I was on a ten-mile run the other day, which I stretched into almost twelve, when I started thinking about running longevity and why I have been running for as many years (about 37) as I have. You can look at longevity in a couple of different ways, but for me, I was generally thinking about how I have been able to keep putting one foot in front of the other for as long as I have. Here are some of the things that came to mind in my experience:
Running Builds Strong Joints
My neighbor will ask me on occasion if my knees are still holding up. He’s amazed that a runner like me can run and not wear out my knees, yet he’s done no running at all and hobbles around on achy joints. I’m a firm believer in “use it or lose it”, and studies have shown that running is a benefit to the joints in your lower body (Northwestern Medicine article). Yes, I have overdone it and had knee pain. I had a spell of knee discomfort for the past couple of years. But this year has been injury- and pain-free, and I’m not really sure what I am doing differently. So I have to believe that running has actually benefited my overall health in ways beyond just cardiovascular health and weight management.
Attitude
Some people wouldn’t run if their hair were on fire. Somehow, for me, I took up running, got through the “this sucks” phase, and started having fun pushing my limits. Getting over the five-mile mark one day, I had an epiphany. I felt like I could have gone many more. Once I wasn’t finding the effort to start to be a challenge, I started working on getting faster, and getting faster led to running races. I now had a reason to keep running other than just to keep the waistline in check.
I am fortunate to have a beautiful nature preserve to run through. I can’t imagine having to run miles next to a road full of cars. This helps me enjoy running.
Having Running Goals
I just mentioned how racing was a dangling carrot for me, and having goals in running certainly is a reason I keep toeing the start line. Unless the race was a real dog, I almost always signed up again the following year because I wanted to be faster or place higher in my age group. At a certain point, I might have grown tired of a certain event, or did as well as I possibly could. It’s then that I might change direction and look for other races and running goals to pursue. For example, I declared in 2024 that I was done running the Chicago Marathon and marathons in general because I think that I have accomplished all that I wanted to, marathon-wise. My personal marathon best was set at Chicago. I qualified for the Boston Marathon three times there. I just don’t know if the event is what I want anymore. So I have shifted gears and am now mostly focused on ultras and other newer-style events that I have yet to experience.
Adapting to Aging as a Runner
You can’t stop aging, and I have found that trying to run with the same intensity that I did in my younger days is not possible. I’ve had to shift and refocus. Switching from marathon running to ultramarathon running would seem like I would be making matters worse for myself, but I have experienced the opposite. Ultras require you to run slower, running slower means less wear and tear, less wear and tear means I can wake up the morning after a long training run and not feel like I have been hit by a truck. It’s pretty common for a runner to feel beat up after racing a marathon. But when I finish a similar distance training run, building to an ultra, I can have another productive run the following day without much soreness.
I owe a lot to changing my pacing for longer distances. When I started running ultras, and in particular, backyard ultras, I found that using a run/walk method of 2 minutes each was about perfect for me. Now, when I run any training run of ten miles or longer, I will almost always use the 2-minute run/walk as my pacing plan.
Triathlon as Cross Training
Before I took up triathlon, my running was somewhat stagnant. I had plateaued; I wasn’t getting any better, and I was becoming bored with running. My buddy John kept putting triathlon in my ear, and I finally joined him and his brother Dave in racing tri’s. That forced me to add swimming and cycling to my workout routine. The biking helped strengthen other parts of my legs. And I had to cut back on running to fit swimming and biking into my day. The reduction in my running miles was key because I was spending too much time running without the benefit of getting faster. The marathon PRs and the BQs both came after I started doing triathlons.
To add to that, triathlon was my introduction to following a training plan. Before that, I was just winging it. Following a training plan taught me how to build in phases, keep the workouts in Zone 2 mostly, and keep the race pace stuff for races rather than going at it hard in training. It definitely improved my ability to train smart and make it through 30-weeks of training to get to race day without being injured or burned out.
Laying off when necessary
In 2015, I started a running streak. Being a “streaker” in running generally means that you consecutively run at least one mile a day. My streak was great for me until I started to get a little burned out, and I felt like I was overtraining. I was tired of having to put in a mile after big races as well. So I decided to end the streak. You can read about my streak here: RIP Running Streak
Also, I’ve learned to skip it when I don’t feel like it. It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes life has other things to take care of, and I don’t worry about missing a day when I decide to.
What Can I Improve On
I feel like I’m pretty dialed in with my approach to running, but there are some areas I can improve on. People often say weight training is a benefit. I really dislike weight training. I don’t really like any of it – being at a gym, the physical lifting of the weights, the boredom of it, and the fact that it often doesn’t seem tangible to me. I should probably focus on building abdominal core strength. That would improve my running fitness, as well as my overall fitness. And yes, I should stretch more. I also loathe stretching. And lastly, nutrition and diet could use some improvement. Now that my wife and I are both retired, I believe that we both desire to eat healthier foods.
Conclusion
Running for me was something that I grew into and grew to love. I can’t imagine not having running in my life. Missing a day used to make me miserable, but I’m smarter about having a day off to give my body a chance to recover. I’m grateful that over the years I was able to have a long running experience that I intend to keep building on.
What have you found in running that has given you longevity? I’d love to hear. Thanks for reading.
There’s no more morning wake-up alarm for me, but my brain didn’t get the message. My eyes popped open at 5:30 am. The difference for me this Monday morning is that I don’t need to go to work. I have retired. Should I get up? Should I try to go back to sleep? I got up.
July 10, 2026, my last day at work. They gave me a much-appreciated send-off.
The decision to retire was somewhat spur-of-the-moment for me. I was very happy working my part-time job in the neighboring town. I enjoyed the 8-mile e-bike commute to work and the same trip back on the good weather days. What pushed me to pull the plug was that my wife, Kari, had made the decision to retire from her career. After spending 30 years working at a super-high-level and stressful job, she decided to retire on July 1. She was very proud of what she had accomplished in her career, and rightfully so. But it was time to get out of the rat race. When she made her intention known at the beginning of the year, she stayed until July.
