3-4 pounds

OK. I am on a diet. Really a mini-diet. I need to lose 3-4 pounds and frankly the days of my going out and pounding miles to burn calories is a thing of the past. So I am watching what I eat and I have cut back slightly on my running so that I don't run (excuse the pun) myself into the ground. Hopefully this doesn't take too long. I know I will see progress if I just cut down on the evening wine and cashews. I also tend to really stuff it at dinner. So that all has to change.

This morning I did 65 minutes on feelin' good legs. A quick moving storm had just swept through the south bay and I went out just after it disappeared over the mountains to the south east.

50 minutes

Last day of the training week. I ran 50 minutes slow as usual with 5 x 20 seconds strides coming down the homestretch. The weather continues to cooperate. Sunny, cool and very little wind. The burden of living in California in the late winter.

slow----slow, slow-slow

Rumbled out the door in the early afternoon running my now classical slow----slow, slow-slow pace.

I ended up doing 63 minutes in part to round out the 87 minutes I ran on Thursday. The day was really perfect. Low 60's, sunny and very little wind. My legs felt good. I am sure I could have run faster and longer but my plan is to run again on Sunday and I don't want to build up week over week too quickly.

20:05!

Forbes Mill in the morning again. I met Jake there before 8 am and jogged an easy loop. I then let Jake get ahead of me on the 2nd loop before I went out and ran an 85-90% 'er. It took me some time to get my HR up to 85% but I just worked it hitting the half way mark in 10:40. I slud back down in 9:25 for a 20:05. Good effort. Best in 3 years.

In the late afternoon I met Shel at Stanford and I ran another 35 minutes. My legs felt very good. Like I hadn't run hard in the AM. Strange sensation feeling that good.

Total for the day was 87 minutes.

70 minutes

I ran slow as heck this morning for 70 minutes. Beautiful spring-like day. Can't believe it. I did my usual (I am in a rut) college course to get in some mini-hills on the decaying par course that caps the top of the track. Felt great probably because i kept it so easy. Funny though...My left quad was sore after I got up from my bed where I had been stretched out watching some TV and eating breakfast.

Ice and Advil to the rescue (I hope).

Drumming out 50

I drummed out 50 minutes this morning before meeting Ron for breakfast. I can't say I was as strong as yesterday. But it was first back to back in a while. On my back home I added in 4 x 20 second strides, starting one very two minutes until I got to my house.

Instead of breakfast...I ran

I drove over to Carrows my Saturday "usual" club breakfast but no one showed up (huh?). I waited around for awhile and finally gave it up. I decided to drive over to the Sunnyvale Baylands instead of heading home. I figured it wouldn't be too crowded and it was near perfect weather. High 50's and little or no breeze.

I ran for an hour and had to push to get my HR up into 65-70% range. I felt strong which is rare these days.

Best Tandem

Forbes Mill. Ran 3 good loops with Jake. Best tandem run we have had in several years. 26-25-sub 25. I ran 6 minutes of shakeout at my house before so all told about 82 minutes. Some young thing blond in a jogging suit blew by us on the second loop. I wondered if I could stay with her if I could have paced her if I was on one of my time trial efforts. Jakes said "yes" but I had my doubts.

Weather was cool and sunny. Perfect for a blast up to the dam and back.

Jake may need a pace maker for an irregular low heart beat! His heart rate drops down into the low 30's and misses a beat now and then. As long as they leave the top end alone he should be fine.

Up In The Hills Again

I ran for 60 minutes back up in the hills this morning. It was the first time in almost two years. I walked several truly steep sections but ran everything else.

This isn't me and these ain't my hills. But it get
across the general idea.

23:02

Was it worth it? Hardly but I made the monthly trek up to the Dolphin Club Race in San Francisco. The weather was beautiful. On the cool side but very little wind and bright sun. The 5K event was up by the yacht harbor right on the Presidio. I was a bit sleep deprived due to daylights savings time but I gave it my best 85-90% effort. I played chicken and didn't look at my stop watch until I crossed the finish line in 23:02. I noted that I was 22:16 at the 3 mile mark.

This was 7 seconds better than the last time. Nothing great. No dramatic leap forward. With my warm up and warm down I banked around 48 minutes of running.

It is what it is.

