Counting the Steps update

Last month I managed to get my 2nd best month of steps.  I got 27 out of 31.  It turns out my best month was the first month I started this thing when I got 29 out of 31.  Since then I'm averaging missing 4-8 days per month because of weather, sick kids, or something else that prevents me from getting off my butt.

Getting 10K steps a day isn't gonna help me with my weight loss goals.  I actually need to get two or three times that if I'm gonna limit it to walking.  

Also, the first two days of April I only got in about 5K.  Mostly because I was hit with a virus of some type.  Maybe a mild case of COVID but we did not test.  I've had all my shots and Nightingale believes it was more likely allergies.  I'm not certain but whatever.

Slightly Reduced Humble Brag

In my old apartment, and later in my condo, I had a wall devoted to my Running Achievements.  Specifically, it held the framed marathon certificates and the medals I received from completing various races.  At first, it was just marathons but over the years, smaller races decided to give finisher medals as well.  When we moved into the house, I left the certificates in the moving box, thinking one day I would find an appropriate place for them.  The medals went on this:

I paid $5-10 for it at a garage sale I drove past during lunchtime when I worked out in Oak Brook Terrace.

Now that we've moved to Mississippi, I've decided to purge a lot of things.  I was going to just put up the certificate from my best race, the Spirit of St Louis Marathon in 2006 where I ran a 3:29:54, along with a few medals from other milestone races.  But then the challenge was, how do I pick?  

My first marathon?  sure.  My best Chicago Time?  My International Marathons?  Too many to choose from.  

And then one of the daily deal emails I got had a coupon code for a discount at a place that makes custom metal things, especially medal holders. It would have cost $80 for the two but with the discount code it dropped to $53, so I pulled the trigger and ordered them.

So I decided to make another shrine to running.  And I'm certain my runner nickname will give my brother-in-law Jethro something else (that concerns him not the least) to be upset about (he cannot stand that my vanity license plate has Chicago in it).

These cost a bit more

It took a few weeks for my medal holder to arrive and when they did, I didn't exactly have the energy I had when I started this project in my head.  But I started slow.  First I added the Personal Best and then built everything around it.  Not every certificate is going up, just the more meaningful ones.  This is mostly because I didn't always invest in good frames and don't want to now.  And also because I only have so much wall space to work with.  I'm not sure how many medals I will put up.  

Also rearranged the office a bit

I've also saved almost every racing big and a variety of Teflon blankets that they hand out post-race.  I always thought I could do something cool with those.  For now, they will go back in the smaller box and be stored somewhere out of sight.  And when I shed this mortal coil, I want my family to dispose of this stuff as they see fit.  No need to keep it around and create any unwanted clutter.

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A little late to the steps game

Recently, reluctantly, I enabled the step counting or tracking features of my iPhone.  In my running heyday, I never cared about getting in a certain amount of steps per day (and it wasn't a thing that I recall anyway) because I knew that even my easy mileage would knock out 10K steps.  not to mention going over it so much that my rest days would be covered as well.

Alas, I'm not running as much yearly as I use to do weekly.  According to Strava, I've run just over 20 miles this year, and the bulk of that came in October when I decided to do a virtual 10K.  The Michael Meyer's Virtual run.

This step tracking comes in conjunction with the purchase of a new scale.  It's fancy.  It tracks all the stats, except maybe one or two that you'd need an even higher-priced version.  Anyway, the first time I step on the scale, Dec 1, I weighed in at 220 lbs.  Five days later, without doing any exercise or diet modification, I was at 216 lbs but went back up though never reaching 220 again.  With some intentional running, walking, and eating modifications, I've managed to hit a low of 213 lbs.  Weight fluctuates.

