Category: Uncategorized

Part II

I have already posted a fair amount on my background so won’t get into a long narrative here. Instead, I’ll put it into a table.

Age Range	800	mile	5K	10K	Half Marathon	Marathon
U20	2:08	4:41	16:24	37:30 (xc)	no time	no time
20-39	2:03	4:25	15:15	32:11 (31:45)	1:13 (1:11)	2:34 (2:29)
40-49	2:09	4:39	16:21	35:03 (34:03)	1:19 (1:17)	2:44
50-59	2:21	5:01	17:01	35:43	1:18	2:54
60+	2:33	5:14	17:28	36:20 (37:31)	1:17	3:02

The above times are not super great by any means. I started out kind of slowly at 18-19 (was 19 when I ran my first 800 in a whopping 2:11). I did have some rapid improvement at age 20, but then plateaued for almost four years before breaking out again at age 25. From 25-33 were my peak years, and most seasons could at least realistically go for a PR.

Twenty years ago I used to say I had no regrets about those earlier years. However, now with additional perspective I do wish I had made a few more serious attempts at the half marathon and marathon in my late 20s to mid-30s. I think I could have brought those times down. In fact my half PR was my debut at the distance off of just 6 weeks of focused training. And as I blogged earlier, the build-up to my marathon PR had a lot of holes in it.

I also wish I had found a good training group or coach at the time. I have been 100% self-coached since college, but in my 20s could have used some guidance and people to train with.

Comparatively, my age grade times are off the charts, but unless you are over the age of 45, age grading is just a lie and and an excuse. Also have some head-scratch issues with some of the online runners these days, break 17 for 5K/2:52 for the marathon after some 5-10 years of running and they are acting like 13:45/2:15 guys. Something you did years before they were even born doesn’t really count, and age group/age grading is simply shrugged off. So I’m an 18 minute/3:02 guy now. Better to a noob where you can PR every race or two. Maybe some of these blokes could give a nod once in a while.

Some friends in a chatroom recently had a conversation about their earliest races, pictures, and online results. Meanwhile, I was also thinking about my earlier days to today and progression/regression. I have talked some about the past here so some might be a rehash but maybe some new stuff.

Part 1: The Early-Early Days ages 7 to 17

For the most part I was active and involved in some sort of sport at least part of the year. My first race was at age 7 at a summer camp in Boulder. I guess I was one of the faster kids and they put us in a 4X 50 yard shuttle relay at the university track. I remember a lot of teams and heats and we got a 3rd place ribbon, which I kept for decades, and it still might be in a box or folder somewhere. That was 1965.

In the 4th grade I remember running the 50 yard dash in gym class. We just ran it, not thinking about time. “You guys are slow,” the coach admonished. “9 and 10 seconds for the group of you.” But that was it. No do-over.

In 5th and 6th grade, I had a competitive group of friends who followed track and field, following the epic 1968 Olympics, and our gym teacher emphasized the annual city wide track meet. I ran the 50 yard and 4X 50 relay, and did the long jump. As a 5th grader I ran 7.2 for the 50 in gym class, and about 7.5 in the city meet. And in 6th 6.9 (once) but did not break 7 at the city meet, and did not advance from the prelim. In the long jump, I could do about 11 feet as fifth grader, 12 in 6th. Not good enough to place at the meet (a kid from my class 6.0 for the 50 and jumped 14 feet to win both events). I think we got a 5th in the relays one year and 4th the next year with our super-fast anchor man.

Over the summers we would go to the university track and do some high jumping and sprinting. My friends were pretty good at the high jump, going over 5 feet, I wasn’t. Then we built a pole vault run my back yard. Using a broken metal bar from the track as our pole, and broom sticks as the stands, with yarn as the bar. We learned some technique and were jumping in the 5-6 foot range.

I only did one year of junior high track for our small school (there was no team/season for 8th grade). There, I ran the 100 yard dash (about 13 seconds high), 440 yard relay, long jump (13 feet), and pole vault 7 feet. I might have scored a point or two, but not even sure of that (we got last or second to last at our conference meet and I know I didn’t score there).

Our school closed at the end of 8th grade and I was disappointed not to have a track season. However, we did some makeshift vaulting. Starting with trimmed tree saplings as poles and the curb on our cul de sac as the box. Not sure what we had for a stand. That worked for a while, but got a little dangerous for with the curb and concrete, so we moved to my front yard. I took an old mattress and dog pillows (my made several large ones) as a landing pit. We somehow obtained an old pole from our school–not sure how we got a hold of that! I got up to 7 or 8 feet. But other than that didn’t run a step, and for the better part of a year did nothing else athletic. Got heavy, 5′ or 5’1″ (in shoes) and 100-110 lb.

In the spring of 9th grade I made some life choice changes (I quit playing the bass guitar which I was really bad at and started studying more) and got back to being an active kid again. I started vaulting in our yard that spring. My neighbor joined me and he ended up getting quite a lot better (13′ something in high school). We ordered a flexible pole set for our weight, built some stands with peg holes at 2″ increments from 8′ to 10′ and bought a couple bundles of foam rubber, which we stuffed into large burlap bags and then put the bags into a large net. So we had a 10′ X 10′ landing mat! I don’t think I did get over 9 feet, but close. I did run a little bit to “get into shape” but it wasn’t much a couple miles here and there over a month or so. In gym I ran low 6s for the 50 yard dash and about 1:45 or 1:50 for the grueling 600 yard run, as part of the Presidential Physical Fitness test.

