most days I get at least five servings of fruits and vegetables. I also keep a workout routine and keep people in my life who help me stay mentally healthy.

And while I do my best to stay mentally healthy, part of staying out of the hospital has been help from my friends and my family. I receive a lot of understanding and support, especially from my wife. Without her understanding and sacrifices (like taking care of the kids' middle-of-the-night wakeups), along with reminding me to take my pills, I would not be where I am today, and I almost definitely wouldn't be hospital-free for this long.