Daylight Dreamer

I’ve been pulling a Lize Brittin and not writing anything for a long time. Other than my weekly training posts, I haven’t actually written on here in a while. There have been several times when I’ve started writing something, read through what I’ve written, decided it’s no good, and threw it away. I’ve gotten pretty good at shooting crumpled up wads of paper into the waste basket. Then there are times when I’ll start a piece of brilliant writing, get side-tracked and never finish it. But I started this post and man I’m gonna finish it today! That’s the daylight dreamer wishful thinker’s way.

All right. Here we go. I got a sharp pencil and a clean white sheet of paper. Now… What shall I write about? How about running. This is a running blog after all.

My running as of late has been OK. Over the past few weeks I’ve been building up the mileage and my knee hasn’t been giving me the negative feedback like it always used to. Knock on wood it stays that way. I’m still very much out of shape and the knee still has occasional niggles, but I think I’m trending in the right direction.

In November 2024, I switched from working four 10+ hour shifts to five 8+ hour shifts/week. After recovering from the Madison Marathon on November 10, 2024, I’d planned on upping my mileage. By working five 8 hour shifts a week, I could run 10 miles before work, 10 miles after work, and do a 20+ mile long run on the weekend for a cool 140/week. And still manage to catch at least a few hours of sleep at night. But on the morning of November 25, 2024, some nincompoop driver blew a red light, hit me, severely damaged my right knee and killed my master plan. Or at least massively delayed it. After spending several months on the shelf and many weeks of running on and off, I am finally starting to build up a decent mileage base. I’m still a little scared to really throw down the hammer, but if my knee continues to cooperate, maybe in another month or so I’ll be ready to race. Once again, knock on the wood.

That’s about all I’d like to say about my own running. Come to think of it, there really isn’t much to say about running in general. I mean it’s a pretty simple sport. You just put one foot in front of the other. Frank Shorter supposedly said that if he were to write a book about running it would only be one page long.

It’s really discouraging the way people have over-complicated this great sport with things like GPS watches, carbon-plated “super” shoes, heart rate monitors, hydration vests, energy gels, pacers, pacing-lights, etc, etc, etc… Not to mention cheaters. I have become thoroughly convinced that almost all the top runners and a significant number of college, high school, and even recreational runners are using performance enhancing drugs or blood doping. No foolin’ it’s a f*%ked up world. I confess that I, myself, have over-complicated the sport by occasionally juggling while I run (joggling) or kicking a rock. But hey, I only joggle when I don’t have time to practice my juggling any other time during the day.

Back in January, when I wasn’t able to run at all, I learned how to juggle. Juggling is something I do everyday now and it is insanely fun, but very addictive. Almost as addictive as running or chocolate. With a little help from Tayor Glenn’s wonderful tutorials and watching videos of the Juggling Greats (Anthony Gatto, Michael Karas, Doug Sayers), I have been getting better!

Besides juggling work, life, and running, I have spent a lot of time this summer kayaking on Lake Monona and Lake Waubesa. Sometimes I’ll bring my fishing pole and fish from my kayak, but lately the edges of the lakes have been ridden with algae making fishing difficult. Most of the time I sit in the middle of the lake with a cooler full of beers and my portable radio and listen to the (surprisingly good) Brewers. Or I’ll read a book. It is very relaxing, sitting in a kayak in a lake and just reading. I’m currently working my way through a collection of Graham Greene stories and Cujo by Stephen King. I haven’t touched my piano in a while, but I have been listening to a lot of music. Right now, Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond are banging out some hot riffs. Other music I’ve been jamming out to include Henry Mancini, Bev Kenney, Irma Thomas, Matt Munisteri, Wilmoth Houdini, Gardenia Moon, The Dukes of Stratosphear, and Shel Silverstein. Just to name a few. 