As a sophomore I was a lot more active, playing touch football on the weekends with friends, and pick-up basketball several times a week. I decided to go out for track and do the pole vault and long jump. Most of the running I did was a half mile for warm up every day, and then maybe jog out to the field event pits. I avoided workouts, like 100s or 200s, that they wanted us to do and would make myself scarce when called to run. I got up to 10′ in practice and 9’6″ in a meet or two, and 16’3″ in the long jump. Scored a couple sophomore points and stuck with it, even though I had some head issues (anxiety) and skipped a couple late-season meets rather than deal with that.

Junior year I kept the active lifestyle and played even more basketball, maybe five-times a week, including playing on a rec league team once or twice a week. Did some running in the gym and at home, but just a few miles here and there. However, I didn’t go out for track. I did one all-comer’s meet after the regular season had ended and officially got my 10′ vault and improved another foot in the long jump to 17’3″.

For about a month I picked up running.

Inspired by Bill Rodgers winning the Boston Marathon in April, and setting the American record and then having Pre die barely a month later I ran about every other day while we were on vacation in Boston and upstate NY. I kept it up for about a week after returning, but the hot-humid Midwest summer proved to be awful enough to thwart a sustained effort, and I didn’t even consider going out for cross country.

I did do club soccer–first ever year for our school–started by a couple of friends over the fall, and of course pick-up basketball and rec league during winter. I was just 5’8″ and 125-30 lbs at the time, and not terribly good with dribbling. But I could bob and weave okay, and could score some. And if I timed a run and leap just right I could sometimes outrebound guys 4″-6″ taller, and they hated that.

I did a little bit of running over the winter, 15-20 minutes in the field house doing steps or indoor track, and thought about going out for track which would start just after my 18th birthday.

I have no pictures or clippings from athletic pursuits during this time in my life. Those elementary school ribbons sat in my desk drawer for decades, but not sure what happened to them after my parents were gone.

If I were a Nike-sponsored athlete I’d probably get a reduction in pay, but as an amateur age group runner it doesn’t matter much. So how’d it go for 2021?

Second half was better than the first. But before getting into that a bit, here are some numbers to check off. Total miles run: 2800 (if I get in 20 miles between now and Friday), and combined ski-run miles a little over 3000 (as long as I get in two ski outings this week). Something like 440 workouts total (including some easy cycling, which I don’t count on the running tally). I did more doubles this year than usual.

January through June

Last winter I kept the mileage in the moderate level (45-55 mpw), plus a ski outing or two each week. The early season was capped off with the “Virtual Birkie” 43.7K, which I did in 3:03 at 8700′. That build-up was fun, and makes me think about returning to ski loppets some day–maybe in a couple of years.

I spent the first half of the year working toward Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, MN. It was one of the first major races to open up during the second year of the pandemic. I got up to 75 miles and had a good string of 65-70 mile weeks in April and May. Best race of the spring was a 1:25 half in Loveland, about an hour north of here. Following that I was a little disappointed with the track and road efforts, which I treated as tune-up efforts for the marathon.

Grandma’s was a great experience and I had a decent, but not great, race. I trained for a sub-3 and by all indicators that seemed attainable. However, I just didn’t have it on race day, and after 22 miles at 6:50 pace I couldn’t hold it and finished in 3:02, with a positive split of 2 minutes. The best consolation was to take first in my age group, so not a bad day.

Races for First Half of 2021

3/27 – Runnin’ O the Green 7K, Denver, 26.26 [socially distanced] (1^st)

4/18 – NOCO Half Marathon, Loveland, 1:25:17 (1^st)

4/24 – Spring Track Series 3000, Boulder, 11:09 (1st)

5/8 – Spring Track Series 5000, Boulder, 19:07 (2^nd)

5/29 – Boulder on the Run 10K, Firestone, 39:31 (2^nd) [socially distanced]

6/19 – Grandma’s Marathon, Duluth, MN, 3:02:08 (1^st)

July through December

After the obligatory few weeks of recovery I ramped up quickly for a summer and fall season. The plan was to peak for the USATF 12K masters road championships in New Jersey, first championship race in a year and a half, and hopefully a fall half marathon.

Training went as well as you could expect, as I typically ran between 55-65 miles through November, with a race every couple of weeks to keep things interesting. Did most of the training on my own, but hopefully 2022 will involve some more collaborative outings with teammates and friends. I pretty much go by feel, but regularly mixed in tempo/threshold runs or repeats (20 to 45 minutes of faster running), and repetition workouts of 15-25 minutes at CV to V02 max effort, often closing with a few fast reps of 20-60 seconds (i.e., 100s, 150s, 200s, 300s on the track or trail). Long run of 12-15 miles each week. The remaining days were either recovery (at least twice a week) of 45-60 minutes easy on trails, or endurance (65-80 minutes, often somewhat hilly and also on trails).

My training and racing may not impress a +/- 30 year old working to break 15 or 16 minutes for 5K (let alone 14!), but for me into my 60s (technically mid-60s this year) it worked. I stayed healthy and most races went well. I think the Mile High Mile in the end of July and Fortitude 10K in September were a little weak, but the others went about as well as could be expected (even though I always came out of those thinking I could have done a little better–we all do that, right!?).

