New Year's Resolutions for 2009

Resolution 1: To run every day of the year. On January 7, 2009, I turn 59. What better way to celebrate this last year of my sixth decade of my life! I will define a day of running as doing at least 1.5 miles. I figure this will be done on my rest day, as I do 6 days a week of serious ultra training, and the low mileage 7th day will be my rest/recovery day.

Resolution 2: To run back to back (Saturday and Sunday) races at least at the marathon distance. I've done 50K ultras on consecutive weekends, but this year, consecutive days.

Resolution 3: To figure out how those running shirts advertised as having "advanced wicking properties" or made with "performance fabrics" actually work. Cases in point. In July 2008, I wore a shirt advertised as having advanced wicking properties. At race start, at 10:00 a.m., it was 85 and sunny, with a high forecasted in the upper-90s. Ten minutes into the race, I was drenched. No wicking...nada. I did a second race where racers were given a shirt made of performance fabric. Again, nothing. I wasn't faster, wasn't stronger, didn't feel anything at all improving my performance. So, in 2009, I want to both wick and perform wearing one of these shirts. Maybe I can find a service manual on the Internet.

Resolution 4: Keep resolutions 1 and 2.

O Dark Thirty Running

Weekdays mean we’re out the door running at O Dark Thirty. That’s military speak for middle of the night or some other ridiculously early hour in the morning when normal people are still sound asleep.

When my alarm clock goes off at 3:30 in the morning, Sarah and I make our way downstairs where I have a quick cup of coffee before lacing up the running shoes. And Sarah has come to know that when I sit and put on my shoes, it’s her key to run to the front door and wait for me to grab her leash and take off running.

I’m now entering that phase of training where I want to build my weekly base for three great ultras I have planned for 2009…not the only, but three I’m looking forward to.

The first is the North Face Endurance 50 on May 9th at Bear Mountain, NY. This is a brutal race, whether you do the 50K or 50M. Technical single-track, long ascents, and running through boulder fields…make that running on boulders the size of small cars.

Then on June 6th, there’s the Pittsfield Peaks Ultra, another brutal course in the Green Mountains around Pittsfield, Vermont. At 53 miles, you climb and descend, climb and descend, only to climb and descend again.

Finally, there is the 20in24 in Philadelphia on July 18th and 19th. There are several distance options, but the ultra one is to run as many laps of an 8.4 mile loop as you can in 24 hours. Sponsored by the non-profit Back On My Feet, it’s a flat loop, but in July, Philadelphia is hot. With a race start of 10:00 a.m., you can expect temperatures in the high 80s at race start. But the cause is worth it as this nonprofit uses running as a way to help motivate homeless men and women to get healthy, enroll in job training, find a job, and become self-sufficient. As runners, we have found so much for ourselves in our running. What else could be better…give back through your feet what your feet have given to you.

Stuck on 7 Miles

Seems like I'm stuck on 7 miles. Oh well, given that I'm running 7 days a week and just now upping my weekly mileage, not too shabby.

Here's Sarah relaxing on her downstairs couch after a run. And that's her older sister Sammie on the floor. Sammie has been with us 9 years now...another rescue like Sarah. When we got Sammie, she was 1 1/2 years old, weighed 37 pounds, and had been both physically and emotionally abused. Over the past 9 years, she's been a great dog and loves playing with Sarah. But she isn't a runner. I've taken her out running from time to time, but for whatever reason, she'd just rather walk and smell the flowers.

Another 7 Miles Today - All Trails

Sarah and I spent another hour or so on the trails getting in 7 miles. Whenever I run in the Wissahickon, I am always amazed at how few other runners I see. Within the Wissahickon Valley, there are 50 miles of trails. Running largely north/south, Forbidden Driven is about 5.5 miles long...a wide gravel roadway closed to traffic, but always full of runners and walkers. But throughout the entire valley, there are another 45 miles of mostly single-track trails. Here, I can run for hours, and although I will come across walkers and mountain bikers, I'll see very few runners. On the one hand, I think more folks should hit the trails running. But then again, I like having the trails largely to myself.

Sarah never gets tired, or so it seems, while we're out running. I keep her on a leash and she's always in the lead, although occasionally, she's off leash, especially when we have water or other rough terrain to negotiate. Here she is in the Adirondacks with me in August 2008, coming out of the water and ready to go many miles.

More About Sarah

Sarah has been a runner since she came into our home on the last Saturday of October in 2006. She was probably 1 ½ at the time, having lived most of her life on the streets on North Philly. She was picked up by animal control and eventually made her way to the Philadelphia Save-a-Shepherd Rescue alliance. And we adopted her.

As soon as I saw her, I knew she was a runner. So, that second day we had her, off to the trails we went. Not knowing exactly how she’d do, we limited the run to 6 miles. She was addicted. In the 2-plus years she’s been with us, she has gone out with me on probably 700 runs, and the only time she misses a run with me is when I race. She feels it is totally wrong that most races don’t allow dogs!!!!!

Sarah doesn’t have any "papers." She’s just your basic fun-loving, full-of-energy, and full-of-love German Shepherd. She never tires of playing and every time I get ready to go out the door for a run, she’s there at the door, waiting for me to open the door, walk out with her, and hit the road or trails.

If ever there was an ultradawg, Sarah is it.

7 Miles - Trail and Road

Today was a good day running. We did 7 miles at a moderate pace. From the door, we only have a half mile run on roads before we hit a trail head to the Wissahickon Valley and then some fun single-track trails. It was quiet out on the trails...no mountain bikers and no other walkers or runners. After about 4 miles on trails, we took another trail head and made our way back to the roads, where 2 more miles got us back to the house. We're both looking forward to tomorrow...Saturday...for a run a little longer and nearly all on trail.

About Me

First, I'm the cute one. The guy on the other end of my leash runs with me. He's been running for more than 40 years now, but me, it's just been a little more than 2 years. I had, for about 1.5 years, been an urban pack dog, abandoned and just living on the streets of North Philly, any which way I could.

But now, I run every morning on trails, sleep on my own couch, go for drives in the car, and chase cats, squirrels, and the occasional fox where I run.

Well, enough in the way of introductions.