Half Marathon Coming Up

 Howdy everyone! I am old.  You know you are old when you qualify for free gym memberships as a "Silver Sneaker."  You know you are old when you play pickleball in the middle of the day with other people who no longer work. To be fair, I still work part time as a free-lancer, but no denying. I am old!

Despite that, my daughter got me into running a half marathon on October 21, so I have no choice but to run more than I would typically like. Today, I ran 6.5 miles, building up my long run to a maximum of 10 miles by mid October, race on October 21.

Any old-man training advice is welcomed. We oldsters have to worry about getting injured or collapsing, etc. My old guy training program does not look anything like my younger days. I limit myself to 3 or maximum 4 runs per week, then cross-train with mainly swimming, pickleball, and some biking. I have come up with an interesting swimming workout/method that I used last winter to prepare myself for skiing at 11,000 feet, and it seemed to help. Underwater oxygen deprivation swims! My max is about 25 yards, but I am now mixing it in with interval-like training, and doing underwater "intervals."  These consist of about 20 yards underwater, with or without fins, followed by 25 yards easy swim back to the start.

Glad to finally be posting again!

Mark

 Hard to believe that it has been over 45 years since I last saw Tony Sykes.  The great drought was broken when Dr. K. organized a day out at the Parker River Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island..

We started out at Eric's place in Ipswich where we had a chance to catch up with his wife Harriet.  Then it was off to Bob Lobster and a walk in the refuge.  It was a gorgeous fall day, and a wonderful time was had by all.  Photos in the photo album linked below:

Plum Island Walk

 I haven't seen it mentioned here, but there was a star studded feature film that was set at Binghamton, and even had scenes shot on campus and the local environs.  The Rewrite staring Hugh Grant.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2509850/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

 Should we go on a run?  

    Are you kidding?

How about a hike?  

    How about a walk?

...and so the planning was complete for a pre-Thanksgiving walk in Harold Parker State Park.

A wonderful time was had by all, and it was a real treat to meet Eric's daughters and son-in-law!

 Dr. K. moved to the Hub of the Universe and in early July he and I got together for a hike in the Breakheart Reservation.  It was at the summer minimum for COVID before Delta came to town, so after the hike we had a nice lunch at a local deli.

Hi, folks, sorry we've been dormant for a while, but don't worry, we're back!  At Age 61, I decided I needed to get "back to the track," so I entered an open track meet last Thursday night here in Buffalo, NY.  I ran the mile, and then, being a glutton for punishment, also attempted the 800. Results are not posted yet (will let you know when), but unofficially, I think I ran 5:59 in the mile, and 2:50 in the 800. And since my wife was kind enough to snap a few pictures and take some video, I created this short video for your viewing pleasure. (see link below photos)

runnin' against the wind (age)

Well the holidays are coming, and in case you haven't picked out a gift for that special someone on your list I may have just the thing:

Shelly and Rhoda: the story of coach Gary Truce's paranormal investigation of a young family's otherworldly experiences.

Available at Amazon (click the link!)

Chris Lennon

Interval Training to Perform At Your Peak: Part 2

Most Of The Visitors To The Blog Who Still Have Their Memories In Tact Probably Remember Me More For Picking Up Their Disgusting Towels After Practice Than For Anything I Did With Running Flats On.  

I've been very busy in advance of publishing my memoir in a few short months to create publicity for the book and begin to share some valuable insights I've picked up over the past 13 years of exclusively running sprints, practicing mindfulness, and getting my head examined(literally).   

Although I was very uncomfortable in my own skin circa 1972-1976, I looked up to varsity members of SUNY Binghamton's Track & Cross Country Teams and have fond memories of this very good group of guys.  I hope you enjoy the video.

Regards,
Mitchell Milch, Manager of The SUNY B Track Team, 1973-1976.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb3JT4cY_KA 

What I did for my summer vacation...

The blog has been pretty quiet.  I'm missing my fix of hearing about Mark's athletic activities.

I had an okay summer.  We started with a spring trip riding the Great Allegheny Passage:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kwajspeedo/albums/72157667675568845

We didn't do it point to point but did out and backs to cover the whole thing.  So, I guess I can say we did the whole thing twice.

We did the Parks and Trails New York Erie Canal Tour.  I haven't put the pictures into an album yet.  It was a fun tour.  The riding on the canal trail got a bit boring, but the area and historical places were great.  I would tour in that area again.

We also did the Cycle Mass tour again this year.  Unfortunately the routing was pretty bad.