Back to the steps.  Nightingale agrees with me that the steps probably aren't accurate unless you are wearing a Fitbit or Apple Watch or other such devices.  Most mornings I do the same thing in the first hour of the day.  Fetch coffee from the kitchen, feed the cats, and pace the house while getting Moose and Squirrel up and to the breakfast table.  Yet the difference is astounding.  one day I hit 1000 steps by 8 am, the next it's only 500.  Today it was 2000 but that's because Friday is garbage day and i have to walk our cans down the driveway to the road.  Granted some days I forget to carry my phone with me all the time so I miss a lot of steps.

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New Running Shoes for 2020 and a little boyond

Woot had a sale so I decided to buy these Saucony Men's Guide ISO 2 TR.  I got two pairs so I can hopefully remember to alternate them between runs.

Back in the day, I would have bought one pair, run in them until my mileage was between 300 and 500 miles, and then try to find another pair.  Usually, by then the price had come down because the next model would be released. Being on a budget, I'd push closer to the 500 miles.  Even then, I was going through 2-3 pairs of shoes a year.

Now I have the budget to buy two pairs at once but I don't have the running stamina.  Even at a conservative 300 miles per pair, these two should last me through 2021 and probably a little beyond.

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MPD goal achieved

I managed to hit my unofficial goal of running 365 miles, i.e. one mile per day, with just over a week to spare.  I even got a few extra miles in to account for any mistakes or discrepancies when I switched from DailyMile to Strava.

Month	Expected	Actual	Strava
Jan	31	25	24.8
Feb	28	34	33.7
Mar	31	25	24
April	30	18	18
May	31	38	38.8
June	30	30	30.5
July	31	24	24.2
August	31	39	39.2
Sept	30	29	29
Oct	31	45	45.3
Nov	30	32	32.7
Dec	18	29	29.1
totals	352	368	369.3
average			30.775
left 2 Go	13	-3	-4.3

I'm putting the above in text form instead of a screen capture so that I can cut and paste the numbers if I ever need them.  I'm also backdating this post because I'm not sure what direction I'll take Mysteries of Life in 2020 and maybe ending it in 2019 is the way to go.

At one point, I was 18 miles behind on the goal...but by October 17th I managed to catch up.

It was challenging especially when the trifecta of weather, work and motivation didn't always intersect.  There are days I just cannot get out to run.

The thing about a goal like this is I'm back to being married to a training schedule.  There are days when I have other things that need to be done, especially around the house.  Mowing the lawn, watering the lawn, raking leaves, shoveling snow.

What I've found is that there really is something to doing at least a 2 mile run.  If I'm not feeling it, quitting after 2 miles still knocks out that day and the next for recovery or the previous for makeup.  If I am feeling it, it isn't that hard to push through another mile or two and build up some running equity.

I think for 2020 I'll go with not having a goal.  I'll just run when and if I feel like it and not worry about hitting a mileage goal.

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5 miles to go

With 15 days left in 2019, I have 5 miles left to go on my MPD running goal.  It's amazing since at one time I was at least 18 miles behind where I should have been for the given month.  Luckily I was able to chip away at it once the weather got cooler.

I have four more days to knock out those last five miles before we head South for the holidays.  And if I don't do it by then, I usually manage to get at least one run in down there, though I wanted a little cushion to allow for any mileage miscounts since switching from DailyMile to Strava.

Whether I do those last 5 miles or not, I consider this goal a success.  It was challenging especially when the trifecta of weather, work and motivation didn't always intersect.  There are days I just cannot get out to run. Sometimes I have other smaller projects I need to get done during the span of time that I have daylight and no kids in the way.

And now with having to pick up the kids at 2:45, I have to be sure everything is quiet on the work front.

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MPD November Update

On Sunday, November 24th, I ran the Lincolnwood Turkey Trot, as I often have, on and off, for the last two decades.  I thought I had signed up for the 5K so that I would be done in time for the kids' Drumstick Dash, but evidently, I picked the 10K instead.  I ran it with Na, whose kids stayed with Nightingale and our kids.

Although I ran the 10K distance, Strava claims I did 7.5 so I'm going with that number instead.  There was a lot of walking back and forth to the cars.



