Mr. Consistency

Call me Mr. Consistency.

As my countless legions of friends know, distance running is a very big part of my life. I haven't written much about that over the years, but someday I will, because running is a religion for me and I feel a need to proselytize. Running is my time away; it's my way to get in touch with the natural world and my own body (no sleazy jokes, please!); it's my form of meditation; it's my health insurance policy; and along with caffeine, it's my drug-of-choice. In short, running keeps me feeling sane, relaxed, and whole. And, somewhat obsessive person that I am, I have kept fairly careful running records over the years, going back to (gulp) 1975. (Keeping track of all this has been a big motivator!) To date, I have run 17,090 miles, which includes:

• six marathons (26.2 miles)
• five 25K races (15.52 miles)
• twenty half-marathons (13.1 miles)
• four 10-mile races
• three 15K races (9.3 miles)
• seventeen 10K races (6.2 miles) and
• eleven 4-5 mile races

To reinforce my obsessive impulses, my lovely wife bought me a "Garmin" for my last birthday (it goes on your wrist--looks like a rather large wristwatch), which can now tell me, on any run, exactly how many miles I went (to the hundredth of a mile), my exact time, my per-mile pace, my average and top speeds in miles per hour, the number of feet of ascent and descent in the run, the number of calories that I burned, and also provides a map of exactly where I ran (those satellites are spying on all of us anyway--why not use them for this as well?). You want data? I got data.

There will come a time when running is no longer a possiblity (knock on wood), but I continue to hang on to the illusion that I can do this forever. One needs a few illusions, dontcha think?

At any rate, I am getting pretty consistent, though. In late January, I ran the Securian Frozen Half Marathon (the St. Paul Winter Carnival Half Marathon) in 1 hour, 56 minutes, and 47 seconds. Then, last weekend, I ran the New Prague Half Marathon in (drum roll) 1 hour, 56 minutes, and 47 seconds. My, my--I couldn't do that again if I tried! I may not be really fast, but damn, I'm consistent.