The year’s highlights (in descending order) were: (1) Running on the winning team for the USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee. That’s been a lifetime dream, to take the team title at a cross country championship (was on a couple winning teams on the roads a few years back). (2) The 1:23 half in October (apparently 2nd in the USA for my age group (?) according to Mastersrankings.com) in Fort Collins, what I consider my home town (lived there 22 years). That was probably my best effort of the year (and best age grade score at 88%, even though it was at altitude). (3) Two podium finishes at USATF championship races, holding out for silver (barely) at the 12K road race in New Jersey, and moving through the field with teammates to place 3rd at Club Cross Country this month.

Races for Second Half of 2021

7/24 – Colorado Springs Classic 10K, 38:46 (3^rd)

7/31 – Mile High Mile, Niwot, 5:37 (2^nd)

8/6 – Mile High Mile Series 3, Englewood, 5:33 (1^st)

8/14 – Arapahoe Warriors 5K, 18:48 (1^st)

9/7 – Fortitude 10K, Fort Collins, 38:47 (3^rd)

9/17 – USATF 12K road championship, Sandy Hook, NJ, 45:48 (2^nd)

10/13 – Boulder XC Series, Boulder, 20:09 (1^st)

10/21 – Colorado Half Marathon, Fort Collins, 1:23:08 (1^st)

11/9 – Colorado USATF 5K XC, Boulder, 20:17 (1^st)

11/23 – Colorado USATF 5K road, Denver, 18:45 (2^nd)

12/11 – USATF Masters 8K XC, Tallahassee, FL 30:48 (3^rd)

After several months away I’m back. We sweltered through summer, although this year we had a bit of a monsoon season with enough rain to keep most of the local fires away. However, big fires in California and the Pacific NW made up for that and we had poor air quality through most of July and August and into September. I ran through most of it, and just did most of my running fairly early before the ozone got worse.

July and August

Following a three or so week recovery from Grandma’s Marathon I picked things up a bit for the second half of July, with weekly workouts and long runs of up to 13 miles. At the end of the month I did the state championship 10K road race and managed to run 38:46, and was reasonably pleased with that effort as a bit of a rust buster and 45 seconds faster than my 10K attempt in May. Ran 240 miles in July.

August was a good month and I put in 274 miles with a interval sessions and tempo runs every week, plus long runs of 12-13 miles. I also raced three times, but those were short races. On consecutive weekends I did the mile (5:37, 5:33) on the track and following that back to the roads for a 5K. That was supposed to be a 3K on the track but I did not get my entry in on time (the USATF Colorado/Race Director as a stickler on mail-in entries only, must be received a full week ahead of time). Normally I am supportive of local and national USATF, but that was lame.

Anyway, did a season’s best of 18:48 on a course in Centennial with a climb most of the last mile. Not bad, it was a good tune up. Congrats to Arapahoe HS girls, as they won the 5A state championship this weekend!

September and October

I schedule two big races in September, the Fortitude 10K in Fort Collins and the USATF masters 12K road championships on the Jersey coast. The Fortitude race was somewhat tempered because we traveled to Iowa for a wedding ceremony over the weekend. Got back the afternoon before and I felt a little flat on race day, with a 38:47, not quite getting a season’s best. So that was a bit of a disappointment. I did win my age, though. I think 3rd in the age group.

The race in NJ was to be The Big One and I trained for 90% age grade (45:00). My workouts through August indicated I was ready for that. CV reps at 6:00-6:05/mile pace, tempos at 6:20+/-, and V02 reps at sub 6. The course at Sandy Hook National Recreation Area was as flat as you can get and the competition would be good. I set out to run 6:00 mile. It was a good race but with a stiff 12 mph wind for the first 3.5 miles, combined with 70 degree temps with 70% humidity was enough to temper my pace. I only managed a 45:48 on the day (88.3% age grade) but hung on (barely) for a 2nd place finish after a furious kick.

I wanted a bit more, but was not disappointed with the race. I figured this would be the best of the year. However, also felt that I had plateaued since May. The workouts were always a step ahead of the race results and I wondered if I was pushing too hard, trying to force my fitness.

With the travel and cutbacks I ran 221 miles in September.

I didn’t really adjust the subsequent training paces, as I generally run by feel even on the track. However, I took four weeks off from racing but kept the tempo runs and interval sessions going, and upped the long runs a bit to 13-15 miles. Got in some good weeks of training, but nothing stood out. Nevertheless, a 4X 2K threshold session at Washington Park with a clubmate was encouraging, I averaged about 6:19/mile which is just about what I did in March 2019 before going to Virginia Beach to win the USATF 8K age group, and then just a week later going to Poland to medal in the cross country and half marathon events.

Also telling was that it took all week to recover from that workout, so I just ran easy effort until the following Saturday to run a preview of next year’s USATF XC championship 5K to be held in Boulder. I was 4th place masters, but ran only 20:03 the slowest 5K race I have ever run. But I wasn’t discouraged because I know I ran decently for that day.

I set my sights on last weekend’s Colorado Half Marathon back in Fort Collins, and set a challenging pace: to run faster than the 6:22s I did in Boulder. That seemed a bit audacious, but felt doable if I had a good day.

And a good day it was, even though it didn’t always feel like it! We traveled up to the old hometown on Saturday afternoon and took in some sights, including the house I grew up in for my first 10 and a half years. That was fun.

Race day was chilly, with 39 degrees and only warming up to the mid-40s by races end. We started at sunrise.

