Tag Archives: running

Add Chris Johnson to the prolific runner list

Posted on July 9, 2020 by

I’ve known the runner in that photo since approximately 1983. That’s when we both were racing consistently on the Chicago area runner’s circuit. On many a weekend in all sorts of seasons, we’d step to the line together and give … Continue reading →

Posted in cross country, running | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

There’s always someone faster than you, and often it’s a woman

Posted on June 19, 2020 by

Yesterday afternoon was hot. Ninety-plus degrees hot. But my planned run on the Great Western Trail promised shade for much of the way. So I parked the car and wandered over to the trailhead and stretched a bit. A mother … Continue reading →

Posted in 5K, aging, Christopher Cudworth, college, competition, cross country, healthy aging, running | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Keep Calm and the stones will speak to you

Posted on May 14, 2020 by

Today I’m in the company of someone having a procedure at a hospital. The facility is massive and beautiful like so many others that I’ve visited over the last fifteen years. During all my duties as caregiver to family members … Continue reading →

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Save us from the time of trial

Posted on May 12, 2020 by

In July of 1980 I visited the Gunderson Clinic in LaCrosse, Wisconsin to have laser surgery performed on the torn retina in my right eye. A local optometrist had spotted the problem during a routine eye appointment. He’d been going … Continue reading →

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It wasn’t necessarily amazing, but it sure was fun

Posted on April 24, 2020 by

Last weekend my wife was given a time trial to do. Her coach Steve Brandes has been guiding her through improved run performance the last couple years and the results, I am here to tell you, are noticeable and impressive. … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, aging is not for the weak of heart, healthy aging, it never gets easier you just go faster, marathon training, running | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It's a bad time to be a nail-biter, but welcome to the club

Posted on March 24, 2020 by

I’m not proud of the fact that I’ve been biting my nails since I was a little kid. Even as an adult my fingernails are sometimes a ragged mess if I collapse into the nervous habit of chewing on them. … Continue reading →

Posted in 10K, aging, aging is not for the weak of heart, anxiety, cycling, running, swimming, Tarsnakes, track and field | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Posted on March 19, 2020 by

While conversing with a teammate from long-ago times at Luther College, I opened up the binder of results from our freshman year in cross country. Those mimeographed sheets are fascinating relics of a different age. But the photograph at the … Continue reading →

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Ego interferes with common sense when it comes to something as basic as warming up.

Posted on February 26, 2020 by

I have advice for anyone training for anything. Go easy on yourself for those first two or three miles or the first ten minutes. At any age, the body and mind need time to warm up. But in our data-obsessed … Continue reading →

Posted in cycling, running | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Running and riding to the rescue

Posted on February 24, 2020 by

There aren’t many situations in life where the ability to run fast is all that handy. Most of the 50,000 miles I’ve run or the equal number of miles I’ve ridden have not served any purpose other than my own … Continue reading →

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Leaving tracks

Posted on February 7, 2020 by

Walking our dog in the morning is like being back in field biology class looking for signs of wildlife everywhere. On a typical morning we’ll cross the tracks of numerous animals left in the snow. There are coyote and fox … Continue reading →

Posted in running, trail running | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment