I was reading John P. Weiss’ latest post today and it dawned on me that while I didn’t want to start over again, I did have a lot of old social media sites, old blogs, “friends” and other stuff just hanging around in the background online that are unnecessary. It was almost as if reading that John’s post gave me permission to do some things that I have been procrastinating doing, even though I knew that they needed to be done.

As part of my simplification of life project that has been ongoing this year, I am in the process of retiring and deleting all my blogs but Harold being Harold. I downloaded all the old posts and have them saved as .zip files and yes most of the old blogs are now gone. Hitting that delete button on a few of those blogs brought back a lot of memories, but it is time to move on. Also, I went through and cleaned out my Facebook, Twitter and Feedly accounts – it has already changed things quite a bit.

Unless there is a specific reason, I only plan to post about my running in a once a week summary that will usually be posted on Monday mornings. No more daily running summaries that don’t really mean anything to anyone but me, cluttering people’s timelines or inboxes. 

I run almost daily, but the idea of having to write a blog post on my running at this point and time is becoming too overwhelming. There are too many things going on in our lives and my running is not all that interesting. While I keep my logs up-to-date, blogging daily about it is not really a high priority.

If I do a running shoe review it will be done here as well. Again I am not too concerned about doing too many. I have pretty much gotten my running shoe rotation and the idea that I have to run in so many of them under control. Who knows maybe I have finally gotten it through my thick head that I am not out here doing running shoe reviews like I used to? The ones that I plan to do in the future are more for me, to remind me of what I want in a shoe and what I really think of them, so that I don’t keep making the same mistakes over and over.

Also, I moved my running log spreadsheet back to Numbers yesterday, but I had to put my thinking hat on and figured out how to resolve all but one of the errors that were cropping up in the spreadsheet. I will get that last one at some point, but it is one of those things that should be simple, but after chasing it around for a couple of hours this afternoon, I let it go for now.

This week in running:

Thirty miles for the week is where I want to be. Although it is getting colder and the weather nastier, so that will be harder to do consistently. Especially since I will not be going to the gym anytime soon to use the treadmill, which helps so much for me to get my miles in during the cold months.

Monday: The run itself was the usual 2 miles sub 9:00, 2:00 miles sub 10:00 and another sub 9:00 for the last mile. 5.07/46:45/9:13 pace. Nothing thrilling or anything, but with Philbrick Hill in the mix, I am going to slow down going up it no matter what. I do have to go run other places once in a while, I am just getting too bored with all the running around the house.

Tuesday: I procrastinated running enough by playing with the iPhone and finally got out the door. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I wore the GRR8s, and they are just so superior to the Zephyr’s. Without trying, I stuck around the sub 9:00 pace and felt strong in the shoes. I ended up going out to Davis Dr. (mostly against the wind) and then coming back with it at my back most of the way to the Lower Gate. Finished the 5.07/45:20/8:57 pace. Nice run and I felt as though I had an extra gear.

Wednesday: I used the Zephyr’s and I really am not thrilled with the ride — too firm for my tastes. Have to get around to doing the review soon, if I am going to do one. I was listening to music while running and that increased my cadence into the 170 spm range. Which felt kind of nice for a change.

When I got up to the tar by the Town Office, they were redoing the pavement and I had to run in the ditch, which added quite a bit to the second mile and took the starch out of me sooner than I had wanted both physically and mentally. It is amazing how a little thing like dealing with them tarring a small section of road threw me off so much. When I got back to Blake Hill, I decided to shut it down after 5K and walk up Stevens Hill. Yes, I wimped out, but I just didn’t have it this morning and sometimes it is better to shut things down and save the harder stuff for another day.

Thursday: I ran from the Hannaford parking lot in Waterville. It was still pretty chilly and I wasn’t in any hurry. Stopped over the Messalonskee Stream Dam for a quick break and then kept running down Silver St. I really was not having a great day, my mind wasn’t on running. When I got past the church turn, I decided to just do 5.0 or so and headed straight up to First Rangeway. It turns out it is about 5.25 according to the map in Running Ahead. It was not the run I really wanted, but I got over 5.0 done at about a 9:00 pace, so it wasn’t a bad run and it wasn’t Sidney.

