2,000 Year-to-Date Milestone

12:07 am, August 9th, 2021 | Eau Claire, WI 

State - South - Fairfax - McElroy - Lamont - London - Harding - Barstow - Grand 

Everything collides. This run came together to round off the 31st Week of 2021; hitting 2,000 miles logged in the year. When I started running again in March of 2020, in the back of my mind I had the goal of running  2,000 miles in a year. 

Why? Honestly? There's a photograph of Steve Prefontaine in high school wearing a "Pirates 2,000 Mile Club" t-shirt during a training run. I instantly thought, "That's cool! I want to be in that club!" I attempted it once back in 2018 and was right on track to get it, 1,826 miles is what I wrote on my training white board and 1,826 miles is where it stayed.  I was diagnosed with Lyme disease and all running came to a halt. 

This last March I reached that goal (March 25th 2020 - March 16th 2021) and celebrated by running a marathon distance up and around Lake Namekagon in the Chequamegon National Forest.

It's an arbitrary goal. But moreso than the mileage, it means that I’ve stayed healthy, been able to improve my endurance, strengthen my body and learned patience and consistency. That sort of progress is a big deal and something worth celebrating. 

I use to not understand that I could run slow. I mean, of course I knew I *could*, but why would I? I vaguely knew about pacing, but I never fathomed going out and running 2-3 minutes slower than my normal pace. What made sense to ME was to go out and rip it every time. That trade off meant towing the line between injury and burnout, which I've done a lot of. By slowing down, listening to my heart, body and prioritizing health and recovery above racing or performance goals, I’ve managed to go further than I ever thought I could.

So that’s super cool.

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Tonight's run kicked off by running past Owen Park, over the Water Street bridge and up State Street hill. I've learned these neighborhoods a bit better in the last couple of months, so I meandered through residential streets, passing by South Middle School - running a lap around the track (of course) and carrying on through.

The air was humid and with a feint haze from Canada's forest fires lingering in the air. My breathing stayed controlled. I made my way to Fairfax park, flipping on my headlamp, I traversed the trails in front of me, careful not to roll an ankle while taking in the dark calm of the surrounding area. Silent and alert is harder than it sounds. I haven't run on these trails since the Old Abe Cross Country Invite in 2006. What a trip. 

Fairfax haze

The trails spit me out onto Fairfax street as I made a quick turn onto Damon and onward to new neighborhoods. 

Remarkably enough, the streets I ran on tonight I have never been on. Not in 22 years of living here. Surrounded on all sides by main roads - Interstate 93, East Hamilton and Oakwood Hills Parkway, you'd think I would have had reason to venture through once or twice. Nope. 

Changing leaves under a street light on White Birch Court

It was quiet with long stretches of dark and the occasional street light. This neighborhood felt like every other house had been built in the early 80s. It had that vibe. I'd love to meet someone who grew up here. 

7 miles in, on McElroy Street, between street lights, I hit 2,000 miles on the year. I stopped to snap a celebratory selfie and take in the space. It was dark, the houses around me where barely perceptible; a milestone met in the dark. I kept going.

I treated this run as an ez-progression run, just looked to build a bit off of each mile   -  a progression run is where you start slower than race pace and incrementally increase your pace every mile (or every so many miles) until you finish running faster than you started. This type of workout teaches pacing, body control and discipline, all things I've sorely needed at times. This was an ez-progression, so my only goal was to run just a little faster than I did in the previous mile (no set increment of time, just by feel). 

My splits were 

1.) 7:56   2.) 8:00   3.) 7:42   4.) 7:37   5.) 7:47   6.) 7:47   7.) 7:35   8.) 7:34   

9.) 7:28   10.) 7:14   11.) 7:25   12.) 7:16   13.) 7:11   14.) 6:54   15.) 6:41

Not perfect, but neither is training, and I'm cool with that. This felt good, especially running on post-2,000 mile endorphins. The sky was dark. I would've seen more stars without the haze and light pollution. I meandered through the labyrinthian streets of this new old neighborhood and came out on a familiar intersection on East Hamilton. I carried on, through the London shopping district, a torn-up Keith Street, down Harding hill and booking it through downtown Barstow where I was greeted by some happy bar patrons outside the Mousetrap after bar-close. I turned the corner and ended flying over the Grand Avenue bridge back home. 

Light & Fog - down Harding Hill

I've noticed that the 2nd of these weekly back-to-back long-runs seem to be a little more focused, a little less mind heavy than the first. 

(My training has me stacking my long runs so I do two runs of 15+ miles within a 24 hour period to get use to running on tired legs)

I had a lot on my mind last night, but tonight I was just happy to be healthy  and vibing 🌀

2,000 miles but I'm not done yet. I don't know what the rest of this year will bring; when I first set my sights on running 2,000 miles in a year, I was stopped short by circumstances beyond my control. It was a lesson to never take lightly that which we are given, to never take a single mile for granted because being able to do this is a gift that I won't always have. So instead of setting arbitrary goals, I intend to stay focused, stay consistent, healthy and keep moving forward. I think as long as I stick to that, everything will turn out all right. 

Big week ahead of me. Happy to kick it off right. New beginnings, let’s go.