Back At It in 2024

 At the beginning of 2024, I set a goal of running 1,500 miles. With a busy job that demands a lot of travel and the usual family commitments, I've been cycling less and running more. I wanted a modest goal that would keep me disciplined - one that had a bit of slack and wouldn't cause too much stress. Just 30 miles a week...

I was doing a pretty good job of mostly staying on track and one day during April, I ran into a friend, David Fort, who mentioned that USATF Cross-Country Club Nationals was in Tacoma, WA this year and I should consider joining Club Northwest and trying to be a contributing member of their O50s team. Well, so much for stress free. Without too much consideration, I impulsively said yes and on April 25th, joined the club, and immediately realized I needed to start getting in shape. Until this point, I'd basically been running base miles and no intervals or tempo runs. Yikes!

On May 27th, I turned 51 and managed to run a 3 mile tempo at 5:53, 5:59, 5:48. So, not terrible, but not exactly fast either...Looking through my calendar, I still wasn't doing any interval work and July and August was a lot of travel for work and vacation. So, more steady runs...August I ran a total of 140 miles...

By the time September rolled around, I was keenly aware of the looming xc season and I finally started throwing in intervals. October was more travel internationally for work and finally, on November 10th, I showed up at Lincoln Park, Seattle for PNTF Masters, an 8K race and my first time in the orange Club Northwest singlet. To my surprise, I managed to run that in 28:45, good enough for 3rd in the M50 group and 13th overall. My first race in 2 years and I acquitted myself not too bad. Had to dig deep  and was helped enormously by my family and friends that came along to cheer me on. 

Next up was Regionals down at Chambers Bay which is typically a big step up in terms of competitiveness. On a muddy course, and on the back of recovering from what felt like Covid (I tested negative but others in the family were +), I ran the 8K course in 29:54. I was 7th in the M50s race with our team finishing first and I was the 3rd finisher on the team. Solid if unspectacular. All that was left now was a bit more training and then Nationals! And so, on December 14th, Nationals was held at Chambers Bay and Club Northwest was the hosting team. And, what a day it was. The evening before the race, the team's tents had blown over the railway and into the Puget Sound. When I got there on Saturday morning, it was 20 mph winds, and intermittent rain, with rain having been on and off all week. In our race, we had > 350 runners - the biggest xc field I'd been in since college 30 years ago! In the end, our team finished 3rd, frustratingly, just 1 point behind the Bowerman Track Club guys. I was 19th in the M50s field and 14th in the M50-54 age group. My time was 38:38 for the 10K course. However, as I mentioned, the weather was really something - mud, wind, and sideways rain. Also, the course was long! My Garmin had me clocked at 37:34 through 10K and the total distance was 6.4 miles.

Overall, it was a great first season with the team and I'm now tempted to see if I can keep the training going in the new year and maybe run a few track races. We'll see how fast I can go at the age of 52...By now, my 14 year old son is much faster than me and it's been a great journey watching him and his friends get faster, while we see what we have left in the tank. Here's to 2025!