When Kari made her decision, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do the same. But when the opportunity exists to make up missed time with the love of your life and make the most of your golden years, I decided that I wanted that option. I hinted around with my bosses that I was thinking about it, but finally requested a sit-down conversation and advised them that I was leaving in July, too.
College
I had an unusual career path to retirement. When I was entering college at Western Illinois University in 1982, I learned that I needed to declare a major. I flipped through the college handbook that they give to incoming freshmen, which lists majors and classes. Most of those majors were not going to be easy for a kid who barely had a C average in high school. I came upon a major called “Law Enforcement Administration”, which seemed like something that I could get through easily enough and enjoy as a career. It was basically a major leading to a job as a cop.
Sometime in that freshman year, I sat in on a cold case presentation from the Lake County, IL, Sheriff’s Department. They covered the death of a young girl by the name of Lisa Slusser, including the crime scene and all the forensic evidence that came with it. I was in awe of the whole presentation, and immediately wanted to study to work in the field of forensic science.
I met with my academic advisor, who had already seen that I had struggled with Accounting and Computer Science classes, and was not sure if she thought that I could pull it off. Her advice was to take some science-based classes and see how I did. Not knowing anything about Chemistry, Physics, and Calculus, I somehow found myself getting through it. Most of the credit for that goes to my roommate, Dave. Dave and I have been lifelong friends, having gone from kindergarten to college together, and he was studying Pre-Dentistry and taking many of the same courses. Dave’s homework assistance and study work ethic rubbed off on me, and it allowed me to get through some of the toughest subjects that I had ever attempted.
Dave is sitting at his desk next to mine. Our dorm room didn’t have A/C, hence the reason he’s naked. 😂 Without him, I probably would have quit college after freshman year.
I declared a double major, adding Chemistry to the Law Enforcement Administration major, but with my sister coming to Western my senior year, and the need to add a fifth year for me to get the remaining coursework done to satisfy the major, I opted for making Chemistry my minor.
My last semester in college was an internship, which I was able to do at the Chicago Police Department Crime Lab, at 11th & State, Chicago, Illinois. What I learned there in one semester was more educational and interesting than what I learned the entire time I was in college.
The Career Path
Upon graduating, I ended up working at my late father’s former workplace, a liquid fuels pipeline facility, where I would mow grass and do basic maintenance around the facility. A month or two after working there, I got a call from a private crime lab director asking if I would be interested in interviewing for a position at his lab.
Forensic Scientist – Northern IL Police Crime Lab, 1986-1996
The Northern Illinois Police Crime Laboratory was located in Highland Park, Illinois. NIPCL was a private lab that provided crime lab services to about 35 police agencies, designed to give an alternative to the very backlogged Illinois State Police and Chicago Police crime labs. My name had been passed to the director (a former CPD lab guy), and he was looking for a trainee. I was hired in August 1986.
Working at the NIPCL was an experience that was just what I was hoping for. I succeeded in finding a job in forensics. My main duties were in Chemistry, analyzing toxicology (DUI) cases, and drug cases. Seeing that we were a small lab, I was more of a generalist rather than a specialist and would also be involved in trace examinations and some fingerprint work as well. Imagine my surprise when I found a box of evidence-related items on the shelf one day labeled “Lisa Slusser Murder.” It was a full-circle moment, seeing that the lab had handled the same murder case that had piqued my interest in the career back in college.
Our desks consisted of two filing cabinets with a cabinet top thrown on top of them.
Of course, we were screwing off just as the boss came walking in with a cup of coffee. He was a tough boss, but he did have an impact on me, especially the part where he insisted that I start saving for retirement. I wasn’t worried about retirement, and really just wanted to have some cash to spend. Taking his advice back then is one of the reasons I’m typing this post today.
I got to be included in a lot of high-profile cases, including the Laurie Dann shootings, the Dr. Martin Sullivan killing, the Suzanne Olds killing, and the biggie, the Brown’s Chicken Massacre in Palatine, Illinois. I played a significant role in the finding and retention of the evidence that convicted the killers in that case.
I have no idea what I’m holding here, but I was having some fun.
The lack of a degree in a natural science would lead to my position being eliminated due to the lab seeking accreditation at the time, which had a natural science degree requirement. After almost ten productive years, I packed up my stuff in a box and headed home to my wife and new baby in February of 1996.
Kari was very supportive as I looked for a new job to keep us afloat. It was scary losing a job while having a new baby as well as a new home, wondering how we would be able to keep living there. Kari asked me if I would mind if she also looked for a job. Of course, I had no problem with that at all. She would find an entry-level position at a major health insurance company in Chicago, where she would quickly rise up the ladder, and lead to a 30-year career as an executive. My losing my job was serendipity. Her finding that specific job and succeeding the way she did is 100% the reason why we are both retiring comfortably and at an earlier age than most people.
By July 1996, I would answer an ad for a Civilian Evidence Technician and be once again gainfully employed.
Schaumburg, Illinois, is a fairly large western suburb of Chicago. The department was fairly large as well and could employ a non-sworn civilian in the role of evidence technician. My background in evidence helped me get the job. My responsibilities were to process crime scenes and to also work in the darkroom, processing mugshots and crime scene film, and printing photos.
July 9, 1998 – I would take a photo of myself to use for color balance when printing up mugshots. Apparently, I was living in a dull grey world.
There were some interesting crime scenes to process, and I worked on one case in which the evidence I gathered helped convict a couple of guys who had killed a guy in town. I also backed up the property room guy, helping with maintaining the evidence and property we kept. That guy was eventually fired, and I’m not really sure why, but I was told that I would be moving into that role. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that, and the sergeant informed me that I really wasn’t in a position to say no. Seeing that our day care provider was moving out of state, I thought I might be more of an asset raising our two young kids as a stay-at-home dad. Kari agreed, and I left SPD in 1999.