Update:  As expected, I didn't run much the rest of November.  I did a run on Tuesday which was harder than it should have been so I decided to give myself the rest of the month off, especially since we had company over the holidays.

According to my stats, I have 25 miles to go with 29 days left (as of Dec 2).  Not a difficult number to achieve baring any unusual activity.  If I just ran 1 mile per day at the track after dropping off Moose and Squirrel to pre-K, I'd certainly put a dent in that 25 and then only need a few miles over Christmas Vacation to put it to bed.

The thing about a goal like this is I'm back to being married to a training schedule.  There are days when I have other things that need to be done, especially around the house.  Mowing the lawn, watering the lawn, raking leaves, shoveling snow.

I think for 2020 I'll go with not having a goal.  I'll just run when and if I feel like it and not worry about hitting a mileage goal. 

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Fastest to 300 miles in a while

On Monday I reached 300 miles for 2019.  In the past, it was usually the month of December, often the very last week when I hit that milestone.  Having run 40+ miles this month -- something I have not done in a very long time -- I not only completed the mileage for October but eliminated the mileage deficit as well. 

Okay technically I have a mile to go but what are the odds I won't get a great Halloween day run in?  And even if  I don't, just add it to November.  32 miles to go!


What I've found is that there really is something to doing at least a 2 mile run.  If I'm not feeling it, quitting after 2 miles still knocks out that day and the next for recovery or the previous for makeup.  If I am feeling it, it isn't that hard to push through another mile or two and build up some running equity.

In the summer I often either made the mistake of or didn't have the opportunity to, run too late in the day. The summer sun would be out and I would get gassed.  Now that the weather is cooler, I strive to go a little later in the day to get the highest temperature.  I still should endeavor to run as early as possible since that leaves me with more of my day left to do mini-projects in between work activity. 

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Caught up on the MPD

After my run yesterday (Thursday) I had 290 miles, which by my math is what I was supposed to have by the 17th of October.  Obviously, I'm not running today and may not get to run this weekend so I will be behind again on Monday.  But as I've been managing 4 miles runs, I should be able to get back on track yet again.

Random plaque one block over

I found that pushing myself to do one more mile to make 4 mile runs was a bit easier than doing consecutive runs of three miles.  With 12 days left of October, I hope to build up some surplus miles because I anticipate December will be problematic to run the last week or so since we will be down South.

Update:  I actually got a 3 mile run on Sunday so I am still caught up and have completed my mileage for October.  Now onto those surplus miles.  

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100 Miles to go

We are in the final quarter of 2019 and I am doing okay with my MPD goal.  Not as good as I like but not terrible either.

If you look at my Strava September stats, you'll see 11 activities for 29 miles.  however, 2 of those were junk entries to adjust for time and distance.  Because Strava won't let you adjust your miles or time.  So if you didn't restart your timer too bad.  There is also no way to see your totals for the past month because I suspect they want you to pay for the fully meshed version and I see no reason to do that.

By my calculations, we have 92 days to go and I have 100 miles left.

• Oct  31
• Nov 30
• Dec 31

and I trimmed the mileage deficit down to 8 miles.  That leaves 100 miles to go.  I ran today (Oct 1st) instead of yesterday (Sept 30) because it is slightly less humid but I'm gonna pretend like I got that 3 mile run in on Monday.

During the week there are two good windows for me to go get a run.  Either way before 10 am if it's quiet, or just after my 10 am call, usually at 11 which equates to noon Eastern Time, when my colleague would be at lunch.   But if I don't get out the door by 1pm on a weekday, the run likely just isn't happening.

And some days there are just more important things to do

There are days I just cannot get out to run.  Either they are too hot, I am too busy or both. Sometimes I have other smaller projects I need to get done during the span of time that I have daylight and no kids in the way.

