On Running...

And running on.

I think I can pretty much wrap up this year's running, even though we are still 32 days out according to my overly optimistic goal of running 300 miles this year. I am at 91 miles and will probably make it to 100, maybe 120 but not 150, and definitely not 300.

Last year I managed to make it to 150 and felt pretty good about myself. At the beginning of the year I set a goal of 300, rationalizing that it is only around 6 miles a week. I've run 6 miles this week so far, but it is an outlying point and I might add 5 miles to it. Most other weeks have been rainy, voggy, or busy.

First I hate running in the rain. Get water in the eyes, soggy shoes, an extra 20 pounds. Not fun. I do have more clothing and I really just need a new pair of shoes so that I will have two pairs to even that out, or at least not putting on wet clothes/shoes for a run during a nice day. I have less and less excuses, now I just need some glasses that are clear so I can run early mornings.

Second the Vog can be killer. Vog is SO2 which is a normal city type pollutant, but Hilo is pretty far from being a city. It comes from the volcano just up the road from us. It mostly blows over to Kona or Oahu, but somedays it just settles in to Hilo. I think I have described how SO2 turns into H2SO4 when it contacts water, and so breathing hard feels like the lungs and throat are on fire. Not fun to run in at all. Now the funny part, http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/epa-cap-emissions-big-island-power-plants.html . To sum it up, EPA wants the hawaii power plant to cut emissions, even when acknowledging that the volcano out puts 500-600 tons a day and they want the power plant to cut 1400 tons in a year. Hopefully all the solar panels going up recently and potential geothermal plants will eliminate the need for a really expensive coal powered plant long before the volcano stops spewing SO2.

Third, why does busyness stop me from running? I usually run in the mornings, but yesterday I ran after work. This is an effort to run when I can and not just rely on my motivation in the mornings. If I stay up too late the night before then I have much less motivation to run. And if it is raining, well mornings are no fun in the rain as the road down to the flat stuff gets slick, oh yeah, slick as snot, forgot that one in my rain complaint.

But really, why did I miss my goal by such a large margin? I think a bit of laziness might be part of it, okay lots of it. In my defense we did go on a big conference/vacation in Europe for three weeks, where even if I had brought my running stuff I would have been sick for 2 weeks. Maybe only sick-ish. And what about these last few months? Pure laziness, dang.

Okay, 11 miles this week, totally doable. Next week maybe only 8, but I will try to kep above six as we go into the new year. There always has to be some hour during the week in which there is no vog, rain, or distractions, right? So a summary this might be, a list of excuses. But it doesn't mean I am finished for the year, rather it is motivation to finish the year strong.