Mr. Mom – Home, 1999-2013
Being a Mr. Mom was such a highlight in my life. Watching our now three kids, Ben, Ashley, and Rebecca, was an opportunity that I was grateful to have. I never had a moment of regret leaving the workforce to be a full-time stay-at-home parent. The idea was that I would be a Mr. Mom until they were in school full-time, and then find another job, but as Kari was rising in the ranks in the corporate world, it just wasn’t a necessity to supplement our income. My mother had moved in with us when we built a new house, and it was great having that family dynamic for my kids as well. Plus, it was such a great asset to have a live-in babysitter, too.
My kids made being a Mr. Mom a delight.
Mom took ill and passed away in 2012. By then, Ben and Ashley were in high school, and Rebecca was approaching junior high school, and I decided that I needed to find something to do with my free time, now that I no longer needed to be there for my mom. I replied to a records clerk position ad in the paper with a local police department and got an interview.
Property Room Specialist – New Lenox Police Department, 2013-2026
Kari and I both grew up in New Lenox, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago. It was a sleepy little bedroom community with about 7000 citizens when I was a kid. Now it has about 28,000 people living there. New Lenox is next to our home in Mokena, so when I was looking in the weekly local paper, I spied an ad for a records clerk with NLPD. I applied and interviewed, and was pleased to see the deputy chief in the interview had been a friend of my sister’s when we were young. We had a nice interview, and I went home pleased with how it went. A few days later, I received a call from human resources saying that they were hiring someone else for the position, but were wondering if I would be interested in managing their evidence and property room. I didn’t hesitate at all when saying yes to that job offer. It was a little surprising to say that, seeing that I left Schaumburg because I didn’t want to do that job. But I had experience with managing evidence/property, and a strong background in the software program that they were purchasing to manage it.
I made my office a shrine to myself.
I hadn’t seen the property room until my first day, and of course, I was walking into a room full of stuff that hadn’t been managed very well for several years. NLPD was building a new police station, and the goal was to get rid of as much property as we could prior to moving. I got busy and worked hard at reducing our inventory while entering all the stuff we had to keep into our new evidence management system. Eventually, I got the unit to the point where it was “caught up,” meaning that there was more stuff being disposed of than there was coming in. I’m glad I was able to be productive in my role.
I’m proud to leave NLPD with a well-organized property and evidence room.
It was here that I met several people who became my friends. To avoid forgetting to name someone, I won’t list them, but nearly everyone I worked with became a special person in my life. Retiring from NLPD and leaving those people was the hardest part of deciding to retire. I will stay in touch.
So there you have it. Three jobs in law enforcement, none of which were sworn positions, which is quite unique if you ask me. And I’ll never retire from being a dad.
Retirement
I’m not sure what retirement means for Kari and me yet. We don’t have any immediate plans. We just plan to take each day as it comes and see what retirement life leads us to. I’m sure we will travel a lot, and I will continue to do my running and triathlon adventures to keep me busy. Hopefully, someday soon we will have grandkids to chase around. Until then, one day at a time.
As I train for my fall ultramarathon, my long runs are mostly done using a run/walk method. At this stage of my life, I don’t see the point of beating myself up by running long miles at a fast pace. The run/walk approach keeps me from overtaxing my leg muscles, allows me to recover more quickly, and trains my mind to handle being on my feet for long periods of time. I set my watch to alert me every 2 minutes to run or walk. This gives me a running pace of about 12:13 minutes per mile, which is perfect for running backyard ultras. The alert consists of audible beeps and a vibration to make me aware that it’s time to start walking or running. But I miss the beeping because I often don’t hear it. And the vibration is becoming unnoticeable as well. If it is windy outside, or there are car noises and such, the alert can be difficult to hear. If I’m wearing a jacket or gloves that cover the watch, I may not hear it at all. It also alerts me to drink every ten minutes and to down a gel every 30 minutes, which helps me stay on top of hydration and nutrition.
I’m a 62-year-old runner who just can’t hear like I used to. I played drums in grade school through college in school bands, and restarted playing the drum set in my late forties. Drums are loud, and I’m paying for it now. And drummers often drum along to music, which is also played loud. Throw in aging and some heredity into the mix, and well, it is at the point where I just can’t hear high-pitched sounds anymore.
Marching in my drumline at Western Illinois University in 1982. I’m second from the right. Ten snares could play quite loudly.
I’ve been using hearing aids to help me hear better, which have made general conversation better for me to understand. But I won’t wear them while running due to all the sweating that I am doing. Maybe I should look into some waterproof hearing aids, but my preference is the style that is completely in the ear canal. Vanity and comfort are the reasons.
I also suspect my watch is part of the issue. It’s five years old or so, and maybe the beeper just doesn’t beep as loud anymore. Maybe the vibrator thing doesn’t vibrate as hard anymore. Maybe I’m just making more excuses for my failing ability to hear.
Fortunately for me, I began my running life when such electronic gizmos didn’t exist, and therefore I learned to rely on feel. I’m good at knowing my pace. I’m good at guessing how far I have run. And I can be good at knowing when I need to run/walk or have a drink or eat a gel. I will trudge along just fine. But if you are passing me on the bike trail, make that “On your left” a little louder for me. Thanks.
What a difference a year makes! Last year was a fight for survival (link to 2025 race report), and I struggled to finish in 7.5 hours. But this year was almost a perfect day for racing a 70.3. Not only did I achieve my arbitrary goals of running a sub-2-hour half-marathon, but I also got under 6 hours for the race – by a lot, setting a new personal best for myself, too!
Training went really well for me this year. My doctor advised me that my blood work showed a very low amount of vitamin B-12. Once I added B-12 to my day, it made a huge difference. My muscles recovered more quickly and were less sore, and overall, I had more energy.
I stuck with my usual training plan, Don Fink’s IronFit Secrets for Half-Iron Distance Success, which has served me well for my three half-iron races. 16-weeks of training made me well prepared.
Prerace Notes
Kari and I got to Rockford midday on Saturday, and I was able to get checked in and put my bike into transition. We had a nice dinner at the same restaurant we ate at last year, Tavern on Clark, and I opted to not overindulge. Our same hotel (Home2) had its act together this year, and check-in went very smoothly. The only issue I had was not getting a good night’s sleep. Lots of tossing and turning, and dreaming.