I am beginning to feel like everything that once worked is no longer working. Either my body is just used up and I really do need to become a self time junior jogger or I need to get used to pushing (which is very tough these days). Pushing would be time trials and tempo runs which obviously have a high possibility of injury. Ultimately when I am out there (like today) I am not in oxygen debt. I am not orgasmically gasping for air. I am simply out of sync. I never feel comfortable. I don't expect to perform at the levels of 3 years ago but I have dropped off rather steeply (of course age related drops are not always straight line).

I feel that I should be able to run a tempo effort in the 21's. Maybe not the low 21's but down under 22 minutes. I may have to claw my way back down. Ugh! More secret racing and time trials. Watching my weight and diet. And for what? To establish myself as a 2nd class age grouper.

I'll need to forget all that happened in the past. All of it. Treat this time like it's the first time. So go after the Asian guy and big Larry. No watch. No HRM. Then pick the next guy. Get under 20 on the Forbes Mill loop.

Get used to it.

82 minutes

Forbes Mill. Sunny & cool. Maybe 40 degrees at the start. I did three loops with each one faster than the prior. 27:15-25:45-23:55. Legs felt very good but I took a header on the backside of the second loop.

SPLAT!



Ripped up my old gloves and scraped up my right knee.

There will be blood.

But the adrenaline was flowing and I ran well. With my 5 minute shakedown run at the house I did around 82 minutes.

Just 77 Minutes

I am beginning to really enjoy being off of work. After two days of pounding carbs I finally began to feel like my old self. I went out around 10:30 am. It was sunny and breezy and on the cool side but nothing that shorts and a long sleeve "T" couldn't handle. I made plans to run some threshold reps but never ended up doing them. When it came down to it, I "just" ran 77 minutes at 65-70% of max HR . Over to the college via the RR tracks, around then big loops around the soccer field and the track.

Not a born to run day

I ran in the AM before the club breakfast. Cool but not cold out. Ground out 25 "slow" minutes. Felt low on energy. Like I was on empty.

Had some carbs for breakfast and did a second run around 1 pm. This time I ran 50 minutes at an easy pace. Felt a bit better. Had some left over pasta for a late lunch. It was warmer. Close to 60 degrees out.

This was one of those days where I wanted to chuck it. Not a born to run day.

WET 60 minutes

Ran at Forbes with Jake. Very wet. Rain coming down steadily but thankfully little or no wind. The trail was pretty empty. I saw one other runner and maybe several walkers. Jake dropped out during the first loop. His legs were dead (dead...dead). I think it is the renovation he is doing on his downstairs bathroom. He has been struggling for the past two weeks and this so happens to parallel the same period of time he has been working on his house.

Hmmmmm....

I ended up running two slow loops and a bit extra before and after. Maybe 60 "real" minutes total.

O-U-T

I am OUT of work. Retired once again. I must be. I turned in my badge and office keys today. There is no way I could get back inside even if I wanted to. I received a last email from my boss asking if I ever made progress on one of the very projects that I came to hate. Nope, I said, and if you remember I sent you an email weeks ago saying that I was out of time on getting this one done. There was much that I didn't get done before I left that was way more important than this project.

But she is a friend and I hate to let her down but happily she has enough drones on staff who will jump all over this. That's what drove me out. Welcome to Dronesville.


Out of my way earthling. There is a new policy to work on.....


Anyhow....

I ran twice today covering an easy 40 minutes this morning and another 30 minutes in the afternoon. Cool weather in the morning and breezy later on.

Double

I ran twice today for the first time in a long time. Unlike Friday where I lazed around all day, I actually had stuff to do today like join my club for breakfast and get a haircut. So I sandwiched my schedule with a morning 30 minute jog and added in another 35 minutes easy run in the mid afternoon. Both runs were unremarkable except that I could actually do them after all of these years and miles.

SVW

Monday is my last day of work. Actually Wednesday was my last day because I am finishing off with unused PTO and will only come in Monday to turn in my laptop, badge and keys. I know I keep saying this, but maybe I need to rewrite it because it seems that it is finally true.

I have applied for social security and medicare so this may well be "it". Not sure. Someone used the retirement word but I am not comfortable with it (yet).

