High Five By 55

I'm thinking I'm going to take a shot at writing a weekly training review each Sunday after my long run throughout this High Five By 55 project. No particular goal with this, just a summarizing of what I've written in my training log and my daily planner. A space to process the week a bit. I'm not quite sure of the format to do this best, so will just try some things, not feel too constrained, and see what works out. Current Training Focus: 10K training to build some leg speed before beginning Chicago Marathon training. Current Training Plan: Jack Daniels 5K/10K Phase II Week 1 Plan Week's Intention: this was a repeat of last week's focus. Last week, I used it as an introduction to this type of speed work without making a big effort to hit the various prescribed paces. This week, I intended to go through the plan again, but with much more focus on hitting paces. Summary: this week was derailed on Tuesday, day 2. I headed out for the first quality session of the ...

I still want to do this thing. I still want to figure out how to become mountain capable enough and fit enough to finish the High Five 100 while predominantly training in Florida. And I want to do it by the time I turn age 55. All that said, I'm rethinking how I want to go about doing that. My initial plan had been to spend the years from age 46 to 55 practicing in the mountains by completing Hardrock qualifiers and chasing an entry into the Hardrock 100 Endurance Run. Then once that happened, running Hardrock (likely uncrewed) as the final puzzle piece before jumping into High Five 100. It was a fine plan. It was a plan that excited me in many ways. It was a plan that did have a big potential flaw in it.  The flaw, I want to be spending time and hiking and running in the San Juan mountains. Hardrock is in the San Juans, but none of the qualifying races are. At first, I figured that would be fine. It would be fun to travel to new places and experience different mountains. And that...

  2024 Jacksonville Marathon - A PR! I've been battling with myself for several weeks deciding whether I actually wanted to write this little diddy or not. I'm going to be sharing perhaps a bit too openly and honestly for my own comfort here, and haven't been sure I want to do that. I've finally decided that it's probably a good thing. And knowing nobody really reads this space, not a terribly unsafe thing either. So, I begin... Looking back at 2024 brings up a lot of emotion. The year concluded on such a high note with my run at the Jacksonville Marathon in mid December where I set a PR and executed a marathon the best I ever have, whether racing or pacing. It was a wonderful way to close out the year and I was left giddy for days with the way that race went. But I'm kind of starting at the end of the story, not the usual way to begin. The truth is 2024 was a deeply challenging year for me, both professionally and personally. I struggled with physical health. I...

After having the good luck to grab a pair of these Saucony Endorphin Elite 2s from the tiny drop in June and sitting on these for nearly six months, I finally got to use them in a marathon on Saturday. And they are sublime, my absolute favorite shoe for the marathon so far. By a wide margin. Yes, exceptionally soft. And also very fast and efficient at any pace I've tried. The fit is very similar to the Saucony Endorphin Elite 1, which is mostly generous yet well held. The toe box is a bit less spacious than the 1, but only by the most marginal amount. Other than that, fit and hold are exceptional both through the midfoot and the heel. I came out of my marathon without a hint of a hot spot or blister or black toenail. My toes aren't even sore. The ride is weirdly forgiving. Run with pace, and it offers pace back. Run easier, and it rolls along efficiently and protectively. Get up on your toes, and you fly. Tire a bit and fall back on the heels, you still fly. Explosive, yet easy...

Saturday I ran the Jacksonville Marathon and am as pleased about how a race went as I have been in a long time. I think it’s safe to say this is probably as well as I will ever execute a marathon. I trained using a “old man” training plan designed to offer a bit more rest and recovery, but still pretty aggressive. I hoped to be able to run in the 2:54.xx range to bring me half way from my current PR to 2:50, which is the lifetime goal I’m chasing.  Training went well and I was pretty confident that I could run Jacksonville well. And run well I did, finishing in 2:54.46. I surprised myself. The weather forecast looked very nice a week before the race, then continued to fall apart as the race approached. 63 degrees and rising, few clouds, 90+% humidity, 16 mph winds were not going to make for ideal conditions. I decided the night before to go for my C goal and run conservatively, which was to take any PR. The B goal I had set weeks before was to run the 2:54.xx if weather was very go...

I shared that I got injured at Bighorn and ultimately didn’t finish the race. That sharing leads me to a thought I’ve been having for a while. The thought, maybe a wondering, is how long should one ignore pain in training or even in a race. At Bighorn, my injure occurred in the 18th mile. I remember it exactly even though there was no specific “event” that can be tied to the injury. Suddenly, while running a downhill section that was relatively smooth dirt trail, a severe sharp pain struck in my right foot. Right along the front external edge where the ankle and foot come together. So sharp I was seeing fireworks each time it struck. It only occurred while running downhill and only when my foot twisted a certain direction. I hadn’t stepped on anything at the moment it struck, hadn’t twisted my foot in any notable fashion, nothing really. Just sudden severe pain. I didn’t ignore the pain initially. I stopped and just sat on a rock for a few minutes absorbing it. Then I continued on expe...