Race Day
The alarm was set for 4:30am, but I got up at 4 and took a shower. Even with giving myself some extra time, Kari and I lost track of it and realized we needed to hustle to get to the Ironman Village to set up transition and catch the bus. Kari pulled up to the parking garage, and I hopped out with my stuff and headed to my bike. I set up my stuff, covered in a plastic bag as it was sprinkling, which would end by 6:45am or so. I then walked to the line to catch the shuttle buses to the swim start. Upon getting there, I realized I had not left my eyeglasses with my bike, so I ran back and put them with my helmet. That might have been bad for me. I could have dropped my glasses off at Swim Start, which the IM people would have then dropped off at Swim Out, but I’m glad I didn’t have to do that.
Although I was relieved to have remembered the glasses, the line back at the shuttle buses was now double in length, and I worried that I might have to hoof it down the 1.2 miles or so of trail to get there. I stuck it out and was able to get on a bus, fortunately.
Last year, I got a push notification from IM that the water was 79 degrees, which meant no wetsuit for me. This year, the water was 72.4 degrees! Plus, the dam upstream of Rockford had been opened, which created quite a current. It was going to be a great day for swimming.
I was a little hyped up with adrenaline at Swim Start, but somehow was able to calm myself down, talking with others and comparing notes. We were waiting in our predicted swim time groups to enter the water (I entered the water about 38 minutes after the 7am start time), and the Race Announcer was telling us that the first swimmer had exited the swim in under 20 minutes! This guy was going to be way into the bike ride before I finished the swim! Crazy.
The Swim – 28:40 / 26th M60-64 / 1062nd overall
As it turns out, 72.4 degrees is pretty damn cold! It was a little bit of a shock to the system. I swam in my new sleeveless wetsuit, and although my arms were cold, I slowly got used to it and worked my way into a good pace. After going under the first bridge, I had gotten a little off course when I swam right of one of two buoys that marked the halfway point, and I was now struggling to slow down my breathing. I saw a paddleboarder and held on to it for just about a minute to reset myself, then I proceeded to swim back to where I needed to be.
I could see the Swim Out and made a beeline for it, and was shocked to see that I clocked a 28:40 swim. I’m the world’s okay-ish swimmer, typically swimming a half-iron in about 43 minutes. This was a shocker. The Rock River was certainly rolling and in our favor today!
Happy as always to be done swimming and off to the bike.
T1 – 6:40
I wasted over 8 minutes in T1 last year, and I was determined to get out of there faster this year. Due to construction in a park where the athlete village was last year, transition was moved a couple of blocks north of there on the road. There would be no quarter-mile run to my bike this time. I was lucky to basically jog 100 yards to my bike, which was right near the entrance of T1. A wetsuit peeler stripped me of my wetsuit, and I quickly sat down, tried to dry myself off, and struggled to get my socks on. I knew the bike would start with me being cold and wet, so I opted to put on a long-sleeve (and super small – 😂) cycling top. Being super close to the Swim In meant I had a long haul to the Bike Out. I stopped and had a guy add some sunscreen to my neck and face, and he shot a bunch into my ear, and we both laughed. I pushed on to the Bike Mount zone and began what would be a great ride.
Me chuckling at the sunscreen volunteer guy who had just filled my ear with sunscreen. Also, why do I look like a stuffed sausage? Photo credit Chris Farrell
BIKE – 3:06:32 / 18th M60-64 / 802nd overall
Most of my training rides of 56 miles took me about 3:20 or so, building up to the race. With the day we were going to have – cool temps and what I considered to be a favorable wind direction – I figured I might be able to pull off 3:10 possibly. I reminded myself not to redline leaving Rockford, as it is uphill for maybe a mile or two, but my heart was pumping hard. We got to the first turn, and it’s a super fast downhill with a sharp turn at the end. Just as we were flying down it, the referee motorcycle rode very slowly past. I wasn’t more than a couple of miles into this race and was afraid I was going to get a penalty for drafting, as there was a pretty big group that hadn’t spread out yet. But he kept going, and people tried to behave when they saw him, and I quickly settled back in.
I was so glad that I had put on the extra layer, as I was somewhat cold for the first hour. Hardly anyone else was wearing an extra top, and I thought I was the crazy one. I’m not regretting it at all.
The ride north was into the wind, but fortunately, I was pretty fresh at this stage and feeling good. It seemed to me that the cross/headwind we dealt with when we started heading west was worse than the headwind we had heading north. At the first aid station, I had a near miss when some dumb rider passed me on the right as I was pulling over to the toilets. She got an earful from me, and I wasn’t nice about it. She could have really messed both of us up. There were lots of people riding out of position. Anyway, I escaped the one close call and put it behind me.
About 32 miles into the course, I turned south and started reaping the benefits of a strong tailwind and some speedy downhill sections. My watch clocked a 35 mph max speed, which was more than likely in one of these sections heading back. I was passing riders a lot heading out, but now I was passing people very consistently and with speed.
At about 46 miles, I looked at my speed and realized that if I managed to keep up this 20 mph-plus average, I might get pretty close to three hours. So I started pushing pretty hard.
The fast hill early on leaving Rockford, was now the last beast I had to overcome before rocking Rt. 20/State Street back into the city. Shocked to see my bike split at 3:03 on my watch, which still had autopause running, and the two stops at the porta-potties cost me a grand total of about 3 minutes. Pretty amazed at that.
This is either coming in to finish the bike or just heading out. Take your pick.
T2 – 4:49
As I dismounted from the bike and started jogging to my transition spot, I wasted as little time as I could. I took off the cycling gear and put on my shoes, grabbed my arm sleeves, bib belt, and visor, and I was off to hit the run course.
RUN – 1:58:56 / 14th M60-64 / 738th overall
I told myself to not go out too fast, but I felt good and was ready to beat feet. About a half-mile into the run, I saw a guy rocking a Rush cycling jersey, and I asked him if he was going to see them in Chicago. He said that he was going to all of the shows (four, I believe!). I’m going to the Monday show, so we talked Rush for a brief spell, and then I kept trucking.
First mile of the first loop. Feeling good.
