Thor's Running Journal

I see deer all the time on my runs. There are woods near my home so they cross the street and come into my neighborhood on a regular basis. Sometimes there are enough of them that I can smell them before I turn a corner. Naturally we all keep our distance. But today a doe broke the respectful distance policy. One dear trotted across the road as I headed out on my run. It stopped and I slowed down to make I contact, but what I thought was eye contact actually was her looking beyond me giving signal to some of her girlfriends still on the other side of the street. They were so quiet I didn't know they were there until one darted right in front of me. I felt a bit terrified by the close call. Another 2 feet forward and things would my run would have ended differently than I would have hoped. The emergency department would really start to wonder.... First I hit a parked car and then get hit by a deer. They would start calling me Job. As things turned out, I finished my run without any ...

Another early cold morning, but predictable. I'm almost use to freezing my tail off. It is going to be a shot to my system when we get over 30. But enough about the weather.  I listened to Sigur Ros for the first time in a long time and came home and went back to bed. The white noise and staying perfectly still did it's job and the next thing I knew my kids were getting ready for school. 

I knew it was cold the moment I woke up this morning, but I didn't know just how cold until I stepped outside and felt it. I figured I'd go a few miles and then call it a day and that is exactly what happened. I put a pair of gloves over my gloves and mittens over both, but still lost feeling in my hands. With my 2000 mile goal accomplished and just a running streak to defend, 2 miles seemed plenty far enough today. I got over 40 for the week again so I don't really need to push it.  Of course I could have waited until later in the day to get out when it warmed up into the double digits. But it's so much harder to get out once the day gets going. It is easier to make excuses for staying indoors. I have more trouble willing myself into the polar conditions in the afternoon. It breaks my routine. And let's be real 10 degrees isn't that much warmer than 3 degrees.  I once again realized how good it is not to be training for any specific race. I'll stick with ma...

  The police stationed their cars outside 7-11. I saw the lights from about a half a mile away so of course I decided to do a little gawking. I didn't want to get too close, but I'm a curious human and I'll do all kinds of things to make a run a little less boring. I could have gotten closer, but thought it would be too obtrusive to cross the road. I felt satisfied to at least be a casual observer. I expected Breaking 989 to know what was happening, but didn't see any posts.  Who knows at 4am in the morning. Seems like a odd time to make trouble, but there are All kinds of people in the world. I mean, running in while it is 10 degrees out is sort of odd too.

 I did not win the lottery.  This afternoon I received notice from the Chicago Marathon race organizers. I did not get entry to the race. Sure, I feel a little bummed, but I knew getting in by lottery was a long shot at best. Amazing if I did, only tempered disappointment if I didn't This news does set off a set of more certain ideas for 2026. I already have my place booked for overnight accommodations for Detroit Free Press Marathon, even though registration doesn't open until January 1. And since winter kicked into high gear and reminded me how terrible marathon training on ice and snow is, I'm hardly tempted to try and run a spring marathon. A half-marathon perhaps, but I don't have the heart to attempt speed work out or marathon pace stuff on packed snow followed by powdered snow followed by a sheet of ice. I know it would just leave me frustrated. And a treadmill? Come on. Really? 99% of why I run is for the daily dose of fresh air. Make no mistake, I still want to...

Yesterday I logged my 2000th mile running this year. As the crow flies, that's about the distance from my home in Michigan to San Francisco California. That is the equivalent of 5.5 miles a day since January 1.  I knew all I needed to do was to run 6.6 miles yesterday to reach the goal. I thought about running 5.6 and leaving the last mile for Wednesday and making it ceremonious with a run around the block with the kids, but with the snow forecasted, I thought it best to just hit the mark and not play games.  After all, if there is one big lesson I learned this year from all these miles, it is to take advantage of the moment at hand. I learned you never know what it's going to be like the next day. I learned it the hard way through that crash and then the random straining of my muscles on a seemingly benign trip to the tennis courts with the kids. There will be excuses not to run or do any number of things. It's important to call an excuse and excuse, and even if valid, kn...