Just another running blog: January 2021

This is the fourth part of the riveting saga known as my 2020 Recap. I've previously covered injuries, trails, and an old race; this time I will stick to the "usual" year-end recap format. (I say "usual" because I do these irregularly. I'm currently on an every-other-year cadence, but that is purely accidental.)

The year in a few sentences

2020 got off to a solid start, running-wise. Half way through the year, I was on pace for more than 1500 miles, which would have easily been my most since college. I was also biking and roller skiing a fair amount to supplement my running. Despite having few extrinsic motivators, I managed to get in a harder effort many of those weeks, as well. This training block was bookended by two decent 5Ks - the first, in January, was a 15:50 at the Charlestown Chili race (on an arguably short course), while the second, in May, was a virtual 5K on the track. From that point on, there was no racing and relatively little running for the remainder of the year.

I won't go into more detail than that, since I've already covered the injury story in my recent post. You can see the interplay between the injuries and mileage for yourself in the graphic below.

This "overlay" of mileage against injuries is always a fun trip down memory lane. It also shows just how consistently I'm dealing with pain of some kind. The most persistent pain this year was in my lower back, which really picked up after getting the dog, just as it has in the past each time we had a baby. I'm hoping this subsides as the dog gets older. This is one of the few injuries that hurts more on the bike than while running.

In the end, my mileage was a shade over 1000. It's nice to have crossed the completely arbitrary 4-digit threshold, but of course disappointing to decline for the second straight year, as you can see in the chart below. (You could argue I've been declining for much longer than that, but let's stick to the mileage-based arguments for now.)

A strong first half allowed me to just crack 1000 miles for the third consecutive year. Maybe 2021 will be the year I finally return to 1500.

On the bright side, between working from home and few business or family trips to speak of, 2020 afforded me more opportunities (both in terms of days and time in the day) to work out. You can see this play out in the two charts below.

In 2020, I averaged just over six days a week of activity (317 total days). I was somewhat surprised to discover that this was the most I'd ever done. The fact that I worked from home and had no business or family travel to contend with made it significantly easier to get out nearly every day. And I can say with certainty that the only days I took off after Covid struck were planned in advance. I'm not sure I'll ever have this kind of opportunity again, but it has motivated me to keep it going as long as possible in 2021.

I hadn't really tracked this metric until I needed a pick-me-up this year. The only explanation I can think of for the uptick over the past three years is a renewed commitment to cycling on my days off from running, especially on the trainer during the winter months. And I can thank my old video games for making that part of the equation possible. Without them, I don't know that I could bear even 10 minutes on that thing.

My workouts were divided mostly between running, biking, and roller skiing. In the chart below, you can see that, when able to run, it is the dominant activity. The biking and skiing time didn't vary much until I wasn't able to run, when they naturally became a bigger factor. Lifting, meanwhile, was once again an afterthought. I would like to address this "weakness" (har, har, har) in 2021.

Aside from a couple of down weeks when I was especially sick or injured, I maintained a pretty consistent routine. As usual, the summer months, with their extended daylight and good weather, allowed for extra workout time

Thanks to the extra time available, and the dearth of running in the second half of the year, I was able to hit my highest cycling totals ever. It's the tiniest sliver of a silver lining.

Lots of time in the saddle this year (relatively speaking). Looking back, the 2004-2005 peak coincided with my triathlon phase; 2008 was a big duathlon year; 2010 was an injury-plagued campaign. Meanwhile, the recent peak reflects doing more cycling on my off days.

You can thank Strava for helping me easily keep track of shoe mileage. It's interesting to see how the Hoka Cliftons really dominated the pre-injury half of the year. When I returned to running, I seem to have struck a nice balance across the eight(!) shoes in the rotation. I have to admit, even I didn't realize I had so many shoes in use right now.

Looking ahead

I can no longer confidently set running-related goals, given the number of ways outside of my control those could be derailed. So, let's try a simple, whole-self approach to goal-writing for 2021:

Beat my 2020 total # workout days (317 days / just over 6 days a week)
Beat my 2020 total run + bike + ski time (300 hours / 5.8 hours per week)
Run my first race as a 'Masters' runner (I turned 40 at the start of the year, so I really hope this one is achievable)

Photos

Here you'll find one photo, taken during a run, ride, or ski, from each month of the past two years. Why two years, you might ask? Well, I didn't manage to get a year-end post out last year, so I'm a bit overdue. A few observations while combing through Strava to find these:

It's amazing how many of my favorite photos of the past few years have come from the mountains around New Paltz. It's equally sad knowing I'll seldom have the opportunity to experience that area in the future, now that my parents have moved.
The variety of photo locations was, of course, greatly reduced in 2020. I'm glad Rhode Island still has some scenic spots to snap the occasional picture.
It's interesting to see that the same things capture my attention year-over-year -- the snow and ice in January and December; the fall colors in September and October; views in Maine in July; and, strangely enough, sunsets in November.

January 2020: Mike runs ahead on the aptly named Undercliff trail at Mohonk (Gardiner, NY)

January 2019: Frozen face after low-single-digit temps in Burlingame (Charlestown, RI)

February 2020: Morning Boston skyline over the Charles (Cambridge, MA)

February 2019: The only picture I took during this month was of my victory in Tecmo Super Bowl (which, I should mention, came out in 1991) while riding on the trainer

March 2020: A wave splashes on Pier No. 5 (Narragansett, RI)

March 2019: New growth after the devastating fires at Cheesebro Canyon (Agoura Hills, CA)

April 2020: Daffodils abloom at Biscuit City (Kingston, RI)

April 2019: The lush Marquam Trail (Portland, OR)

May 2020: Low tide at the Town Beach (Narragansett, RI)

May 2019: Along the Leine (Gottingen, Germany)

June 2020: The newly reopened Mohonk Gatehouse entrance beckons (New Paltz, NY)

June 2019: Misty beauty along Lake Mohonk (New Paltz, NY)

July 2020: Our new pup enjoys his maiden voyage in the kayak (Fryeburg, ME)

July 2019: Speckled Mountain summit (Lovell, ME)

August 2020: Sure, there's a nice quote, but this photo of the URI library is the only photo I took in August, so it earns its spot here by default (Kingston, RI)

August 2019: Classic shot of the Trapps ridge at Mohonk Preserve (New Paltz, NY)

September 2020: Early fall colors along the Mountain Division Trail (Fryeburg, ME)

September 2019: 18th Century buildings at Valley Forge, PA. Fun fact - In 1777, during the Continental Army's encampment at Valley Forge, it temporarily became the 7th largest metropolis in the United States.