The field was not deep, but I briefly found a pace group for the first mile as the top 15 or so took off at 6:00 pace or under. Our pack split the mile at 6:26 but the others were saying that that was probably too fast for them, so I took off closer to my pre-determined pace and clicked off a series of miles in the low 6:20s. However, I was not feeling very sharp. I didn’t cut back much for this race (59 miles for the week) and my legs did not feel fresh. However, I wasn’t slowing down and actually started feeling better by 5-7 miles, even though there was a big hill in the middle of that. Onto the bike path in LaPorte at 7.5 miles, I was gaining some on a couple of younger (college age) runners.

But at mile 10 (62:58) I ran into the mid-pack 10K runners on the bike path at their turn-around, and I lost track the two guys just ahead. From some frustration came some stomach discomfort starting at 11.5 miles. I held on and slowed only slightly, running the last 5K in 20:08 to finish in 1:23:06, 1st in age group and 1st masters, 13th overall. That’s 88.3% age grade at altitude, which is better than 90% at sea level. Best race since 2019.

I took it easy this week, with one good workout on Friday and a fun group run in Boulder on Saturday, to cap off the month with 265 miles.

What’s Ahead?

I’ll do Colorado USATF 5K XC and road championships in November and considering the Club Cross Country championships in December before shutting it down for the year. I’ll see how it goes next weekend in Boulder.

In the U.S. there have been 113 million covid-19 vaccinations to date, so after a slow start at the beginning of the year it’s really taken off. And based on projections from health officials and on the news, vaccination rates will accelerate even more so over the next couple of months. On social media lots of selfies or posts of arms and cards to show it. Everyone will have their own story to share. Here is mine in words. Selfie not included.

Phase 1 – Vaccinations for my age group opened up on March 5, but they said you could start applying over the week before that. So I set up an account on the second day that we were eligible and started doing searches for commercial pharmacies or mass sites right away.

For 2 weeks I saw nothing, and called the Hotline again last weekend. They suggested another provider, and said to just keep trying. I did that for a couple of days with no more success than before, so my son offered to assist as he’s on a break from his studies. Monday nothing. Tuesday morning nothing.

On Tuesday I saw on Facebook that friends here were getting in, so I asked one how he got in. Got a few tips and spend 90 minutes basically refreshing King Soopers and Safeway sites over and over. I got a hit! But as soon as I clicked a confirm button it disappeared. Then another. Same thing. Finally I got onto King Soopers and got a third chance! This time they gave me a 15 minute window to complete my form and to confirm a second appointment.

Stop!

No second appointments available at this time. Clock is ticking down. WTF? Talk about a catch-22. I called my son and showed him the screen. Nothing we could do, and time ran out. I spent another 10 or 15 minutes searching, but decided to give up for the morning and get back to work.

Bing! 15 minutes later a text. He got me an appointment in just a couple of hours. I did a quick workout showered, had a bite to eat and headed down for the appointment.

How did he do it??!! He said he got onto Twitter and Reddit which had posts that said you should have as many screens as you can and as many sites open and to just keep clicking and refreshing until something comes up. So he had two screens and 25 sites open for a couple of hours that morning. That’s what it takes.

Phase 2 – Once I got to the Safeway it all went fairly smoothly. Arrived at 1:50, 10 minutes ahead. There were already 4 waiting in line. We each checked in a few minutes before 2 and lined up again. By 2:15 I was in and out, instructed to hang around the store for 15 minutes–so what are you going to do? Shop of course (and my cynical side lets me think that’s why the system is so chaotic, that they are going the commercial route with most vaccinations so you’ll go into the store pharmacy and buy stuff). Good plan, I guess, but a centralized appointment system sure seems a lot better. This was the Wild West, or maybe digital Darwinism.

Phase 3 – What was my reaction? The shot stung a bit more than your average flu shot, and my arm was immediately sore, like if my wife had punched me a good one after I had been teasing her. By evening I was a little achey so I took a couple of Tylenol at about 8. I woke up at 2 feeling stiff and some aches in my joints and muscles. Tried to go back to sleep and barely did before our alarm went off at 5. So I was tired all day, and the aches persisted.

I did 30 minutes on the bike trainer in the morning and felt, decent at that. At 3:30 went for a run, and really felt it there. Legs were like lead the entire way. Starting out feeling stiff is normal now, and my first mile is often 9:00 or 9:30 before I can get rolling at low or sub 8s. On Wednesday I could go no faster than about 8:20, and that took some effort. I ran an hour (maybe should have stopped at 30 minutes)–so actually a pretty good day considering.

Still ached last night and took 2 Tylenol before bed. Again woke up at 2, and this time almost fell over, feeling woozy and off balance. I took 1 Tylenol and went back to bed, sleeping lightly until the alarm went off at 5, maybe getting another 10-15 minutes after that.

Otherwise, feel good today. No aches and I think my body is adjusting. Plan on a 1:30 to 1:45 run today, but will cut that short if I’m not feeling right.

Looking Ahead

Phase 4 in 3 weeks, appointment at 2 PM at the same Safeway. By the time I’m fully vaccinated and antibodies have had time to build immunity (April 20), I figure there will be at least 120 million fully vaccinated and more than 200 million with at least one dose. And by middle or end of May? Hopefully reaching herd immunity, despite some 30 million to 50 million refusing to get a vaccination.

In the year of the pandemic I have had no breakthroughs but no break downs. And while I haven’t set or approached any mileage/volume personal bests either, it has been a decent year for holding steady. I’m in better shape, and maybe even better physical health than this time last year. Mental health? Maybe let’s talk about that later.