I started to feel the headwind, and I was starting to feel my effort was way too strong, so I dialed it back and tried to run comfortably. At times I was cold, other times I was hot, depending on whether the wind was at my back or in my face. I walked through most of the aid stations, stopping at one or two to pee, but I was still managing just right around 9-minute miles, which I knew I had to maintain in order to get a sub-2-hour half-marathon.
My wife, with her broken foot, was undeterred in being the best supporter for me out on the run course. She positioned herself in the same shady park area as last year, and I had no trouble finding her and letting her know I was doing okay.
I really like the variety of the run course. It kept things new and exciting. Plenty of cheering fans all along the course. The guy ahead of me had just given five to the kid.
On the second loop, I pulled the arm sleeves out of my back pocket and pulled them on because I was now getting pretty chilled in the wind. I told myself to wait to kick until about 10.5 miles, and then I started picking off runners ahead of me. I got lots of “looking good” and “you got this” from spectators, so it wasn’t just me thinking I had a good pace going.
In the final stretch, trying to pace with this much faster youngin’. Photo credit Kristy Suriano
I got to the final stretch and hit the gas, and then floated down the chute to the finish line. I couldn’t believe my eyes – not only did I go sub-6 hours, I also finished in 5:45, a minute and some change faster than my previous personal best from 2014, twelve years ago!
It was a race of a lifetime for me. Certainly, the swim played a role in my overall speed and time. But I earned that bike split and that run split, as they both had equal portions of hard work into the wind and help with the wind at my back. The results will show 5:45:37, and that’s all that matters.
Post Race
Not a pose I generally strike, but I had the towel and water bottle they handed me in my hands. I kind of like it.
I stood in line to get a finish line photo, then focused my attention on recovery. Recovery is always hard for me at this distance (and most others, too), and I could sense that I’d better keep moving and get out of the finish area. I found Kari, and we walked to the backside of transition. Fortunately, the race official there said I could enter, but advised me that I couldn’t take my things out of transition until 1:45pm, as people were still on the course. I made a beeline for the toilet, as I was starting to feel a strong urge coming on. But inside, after unzipping my onesie trisuit and sitting down, I couldn’t do anything. So I made the best use of the time in there to warm up a little and kill some time.
I made it to my bike, grabbed all of my stuff, and walked to the exit where the staff checks your numbers to make sure you aren’t taking what isn’t yours. I passed through, and Kari and I walked to the IM Village to possibly get some post-race pizza. Ironman makes you walk through the IM Store because they want you to buy overpriced stuff, and I decided to see if I could pick up a name t-shirt and a new visor or hat. I got to the checkout and realized that I didn’t have my phone or wallet, but she said I could use my watch to make the payment. Great! But it wouldn’t work – it kept getting declined. So I cut bait and said I’m better off not spending $140 on three items anyway.
We almost forgot about picking up the morning clothes bag, and I asked someone who was carrying one where they were located. Fortunately, it was in the village, so I made the trek back through the store, this time ignoring the temptation to buy anything, and got my bag. At this point, I was starting to crash.
Kari and I sat for a while until I could find the energy to begin the two-block walk to the parking garage, and as I made my way up the sidewalk, I began to sort of hyperventilate as I walked. I made it across the street, and I sat on a concrete barrier while Kari went to get the truck out of the parking garage. I wrapped the finisher’s towel that I received at the finish around me, and also wrapped myself in my trisuit and sat there waiting. Kari pulled up, we tossed the bike onto the carrier, and my junk into the backseat, and off we drove. I turned my heated seats to high, put on the heater, wrapped myself with whatever towels I had in the truck, and slowly began to feel better. I’m not sure why I get so wrecked post-race (I have had some doozies), but it’s not like you can train for that. I probably needed some food/sugar/liquid, but I didn’t feel like I could stomach that at the moment.
We made it home okay, got unloaded, showered ourselves, and then went to my favorite post-race restaurant for some much-needed dinner.
Conclusion
If you are interested in some of my gear, I used the following:
Zoot one-piece trisuit
Xterra Vortex sleeveless wetsuit
2012 (purchased new in 2013) Specialized Shiv Pro bike
Garmin Fenix 6X Sapphire watch
Hoka Ceilo X1 shoes
Many thanks and love go to my wife, Kari, for always being there for me. This lady had a broken foot in a walking boot and still shuffled around after me. She won’t let me do these things by myself, and I got a feeling that if she were sick with the flu, she would be there to make sure I was okay. I’m forever indebted to her for putting up with me.
Thanks to everyone who posted kind words on Facebook about my race. I was just as awed by my finish as many of you were. I hope that maybe you all can join me in racing this race someday.
Thanks to all the other racers, volunteers, locals, and spectators/fans along the course. You truly make racing at Rockford a special day.
Thanks to local friends Chris and Kristy for taking a few action pictures of me today. And congrats to those locals in the Manhattan Tri Club (which I sorta associate with and follow). Chad, Karen, Dan, and several others did a great job!
And always, thanks to my Number 1 Fan, Carl, for always taking an interest and following my adventures. I appreciate that you are entertained and impressed by my performances.
Thanks for reading and all of your kind words.
Team Gunners (me) placed 123 out of 189 tri teams at the race! Go Me!
As I walked my dog this late morning, I saw my neighbor with his grandson, the boy scooting along on his balance bike, and the neighbor following on his bike. Neither with a helmet. When he saw me, I gave a half-hearted wave and shook my head.
With the dog walk over, I put on my running gear and headed to the nature preserve to get my five miles in. About two miles into it, where the steepest part of the route is, there was a young kid (about 4-years-old) and her mom coming down the hill at a rapid pace. As I took notice, I could see that this girl was flying, and all of a sudden the bike developed the dreaded “death (speed) wobble” (video example), and she lost control and hit the pavement hard. Mom freaked out, grabbing both brakes, and also wiped out right next to her, with her leg folding under her in the most awkward and painful-looking way. The youngster had on a helmet and popped up fairly quickly, declaring herself to be okay. Mom looked to be in pain, but was very concerned about her daughter. After realizing that they were both lucky to not have been seriously hurt, I told the mom that she may want to consider wearing a helmet as well.
