My Experiments With Life
While I wouldn’t need more than the fingers in my two hands to count the number of Copperman Triathlons I have been a part of as a spectator or as occasional volunteer, there aren’t enough digits to count how many times I wanted to be part of it as a participant — at least since its 2012 edition.
Hancock Canal Run marks the completion of a full year since I took to running half marathon distance, and the first of its kind — half marathon at the same location — that I have participated more than once. It was quite the experience last year. Given the self-imposed goal to run ten half marathons in 2014, this year’s edition — #5 in 2014 — would serve as a good checkpoint for more than one reason: overall improvement in this distance class since last year; improvement in this distance class in 2014; and a guesstimate of available room to improve with five more half marathons before the 2014 season ends.
Run The Keweenaw, A Festival of Trails marks the completion of a full year since I took to organized trail running, and the first of its kind — trail running of the same distance and at the same location — that I have participated more than once. Remembering how much fun it was to be a part of the festival last year — running in one part, photographing the other two, and fantastic experiences and friends gained — signing up for this year’s edition was a no brainer. Given that the event consists of three races of increasing distance and trail complexity/technicality, and taking the banked training miles into account and some advice from the race organizers, participating in the first two events while photographing the last leg would turn out to be a natural progression (and a very good decision).
I am not exactly sure as to why, at least at the time doing so in mid-May, I signed up for this race: there was no peer pressure, and I didn’t know any of my friends that had signed up either. Looking back, and thinking more about it, it probably had something to do with the event being in the general home area, finding a reason to keep running, and having driven up and down the scenic course many many times before, the need to traverse it by foot: getting to know some more people in the community along the way.
Continue reading … “2014: Lake Trout Festival Half Marathon”
Following my lack-luster performance in Cellcom Green Bay Half Marathon, dear friend Andi suggested that not using gels in longer runs might have played a key role in lack of sufficient energy towards the end, and dear friend Rob diagnosed my running posture and not only identified potential causes for such poor performance but also suggested a set of exercises that, if I kept at them consistently, would help change the way my body was spending energy during such runs.
As I noted in my previous entry, Door County Half Marathon, and in Looking Ahead for 2014 a while ago, partaking in the Cellcom Green Bay Half Marathon wasn’t necessarily a part of the plan when the 2013 running season ended, and when planning for the 2014 running season started.
No more than 48 hours had passed since what was planned to be my first big city event and the last of organized running events for 2013, and a naive conversation started with a dear friend and a fellow participant in the said event. The said naive conversation soon turned into thoughts about participating in another half marathon in 2014.
Having taken my skiing talents (or lack thereof) to the trails only three times, having already signed up to do the Book Across The Bay (thanks to peer pressure from dear friend, Bryant Weathers), my understanding — in late January — was that I would have made enough time to practice and gained more experience to participate in the Great Bear Chase.
Courtesy of all my blabberings in social media outlets, Bryant Weathers got the wind of me acquiring a new pair of skis and shot off this email on a balmy fine Friday in January. I tried ignoring it for a while but it seemed to have some serious haunting features and just wouldn’t go away. With nearly every skiing mile in my life ahead of me, it wasn’t easy to make the decision — to take my skiing talents to Ashland, Wisconsin, let alone on to the frozen Lake Superior for a 10k.
As noted in my looking ahead post posted several weeks ago, I had registered for several running events in 2014. I even made plans to procrastinate less and continue running through the winter in preparation for the 2014 running season. But old habits die hard, I suppose. I could blame the end of semester activities for sinking much of free time towards the end of 2013 and early first few weeks of 2014 but fact that I made time to enjoy more than several brewed beverages would invalidate any such claim to blame.