Summary for a Year of Shutdowns

Here are the numbers. I have run nearly 2,600 miles since the pandemic was officially announced in March 2020. Add another 300 miles of cross country skiing and a few hours of cycling, which I just started picking up on early this year. Getting close to the 400 hours I would like to be at. Workouts have gone fairly well, and while not spectacular with the aid of the “super shoes” (Saucony Endorphin Pro and Endorphin Speed), for the past several months have come close to matching what I was doing in 2018-19, with tempo paces at 6:20s and CV in the low 6s (although for the past three months the weather has not often exactly been conducive to faster running on workout days).

Nevertheless, due to the lack of racing over the past 4-5 months I’m not sure where my race fitness is. In fact, practically no clue. My last real race was in November. I attempted a hilly 10K in January, but either that course was tougher (some 350′ of hills) or I just had an off day. Result was a very slow time. My scheduled race in February was canceled/postponed due to cold weather (sub zero) and wind chill (sub teens) at race time. So I missed that opportunity.

And this weekend a planned 7K is doubtful because we are expecting 2 feet of snow in Denver (up to 4 feet where I live). So foiled again. Hope this one is rescheduled to next week.

So I’m encouraged by some aspects (consistency and getting in some decent workouts) but very disappointed not to have some racing, which I do for fun and to test where I’m at. Won’t even go into no sea level racing over the past year, as I’m not traveling until I get a vaccination.

But while those parts might be somewhat in question, if not sources of frustration, I’m glad to have had a relatively decent an consistent season of weekly cross country ski outings, going back to late November. Had some weather issues there, but the highlight was doing an unofficial virtual Birkebeiner 43K in 3:09, at Snow Mountain Ranch, near Granby just skiing casually but steady.

One more addition to the compilation part of this update. We purchased an exercise bike last month. I started adding a couple sessions of week on our old bike trainer, to beat the weather and as a slight supplement to running to add in some extra cardio workouts. However, that system was creaky, with a 35 year old bike and 20 year old training mount. The new bike has none of the fancy electronic elements like Peleton or Zwift, just a standard Schwinn (made by Nautilus) with a digital timer/speedometer. So I’ve been putting in a few 25-30 minute sessions a week. Combined, been hitting 9 to 10.5 hours a week of training since early February. It will add up.

Now what am I throwing out?

Second half relates to what I have jettisoned. I think it’s largely related to the pandemic, and being isolated. I have had social media presence for decades really, going back to the late 1990s, but the ever-shifting sands have made it less palatable. Having less fun with it.

Facebook has been hit and miss, I kind of got into it, say 2009-2o14. But I shut it down for a good 5 years, opening up some although cautiously at the end of 2020. It’s good to have to get some updates (necessary sometimes, e.g., some race directors communicate and manage through Facebook), I just don’t like posting there a lot. Instagram is definitely a Millenials thing, especially the Stories line. Even though my dear son said I post quite well for a Boomer I’d rather do some nature and natural resources-type posts than selfies and stories about running. So I check in, post judiciously.

Strava. Strava is simply Facebook for runners and cyclists. And I think it’s actually destructive and counter-productive. Segment chasing, gathering kudos, and stalking your competitors, it is all really for the birds. I stopped the auto-feed last year following all the histrionics with their shutdowns, ransom, and “upgrades” which were really downgrades for non-fee paying customers. Now I just post a couple workouts a week, when I feel like it. If Strava goes under, or entirely behind a paywall I’d be perfectly fine with just letting it go to the trash bin.

Our masters club. We had a series of Zoom calls, but also a bad email chain of covid denial last summer, with several club member saying that thousands of deaths a day is just overblown media hype. Bad juju. I haven’t quit the team, but haven’t gone out of my way to make those monthly calls. I think I may be off the correspondence list, because haven’t heard anything from them since late January or so. Not sure when things open up how much or if I’ll be traveling with the Boulder Road Runners “elite” senior team. Still have some good friends there, some I’m less sure about.

Forums and message boards. I was in some of the very early versions of online communities, going back to the mid-1990s when we had Track and Field List Serve. Similar formats. Got in on the earliest chatrooms by 1998, preceding the infamous Letsrun by a couple of years. It’s been good and bad. Nice way to make connections and friends, but that seems exceedingly difficult in this age as we are no longer meeting in real life. In addition, I think while cliques have always been a big part of these (like junior high and high school), if anything it’s more entrenched now. I don’t know if it’s me or just the cliques, but I’m tired of it, so in 2021 I have been shutting down my participation on some long-time message boards like CH Runners (spun off of old Cool Running, which was the rage in the early 2000s), said Letsrun, and Reddit. I have just felt more and more, that I have few friends in those venues and those number dwindle with each month. In fact, seem like a lot are just showing off and patting each other on the back, rather than actually interacting, exchanging ideas, or stories.

And of course Letsrun is more about trolling as a platform for the racist, misogynist, hate everything alt right. But I’ve been a participant in one of its long-running masters thread for a long time, and over the past 6-8 months practically no interaction with anyone. Just the same two or three old blowhards going on and on about themselves. Often talking the talk–oh I’m turning 50-60 next year and I’m going to break 3 hours and place to 5 in my age group at Boston. And then they over-reach. Get hurt. Disappear. Reappear a year or two later. Repeat.

And so it goes. I’d rather talk to myself here, in this venue than try to interact with those who barely acknowledge anyone outside their clique, or BPFF (best posting friend forever).

A year into this pandemic–a little over ten months from when it really hit in the US–I’m still struggling to find my voice. It’s complicated. Or maybe not. This is going to be a top of my head entry, so let it free flow.