I have decided to create my own Hawaii this spring and summer and see how it feels. You know. Shorts, t-shirts, sandals (or old running shoes..no socks). Maybe a gym even though I tend not to use those things. Certainly running. A coffee shop, a book store and if I can find a decent, uncrowded place...a beach now and then. If they get crowded I can always outlast school and come back in the fall when school is back in.

Sounds decadent.

Consulting. Maybe if the work is interesting and does not require a badge or office or being someplace on a regular basis. Next year would be better because I can collect social security and make consulting fees and keep both.

What a bonanza.

I am looking at blogging. Silicon Valley Warrior (SVW) style. One thing I have discovered is that being a SVW makes you strong and resilient.

In the early days it looked a great deal like this.


But later on it became this.



And at the end it became this.

Aurens..Aurens..Aurens!


All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.

Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Pale and Vacant

I drove over to Forbes Mill this morning arriving early (but Jake was already there). I had decided not to push it. I was the recipient of a terrible night's sleep. 3 hours. Well, I guess it could have been worse. My mind wouldn't stop playing old tapes. Having woken up around 3 AM, I had tried to fall back off but finally gave in and rolled out of the sack. I glanced at the clock.

It was a pale and vacant 4:30 AM. Night is like time travel. When I awake like this I can remember, after a fashion, many of the times I would thrash around sleepless in some bed. Mine or someone else's. It is timeless. It feels the same. It is 1955 or 1983 or 1992.

But I have learned to cope. Not to fight it.

In the next several hours I read, drank coffee and then did a five minute shake out run at around 7 am.



Anyway, back to Forbes. I decided to run easy. Jake and did a loop in just over 26 minutes but he was already struggling. OK, then it was too fast no matter what the pace was. We turned right around and ran a second loop but Jake stopped to walk about 7 minutes in and I decided to just keep going arriving at the turnaround in 13:15. Regardless of being sleep deprived, my legs actually felt good so I pushed a bit on the way back. I sailed back down in 11:05 crossing into the parking lot in 24:20. I decided to add another 5 minutes to make the whole thing 60 minutes.

My so called retirement

Email to a friend on my so called retirement

I was thinking that my so called retirement should have certain critical elements.

1. My coffee shop. Yours was Starbucks. I haven't picked mine yet. Any recommendations on ambiance. Near a bookstore or not?

2. My alternative work. In your case it was painting. I have written inciteful books and poetry. I really didn't mean insightful. Mostly my works have incited controversy or disgust (or no interest what so ever).

3. Not making money. I know you went without. I believe I can do that too as long as those government checks keep coming in (Hmmm..do I have to stand on a line to at social security to pick them up???).



I am thinking of adding in a beach for spring and summer use. Maybe even a small coastal hamlet to hang out in. You know, some coastal running trails. Maybe a beard and mustache.

Anything else I am missing?


Authoritative Executive


I won't miss work. Today was typical. I was sitting in my last HR staff meeting thinking about how I should take action items for the following week. Of course except for a short exit meeting late Monday morning, there is no next week for me.

At least not there. The big boss (my bosses boss) breaks in and beckons to two of the staff. I need you right away, he says. And of course he does. He is wearing a suit. There is an important board meeting. I am just damn glad it is not me that he needs for that meeting. It has been me over many years and many companies. But not this time. Not lately. I am not jealous of them nor would I trade places with them. Not even if I could be 10 years younger and two minutes faster in a 5K race. I don't feel superior because I am not. I am simply able to leave and not be at anyone's beckon call.

The Immediate Pull Of Gravity

I drank a tankard of coffee and then set out at around half past 8 am. I was dressed to the 9's and maybe overdressed but a quartering wind kept me on the cool side and the tights protected my legs. The run felt good. All 70 minutes of it. The usual course. Over to the track, around the par course and the soccer field. Plenty of soft "giving" surfaces and plenty of Asian Girls either running on the track or walking in between classes. I admit though that morning runs, even when decent, are still like wading through the shallows of varying degrees of molasses. There is little or no torque. Of course 100K miles and years of wear and tear don't help. In the old days when I ran slow, I always felt like I was holding back.

But not any more.

If I pick it up, I can feel the immediate pull of gravity.

Pulling me down and slowing me down.

But I give myself no choice. It is a run day and so I run.