Three weeks! It’s been three weeks of blogging that I’ve missed. Life got busy and before I knew it the month was over. The good news is that I hit my goal of “Running more this month than last month.” That has been my goal since the start of 2024 and will continue through the end of the year.
Before I start bloviating about the benefits of discipline on running and overall fitness, let’s take a look at my raw numbers from March.
106.76 total miles (All running miles)
10.18 miles: My longest run on March 16th.
22 hours: Total time dedicated running and lifting.
81% of those 22 hours was dedicated to running with 19% dedicated to lifting and other activities such as the step-mill, Jacobs Ladder, rowing and more.
5: Different running locations: North Carolina, Massachusetts, Florida, Castaway Cay (Caribbean) and Onboard the Disney Dream Cruise Liner.
9 total ZERO Days of no running at all.
2: Most ZERO days taken in a row.
29 miles: The most I ran in one week in March. (I’ve yet to break a 29 mile week this year)
The last accounting I left you with was a review of our Disney Cruise and it ended with a Pi(e) Day Run with Clayton Area Runners. March 14th was the last you heard from me! My hiatus from writing had no correlation to a downturn in running. In fact my running continued, despite the traveling, harsh weather conditions and significant increases in pressure from life. In fact, I think running and fitness in general are great mitigators to anxiety and stress and help with the mental fatigue that is associated with daunting tasks, expectations and requirements.
We need resiliency to face the complexities of life and I can’t think of a better way to build that capacity than through fitness. My preferred modality is running but that doesn’t blind me to the benefits of lifting, cycling, rowing, hiking, pickleball, hockey, rugby, basketball, yoga, or any of the other modalities of fitness.
So let’s dig into the last 17 days of March for a glimpse into what I’ve been doing.
I created the video above while traveling for work to Cape Cod, MA. I spent 10 days in the Cape and honestly, that video, shot on Day 1 was the ONLY day of blue sky and sunshine. The remaining 9 days were cloudy, cold, windy and rainy. It was miserable! The weather forced me to find an alternative to being outside, so I found the local YMCA and plenty of indoor treadmills.
At the local YMCA I found something I hadn’t seen in 15yrs. A Jacobs Ladder!
After a few miles on the treadmill I decided to jump back on this thing. It was like riding a bike, just took a few moments and I was back in the saddle and destroying myself. This contraption is like climbing a tilted ladder that NEVER ends, the wooden bars just keep rotating under you over and over and over. The closer you get to the top the faster the bars move! This thing is a total body destroyer, from your legs and hips to your arms and shoulders. Just when I think my legs and arms are tired, my heart is about to jump out of my chest. If you see one of these in your gym, give it a go!
My days in the Cape seemed to blur together in a never ending cycle of grey skies, cold wind and rain. The only reprieve from the poor working conditions was a visit from “Ozzy” making the drive down to link up with me for dinner. It was good to see my friend again and have a robust conversation of politics, social issues, family, fatherhood and fitness with some reminiscing about being young Paratroopers a couple decades ago. If you don’t know about “Ozzy”, read about him on The Trailhead.
When it was time to leave New England I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. The weather back home in The South was sunny and warm with tree’s full of leaves and flowers blooming everywhere. As far as NE was concerned, it was still the middle of winter and I could have sworn I saw a few billboards that warned “Winter is Coming”.
Once back home in the comforting embrace of The South, covered in a blanket of pollen, it was time to get in another Monthly Trail run with the club to close out the month. I organized a trail run with a follow on breakfast social and the turnout was great!
The trail run was 8.24 miles total and took just over 1hr 30mins. It’s always fun running with a group like this, especially when the pace is comfortable and nobody is out there to compete or push the pace to a race pace. This was a social run followed by a social breakfast at the trail head.
The next day was Easter and the end of the month of March. Even though I had 9 days ZERO miles, I still managed to run more miles this month than last month. Let’s take a look at my miles so far this year, knowing my goal.
January: 100.25 miles
February: 103.34 miles
March: 106.76 miles
March was an incredible month across the broad spectrum of experiences, from great highs to dull lows. We celebrated my wife’s birthday onboard our first Disney Cruise and I ran the Castaway Cay 5K in the Bahamas. It was a great experience that I look forward to doing again. However, on a not-so-great note, my friend Robert is dealing with a lingering injury and we didn’t log any miles together this month. I’m hoping he recovers quickly and fully and by the time the summer rolls in he’ll be back to running, pain free.
In the Long Run of life, it’s not all the miles that makes life better, it’s the miles you log with friends. It’s the people you meet in the running community, it’s the friends you make within the realm of running. It’s human interaction and human bonds that make The Long Run so enjoyable.