I am beginning to think that more and more social media and its many derivations are demon-possessing the lot of us, and the issues are just compounded during this time of social isolation.

For the past decade or more I have thought, occasionally out loud, that I sure do miss the the 1980s and 1990s. From popular culture, to lifestyle, and social interaction those days seemed much better than recent years. Remember Y2K, when everyone freaked out for months that the computers would default, which turned out to be something of a joke and a hoax? Nevertheless, since then things have spiraled downward. Sure we are more connected than 25 or 30 years ago, but are also more divided. Unrecognizably so. That’s the big picture stuff, if you think about politics and our social milieu. What about running–which is the focus of this blog–are we doing any better? I’ll say yes and no.

YES WE ARE DOING BETTER

Our level of knowledge and ability to share is ahead of 25 years ago. I was in on some of the first waves of running social media. In the mid-90s we had Track and Field List Serve to for hard cores to discuss the sport and 1-800 dial-ins to catch up on the European meets. They might show Pre, Oslo, and Zurich on a weekend special but not much more than those. If you had cable Marty Liquori had his weekly show to cover some road race highlights, and you’d get the occasional network broadcast of major track meets or road races.

Otherwise, some local papers would cover some of the events and of course the running magazines like Running Times and Runners World (the latter was the butt of jokes going back to even before 1980, even though it did often have some good articles and profiles).

There was a mixed bag on training guides, Higdon was the standard for newbies and Daniels came out with his first edition in 1998. Lydiard had been out for decades, and there were many other good ones and sometimes out on a run with friends you might kick around some of the ideas from these books.

Running isn’t all that complicated and the basic theory hasn’t changed a whole lot in 50 years. However, runners have improved since then (men’s 10K record has dropped some 40 or 50 seconds, marathon by almost 5 minutes) and depth is so much greater. And a lot of that has been accomplished through tweaks in training more speed for more of the year, better understanding of biomechanics and ancillary training to be stronger and more explosive, nutrition, and of course in the past few years shoe technology. One of the biggest changes is in online media and the ability to have up-to-date information at their fingertips, and then be able to share that information instantly. So we know more and have greater ability to share, and overall that’s where the sport has improved from top elite performance down to the more grass-roots local level, including high school and college running. So kudos to everyone involved in those aspects.

NO WE ARE DOING WORSE

The Early Days

Now this is where I start to feel lost. I really think social media is messing with our heads and fucking us over. On the positive side of that at least with running we are not fighting with misinformation and division. I think the issue is more subtle but it is also isolating if not divisive, although not on a tribal level of my side vs. yours. It’s more personal and down to the individual, almost each and every one of us level. At least of those who participate and play the game.

Let me just say that I’m huge admirer of the likes of Jerry Schumacher, coach of the Bowerman Track Club, who is said to disdain social media and all of its trappings. Me? I’ve been wrapped up in forums and what not since the late 1990s.

However, back in those days we just had a few forums and there were no rules, or we made them up as we went. Participation was not high at most sites and finding your niche was not all that hard. I found the Competitive Runners Forum on Runners World online, and we soon branched off onto our own. I still on occasion run into and poster from those days. Then things got bigger and little more rough and tumble with Letsrun and CoolRunning kind of taking the lead, and you would re-invent or adapt to the new medium.

Blogs became more popular in the early 2000s, so just maybe I’m still stuck in that 1997-2006 era. We were sort of the pioneers, and this was all new. It was sort of fun days except that it took an hour download any videos and live feeds were unavailable for most of us. But we could connect and exchange ideas, both in shorthand quips or barbs on a message board or in more thoughtful long posts, sometimes rants. And blogs were for more even detailed introspections or reports.

Modern Social Media

As with our online social interactions, Facebook along with other platforms like youtube (initially slow to catch on, now the rage), Instgram, and Strava have completely transformed how we interact. We still exchange ideas and experiences, but now it’s quick little soundbytes and remarks and everyone wants to see the little red “like” buttons pop up. It goes from pros and Olympians down to your local 20 or 25 minute 5K runner, and it is more about look at me and what I did today!

I left high school behind nearly 45 years ago, and never missed it much, but the past 10 or 12 have sometimes felt like going back every time I get onto a social media site. In the running, it is becoming less about what really what you do (maybe unless it’s setting a world or national record, or qualifying for the Olympic Trials or Boston Marathon), in exchange for more about getting those likes because for maybe 30 seconds you might feel good. Social media is a perpetual popularity contest and that mindset has spilled over to online forums.

Current or ex pro runners and amateurs with some media and advertising savvy now make a living or a chunk of it by the number of followers they have and number of likes they get.

I for one don’t really want to play this game at any level–yeah it’s nice to have a handful or two friends give a thumbs up or way to go–and I do not want this to be a driving force.

A handful of my high school friends and I have been having biweekly Zoom talks since last spring–one of the best things that has happened for me in this pandemic–and one thought that with my background as a master running competitor I could create a youtube presence and have a big following and make money.

Not in my DNA. I don’t think I can do that.

I still like to write, to get some thoughts out there and to exchange ideas, but the space and platforms for that are highly limited in this era. I play the game but lightly. Likes be damned. However, the loss is that the interactivity of communication in recent decades has gone in favor of the like button.

And I don’t like it.

