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After running the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot four mile race, I lost my motivation to push for anything more. For a while after, I felt like I lost my heart for it. I found a glimmer of light on the horizon, and this afternoon I had enough heart to increase my every other day run to six miles.

With the help of Chopin, and New Balance I did the six miles at my usually 10:12 per mile pace. The extra time and distance was really profound, and gave me a lot more time to think and evaluate. 

I need to work on speed and strength. I still run too stiff legged, and need to use my upper body and hips more to push. The sixteen weeks I have been working on this has convinced me I don’t have the physical ability to do it, but I am doing it, and won’t quit. 

The title of this post is a little deceptive. I did go, and walked the entire parade route looking for a spot to shoot photos and maybe some video. After walking the route and finding the parade did not start on time, I decided to walk back up the hill to home. 

I was tired and hungry from working all day, and fighting Colorado traffic on the way home. While walking the parade route I got in the middle of two fights, and stepped in someones vomit. That was enough Holiday Cheer for me. Ha Ha Ha, or Ho Ho Ho. 

I did take one photo of the 16th Street Mall decked out in the usually Holiday decorations. (While pondering having a drink at the local establishment on the right side of the photo.)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

I kept checking the Mile High United Way Turkey Trot search page for photos of my near cardiac arrest without luck, until today. I did find two photos with me. It wasn’t pretty, but I did do it. Still not sure where to go from here.

  Woohoo!

After posting my best 4 mile pace time running the Turkey Trot, I ran my usual every other day 4.32 mile practice at Cheesman Park. My first practice run since was also my best per mile pace for the 3 laps at the park. Maybe I am getting a little better at this. 

I have been looking for additional opportunities to run, and also for a new motivation to keep me going. This morning I went to Fort Logan National Military Cemetery to visit SPC4 Houghton. I usually park at the visitor center, and hike to his section and marker out of respect. He lost both legs, and it seemed fitting for me to make the effort to cover the 2.02 miles out and back on foot. 

This morning I decided it would be more appropriate for me to run the 2.02 miles to leave flowers, say a prayer, visit, and pay my respects. I think everyone residing there is familiar with getting PT’ed until they are dragging butt, so I’m sure they would appreciate it in spirit. I did the 2.02 miles in 19:03, but stopped the clock while visiting. My running pace was 9:25 for 6.36 miles per hour. All of their sacrifices are a great motivator to keep me going. 

I haven’t done any updates recently on my running journey. I mentioned in a prior post that I had signed up for the Denver Turkey Trot, and was working up to a 4 mile distance to prepare. The additional mile was a big difference, but after a few times I got my per mile pace down to 10:21 for 4 miles in practice runs.

I didn’t have any idea what to expect at such a large event. I spoke with a former co-worker that has been running in Colorado 5k, 10k, half marathons and marathons for decades. He gave me a lot of good advice that unfortunately I only had a few days to put into practice. 

Today was the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot 4 mile race. I showed up with no idea what to do, or what to expect, but ran into a young couple that said “stick with us we’ll show you what to do”. They got me into the starting pens and told me the best way to bypass most of the crowd at the start. They quickly lost me after about 800 yards, but I had an easy pace going by that time. While running on my own, I tried to remember all my friend’s advice, but kept getting distracted. I still need a lot more work. 

I did better than I expected, and did my best per mile pace for 4 miles ever. I needed to be more aggressive getting around the crowd, and to push on the hills. I intend to keep after it and try to work up to 6 miles. 

Sammy’s favorite toy right now is bendy straws connected together. When dragged across the carpet, they make a noise he can follow. He has learned to trust that if he follows the noise I am making with the toy, there is no danger of running into anything. Sammy has been blind since being hit by a car. When I adopted Sammy, he wasn’t very sure of his movements, but now is comfortable trotting around the house. (And getting some good runs in while chasing the noise from toys.) Click image to see the short Video.

Just a quick note on MX Linux for anyone with a low resource desktop or laptop looking for a new adventure. 

I have been a Linux Mint fan for many years, but wanted to explore other flavors of Linux. I installed MX Linux on an ancient Dell refurbished desktop about a month ago, and have been really impressed. The “out of the box” installation from the live boot USB has everything you need. I added my favorite programs GIMP, ShotCut, Oracle Virtual Box, and others with the MX Tools > MX Package Installer with no hitches.

The more I use it, the more I like it.

I am still after it and not quitting. The last couple weeks I have been down with the “C”. It hasn’t been too bad, but have been going through a lot of boxes of tissues, and coughing up crud.

I have still been jogging three miles every other day. Skipping a day just doesn’t feel right even with the virus. 

Since the end of my “8 week couch to 5K” program, I have been trying to increase speed by lengthening my stride. I think my old muscles are going to have to settle for my natural stride. They don’t seem to want to stretch out. I will try to increase speed a little by increasing cadence. I read that trying to increase length of stride has a risk of injury, so it is better to increase cadence. 

Since I didn’t do the 5K at the end of my program, I registered for the “49th Annual Turkey Trot 4 Mile Run“. This is going to be a gas. I have no idea how any of this works, so I’ll wait for my packet in the mail, show up on the 24th, and watch other people to find out what to do. 

I have already increased my distance on my every other day jogs to 4 miles in preparation, and have 10 more runs to get used to 4 miles. 

I never thought I could run a half a lap around the park. Then I thought I could never run 1 lap, then 2, then 3 miles, then 4 miles. So I guess I shouldn’t feel so bad. From what I have been reading, averaging 11 minutes per mile isn’t bad for a novice runner my age. 

To summarize, I’m still at it and haven’t quit. 

I’ve been running 3 miles every other day, two laps around the park and the half mile home. I have only been timing the two laps at the park for a reference distance of 2.88 miles over varying terrain. (The sidewalk run home is pretty flat.) My times have not been varying much, so this is kind of discouraging, but I am still trying things to increase my stride length and speed. 

My times for the 2 lap course have been 29 min 20 sec counter clockwise, 30 min 40 sec clockwise, 29 min 10 sec clockwise, and 29 min 20 sec clockwise last night. According to the Pace Calculator this comes out to a 10:11 min/mile, 10:38 min/mile, 10:07 min/mile, and 10:11 min/mile. Not so great for such a short distance, but considering my age I have been assured this isn’t bad for now. Running the course either counter clockwise, or clockwise is entirely different. Counter clockwise direction has a very long uphill run in the beginning and at the end, while clockwise has varying grades and one steep uphill, with a long downhill at the end. Both directions take me about the same time. 

I will keep after it adding distance, and doing treadmill work to increase speed.