Screw it: 7,000 miles
I’ve decided I’m going to do it.
I’m going to try for 7,000 walking/running miles this year.
It’s going to be a push, but I think I can do it. Last year I did 6,620, so this would be 380 more miles than that. So basically one more mile per day, plus a bit extra.
That doesn’t sound too bad, but I had a lot of high-mileage days last year. Like, my minimum daily distance was 6.07 miles; my maximum was 41.32.
[Insert five minutes of me dicking around in R making boxplots and such. Here is said boxplot of daily distance.]
My average daily distance for last year was just over 18 miles (18.09 to be a bit more exact). I need to bump that up to about 19.18. Again, not that much, but that’s an extra 1.1 miles every single day, and that’s also assuming I have either the same number of high distance days as last year or an equivalent (distance-wise) number of high-but-not-as-high “mid-distance” days this year.
BUT IT MUST BE DONE. A GOAL HAS BEEN SET.
VROOM.
Look at these shenanigans
Cumulative walking/running miles by year, once again. 2023 didn’t stand a chance.
What the hell is wrong with me?
(I say as I plan on going even further in 2025)
Oh god, here we go again
It’s the annual walking/running stats blog! That nobody cares about!
JOY!!!!
Here are my walking stats for January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024.
Total number of days walked/ran: 366
Total mileage: 6,620
Total number of steps: 14,554,171
Total calories burned: 475,620
Total walking/running time (minutes): 97,325.05 [that’s about 67.59 days]
Average speed (mph) per walk/run: 4.25
6,620 miles is approximately the great circle distance between Calgary, AB and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, or between Mexico City, Mexico and Moscow, Russia.
Watch This!
It’s finally time to replace my old Garmin. He completely died on me on a run a month or so ago and so I implemented a “three strikes” rule. Three deaths during runs/walks = replacement.
And so after the third strike occurred, I decided to order a newer, slightly fancier Garmin: the Forerunner 165!
This thing has a touch screen, which is pretty wild, and a highly customizable watch face. This is what I currently have, but I’m sure I’ll change it like 200 times.
Hopefully he’ll last a long time!
THREE THINGS TODAY IN ORDER OF OCCURRENCE
Thing The One: it’s nice to know I can crap out 50k without having to build up to it past the marathon distance (probably because I run a marathon almost every week).
Thing The Deuce: my Fitly water running pack finally bit it today. It didn’t break during my run, fortunately, but once I got home and was unzipping one of the front pockets to get my key, the little fabric/plastic holder for one of the shoulder straps broke. It’s not actually fabric so I don’t think I can sew it, and I don’t know if I’d trust glue on it given I usually take that thing on 4+ hour runs.
Thing The Three: my mom is here for a week!
Yayz.
I am not built for the cold
IT’S NOT EVEN THAT COLD OUT YET
AND I WAS RUNNING
How does one get THIS COLD while running 18 miles? Someone tell me.
Well that was cool.
Got up around 1 AM to go do my night run (even though the days are technically cooling down now and I could probably go when it’s light). Got out on the path and noticed that there were huge swaths of green northern lights streaking through the sky. They lasted probably half of my run before dissipating.
It’s a weird thing to say, but I’ve never felt more safe during a night run. How can one get hurt under the northern lights?
(I know that’s a weird thing to say, but that’s what I was thinking while running.)
(Shut up.)
Somewhat Mid-Year Mileage Update!
So I had to switch to a new pair of shoes today and it’s been a while since I’ve done a mileage update, so LET’S GO!
Not counting today, I’ve walked/run 4,264.57 miles so far this year. That’s approximately 150 miles more than I’d done by this time last year and almost 700 miles more than I’d done by this time in 2023.
The ultimate goal is still 10,000 kilometers (about 6,200 miles)…can I do it???
Consistency, Persistence, Payoff
I think I have finally gotten to the point where running a marathon is routine. I’ve been doing a marathon basically every week this year (the only exceptions have been weeks where the weather just hasn’t allowed it, like those -30 degree nonsense weeks we had back in January) and they no longer feel that much more difficult than my regular 18-mile runs.
And that was one of my goals this year – to make that distance a “routine” distance – and now it is.
So that’s cool I guess.
Well that was an experience I didn’t need at 3 AM.
Soooooo I got pepper sprayed on my run this morning.
Inadvertently. Indirectly.
Let me explain.
So we’re still in the “go run at 2 AM because it’s too damn hot during the day” period of the summer, and that’s what I did this morning. I did my usual route on the river path towards and through Bowness. Bowness is pretty quiet that time of night (I run through there around…3:00-ish?), but I do see one or two “regulars” walking around as I’m heading toward Bowness Park.