I finished college 40 years ago this month. Grinnell College of 1980.5

I graduated a semester later than my class because over the winter of 1979 I ski bummed in Steamboat Springs. Washing breakfast dishes in the morning and skiing in the afternoon, something like 110 days straight of skiing.

The Roaring 80s

After graduating I nearly stayed at Grinnell to work as a graduate assistant coach with a new coach of the track team. He had a stipend all set up and I could live in a dorm room for free. That coach was the now well known Will Freeman, author of Peak When it Counts (Peak When It Counts : Periodization for American Track and Field (4th ed): William H. Freeman, Freeman, William H.: 9780911521627: Amazon.com: Books), and several other training manuals. Had I known Will would accomplish so much as a coach, maybe I should have stuck around for a semester or two. I was leaning toward staying, but talked to a couple of my biology professors, and they said why stick around? You need to move on. So with mild regrets (then, maybe now) I did.

What follows is a guide to how I have spent my life since that decision, which I mad in early December 1980.

I went home to my parents’ house in Colorado and started looking for work as a wildlife biologist. The beginning of the Reagan era was not a good time to seek employment with the federal government, not to mention that we were in a recession and a period of malaise.

1981-84 I took a course in ornithology at CU Boulder, and found that wolf biologist David Mech was giving a lecture on campus. In his hour long talk he mentioned that he was looking for field technicians, with a degree and willing to work hard. The next day he gave a seminar, and I handed him a resume’ and letter of interest, and a week later he called back and asked if I could start in April! So I worked for Mech and “The Wolf Project” in Minnesota for a year.

Then I came back to Colorado and picked up the schooling with a summer at CU at their Mountain Research Station near Nederland, and CSU for the academic year enrolling in undergraduate courses in wildlife biology. Summer and fall of 1983 I worked for the US Forest Service back in Steamboat Springs, but over the winter I bucked my 1979 desires to ski bum again, and went back to CSU for another semester. By then I had amassed enough credits and experience to apply for graduate school, and I landed a research assistantship in the Department of Natural Resources, studying food habits of elk and deer. I started the program in the summer of 1984.

1984-86. Stayed in Fort Collins working with tame elk and domestic goats, feeding and mucking pens every day and many weekends while taking classes and doing research. That’s also when I met Tamara, an animal enthusiast, and she was smitten the moment that I told her that I had done research work on wolves and elk.

1987. I wrapped up my thesis over the winter, while taking one last stab at ski bumming. This time as a Nordic racer where I competed on the Rocky Mountain circuit and national championships. We got married and I needed a job.

1987-89. I landed a technician job with the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada, and we packed our bags on the 4th of July and moved out to the middle of nowhere in the high desert. I collected grazing data, worked on a couple of wild horse gathers, and did a season of habitat mapping. They offered me a career position, but we decided that Nevada was not for us and I applied for graduate schools and jobs across the country.

1989. I ended not going to graduate school right away, but landed a job as a research associate at Cornell University in New York, doing work on deer damage to ornamental plants in urban and suburban areas.

Next up! The Good Old 90s.

What, Where?

What race is a dozen years older than did the Boston Marathon? Also, it allowed women’s competition before Boston. This race also has featured a deeper field throughout much of its history, and until recently has been more competitive at the top. In fact, this race was long a proving ground for future Boston winners as well as Olympians, some of whom went on to win Olympic medals.

Look no further than USA Cross Country Championships.

The event started in 1883 when Thomas Delany covered 4.25 miles in 26:30 in New York City. A long (too long) 81 years later Marie Mulder ran 2K in 6:51 in Seattle, Washington to win the first women’s championship. Although the race has not been continuously held (there were no championships in some years in the 1890s at early 1900s). Men’s races have ranged from 4K to 8 miles, although most years it has been 10K (6 to 6.5 miles). Women have run from 2K or 2 miles in the early years up to 8K, with 6K being the most common distance.

The format has changed many times, and going back to the advent of the IAAF (now World Athletics) era in the early-mid 1970s, there have actually been two USA cross country championships each year. One traditionally in the fall, and starting in 1974 a second championship was added, usually in January or February, to allow qualification for the IAAF World Championships. (more on that later)

Until 1920 most of the championships were all held in New York City, with Buffalo, NY (1901, along with the Pan American Exposition), and Boston 1917 being the early exceptions. Since 1930 the championship has been held at venues all over the country, from Florida to Washington State.

Who Are the Champions?

Men

Edward Carter (1885-88, and 1892) with five championships was the first multi-champion, with his fastest being 41:35 for 8 miles. George Orton of Canada was the first international winner, running 6.25 miles in 35:58 in 1897, and Orton won again the following year.

Here are the most notable multi-winners after 1890.

8— Pat Porter (1982-’89)

7—Don Lash (1934–40)

5—Willie Ritola’ (1922–23, 1925–27)

4—Frank Shorter (1970–73)

3—Frank Bellars (1907–08, 1910); Willie Kramer (1909, 1911–12); Fred Wilt (1949, 1952–53)

Ritola’ one of the Flying Finns won nine Olympic medals (six gold) in the 1920s, and of course Shorter won two (one gold and the other should be too).

However, no one won as many as three time US Olympian Pat Porter: https://trackandfieldnews.com/pat-porters-8-year-xc-nationals-win-streak-revisited/

(read this article if you have a few minutes!), from Alamosa, via Evergreen, Colorado.

Women

Although the addition of the women’s even did not begin until the 1960s, the women’s cross country championships preceded the running boom by more than a decade. And, like the men there have been a series of multi-winners.