Here’s the elevation of my running route. I was climbing the hill near the red X, and they were coming down the hill fast. I can easily hit 20 mph in this preserve coasting downhill.
This mom, I’m sure, felt bad about what happened, but seriously… This hilly nature preserve is not the place for very young and inexperienced riders to be riding on. It’s easy to understand why a 4-year-old is not an experienced rider, but just knowing that mom wasn’t wearing a helmet and riding a mountain bike on a wet, paved slick trail at a really fast pace also tells me that she wasn’t an experienced rider, either. I’m sure she thinks that she’s an adult and can make adult decisions for herself, and that these things won’t happen to her, but there she was, picking herself up and worrying that her kid was alright. The kid can’t make these decisions on her own. I hope she isn’t forced by mom to ride back there again until she’s old enough to handle a bike with speed.
I’ve seen numerous posts on the triathlon and cycling groups I’m on where a rider will post damaged pictures of their helmet, with the words “the doctor said thank goodness you were wearing a helmet.” I have a local friend who has crashed twice this year; both times his helmet saved him from a serious head injury.
I know I’m preaching to the choir. I know that you didn’t wear a helmet as a kid and made it out alive. I know that the kid and her mom today got up and continued to where they were going with only minor scrapes. I know. But it could have been very serious.
Race week is finally here! It always surprises me that I still get nervous with a race coming up, even with having done over 130-something races over the years. Ironman Rockford 70.3 is on Sunday, and I’m pretty excited for it this time.
The weather last year played a significant role in the inaugural race, with super-hot temperatures and a reliance on the locals in what was dubbed “Sprinkler Alley” to keep us cool by hosing us down with garden hoses and making it to the finish line. The weather watchers are already back at it again this year, and although we will have some warm temps this week, race day is looking to be a wonderful mid-70-degree day. Man, that is such a welcome relief. My only concern is that the warm week leading up to the weekend may heat the water up some, pushing us out of a wetsuit legal race. Fingers crossed that the additional rain will also help cool it down.
On Monday, I was already starting to plan out my weekend, thinking about what trisuit to race in, what nutrition I would need for the three events, and trying out my new sleeveless wetsuit for the first time in my pool. It’s a little tight around the neck, so putting anti-chafe lotion on my neck will be a must. Glad I pre-swam with it.
With the weather being cool, that means I might need to add another layer for the bike ride, or at least add some gloves and arm sleeves. Being wet after the swim will make 60-degree temps feel even cooler while riding the bike.
One thing I have learned while training this past 16 weeks is that I have been a little underhydrated and behind on nutrition on my bike training rides. That is mostly due to my bringing just enough on those rides and not anything extra. The race will have plenty of extra water and nutrition for me on the course.
I have an easy week to finish out and hopefully get to Sunday to let it rip instead of hoping to survive like last year. So, here’s to a good last week of preparation! Up next is race day!
This race popped up on my Facebook feed last year, most likely due to Facebook knowing absolutely everything about my personal life, whether I like that or not, but it seemed interesting to me, so I signed up for the Saturday race (it ran again on Sunday), and my son Ben decided to join in the fun.
I really like the backyard ultra-type format, where you run 4.16 miles every hour and see how far you can go. It’s not about how fast, just how far, and I wondered what it would be like if there was a speed element added to it. I also often wondered about my pacing in backyard ultra races, particularly whether I might be better off running a little faster than my typical 52 minutes per loop. This race would provide some answers to those questions.
The Outlast format is one 5K per hour, repeated for six hours. The runner with the fastest cumulative time is the winner. There were no age groups for this race, and it bothered me a little knowing that my best 5K effort at 62 years of age would be no match for the North Central College runner winner of this race, who was clicking off 17-minute 5Ks, while doing cool-down jogs in between the loops. Still, I chose to push myself on each of the six 5K segments and see where I would stand against the rest of the runners.
The course was a single loop that was about 3.05 miles long, according to my watch.
This was really a race of two halves for me. The first three loops were pretty good. My splits were consistent, averaging 8:44 pace per mile. It was the fourth loop that I could feel some fatigue and a sort of malaise coming on. After completing that fourth 5K in 29 minutes, I spent some time in the porta-potty with stomach issues. I got back to the tent and really didn’t feel the best. I started the fifth loop, doubling up with another long-sleeve top on, and put my gloves back on. By the time I got about 3/4 mile into it, I was in trouble – I had an urgent bathroom need, but had no place to go. I stopped running and walked off the course to possibly squat behind a tree, but everyone in the race coming along would have been witnesses to some extremely embarrassing stuff for me. I opted to not crap in the open in front of everyone, and thought about calling it a day and heading back to the start and drop out of the race. But I chose to just keep walking, and eventually the need to go subsided. I somehow made it back to finish that loop and immediately headed to the porta-potty. A few minutes in there made a difference for me, and I felt 100% better after. The sixth and final loop of the race went really well, and I pushed myself to a good finish.
Here are my splits according to my watch:
26:19 – 8:37 pace / I started a little too strong and overheated a little
27:07 – 8:54 pace / Held back a little at the start, but a much better lap
26:10 – 8:35 pace / My best split of the day
29:00 – 9:35 pace / Trouble started to brew
34:22 – 11:22 pace / Almost crapped my pants, decided to walk
28:08 – 9:21 pace / Feeling good again, finished with a strong lap
Ben & I at the just before loop 1. I started with pants, took them off after the lap.Second lap finish. I’m old! But my legs look good. I put the gaiters on after getting a ton of trail crap in my shoes on the first lap.Ben was running in a strong second place for the first half of the race, but also got derailed with stomach issues.
Overall, I enjoyed the race. My biggest complaint about the race was the conga line that quickly formed in the opening half-mile. The race was run on a combination of grass, dirt, and mud on mostly single-track, which meant that early on, we were in a conga line for at least 1.5 miles, and getting stuck behind a slower runner was annoying at times. The third mile was much more open and wide, so if the race was run in the opposite direction, it would have given the field more room to run and spread out before getting to the single-track portion, and possibly eliminating the conga line.