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September MPD update

As of today, Wednesday, September 25th, I have run 258 of the required 268 miles for 2019.  Once again I took a few too many days off from running which caused me to try to catch up just to September's requirements and not give me much hope of chopping into the 10 mile overall deficit from previous months.

Tomorrow I'm off from work because we have to take Moose and Squirrel to their annual checkup (they turned 5 last weekend!).  I don't suspect I'll get any running in, which is a good thing because I need a rest day.  On Friday I should be able to knock out at least 3-4 miles.  If  I don't run over the weekend, again I'm rested for Monday which can be another 3-4 miles.  That means I would have chipped 1-3 miles off that 10 mile deficit!


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August MPD update

I had this sorta but not so crazy idea that for the month of August I would try to run 2 miles a day every day.  This would theoretically bring me to 62 miles for the month which would not only get the 31 miles needed for August, but would also knock out the 18-mile deficit and give me a 13-mile surplus going into September.

Life doesn't quite work that way but as of right now, I have 23 miles for 19 days of August.  With 12 days left in the month, I need 26 more miles to break even.  Given that I'm not getting runs in on the weekend, it is more realistic that I get the remaining 8 miles for August and chip away at the 18 mile deficit, perhaps halving it.

July was hot, hot, hot.  My beautiful green lawn is now a burned yellow hay patch.  I also had some knee issues so I took a strategic week off to see if that would make a difference.  I ended up with an extra 7 mile deficit that I probably could have made smaller just by doing 1 mile per day on the treadmill.

Month	Goal	Actual
Jan-Feb	59	59
March	31	25
April	30	18
May	31	38
June	30	30
July	31	24
	212	194

Why I think I'll succeed:  If I can go into September only being 9 miles behind, I should be able to catch up.  I run more during the fall when it's cooler and I don't have yard work or outside chores to compete with my free time. 

Why I think I won't:  I hate having to follow a schedule and there are days when I just want to kick back and not go out for a run or do anything. 

I'm averaging 28 miles a month so I should at least pass my usual 300 miles per year.


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MPD goal update

On January 1st I weighed myself and, if memory serves, I was about a sandwich shy of 220 lbs.  Most of that was holiday bloat and water weight but I have been upwards of 210 lbs longer than I can remember.  I'm not a spring chicken and I don't run piles of miles like I did in my 30s.

BTW what is it with spring chickens?  Do they just have some amazing superpowers?

Anyway, I did my usual running which abated the weight but then I was also able to work in some weight training which turned the corner and brought me down under 210.  Of course, I lost momentum and consistency and oscillated between 209 and 213 for a few months.

Recently, I found that I was consistently at 210 or just below and this corresponds to logging 38 miles of running in May.  I was able to not only cover the mileage for May (31) but also the March deficit (5) and even tack on 1 extra mile to chip away at the April deficit (18).

Today I weigh 206 lbs which would be a fluke except last week I weighed 208 and 206 on consecutive days, so I think it's safe to say I'm getting down to my driver's license weight of 205 lbs.

Today is the 20th day of June and I have logged 17 miles.  I'm 14 miles behind on the MPD goal.  That means in the next 10 days I have to run 24 miles just to be on pace at the halfway point of the year. 

Today is the 21st of June (and the first day of Summer) and I have logged 21 miles, including today's 4-mile run.  I'm 11 miles behind on the MPD goal.  That means in the next 9 days I have to run 20 miles just to be on pace at the halfway point of the year.

There was a time when  I could have easily knocked these miles out.  now each run is a struggle.  

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Running Goals and a little math

For this year's unofficial running goal, I decided I wanted to log 365 miles, or essentially a mile a day.  While I cannot run every day because of my knees and my schedule, I can manage every other day.  I can also get in one mile on the dreadmill if I really want to make a game of it.

With DailyMile gone, it's a bit more effort to track.  I'm using STRAVA right now which torments its free users by making things harder than they have to be.  Example: you can manually enter an activity, but if you make a mistake on the date, time or distance, you have to delete and start over.