This morning, though, there appeared to be a confrontation going on in the parking lot by the Esso station. A man and a woman were arguing very loudly. There were two guys at the bus stop next to the gas station and I heard one of them say he was going to call the cops, so I figured I would just keep running and let the cops deal with whatever was going on.
I was running on the sidewalk next to the parking lot; there was no traffic, so I ran out to the other side of the road to get as far away from the confrontation as I could (the sidewalk, conveniently, doesn’t exist on the other side of the road across from that lot. Because why would it?).
Well, apparently I didn’t get far enough away, because at that moment she must have blasted him with pepper spray or something and I ended up getting the downwind gust of it right as I ran past. Right in my eyes, right in my mouth.
My eyes immediately started tearing up big time; I produced about a gallon of snot in half a second and I could feel the sting of the spray down my throat since I was breathing hard from running.
I had to stop behind the church about half a block away and just snot out the entire contents of my sinuses for about five minutes before I could see/breathe/function again.
So let’s pause for a second. Any reasonable person, upon getting (slightly) pepper sprayed during their run, would probably stop, right? Get a taxi or bus home and take care of the damage.
But remember: I am not a reasonable person.
So I kept running.
My reasoning was that I’d get to the water fountain in Bowness Park faster than I could ever get home regardless of transportation method, and I could use the fountain to wash out my eyes/mouth/etc. The water fountain was about a mile and a half away and it actually wasn’t too bad running down there. Once I got to it, I flushed the hell out of my eyes and mouth and even washed the insides of my ears a bit. I don’t know the physics of pepper spray so I figured I’d just try to stay away from touching my shirt/running pack as much as possible in case they got anything on them that would transfer to my skin. Then I continued my run for about three more miles, turned around, and headed home.
And took a proper shower once I got there.
So yeah. Not the ideal way to start the day and interrupt a nice run, but whatevs.
At least I didn’t get point-blank blasted with it, I guess.
The 3 AM Run
Pros:
- No sun
- No sunscreen
- Nobody’s out on the trail
- Minimal traffic
- 18 miles done by 6 AM
- The ambient temperature is actually still decreasing until like 5:30 AM, so there’s that to look forward to rather than a constantly increasing temperature like I’d get if I left at my usual 6 AM
Cons:
- Getting up at 2 AM
- Moose encounters (namely, the heart-stopping experience of seeing a silhouette slowly emerge in your headlamp beam and realizing that it’s a big-ass moose that’s looking right at you)
- Bowness Park is pretty creepy in the pitch black
Running Swag
I got my Calgary Marathon stuff a while ago, but I waited until my mom was here to open the package. Behold!
Shirt image:
Medal:
It’s too bad they’re not going to be doing the ultra distance anymore after this year. The marathon’s going to be the longest.
Run, Calgary, Run!
So remember that really horrible day that I ran my 60K for the virtual Calgary Ultra Marathon?
Turns out I could have picked a worse day to do it: the day of the actual marathon.
My day was windy as hell, but was otherwise not too bad.
Today, the day of the actual marathon, was also windy as hell but came with a bonus hour and a half of POURING RAIN.
I don’t mind running in rain. But when the downpour hit, it was around 8:30 in the morning. Based on when the ultra started this morning, I estimated that I’d be about halfway through the race by that time. Which would mean another 18-ish miles of either getting rained on or running in soaking wet clothes/shoes/socks.
So yeah.
I’m okay with my virtual decision now. I was really regretting it for a few weeks there, but at least now I am blister free and not lying on the ground at the finish line in pre-hypothermia mode like I’d be if I ran today.
FUN!
Fun Thought:
I haven’t bled through a pair of shoes in a while.
TIME TO CHANGE THAT!
Around mile 10 of my marathon today, I realized that the front of my right foot felt kind of wet, as if I’d stepped in a tiny puddle.
Turns out…
I didn’t want to stop to take my shoe off and it wasn’t hurting yet, so I continued onward. It actually didn’t hurt too badly until I got back home and took my shoe and sock off.
Observe:
Could be worse. I thought my toenail just sheered off or something. Instead, I had a hole in the toe of my sock and the exposed part of the toe had the top layers of skin rubbed off. It bled a lot more than it deserved to for that small of an injury.
Bandage has been applied; walking and running must resume!
(Thrilling blog post, I know.)