I’ve loved Shel Silverstein’s stories, poems, and cartoons since I was a tyke, though it wasn’t until earlier this year that I really delved deep into Shel’s music. Other than Boy Named Sue, (which I think I’d only heard Johnny Cash’s solid, but inferior cover) I don’t think I’d ever listened to him. And wow, what a musician he is! The guy has eight full-length albums covering several types of music—folk, country, hairy jazz, blues, rock—and he does it all as good, if not better than anyone else. My favorite album of his might be the clever and appropriately titled I’m So Good That I Don’t Have To Brag. The album is a recording of live songs with Shel’s entertaining commentary between numbers. Musically it is rather simple with just Shel singing accompanied by guitar and harmonica. But it is filled with that witty satirical humor that is distinctively Silverstein. About ¾ of the way through the set, you get a little taste of melancholy with the song, I Can’t Touch the Sun, a piece that captures that same beautifully tragic feeling he displays so well in his book The Giving Tree.

There is much more I could say about Shel Silverstein and all the other fascinating aspects of my life, but I had intended to keep the topics on this blog mainly about “running”. I’d like to write a few more things and bring this to a more complete conclusion, but why don’t we take a break for now. I think I’ll go make myself a sandwich. I’m gettin’ hungry. Yeah, I could sure go for a BLT or something. I’ll come back later tonight and finish this post. In the meantime, dig this:

                                    Shel Silverstein - Daylight Dreamer:

 

I started a running blog but then I realized I didn’t have that much to say

That’s the daylight dreamer wishful thinker’s way

                                            

Sun, July 20-Sat, July 26

Sun July 20: AM. A 2 hour 35 min run on the Capital City Trail and the Lower Yahara Riverway Trail. It was cloudy and in the upper 60s.

Mon July 21: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was sunny/hazy and 58°. PM. In Deerfield, A 60 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was sunny and 80°.

Tues July 22: AM. A 78 min run on the Capital City Trail and on the SW Path. It was cloudy and in the 60s. PM. A 45 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was partly sunny and 84°.

Wed July 23: AM. No AM run—heavy thunderstorms. PM. In Deerfield, A 90 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was sunny and around 90°.

Thurs July 24: AM. A 68 min run on the Capital City Trail and over residential streets. It was cloudy and 80°. PM. In Deerfield, A 52 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was cloudy with some refreshing rain midway thru, then sunny at the end. Temp in the low 80s.

Fri July 25: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was cloudy and 68°. PM. On the Deerfield HS Track, did 3x3200m (12:32, 12:23, 12:18), then ran 30 mins over residential streets. It was partly sunny and in the low 80s.

Sat July 26: AM. A 100 min run over trails in Gov. Nelson State Park and on the ritzy streets of Bishops Bay. It was foggy with a little rain. Temp around 70°. PM. A 52 min run on the Capital City Trail and over trails in Olin Park. It was mostly sunny and 82°.

Building a base. 120+ miles on the week. Knee’s been good.

Sun, July 13-Sat, July 19

Sun July 13: AM. A 2 hour 30 min run on the Capital City Trail, the SW Path, and on the Badger State Trail. It was partly cloudy and in the low 60s.

Mon July 14: AM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and around Monona Bay. It was sunny and 64°. PM. In Deerfield, A 45 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was sunny and 84°.

Tues July 15: AM. On the Cannonball Path with VURG, did a ¼ mi, 1 mile, ¼ mi, ¼ mi. Ran the ¼’s around 75 secs and the mile ~5:24. It was sunny and around 70°. PM. In Deerfield, A 62 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was sunny and 86°.

Wed July 16: AM. A 78 min run on the Capital City Trail. It was partly sunny and 71°. PM. In Deerfield, ran 15 mins on-shift doing loops around the station. PM2 A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and around Monona Bay. It was mostly cloudy and in the upper 70s.

Thurs July 17: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. Pooped! It was cloudy and 60°. PM. In Deerfield, A 30 min on-shift run in the DF Business Park and looping around the station. It was partly cloudy and in the upper 60s.

Fri July 18: AM. A 50 min run over residential streets and on the Capital City Trail. Beautiful morning—52° and sunny—but felt beat. PM. A 40 min run around Lake Wingra. It was sunny and in the 70s.

Sat July 19: AM. Ran 42 mins on the Mendota Lake Loop route to Oneida Park, did the Kent Kretchmar Klassic 5k course in 17:34 (5:42, 5:39, 5:36, 0:35), then jogged a mile with Len. It was cloudy with a couple sprinkles towards the end. Temp in the low 70s. PM. In Middleton, A 78 min run over trails in the Pheasant Branch Conservancy. It was partly sunny and 84°.

Been feeling beat the past few days from the recent increase in mileage, being busy at work/lots of driving, and just being out of shape. I need to keep upping the mileage though, as long as my knee tolerates it. 

Sun, July 6-Sat, July 12

Sun July 6: AM. In Decorah, IA, A 78 min run on the Trout Run Trail and over roads and trails in Palisades Park. It was partly cloudy and 72°.

Mon July 7: AM. A 78 min run over trails in Phelps Park, on the Trout Run Trail, over residential streets + a 1600m on the Decorah HS track in 5:24. It was sunny, humid, and around 70°.

Tues July 8: AM. An 80 min run (first 50 with the old man) over the Luther Cross Country trails, grassy paths in the Decorah Community Prairie, and on the Trout Run Trail. It was partly cloudy and 68°.

Wed July 9: AM. A 55 min run on the Capital City Trail and SW Path. It was sunny and around 70°.

Thurs July 10: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was partly sunny and 64°. PM. A 48 min run on the Capital City Trail and over trails in Olin Park. It was cloudy with a little rain at the end. Temp in the mid 70s.

Fri July 11: AM. A 42 min run over residential streets and on the Capital City Trail. It was cloudy and 67°. PM. A 42 min run around Lake Wingra. It was in the 70s and raining.

Sat July 12: AM. Ran the Kent Kretchmar Klassic 5k course three times - 20:25, 18:15, 26:45 (with Leonard). It was cloudy and in the upper 60s. PM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and over residential streets. It was partly cloudy and around 80°.

With a little help from my friends (Brad and Bob), my knee has been making progress. I think! I’ve been doing their recommended physical therapy exercises to help cure my ITBS. The knee still gets occasional niggles when I run, but it hasn’t been getting painful. Most of the time I don’t even notice it at all anymore.

Sun, June 29-Sat, July 5

Sun June 29: AM. A 90 min late morning hangover run on the Capital City Trail and Lower Yahara Riverway trail. I think I sweated all the alcohol out of my system. It was mostly sunny and 86° with a dew point of 73.

Mon June 30: AM. A 78 min run on the Capital City Trail and on the SW Path. It was sunny and 66°. PM. A 35 min run on the Capital City Trail. It was mostly cloudy and 81°.

Tues July 1: AM. Ran about 30 mins on the Cannonball Path with the Velo UnderRound Group “Vurg” (Kyle and Johnathan). Did 3x5 mins fast with 2 min recovery jogs, then 5x1 min fast with 30 sec recoveries. It was sunny and in the 60s. PM. In Deerfield, A 45 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was sunny and 82°.

Wed July 2: AM. A 68 min run on the Capital City Trail, the Wingra Creek Path, Monroe St, and on the SW Path. It was sunny and in the 60s.

Thurs July 3: In Marshfield, A 57 min run with Justin and the old man over residential streets and on the bike path. It was sunny and in the 60s.

MRI today showed a bone contusion and inflammation of the iliotibial band causing iliotibial band friction syndrome (ITBS). I’ll likely need 4-6 weeks of physical therapy, but fortunately shouldn't require surgery.

Fri July 4: AM. A 50 min run with Justin and the old man in Wildwood Park and over residential streets. It was mostly cloudy and around 70°. *Happy 4th of July!

Sat July 5: AM. In beautiful Decorah, IA, A 90 min run on the Trout Run Trail. Lots of good hills. It was mostly sunny and 78°.

The knee’s been okay for the most part. It gets a little achy at times but has remained tolerable this week. The MRI on Thursday showed ITBS. It feels good to finally know what the problem is. Hopefully with some physical therapy exercises, I can get rid of this thing for good.