Update:  Apparently, this isn't just with the free version either.  There are various threads in the support community about this exact issue and how Strava refuses to address it.

At this time, we do not have the ability to manually edit the distance for a recorded activity on Strava. We appreciate your feedback.

— Strava Support (@StravaSupport) April 10, 2019

At the end of February, I had run 59 miles so I was right on target.  I missed some time in March because of sickness but still managed 25 miles and with three 3-mile runs under my belt so far in April, I'm on track.

So by my math, as of April 10, 2019, I'm at 93 miles for the year, including today's 3-mile run.  If I actually ran a mile a day, I'd be at 100 miles so I'm only off by 7 miles.  I'm hoping I'll get some running in when we go down to Olive Branch MS for Easter.  But even if I don't, it shouldn't be too hard to make up the missing miles.  And again, this is just an unofficial goal.  Some days I just don't feel like running and after a decade of being a slave to a training schedule, I kinda feel like I deserve to not run if I don't feel like it.

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2019 Shamrock Shuffle recap

2016: didn't take a picture this year

I've run the Shamrock Shuffle every year since 1997 except for 2007. I've run this race in lousy weather, hung over and even once after an 18-mile training run the previous day. I've always enjoyed it because I use to run it fast, set new personal bests and knew lots of people at the event. There was often a lot of post-race partying as well. I'm starting to think it is time to let go of the tradition. Surprisingly, it's not the race fee that is driving this. And it isn't quite my ego...I know I will never duplicate my PR of 31:03 (April 2, 2006). But I am feeling my age, as the elders like me say. Physically, when I run more than 3 miles, my bones start to rattle. No, what is really driving this is the event is no longer my playground. Yesterday morning after I checked in my gear, I didn't see anyone I knew until about just before they closed the corral. In years past, I would have seen so many familiar faces.
To be clear, I'm not rushing into anything. I do have a couple of friends that still run it and we meet up afterward to have our token beer and then some coffee, and if time permits, brunch. But if we move, I don't see myself driving in from Barrington or flying in from Memphis to run this thing.

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DailyMile is going the way of the DoDo

I've been using the DailyMile website to track my running since December 2011.  It served its purpose but I can tell that the site is sorely in need of code updating, which it will likely never see because whoever is/was behind it, couldn't figure out how to monetize it.

DailyMile came too late to the game.  This would have been a wonderful thing in the early 2000s when not ever runner had a Garmen or other GPS watch device and would have loved a simple tool to keep track of their mileage.

In lieu of the expensive GPS watches, a lot of us runners used a poor person's tool at USATF.   This clumsy website was just good enough to let you map out a route and share with others, although most runners, I suspect, just used it to figure out how many miles they just ran.

Had it partnered with USATF, perhaps it could have found its niche.  Instead, when DailyMile came on the scene, it tried to be like if Facebook if Facebook were a Running App.

I'll keep using DailyMile as long as it is free and available but I suspect it will be sunset in the next few years.  There are other apps I could use and will likely do so since my Garmen is about to die.

UPDATE:  Not too long after I published this, I logged into DailyMile to post that day's run and saw this message

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The latest new normal

For the longest time, I was going crazy trying to get the kids to daycare and myself to work on time.  The older they got, the more rebellious they became.  It was stressing me out and I was taking it out on them and Nightingale.  My anxiety came from the work situation which I'll write a post about at some point.  Essentially, it was not doing my career any favors being late all the time especially since I could not really stay late either.

We just need 178 more drinks of water

So when the opportunity to WFH full time came along it seemed like a no-brainer.  Take the kids to school, get back home and maybe even have a little time to get a run in before work.  Alas, it did not go as expected.  It is as if they somehow knew that I have a little more cushion so they decided to delay getting up and getting ready for school.  I would say we have the following buckets:

• Get to school with just enough time for me to get back in time for work
• Get to school with me getting back with enough time to run/relax/mow the lawn
• Get to school with me getting back late

I did finally learn that it is better for me to pick them up closer to 5:30 than 5 like I did most summer (I'm a slow learner).  The sooner I pick them up, the more time I have with them until Nightingale gets home and playing zone is so much harder than man-to-man when it's pre-schoolers.


