I am waiting for the “New Normal” but nothing seems normal yet.
I know what I want:
Feel strong – able to train like I did in 2019/2020. RECERTIFY
Eliminate hip pain
Build community through gardening and music
Be consistent – training, reading, music
Become more knowledgeable to start my landscape ecology career
I know what I’ve accomplished:
Regularly playing with clarinet and woodwind trio – joining Hollis band after Maldives
Consistent at Crossfit to build strength, working hip PT
Improved my friends and activities with Amherst Garden Club
Supported my old teams by working with LG which also helped us do critical home improvements and added the big Indonesia scuba trip this year
Working put landscape ecology on hold – but I have signed up for classes in Oct/Nov 2025 at Native Plant Trust and designed/started my own native garden this year
I’ve been reflective on last six years and the good lessons learned:
Consistency in anything is key (music, training)
The daily hour work is more important than the long runs.
Running-walking is key to hip health
Always have spare headlamp battery
Lube up! I’ve been having issues with even 40″ runs without the right clothing to prevent chafing. And lube everywhere for long runs/races.
Poles are important for mountain work
Crossfit/leg strength is key – Russian split squats, lunges. I’ve been focused on this this year
Warmup/warmdown is important
I thought I had more LL than this!! Will have to come back and add more.
Issues still to solve:
Hips still hurt
Need to lose weight
Evaluating hormones and issues related to this as I have lost stamina. Last year, the daily one hour workouts crushed me for the rest of the day every day and I couldn’t keep it up.
Be more careful planning time away as we have been gone too much this year.
The last picture below shows debris from a significant storm the week before. I was doing the Pogue Overlook run and planning on doing a long spur from the end that goes down into the canyon to get the >1 hr I needed. I passed a guy and asked him what he knew about this lower trail and kept going. I was stopped due to the debris in the pic below when I heard a crashing behind me. He was running down the hill to stop me because he saw a mother bear and her cubs and the mother was going over the hill right where I was heading. He was trying to save my life! AND he might have been one of the best looking men I have ever seen in my life – like a real life hero! So the running adventures and exploring continue.
This is the year of the comeback and seeing what is possible. I am three months into a new training program starting from a point that I could not run around my cul de sac. Last week I did a 3.5 hr run and am deadlifting over 200 lbs so gaining back some strength and endurance. I am struggling with speed, never feeling strong in any run and having the energy to run plus do strength work. I wake up and am so tired I can barely move. Every day.
Pillars to speed and endurance I believe are:
Recovery: My sleep has improved but not yet great, an hour more a night on average than pre-retirement. Need to focus also on stretching and more post workout cold stream sessions like the one heading this article!
Nutrition: Average – need to meal prep more and measure intake. It is difficult to work so hard running, and also cut back on calories to lose the 30 lbs I know I need to. This may be a big factor into my tiredness – not eating enough or the right stuff. I am adding trying to be vegetarian plus fish, which puts a kink into my normal food.
Weight loss: No progress on weight loss. I can’t lose weight when I am so exhausted all the time (between traveling to TN to help mom or just the hard workouts combined with gardening which wear me out). These extra 30 lbs make everything harder. Must. Prioritize. Nutrition.
Well crafted workouts: I am going to talk with my coach about more strides but have been doing long runs, 3-8 min interval training (too long?), hill repeats (too long?). I give each workout my all.
Strength: This I am sure is a key to toughness/durability and why, even without tons of miles every week, I succeeded in the past. I need to focus on this.
Mental toughness: The stress of dealing with an aging parent is signifcant and perhaps worse than work because it is so personal. We are doing the best we can. During my most recent two week trip, mom went back into the hospital and all the kids got together for the first time in a while.
I read a famous cave divers’ book, Jill Heinerths “Into the Planet”. She is a true explorer. More people have gone to the moon than to the places she has been. I want to be a real explorer too! I just have to have some energy when I wake up 🙂
Move Forward Without Fear 