Vrooma-Vroom-Vroom
I didn’t mention this when it happened because of SHAME, but a few weekends ago I went running early in the morning and, around mile 7 or so, started feeling some twinging at the back of my ankle. It wasn’t too bad and it wasn’t constant, but it was a sharp enough pain that it actually made me stop running and call Nate to come pick me up because I didn’t want to risk it becoming an actual injury.
(Ultimate humiliation, by the way. I still feel embarrassed. I’ve never not finished a run before.)
It didn’t hurt when I walked or anything, but I gave it a few days before I ran again. While there was still a little pain on the first run, it wasn’t too bad. It slowly got better and I limited my runs to my shorter distance (17 miles) instead of doing any long runs.
Today, though, I tried my first long run since the twinging and was able to do a marathon with no twinging/pain/whatever.
So that’s cool.
Hopefully it was just a little bit of tendonitis? I feel like I’d experienced that pain before, but not since I really first started running. I’m 98% sure I have some shin splints* going on in the opposite leg, so maybe I’ve been running weird to compensate for that pain. Also, I think I was wearing my old pair of shoes a bit too loose. Also also, I did that 60K several weeks ago and was running in less than ideal conditions for about half of it, so maybe that angered the tendon or muscle or whatever the hell was twinging. I’m not actually sure.
Hopefully it’s all better now and I can get back to my regularly scheduled running programming and possibly do a better 60K before the Calgary Marathon virtual cutoff so that I don’t have to count that pathetic 10:30 minute pace one.
*It’s either that or, like, a hairline fracture. Not sure which and too scared to find out.
Huh…
I just finished another pair of shoes (500+ miles), which meant that in addition to starting the new pair, I saved and exported the old pair’s mileage from my iPod so that I could start the count anew with the fresh pair.
As mentioned somewhere previously on this blog, I’m not actively going for a new mileage record this year (which has been incredibly demotivating), mainly because I’m pretty sure my entire family would want to throw me in the river if I were to obsess over mileage even an iota more than I did last year.
So when I checked my mileage progress for this year so far as I entered the new miles in my little spreadsheet, imagine my surprise when I found this:
- Cumulative miles from January 1 to May 2 in 2023 (my record year so far): 2040.27
- Cumulative miles from January 1 to May 2 in 2024: 2125.24
UM.
But then I realized that 1) I had not yet bumped up my daily mileage to 18 miles in 2023 by this point in the year, and 2) I had not yet run a marathon distance in 2023 by this point in the year, whereas I’ve done multiple marathons, multiple 50 Ks, and a 60 K so far this year.
Still, though, I was not expecting the mileage to be that close and for 2024 to be (even a little bit) higher.
I’m going to have to try really hard not to use this as a sign from the universe to go for a new mileage record.
Really, really, really hard.
Also, I’ve taken over 101 million (recorded) steps since I moved to Calgary, which is pretty sweet.
Sixty
It’s done, yo!
My first 60 kilometer (37.28 mile) run.
This was NOT The day to do this. I was not in the mood to run today, I felt like garbage this morning, I got up later than I wanted to, and I ran approximately 18 consecutive miles into 30 mph headwind.
(Hence the terrible pace)
But I did it anyway because I’m stubborn like that.
So this is currently acting as my virtual ultra for the Calgary Marathon. Will I do another one of these? Possibly, if for no other reason than to overwrite that terrible pace.
But the distance has been accomplished at least once, and that’s fine with me.
NOBODY CARES
What normal people do when they’re sad and want to be happy again: listen to music, be with family/friends, go for a walk, watch a fun TV show, eat tasties.
What I do when I’m sad and want to be happy again: sign up for marathons
I HAVE A PROBLEM
Anyway, I’m signed up to do Bloomsday, several marathons, a 50K, and the Calgary Marathon Ultra (60K) over the next several months, so LET’S GOOOOOOOOOO
(I wanna die)
Early Morning Vrooming
I was planning on just doing an 18-mile run this morning because we were going to head to Nate’s parent’s place for an overnight stay, but plans fell through and I ended up doing a 50k instead.
Because I’m that kind of person now.
I probably could have gone for my 60k if I had taken water with me. The drinking fountains aren’t on yet and by the time I was at mile 28 or so it was starting to get quite warm out.
So maybe next weekend.
Oh. Also. For the first twenty miles or so, I’m just minding my own business, thinking about all the weird stuff I always think about on my runs…but then guess what song pops into my head?
It was stuck in my head for ELEVEN MILES.
Freaking AI.
HE DID IT, GUYS
Remember when I posted about Russ Cook (“Hardest Geezer”) and his attempt to run the length of Africa?
He finished today.
It took him 352 days and a lot of health, political, and logistical issues, but he did it.
