As I said in the About Me page, I have running goals. Mostly, I'd like to be able to run for as many years as I can. Dr. Peter Attia, host of The Drive podcast, likes to talk about The Centenarian Olympics, which is not (yet) a real event but rather an image of "what you'd like to be able to do in the last decade of your life." His idea is that you'd better start training to be able to do MUCH MORE than that now, given how things generally go. You want to be able to lift a suitcase into the overhead bit in your 90s? Better be able to lift considerably more than that now. You get the idea.
So no guarantees of course, but I'd like to be able to hike and ski and ride a bike and generally be able to take care of myself in my "last decade." I'd like to be able to think clearly and carry on a decent conversation. Maybe make somebody laugh a little. Running now is part of my training plan. Specifically, I would like to be able to continue some kind of running practice well into my 80s. I'm just about 69 as of this writing, so now, I'd like to be able to keep up a ten-minute mile pace consistently and not be injured while doing it. Also, I'd like to be able to run (most) every year in my favorite race: The Santa Barbara Thanksgiving Four-Miler. Eventually, I'd like to "podium." The last is an achievable goal, particularly if I last long enough.
As part of my daughter's generous 2023 Christmas gift, I was able to buy a copy of Born to Run 2 by Christopher McDougall and Eric Orton. Highly readable and even more highly inspirational. I love the attitude! The writing is solid and the stories are heart-warming and inspirational. I doubt that my training will be quite as simple as things appear in the book, but at my age nothing is quite as simple as it might have been a few years ago. But I'm very much looking forward to trying the 90-Day Training Plan once I get my foot core strength going. I may, as is my way, modify a bit. They have a website (https://borntorun.world/) which is a bit more commercial (and dubiously-fonted) than I want to link to, but have a go if you're interested. Does Christopher McDougall remind anyone else of Bill Walton?
New shoes today (Jan 19, 2024)! Altra Escalante 3.0 in a very bright blue upper with some stylish sole designs. White sidewalls. They're my first zero-drop, wide toe-box shoes and yes, they feel a little funny -- but good. Definitely interesting. They remind me of the Roots shoes I used to sell in the late 70s. I'm looking forward to getting these things dirty! I've been out of commission for a week or so and I'm thinking the shoes are part of my recovery mechanism, though I did not pay for them with HSA funds.
Took the shoes out for a 2.5 mile spin -- well, slow spin -- yesterday January 20, 2024 and they seem to have performed better than their operator. This morning I have some right heel pain, so I will apply the instructions from Born to Run 2: patience, gradual use of the zero-drop shoes, and calf massage. I am not interested in plantar fasciitis.