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Reached the unofficial goal

Last week I unceremoniously completed my unofficial goal of running 300 miles per year.  My official goal was not to have a goal but merely run whenever I could get it in.  As luck would have it, switching to full-time WFH helped provide more opportunities to get running in, although I didn't get to take advantage of it as much as I had hoped.

Oftentimes, I would think okay I'm going to go for a run at 11, which is noon at EST and most of those people will be at lunch.  But something would come up.  Then I'd try for noon but then again, something would come up.  By then I'm starving so I'd eat lunch and need to let my stomach settle.  So then I'm running at 1 or 2 and then I have to wait until 4 to take a shower.  On the other hand on those times when I could get out for a run before 11, it feels like I have a full day ahead of me!

More still to come 

I still intend to do some running before year's end, and beyond, of course.  But it is so refreshing to not have to use my lunchtime to get in a few miles and instead run an errand or watch a show.

When I look back at this year there were so many months I could have easily got those miles in.  I only ran 10 miles in January, how hard would it have been to make that 13, 14 or 15 miles?  If I run 25 miles a month, I hit 300 by the end of December.  But running 27 miles a month gets it done in eleven so I can do better.



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averaging 26 miles a month

I think this year I won't have a hard goal other than to just run as often and as far as time permits.  I'll just run when I can and see where I am each month.

I said that I wasn't gonna have a hard goal this year for running other than to just run as often and far as time permits.  That said, I'm averaging 26 miles a month.  And that is including some months where I just didn't run much at all.  I should hit 300 miles by the end of next week if I can get in 3-4 more runs.  In fact, I'd be done by now if I hadn't skipped all last week.  But I wanted to give myself a break after the 10K I ran Sunday 18th in Lincolnwood Turkey Trot.

Neighbors across the alley had some issues

Then I really would like to shut it down to just maybe one run a week and if the weather in Memphis is good, do some running there while on holiday.



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Did I mention its been one long week

This has been one long week.  I thought that when I started working from home 100% my running would increase.  Indeed, it has but not nearly as much as I assumed.

Usually, it's the weather.  With moose and squirrel taking so long to get ready in the morning,  I don't have the hour before work.  If it's a quiet day I can usually sneak out for a quick run between 830 and 900.  but lately, there has been one thing or another that prevents that.

sometimes I wait until my check-in call at 10 and then rationalize that I'll just go at lunch when the temperature has already climbed.  I've vowed to use the treadmill on really hot days but somehow I just seem to find ways to put it off until its too late to go for a run.

I'm still on a good pace this month, I've already run 24 miles, which is what I ran in all of July and there are still 14 days left in the month.  Of course, we are going to spend the next 5 in Michigan and although I'll pack running clothes, there is no guarantee it will work out.  Update:  did not run at all in Michigan.

I think I vowed not to count miles so much this year and even got off to a slow start with only 25 miles in Jan and Feb combined.  I ran 156 miles in the first six months.  I'm definitely on pace to beat that in the second half assuming inclement weather or injury doesn't impede me.

This has been one long week. A friend was supposed to come over tonight, cook us dinner, then head out to the Green Mill and stay at our place overnight instead of drive back to Hinsdale.  However, Nightingale thought it would be rude to wake them up early with our packing so I canceled.  A younger me would have felt guilty about the comment "we did already buy all the ingredients for dinner and hoping to crash at your place after the Green Mill, but understand that things come up."

But older more cynical me knows they are more disappointed about missing out on the Green Mill (or they may still go to the GM but have to drive back to the burbs late at night) than our company.  This dinner was promised to me back in 1999, another few months, years or never won't make a difference at this point.