Category Archives: cycling

50 Years of Running: New situations, new locations

Starting the new job at the Daily Herald newspaper felt a bit like coming home again. But that wasn’t the only way that life felt like it was getting back to normal. The year that I joined Aspen Marketing we … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Gamesmanship and sandbagging

As an advertising salesperson, I not only competed against the previous year’s sales numbers in my territory. The daily game included competing with other salespeople and also other print publications and radio stations in the Fox Valley. The towns we … Continue reading

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Racing along with ease and joy

Yesterday on October 16, I competed in the Frank Lloyd Wright Races in Oak Park, Illinois. This was a return adventure to an event I won twice back in ’83 and ’84. That was 39 years ago. I ran 32:00 … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Closing time

All of us who run know the difference between a good race and a bad race. There are empirical factors such as time and place by which we measure our efforts. Yet even these are subjective depending on conditions such … Continue reading

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50 Year of Running: What drives a young man?

Starting up my new running journal was a strange feeling, but the timing was interesting. New apartment in a new city. All-new running routes. On August 12, 1982 I wrote: “Two nights ago the run went marvelous, physiologically. After having … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Pirates in spirit

On a cold January night in 1982, one of my running buddies showed up to have a few beers, talk about training, and shoot the bull about life in general. But that evening, I had a surprise to share with … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Sorting through a box of slides

One of the most challenging aspects of life on the road doing admissions work was feeling disconnected from the core mission of Luther College. It all seemed abstract out there in the field; showing photos ins a binder, talking with … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: The Sectional Wall

As the cross country season rolled to a close in November1973, our squad ran in a tough sectional in the Chicago suburbs and didn’t advance downstate. That would have been a stretch for a program that was just beginning to … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Where Respect Is Due

Midway through the 1973 season, I’d run well enough, and our team was doing so well, that we began to gain the attention of some local sportswriters. The newspapers that covered our team included the St. Charles Chronicle, the hometown … Continue reading

Posted in 13.1, Christopher Cudworth, college, competition, cross country, cycling, cycling the midwest, half marathon, healthy aging, PEAK EXPERIENCES, race pace, racing peak, running, running shoes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

50 Years of Running: Summer running, or not

Coming out of spring track into the summer of 1972, I was excited to get back to playing baseball. The Elburn Babe Ruth team had a fantastically fun team the year before. We traveled to small towns like Hampshire, Huntley … Continue reading

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