JamesCronen.com

After creating my 2009 running statistics spreadsheet this morning, I figured I’d share the final results for 2008.

My running goals for 2008 were to (1) be able to run a 10k workout run; (2) complete three 5k races; and (3) run a total of 500 miles.

I ran my first 10k workout on May 10. I didn’t think this would be so easy, so I bumped up my goal to be able to do an 8.5 mile run. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to schedule that, so it fell by the wayside. But I did end up with seven runs of 10k or longer during the year.

I completed three 5k races without a problem, on June 21, September 27, and November 27.

Finally, 500 miles? Not quite, though I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make this one. A six-week hiatus in February into March and another four-week hiatus in December scuttled this one. Still, it was a good effort.

In 2008 I ran a total of 88 times, for a grand total of 348.70 miles. All of that running took 59 hours, 3 minutes, and 7 seconds — I ran for 0.67% of 2008 and probably almost a full 1% of my waking hours. My average pace for the entire year was 10:10/mile (about 5.9 miles per hour).

The longest I ever ran at a time was 7.0 miles in a personal best time of 1 hour, 15 minutes, 57 seconds on September 21. My shortest run was 1.63 miles in 14:34, the day before my second 5k of the year.

My three 5k race net times were 27:54, 26:09, and 27:04. (My previous best 5k net time before this year was 29:05.) I even won a second-place finish in my age group! (But that was due to poor turnout, not an actually competitive time.)

I bumped up my regular workout distance from 3.3 miles to 4.0 miles on May 14. My fastest time at 4.0 miles was 36:31 (9:08/mile) on September 24.

On August 3 I ran my first 10k workout with Gu, and vowed never to run a distance more than 10k without some kind of energy supplement.

I retired a pair of shoes after the September 27 race and a total of 534.36 miles. (Yes, I know I should have retired them after 400 or so. But they were so comfortable!)

I have one solid running goal for next year, and that’s to complete a half-marathon. I’d also like to run a couple more races of 5 km and perhaps 10 km. I’ll also put the 500 mile goal back on the table, but that might be tougher to reach. Still, I’m going to give it a shot.

Meme

As tagged by Matthew K. Tabor, seven random things about me.

Okay, wait a minute. The rules were “random and/or weird,” and truly random things aren’t possible because you can’t make anything truly random without some kind of physical random number generator. Perhaps more on that in a future post.

Anyway, here are my weird things, in no particular order.

1. I’ve performed on fourteen musical instruments throughout my life. In approximate order of debut: piano, B♭ clarinet, bass clarinet, contralto clarinet, bassoon, drums, mellophone, trombone, oboe, euphonium, Ghanaian hand drums, tuba, alto saxophone, and trumpet. My trumpet debut was solo in front of 5,000 people at the Hartford Civic Center in 1998.
2. I can hyperextend my elbows to an angle of about 200°.
3. I skipped first grade and was always a year younger than everyone else in my class. Because of this and growing up in New Jersey where the driving age is seventeen, I didn’t actually have my driver’s license until four days after I graduated high school.
4. I only learned to whistle two or three years ago. I’m thirty-two years old.
5. I think I’m the only person in the history of the place to have conducted two different groups in the National Anthems at the Houston Field House.
6. I drive a diesel Volkswagen Golf running on B20 biodiesel. I don’t brew it myself; there’s a biodiesel vendor less than half a mile from my house. At some point Robin and I may convert our car to run on straight vegetable oil. At that point we would need diesel fuel only to start the car; once running, the car could be switched over to vegetable oil. Many restaurants give away their used cooking oil for free. Cheap fuel, plus exhaust that smells like egg rolls!
7. Although I don’t like to admit it, I’ve beaten Guitar Hero I and II on expert. I don’t really try, but since I’ve been a musician for so long it just comes naturally to me.

See, I’m not above a good meme every once in a while.

I am breaking Matthew’s rule, however. If any of my loyal readers feel like participating please do so, but don’t feel obligated.