The race had some issues with timing in the first couple of laps, missing some results for the top ten finishers on those laps. I guess they will figure it out and let us know, but I was listed as being 35th overall out of around 200 runners in the race. Not a bad result, but I might move down when the official results come out.
(Official results came out on Monday. See the results at the top of the page. There was one 64-year-old male who finished ahead of me.)
The race did give me some answers to the questions I had at the top of this post. First, without an age group competition, the need to hammer every lap didn’t really matter unless one was vying for the top spot, or you were interested in seeing how fast your splits could be overall. I can definitely say that I wouldn’t feel so dang sore today if I had just run each loop at a casual pace. Which leads to the second question – I would not last very long running a backyard ultra at a fast pace for each yard/loop. It would end my day very early if I ran a backyarder with the same pace plan I did today’s race. So, I think I will continue running and walking through my backyard races.
So there you have it, the first race of 2026 is in the books for me. Back to half-Ironman training for Ironman Rockford 70.3 coming up in June.
I swapped my weekend-long ride with my long run this weekend, thinking I would rather ride on the warmer Sunday. Saturday’s cool day was great for my run. Plus, there was a group ride at noon that I thought I would join.
I ended up skipping the group ride for a couple of reasons; first, I thought it might be windier later in the day, and secondly, I wanted to watch The Masters! So I decided to ride solo and leave earlier.
This ride seemed doomed from the start. I left home around 9:30 and got about 3 miles into it when I looked down and saw that I had forgotten to bring my water bottles with my nutrition in them. A quick call to my wife, Kari, and she agreed to drive them over to me. Crisis averted.
I decided my best bet would be to head west into the wind on the paved bike trail, which was a great move, as the tree-lined trail sheltered me from the wind. From there, I rode through the “rough” part of Joliet to pick up the Wauponsee Glacial Trail, a mostly crushed limestone path that heads south. It also headed straight into the wind.
I had gone through one water bottle after about 1.5 hours of riding, and I decided I’d better nurse the last bottle just a little bit to make sure I got through the ride. There’s an outdoor parking lot along this trail that typically takes me about an hour to reach from home when going the road route, but today it took me 2 hours on the trail. I figured I would have a tailwind heading back, so I made the great choice to head a little further south and head into the Midewin National Preserve. That was a mistake, because it was rough riding into the wind.
I finally exited the preserve and caught the tailwind I was looking for. My ride was supposed to be about 3:45 hours today, and I was starting to think that I would make it home way before that. So I decided to just double back the way I had come. A lot of decision-making was going on, and none of them seemed to be working out for me. I was getting dehydrated and needed to refill my bottles soon.
I stopped at every water fountain that I knew of, and they all had a little red sign saying “Water Fountain Closed For The Season”. C’mon, man! It’s a seventy-degree day! Let’s get that water flowing!
As I rode on, I got stopped by a train in the “rough” part of Joliet, so I stopped by this factory building that has been there forever, and sat on its steps until the train passed.
Me at the stage of the ride where I knew I was starting to bonk. The train is up in the distance.
I got back on the trail home and realized my next best option for water was back in New Lenox, where I work. I was dragging when I got there, but there was some relief for me. I tried the village hall side door, a door that my old coworker used to leave unlocked for some reason, but he’s no longer there (for obvious reasons), and the new guy has the place locked down tight. Next up was the police department, where I have spent my last 12-13 years working, but I didn’t have my keys, and no one was around to let me in. Thankfully, next door was the library, and it was bustling with activity. I pulled my bike up to the door and peered in, but didn’t see any fountains right there. The library has a really nice vending room just inside the door, so I parked my bike next to a bench where there were two other bikes parked, and went in and bought myself a 16.9 oz. bottle of good old Coca-Cola. I wanted something cold, something sweet, and something with some caffeine. It might have been the best Coke I have had. As I sat in the room looking out the window, I saw a father and son exit the library and take a really long look at my bike sitting there. I think they were just admiring it for some reason, but I started to wonder if I might lose my bike at any minute. Fortunately, they opted for their own bikes, and I finished my drink and saddled up.
The rest of the ride was brutal. Drinking a carbonated drink and trying to ride was not sitting well with me. At least I was functioning and getting closer to home. Eight miles to go.
I took a shortcut and hopped over the railroad tracks with my bike to finish this brutal ride at 56.25 miles and four total hours. At least I have the ability to ride the distance I need for the 70.3, but I need to work on a few important necessities that I surely neglected today.
Upon getting home, I grabbed a Gatorade and tried to get some sugar and electrolytes in me. I ended up in a ball on the floor, suffering from one of the biggest “bonks” in recent memory. I was so low on energy I couldn’t even think right. Kari kept asking if I needed anything, but I just needed to not move for a little while. I finally got up, took a shower, and sat down to watch some of The Masters. Since I had screwed up the ride, I also started screwing up the recovery by not refueling. Kari and I decided that my best option was to take a quick trip and get a smoothie. It hit the spot, and it wasn’t long until I felt normal again.
It’s a good thing that these things happen in training so that I can learn to not do them again. No more going bonkers for me from here on out.
“Are we there yet?” was something I’m pretty sure every kid would ask mom and dad when travelling in the car on some boring trip somewhere. And when I run, I sometimes get to a spot on my running route in which I ask myself that very question. Sometimes it’s because I’m cold. Sometimes it’s due to being tired or sore. And sometimes it’s because I’ve run this same route for 20-plus years now, and the routine can make you wish that the two or three miles you have left to go would just be over. I would definitely spend one of my three genie wishes on ending some of the runs I have been on. Certain marathons come to mind.
But today wasn’t one of those days. The weather was upper 40s, mostly sunny, and calm. I was dressed appropriately for a change, and I was putting in some long, slow time on my feet. And it was feeling great. I am currently enjoying some pain-free running, which wasn’t the case in the past couple of years. I was running twelve miles today, using my typical run/walk pace plan (2 minutes each), which has been great at helping me build miles, while not tearing my muscles up with the harder straight run efforts. I will run eight miles or less straight with no walk breaks, but with several months ahead of me before my backyard ultra in September, I figured I shouldn’t push too hard at this point.