Friday: DNR — Windy, cold and nasty, I just didn’t have the umph to get out the door and I wanted to activate my new to me iPhone SE.

Saturday: My run, was supposed to be 7.0 miles this morning, but I wasn’t sure that I would do it, still feeling a bit beat up for some reason. However, I got going, kept things easy and slow through the first couple of miles. When I got down to Wildwood, I thought about turning around, but decided to keep going at the last minute. I plugged along going past each of my turning points at the moment. I made the 7.0 miles, although it was the slowest 7.0 miles on this course this year.

Sunday: I thought about taking the day off, it was raining, mid 30s and a breeze, but Mary got ready to run and I felt that I had to also. Sometimes getting out the door is 90% of the battle and that was the case today. Once I got going it was a pretty good run and I caught Mary down by the blue mailbox and then just plugged along through the Middle Road Loop. Although once I got down back the Razor 3s did not do so great in the slime/mud, and they did fine on the wet tar.

Running Shoes

Topo Zephyr — They are a shoe that is confusing to me and have an identity crisis. They have a plastic plate, are firm like racing flats, yet weigh more than most of my trainers and the upper had too many overlays to be go fast shoes. They are not enjoyable to run in due to the firmness being almost harsh, but they fit great and the heel-to-toe transition is fantastic. So, I can run well in them, but I don’t like the ride. I have put them in the back of the Transit and will use them as emergency run shoes, but they are not a part of the regular rotation now that I have over 50 miles on them. I had hoped that the foam would break in more, but it didn’t.

Skechers GoRun Ride 8 — A nice easy ride and while I will never run fast in them, I can run comfortably in the GRR8s. Although the outsole just is not all that great for running on the dirt road down back or in any kind of weather.

Topo Ultraventure — Are my walking, hiking, trail runners and nasty weather running. Comfortable and great grip.

Skechers GoRun Razor 3 — Lightweight trainers/racing flats that I put away until I got the Zephyrs up over the 50-mile mark to see whether I liked them or not. Today’s run in them was really one of the better ones that I had in them since I started using this pair. In Skechers I have to go with 8.5, the 8.0s are too narrow in the toe box. Sometimes you have to try other shoes to find out how good the ones you already have are.

Health

My ribs are feeling the best they have since I busted them up back in September. It has taken a while to get them healed up and even now if I do a little too much they let me know all about it. Otherwise, things have had a chance to heal up and not too many things bother that shouldn’t after all these years.

What did I learn this week?

That each time I have an injury that leads to a period of no running, that it keeps getting harder and harder to come back to the levels I was at before the injury. Unfortunately, the year 2020 has been filled with more injuries and red days in the running log than I would like. Both my average pace and mileage shows the results. Also, the mental toll that the pandemic and the turmoil of this election cycle hasn’t helped either.

I keep pushing back against the new normal, but it takes a lot more work and patience to get back to where I had been. I know it is part of getting older, but it doesn’t mean that I have to like it. 

It was a 30-mile week which is pretty much my goal for the rest of the year. To put together 25-35 miles per week for the rest of the year without any more of the major injuries.

That I do not need a separate blog for running. I am beginning to change how I see my running as a part of my life, not the primary thing in my life beyond family. It has been a good run, but it is time to embrace a full life not just a slice of it.

Finally, I am accepting that I do not need to be a running shoe reviewer anymore. Just find the shoes that work for me, not worry about having the newest and greatest and just have fun with my running. Be competitive in my age group locally when racing starts back up and focus more on having fun with my running versus having to cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s to being this online runner that is all that. I know that I am not all that.

It was a good week and one where I learned a lot about what I want and while I am not starting over. All the stuff I have been doing over the past couple of months does constitute a new beginning and a changing perspective on what I want out of the time I have left.

A good week if you ask me.