I sat down and thought about what I want to accomplish with my running over the next six months and rearranged my training schedule to be more like the one that I did quite well with last year at this time, at least until I just ran out of energy. The biggest difference this year is that instead of attempting to kill myself on the harder workouts (which led me to give on the plan), I am going to keep them a bit more realistic about my pacing).

Looking down the road yesterday morning

In other words, I am not going to use my old 3K-5K race paces (from when I was 55), as my training paces for Intervals and Tempo runs – that just about killed me and while I had fun saying that I did them, the old body was telling me that I am too damn old to run that fast on training runs when I have other goals in mind.

• Less weekly miles can do faster hard work
• More weekly miles gotta be smarter and pace will be slower

Since I plan to do more weekly miles, it means that I gotta run slower. I don’t learn easy some days, but eventually, I get things through the thickest skull in Maine…well sometimes. 😉

Based on that knowledge, I also know that I have to rest more often as well. No streaking! I am sure no one wants to see that anyway. 🙂

This means that Wednesdays are a no run day for the foreseeable future…I have a feeling this is going to be a bit flexible based on winter weather unpredictability, but I plan on taking most Wednesdays off from running and also blogging.

Yep, that is correct, no blogging. I am planning on a no writing day most Wednesdays.

If the body needs a scheduled day off, I have a feeling that the brain really does as well. It doesn’t mean that I am going to sit around on the couch eating Wavy Lays and chugging Moxie, but I don’t have to do a lot besides walking the dogs, read blog posts and articles (no commenting) and just relax for the most part over the course of the day. Of course, the honey-do list will get worked on and chores will be done, those are just givens and a part of life.

What did my first “rest” day look like?

Pretty relaxed most of the morning, although SD2’s dog Hunter is not doing too well and Mary cared for him, along with worrying about him most of the day. So that was a bit stressful and not fun.

That afternoon I had a dentist appointment in Waterville (always a joy), so I stopped at Marden’s because they had a winter hat sale and I needed one besides my running stuff and my extreme cold weather one that is way too warm when it is above 20*F. While I was there I also picked up mittens and a hat for Mary, she had seen them the other day but hadn’t picked them up.

The dentist’s appointment went well, what teeth I have left are doing well. This is only the second time going to this particular office and I like them a lot better than my old dentist’s office. They suggest and recommend versus force X-Rays and peripheral stuff, so I was able to escape with a more reasonable bill than usual. Since we do not have dental insurance and the cleaning costs come out of pocket if I can save a little during winter, when the Christmas and heating bills are a bit more I prefer to do that.

After that, I had to go to the Ford dealership to get the blinker on the Transit fixed. No, I am not going to take apart the front end to replace a damn bulb – someone else can play with that crap. However, I had a few minutes to kill and stopped at the Jeep Dealership. This Spring we are thinking about trading in the truck for something newer and I have had several Jeep Wranglers and wanted to stop and get a closer look at the Gladiator.

Nice vehicle, not as impractical as the Wrangler, but for the price tag would I be paying about 10K extra just for the Jeep name on the tag compared to even a full-sized truck. JEEP – Just Empty Every Pocket seems about right in this case I think. Not sticker shock, because I know how much trucks do cost today, it more how much bang for my dollar that I would be getting.

I am going to be looking at various options for a new or new to me truck over the next few months and when we do decide that the time is right, I will have at least an idea of what we are looking for, how much it should cost and what options we want or can do without. Go in with a plan, pick the vehicle with the options we want and not settle for everything that the dealership recommends.

This is instead of my usual, go to the dealership, find something during that first 10 minutes, haggle for an hour, get screwed on the pricing, finance the vehicle then get home and figure out badly we got screwed by the dealership.

The Ford dealership was quick and efficient as usual repairing the blinder, and within a half-hour, I was headed home. Due to how we have been treated by their service department it is where we start our shopping when we start. They have been fantastic.

Yeah, I even did some shopping in between stops, D2’s anniversary is coming up, so she is getting what she asked for, now I just have to get it in the mail to her and her husband. Good kids, I gotta say they are doing great and I love being a part of their lives, even if it is a bit of reach sometimes with them and grandkids in Minnesota.

While a lot of people would not consider all of this stuff a rest day, for me it is. Not running 4-6 miles and then attempting to write a daily blog post or edit a different one was relaxing. I even played Never Winter Nights for a few minutes last night, so I can tell I relaxed a little more than usual. Although while waiting I did get to read some more of Lifespan and the more I read it, it is making me go hmmm more often.

The idea of Star Wars versus Star Trek themes is probably a good analogy by the author, but I think that the author forgot about the abuses of technology in 1984 and political theater that accompanies society at times, while he addresses it peripherally, he focuses on the positives which is cool, but I need to be careful getting too caught up in the positive manner in which he writes about the advancements and possibilities that the sciences can bring. 

Tech and science are great until they are. When they are used to control versus communicate, educate or other positive things, they become part of the problem versus part of the solution. Romulan vs Federation would be a good analogy. I guess that is where my skepticism, not conspiracy theories about how tech is ultimately used in 20-30 years come out.

That discussion is for other posts I have a feeling. This one is long enough as it is.

So my first rest day of 2020 was very successful and I still got a lot done. The best part is this morning I feel refreshed and the body is not aching quite as much as usual. Maybe the changes are going to be a good thing for the old body.

Originally posted on Aging & Retirement – My Thoughts, written by Harold L. Shaw, Jr.