But the question of “are we there yet” can also be one of anticipation. When I had reached that point on my route today, where I sometimes ask myself how much more of this to go, I had a different thought. I was feeling great and thought I could get home, top off my bottle with more Tailwind, and possibly head out on the route for another twelve miles. I wondered how well prepared I am at this current stage, and how much longer until we get to that backyarder in September? I’m feeling ready!
“Am I there yet?” Not quite, but I am getting closer.
~~~~~
ODDS AND ENDS
I switched to wearing Hoka shoes back in 2017, after I got tired of what ASICS was doing with their shoes. I’ve tried various Hoka offerings, starting with the Clifton, but kept seeking out more cushioning, something Hoka is well known for. I have fallen in love with the king of cushioned shoes, the Hoka Skyward X. These shoes have tons of cushioning for my sore knees, and are carbon-plated to add extra spring and bounce to my footstrike. They also tend to last me a long time. I typically need to change shoes every 300 miles or so, but I can get 600 or more out of these before I even sense that they are getting worn out. I hope Hoka never stops making this shoe, but it has an issue: It’s illegal to race in them. They are on a banned list of shoes prohibited from most sanctioned road races, and that includes Ironman competitions. The racing ruling bodies that govern shoes have declared that a 40mm stack height is the maximum allowed, and the Skyward X, the monster truck of running shoes, exceeds that 40mm. Fortunately, the Hoka Cielo X, a road racing shoe that I have run the Chicago Marathon and last year’s Ironman Rockford 70.3, is legal and still provides a great ride for me.
THERE WERE SKELETAL REMAINS FOUND ON MY RUNNING ROUTE! I was coming back from a weekday run, heading past an old farmer’s field about a mile from my house, when I noticed a couple of county deputies and a guy in the field. Turns out, the guy was doing a land survey and found a human skull! It didn’t take more than a couple of days before the coroner identified the person. He had been missing since last June. Not sure yet how he got there or what caused his demise, but it was a little unsettling to know that a dead guy had been lying in the field I run past on almost every run.
I’ve been doing my Saturday (and sometimes, Sunday) long rides with the local cycling group when they pop up, and I’ve been really enjoying the rides. The wind direction often dictates which way we ride, and all of the rides have been out to the west to have a tailwind coming back. I joined my first “Tap Ride,” which is a fun Wednesday evening ride on the crushed limestone Wauponsee Glacial Trail out to a small farming town called Symerton. The group will stop there for a refreshment before heading back in the dark, with our lights illuminating the trail. Riding at night was not something I’ve done much of, so it was a nice change for me.
Temps next week will be in the 70s, so I will start working on getting my pool ready for some lap swimming in preparation for the 70.3 in Rockford, Illinois, in June. Last year, the three-year-old pool heater sprang a leak and stopped working just before the season ended. So I need to get that figured out and fixed. Pools are great, but sometimes I wonder if I should fill it with dirt and move on.
I have my first race coming up in May, a unique 5K time trial race in which you run a 5K every hour for 6 hours. The fastest cumulative time wins. I won’t win, but earlier this week, I ran an 8-mile training run, which started out very strongly for me, so I decided to see how fast I could cover 10K and recover with the last two miles. It went very well, and I think I might be able to cover a few of the 5Ks in around 26 minutes or so. Not sure if I can average that for all of the 5Ks, but I’m willing to be a Gunner at this stage.
That’s all for now. Back to training and getting ready for the season.
It’s time to start training! Well, I should have started last week, but I screwed up and got complacent. I blame this never-ending winter.
I remember that I started training for Rockford last year around this time, so when I checked, I realized that I had forgotten that Ironman moved Rockford up a week on the calendar. I’m guessing that it was due to them adding Omaha, Nebraska, to the 70.3 circuit, which is a week earlier, and the traveling Ironman circus can just pack up from there and head to Rockford. But it’s not like I haven’t been running and being active, and my training plan has less activity in the first week than I normally do anyway. I really haven’t missed much, but it is time to begin following my plan.
Racing the 70.3 in Rockford will be my main focus for the first half of the year, but I have two other races that have been added to my race calendar.
First up is a new event that is much like a backyard ultra, but it’s not a last runner standing format. I will be running in the Texas Outlaw Outlast Chicago in Palatine, Illinois. The format for this race is one 5K every hour for 6 hours. The quickest cumulative time for each 5K will be the winner. I’m really just using it to have some fun and start building endurance and speed for my later races. My son will be joining me, and I look forward to watching him compete. The race is on May 2. Here’s the link to sign up if you would like to join in the fun: Outlast Chicago
Next up will be Ironman Rockford 70.3 on June 14. I have some unfinished business there and a score to settle. Last year was brutally hot, and I didn’t do as well as I had hoped. I wanted to be under six hours last year, but barely survived the seven and a half hours it took me to get it done. Hopefully, the weather will be less of a factor this year.
After some recovery after Rockford, the focus will be on long, slow running and making a serious attempt at getting deep into the night at Broken Anvil Backyard Ultra in West Point, Iowa, in September. This will be my sixth time at this fun and well-run backyard ultra, and I intend to push myself past the mental roadblocks that always seem to make me quit before I should. My advancing age is making it more difficult to get that 100-mile finish, and I hope to accomplish it at Broken Anvil. Here’s the link to sign up: Broken Anvil BYU
That’s the plan for this year right now. I may add a race here or there, but the focus will be on the above three races.
As for my expectations for the year, my running outlook greatly improved after having a routine physical in February. My doctor advised that my blood draw showed that my vitamin B-12 levels were really low and suggested that I take a supplement. I ordered some B-12 gummies and some multi-vitamin gummies and have been taking them daily. Since taking them, the soreness in my quad muscles that I had dealt with for the past year or longer just went away. Apparently, vitamin B-12 is vital to muscle repair and overall health. The more you know. Routine physicals are so important. Don’t skip them!
Time to hit the trail and get some miles in. Let’s go!
an amazing run 