That’s absolutely ridiculous. He was running like 60K+ every single day. I can’t even imagine that.
You can still donate to his charities!
Today’s Running Question: Can I Beat the Storm?
Answer: Nope.
I could see the clouds encroaching, but I could not outrun them. Got blasted with wind and very cold rain for about five miles.
But the payoff was nice:
Adventures in Running: Ultra Marathon, Non-Potable Water, and Waiting to Die
Ha.
So.
Today I went for a run. Nothing unusual there. I was aiming for at least 29 miles, but was hoping to do another 50k because it’s been a while and I REALLY need to get my mileage up for the 60k coming in May/June.
The run was really nice. Not too hot, not too cold, not too many people out, and I was deliberately trying to take it a bit slower than normal so that I wouldn’t completely burn out if I decided to go for the 50. Also, rather than run through the icy/slushy/wet hell that is Sue Higgins Park (a dog park), I took Nate’s advice and crossed the river to run on the other side.
I also did this because there were public bathrooms there that I was sure I had gotten water from last summer (we had walked down there with my mom).
So all was going well. The other side of the river was WAY nicer than the dog park side, and when I got to 14.5 miles, I turned around to head back home with the intention of stopping at the public bathroom (mile…18?) to grab some water with my little collapsible silicone cup.
Luckily there was no one in there, so I just held my breath (Covid fears…yes, I know, I know…), filled up the cup all the way, and went back outside to drink it.
Tasted kinda off, but not too bad.
Went back in to get some more just to wash out my mouth a little.
And when doing so, I noticed the big sign on the wall: “DO NOT DRINK THE WATER”
Sooooo…yeah. Apparently I’d just drank non-potable water.
(Which is weird, because I’m sure that I drank from that sink last year, hence my not even considering there was a “don’t drink the poop water” sign anywhere)
So I spent the rest of my run wondering if/when I’d experience any negative side effects from that.
I did do 50k, though, and was actually able to run up our hill at the end of the distance, which is not something I thought I’d be able to do at mile 30.5.
So maybe the poop water gave me extra power?
We’ll see if I die in the next few days, haha.
(One can only hope.)
Running Worries
So my ultra marathon is in like three months and I have barely been able to train for it at all because the weather’s been ass. I don’t train like a normal person because my body is truly weird, so my training process is “increase the long run mileage by one mile each weekend until I hit the desired distance of 60K (37 miles).”
Right now I can run a marathon distance without much trouble (I run one every weekend I’m able to run outside), so I’m going to need about 11 weeks to hit my goal.
BUT TIME IS RUNNING OUT
Part of the problem is that yes, I have a treadmill, but there’s no way in hell I could ever run that far on it. I can barely do 14 miles and 18 (my treadmill version of my weekend “long run” when I can’t go outside) is really tough.
So I won’t be able to work on increasing my distance until I’m able to (consistently) run outside.
Like…last weekend was great! 27 miles outside, no problem. But this weekend is too freaking cold (and snowy) to be doing anything outside,* so I had to do a short “long run” and not work on increasing my miles.
It’s just frustrating. It also doesn’t help that I was just really lucky with the weather last year this time and had no problem ramping up the mileage to hit marathon distance prior to the end of May.
*I walked the 1.5 miles to North Hill after running and I felt like I was in some sort of Antarctic storm simulator.
Run, Jacket, Run!
So I broke down and bought one of these jackets from the Running Room a while ago because I’ve seen a lot of Cool People out running in them and I wanted to be a Cool People, too.
I got the “racing red” one, because of course I did.
(I’d get one of those brighter ones, but my running gear gets SO DIRTY SO QUICKLY and I don’t want to run around in a grimy bright green thingy.)
I finally got the chance to wear it on my run the other day and it’s FREAKING GREAT.
It looks like it would be like any other jacket of this material and not breathe at all, but it does. It’s also got mega armpit vents that you can unzip to keep cooler if needed.
The small is really big on me ‘cause I’m short as hell, but it’s still big enough to go over my running pack rather than having to fit underneath it. And the sleeves are nice and long, too, which makes up for the lack of thumb holes.
So if you live in Canada and/or are ever up here looking for a nice running jacket, give this one a try!
STILL GOT IT
It’s good to know I can still do a marathon even though I haven’t been able to get outside and run that distance in several weeks.
I hate being stuck inside.
OH, and I lost another toenail. Kinda. This is just like the top layer of one of my toenails, but that still counts, right?
PUT IT IN THE TOENAIL BAG!
(Also, absolutely no nausea today, so who the hell knows.)
Eigenblogger 