9—Lynn Jennings – 1985, 1987-93, 1996

6—Deena Drossin – 1997-2002 (mix of fall and winter championships)

6—Shalane Flanagan – 2003-04, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012 (all winter championships)

5—Doris Brown Heritage – 1966, 1968-71

Doris Brown Heritage was the pioneer, with four wins in the early years, and along the way won the International Cross Country Championships five times, and placed 5th in the 800 at the 1968 Olympics—at the time the longest event at the Olympics–with a 2:01.9.

Later, Deena Drossin (Kastor) won seven championships, both in the fall and the spring, on her way to winning an Olympic medal and setting the American record in the marathon. Likewise, Olympic Silver medalist Shalane Flanagan won six titles, all in the winter championships. They were all greats.

However, no one, male or female has matched Lynn Jennings who won nine cross country championships in her career, and those vaulted her to three IAAF cross country championships, and a and Olympic medal in the 10000 meters. https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/lynn_jennings.pdf

Race Formats

From its beginning until the IAAF era (early 1970s) there was one US Championship a year. But when the World Championships were started, a winter “trials” was added, and now it serves as a championship in its own right.

Traditionally, the fall championship was held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The ultimate high-level turkey trot. However, starting in 1998, USATF changed the format and created the Club Cross Country championships, usually two weeks later. This race is more diverse, and prior to that time, the overall winner and top 25 (All-American) were the prestige goals, and any team competition was more of an afterthought. Media-wise the fall race received more attention and participation, while the winter event was small but elite event, a prelude to the World XC Championships.

The Club XC Championships emphasize teams, and participation more, and with open men’s and women’s as well as masters (from 40 on up) competition the event usually includes five separate races (Two open men’s races, two men’s masters events, women’s open, and women’s masters).

The winter championships are held in January or February, about six weeks ahead of the World XC championships. Frank Shorter (15K) was the first winner of this race, but typically the men’s race has been 12K. The first women’s winter championship was not held until 1997 when Olympian Amy Rudolf captured the 4K and Nnenna Lynch won the 8K. From 1997 through 2005 the world and USA winter championships had two distances for men and women. Men ran 4K and 12K, and the women ran 4K and 8K.

From 2006-2019 the format has one fall race for men (10K) and the winter race (12K), and for women it has been 6K for fall and 8K in the winter.

The 2020 fall and 2021 winter championships were canceled due to the coronavirus.

My Experiences

I started following the US championships in the late 1970s, and Kenny Moore (Olympic marathoner and author of Bowerman and the Men of Oregon) always had a write-up of the event in Sports Ilustrated. Track and Field News would always follow up a month later with a detailed report and would usually list 60 or 80 of the top 100 runners. But the race always seemed to be on the other side of the country, and over Thanksgiving weekend so post-season and not a great time to fly across the continent.

However, in 1990 we were living in upstate NY and the championships were held at the historic venue at Van Cortland Park in New York City. Talk about the top bucket event of all time! I wouldn’t miss it. Our club ran an XC series that fall and I tried to get the teammates together, but no one else wanted to run. However, my wife had won the women’s division of that series and was up for it.

The race had about 300 men and 200 women. The women went first. Lynn Jennings dominated again, and my wife was about 50th—I wish she had been able to run a year or two earlier (placing 2nd and 3rd at very competitive regional championships in 1988 and 1989), but she still ran solid in 1990.

Pat Porter had his eight-win streak on the line. As I was stretching a half hour before the start upstart Bob Kempainen plopped down next to me on the field and started his own routine. He had finished 2nd place before and I said good luck. Kempainen went on to break Porter’s streak that day, running the course in 30:23 about 8 or 9 seconds ahead of Porter. I would run about 35 minutes and was somewhere in the middle, high 150s or low 160s.

I would not return to any championship cross country for another 23 years. And it changed the trajectory of my life.

After a decade of living in Alaska, I saw that the 2013 fall Club Cross Country championships would be in Bend, OR, not too bad a of a flight. My son was a college student near Seattle, so we met for weekend. It was the first time I had ventured out of Alaska in the winter since I had been there. Some runners in Bend were complaining about the snow on the course and blustery weather. I was thrilled to have 8 hours of daylight and 40 degree temperatures in December! Just a couple months later I started applying for jobs in the Lower 48 and within a year landed a transfer to my homes state, just a few miles where I was born.

I have since competed as a masters in winter 2015 winter (solo) and fall (masters team 7th), 2017 fall (solo), 2018 fall (team 3rd), and 2019 winter (team 2nd) and got a couple age group podiums and a team medal in the process.

I would have run this year, scheduled in for Golden Gate Park in San Francisco (next weekend), at one of the best venues in the country in a great city. I raced there in 2015 and think that the participation is highest of any of the races in the rotation (last year’s race at Lehigh, PA was also well-attended).

Club XC is still the big event, with up to 1,000 open men and 500 women, typically 400-500 runners in the masters (age 40-59) men’s race, and another 200 or so in the 60+ race, and 300 for women masters. However, the winter championship is now the more competitive of the two, with open and junior World Championship or international teams at stake.

Since Club XC was canceled, as well as our state association championship last month, I did not do any specific XC training this fall, nor any XC racing.

Maybe 2021 will be better for us all and we can return.

Questions!

1. Did you run cross country in high school or college?
2. If you did, when was your last XC conference, regional/state or national championships?
3. Do you belong to a club or team that has cross country on the calendar?
4. Do you have any mudder pictures or epic XC stories of your own?