The air hung heavy and threatening as I drove upta Waterville this morning, the overcast sky promising rain but holding back as I reached Champions. Eager to squeeze in a quality run before the downpour, I decided on the Champions 10K course, peppering in some fartlek repeats to wake up the legs and get the blood flowing versus another wonderful treadmill run.

Thoughts: First time running with the Central Maine Striders long run group in many years. Probably 2018 or even later. Been a while, between the pandemic and my knee injury haven't done too much with the Striders. It was great to see some familiar faces and meet some new runners this morning. Distance: 7.01 Time: 1:07:09 Course: Sand Hill Dog Park-Rail Trail-Hallowell O/B…

First time at the track in a long, long time. With my right hamstring still a bit balky, I was careful not to aggravate it. The biggest goal was to walk away from the track workout in one piece and feeling more confident. Planned Run: Intervals - depending on how I feel, either quarters or 1.0 and then quarters. Either on rail trail or Colby track haven't decided which yet…

Planned Run: Run 4-5 either on treadmill or outside -- depending on the weather, easy. Focus more on being positive on the hills instead wimping out on them or attempting to find less hilly route. What I Did: Distance: 5.01 Time: 50:45 Course: Champions-Colby Loop Shoes: Nike Invincible 3 Thoughts: No treadmill - Yippee. Yes, I still walked on the two big hills, but had a different attitude towards running them and didn't avoid doing this loop as I have over the past few years.

On my mind this morning -- Pre-race thoughts Yeah, I'm having second and third thoughts about racing, but I always do the day of the race. I know this will expose my ego to where I actually am physically and will probably be uncomfortable with the results. However, I do need the reality check and seeing all the other people that I know will be there is going to be a good thing.

Time to get back to writing about running. Since the first of March, I've been switching my daily notes over to Reflect Note again, from the hard copy Bullet (sort of) Journal I've been doing since last June. Writing things out daily was good, but at the same time, I've figured out that once I'm gone those will just be thrown away by someone or they will just take up space in someone's basement or attic.

This last week has been one of continued progress, for which I am very happy. We turned the page to a new month and are that much closer to Spring walking in through the front door. I can't wait. Though yesterday's cold and wind with a feels like of -10*F wasn't fun to walk in and this morning's reading on the old fashioned thermometer outside read -8*F.

As I drove upta Waterville to find a treadmill, I chose to listen to my race playlist, the one I usually chose during my treadmill runs. During the drive I was struggling with the idea of 75:00 minutes on the treadmill this morning and was attempting to justify to myself that if I only did 4.0 miles, I'd still get 20.0 miles in for the week.

I had planned for an easy 4.0 miler this morning, but the Stryd planned workout was only for 20:00 minutes and I ain't running 4.0 Miles in 20:00. Just ain't happening :-). Though I would just keep running comfortably to get the 4.0 in most of the time. Then I finally noticed they had some alternative workouts on the phone app and when I saw the progression run I figured awww why not.

There is Life After Teaching During this time, I took the road less traveled by, and yes, it made all the difference. This post is longer than the others, but a lot happened. Although looking back with that 20/20 hindsight there was an awful lot of coulda, shoulda, woulda, when I do. Life as a Teacher & the Turning Point…

I’ll be honest I was a little intimidated going into this session and the longer intervals I’d be doing. However, after finishing reading The Comeback Quotient last night, I had accepte…

The weather is getting closer to me doing my first outside run of 2025, but it is not quite there yet, so today's run was another treadmill one. Also, I wanted to try out my Karhu Ikoni 2.0's again. The hole in the ankle well of the Rebel 4's is rubbing more and more on my right ankle. They don't bother as much when I am doing faster work, but the rubbing will eventually begin causing a problem.

Today was a rest day, no running, but I did walk down on a semi-plowed road to the Town Office and back for a total of 4.0 miles in the morning and then had a wild hair across my you know what and walked the snowmobile trail up back for another 2.4 miles. While most don't call that rest, for me it was relaxing.

Instead of comparing my running to "other runners", I'm finally beginning to learn that it is a fool's errand. Looking back this is something I should have accepted years and years ago - I didn't. I truly believe that my inclination to compare my running (and many other things) to what others do is part or most likely a majority of the reason for my boom and then bust Harold, training routines.

Yeah, it's that time of year when I start to get antsy to get outside and the treadmill time is beginning to wear on me. However, on our morning walk it was 12* with a pretty good windchill outside. What I have learned over the past 5-6 years is that running in the cold weather (below freezing) plays havoc with my hamstrings and Achilles tendons.

The little niggle that I had on Tuesday after the speed work is doing better. Which is good news and about what I expected. I was able to get the Garmin FR 165 to use the Strava Zone app this time. I'm still not sure what I did differently, but it is now working the way it should. Though when I attempt to upload/download whatever it is that the Stryd Pod does to my phone's Stryd app, it just says it's going to and never does anything else, but the app somehow had my workout from yesterday?

I went to Planet Fitness in Augusta for some more treadmill duty. However, I was not too sure that I would get a run, my left calf was still pretty tight from the speed work session I'd done yesterday. Nothing serious, and something that I've come to expect when I first get serious about speed work. Though it is something that I do treat carefully and promised myself that I'd shut down the run if it felt off.

Okay, Okay, I know these shoes were first released way back in 2021. But here is a little backstory for me. I got to run in the original Vaporfly shoes courtesy of Sam W over at the Road, Trail, Run blog back when I was doing shoe reviews. They were fantastic and I always wanted a pair, but couldn't justify the $250 price point.

2008-2011: Too Damn Many Injuries From January 2008 through May 2011, I endured some of the toughest years of my running life. A series of major injuries significantly reduced my time on the road. Here's a quick rundown of the biggest setbacks: 1/4/08 – Fell off a ladder while shoveling snow off the garage roof 2/4/09 – Massive migraine, initially thought to be a stroke or Bell’s Palsy…

The dawn of the new millennium found my life in a state of upheaval, followed by renewal. Divorce, career disruption and then getting back to a semblance of stability, and dare I say sanity. Before I met Mary (whom I now lovingly call "TheWife") in October, my life had already undergone significant changes. Our courtship, moving in together, and eventually getting married were pivotal moments, shaping the next phase of my journey.

This post will be about the years 1988 to September 2000. These are the toughest years for me to write about. A lot happened in my life professionally and personally that well…looking back were years that I made a lot of mistakes. Twelve years which I consider the “lost” years of my running life. I didn’t race at all and while I ran quite a bit during this time, I didn’t run consistently and it was more spits, spurts, and far too often more than a bit of indifference and other interests.

A time in my running life when I ran well, met some incredible runners, and briefly entertained delusions of grandeur. Then went off in a different direction, but I never really stopped running, just competing. A 10K Race I participated in at CGAS Cape Cod, while station in Groton, CT. My personal glory days in running were while I was stationed at the Coast Guard's Research & Development Center in Groton, CT.

Although this blog post is out of chronological order—I originally wrote it in 2021 during a period of deep reflection on events that profoundly shaped my life—I believe it belongs here in my running story. As I revisited my past writings this afternoon, I realized this was the right place for it. It took me a long time to come to terms with the demons I created for myself after finishing the 1983 Marine Corps Marathon, and even now, I’m not sure I ever fully will.

Washington, D.C. Metro Area I was assigned in 1982 to Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and lived in Alexandria. A path from the complex led to a back road, up a steep hill, and about a mile away was the Mt. Vernon Bike Trail. I ran on that trail frequently—it was far safer than running on the roads around Route 1.