Big Day Out: How To Take A Day Off

We all need some time off to ourselves now and then. For me, a day off from work can be like a little vacation. If I am able to do whatever I like, on whatever schedule feels right to me, I feel like I am treating myself. Afterwards, I usually feel pretty happy, content, rejuvenated, and ready to go back to the grind. 

Recently, I took a Friday off from work and had some little adventures. Nothing too earth shattering but I ended up with 9 Strava activities over the 3 days. Some of these activities were short but I managed a pretty active weekend. I thought I would summarize it in pictures here. 

Friday, June 14th

4:40 AM wakeup and drive from Richmond to Vienna, VA. Met up with my friend Bill at 8 AM on the W&OD Trail and we did what I like to call, "The Kessel Run".

36+ Miles with Bill

At the end of the Tower Climb

After my ride with Bill, I put my bike in my car, made my way to Anita's in Vienna and got some breakfast burritos to go. I chowed down while driving out to Great Falls where I had my first legit gravel ride on my new gravel bike. It was quite fun. 

After my fun but sometimes sketchy gravel ride, I decided to go for a hike and take in all the sites Great Falls has to offer. 

After my Great Falls excursion, I returned to Vienna, got cleaned up, and then went out with some family. We spent some time at Caboose Brewing and walked around Vienna a bit. We even ran into some long time friends and watched a few minutes of live music before heading out for dinner. 

Saturday, June 15th

On Saturday, I woke up before 5 AM as I usually do. Even if I wanted to sleep in, my body usually says otherwise. I ended up hightailing it back to RVA. I made good time getting out of NOVA but hit mega volume between Fredericksburg and RVA. 

When I got home, Melissa and I walked to the Farmers Market to get some fresh veggies. 

After bringing our groceries home, we decided to go for a short trail walk so Melissa could break in her new hiking shoes. 

Sunday, June 16th

On Sundays, I run with the Sportsbackers Marathon Training Team. After another early morning wake up, I ran with MTT. 

After MTT, I refueled and then headed to the park for my recovery walk in the woods. 

I love walking next to the water and listening to the birds. I had a very pleasant walk and then my usual trip to the grocery store. I had plenty of time left in the day so I decided to walk to the movies, watch a movie, and then walk back home.

All in all, it was a very pleasant long weekend of activities, contemplation, rejuvenation, and general fun. I am sure somewhere in there, I also took a hot bath. Maybe. 

Is Winter Over Yet?

Winter has just about come and gone. We have changed the clocks and the first official day of spring is today. I have to admit that this winter has been motivationally challenging. Last year at this time, I had just spent the entire winter training for a 50K trail race. I was up early every day, running long trail runs with friends, doing hill repeats, speed work, easy runs, and tempo efforts. I had lots of early season fitness as I usually do after a winter of consistent training. 

This year has been different for sure. I have been less enthusiastic about braving the cold weather, and doing a lot less running. In fact, I have felt like Homer. However, I have increased the number of strength training sessions I manage to get in, so I am doing a little more strength and core historically speaking. And, I have been riding my bike like crazy. I estimate that in the last month alone, I have biked about 420 miles. But overall, I am doing less these days, taking more rest, and trying to find a balance between couch potato and epic over achiever. Historically I am a "go big, or go home" kind of person in just about everything I do. One of my goals is to figure out a sustainable workout regimen that keeps the fun, offers interesting challenges, but also allows me to have time for other things. Right now, I am suspended somewhere in between lazy and consistent. 

I did start out the year running a bit. Despite not really training much, I did the First Day 5K on January 1st, the Snowy Owl 10 mile trail race the following weekend, and the Frostbite 15K the following weekend. All of that running without the requisite training did cause a few niggles and issues with various body parts including a little bit of a knee problem. So, now I am mostly riding my bike and trying to rehab the knee. I am hoping that I will be well enough to run the Monument Ave 10K coming up in mid April.

My next big event is the Cap2Cap bike ride along the Capital Trail. I signed up for two days. My plan is to ride from my house down to the trail on the first day, May 12th, and then complete the entire trail from Richmond to Jamestown and back. Since I am adding some mileage from my house, I am looking at a 110 mile day on the bike. I anticipate riding mostly alone on that day.

Since I signed up for both days, I will do the same ride on Saturday, May 13th. I am hoping I will be able to meet up with some friends and share some mileage and some laughs. Or maybe we just hammer. 🔨

So, who is up for some riding? 

RiverRock Bust the Banks Half Marathon Trail Run

 

It was a hot and humid day on Sunday in RVA. The annual Riverrock festival was back in downtown Richmond along and through the James River park system and the other open spaces surrounding the River. I have done many of the Riverrock events over the years and always have a great time. This year, I stuck to just one event, the "Bust the Banks" half marathon trail race. 

Of course, simply driving down there and racing does not jive with my preferred activity parameter of "no driving". So instead, I got up at 5 AM and left about 5:53 on my bike with backpack full of all my running gear which included my hydration pack. For this hot day, I had 2 liters of water in my bladder. Thankfully, a friend of mine agreed to let me stop over at his house and store my bike and bike gear. I then did a short run down to the venue.

Here are some details for the first two segments of my day of human powered movement.

Ride to Jon's house
https://strava.app.link/bK83zx7Weqb

Run to venue
https://strava.app.link/tw4fMgdXeqb

I arrived at the venue about 10 minutes before go time. I had a chance to quickly take care of business in the porta john before getting into the starting corral. It was indeed hot so, while I was up front at the start, I planned to take it easy. In addition to the heat, I had not really been training that much and had run one 5 miler in the last couple of weeks. That plus a few bike workouts was the extent of my exercise leading up to the race. 

The trails were fantastic and I had a great time racing! I paced myself well I think and managed to have lots of energy for the final part of the race on the Northbank trails. It was really a glorious day to be out on the trails, sharing my effort with strangers and thanking all the volunteers as I passed by. In the end, I knew I had done fairly well but later when I got home, I discovered I had come in second of 17 in my age group, M50-59. Not too shabby!

Bust the Banks Half Marathon
https://strava.app.link/YNaXXGgXeqb

RVA Fun

There are often a lot of fun things to do in Richmond. We like living in the City and try to enjoy all the benefits of living close to interesting restaurants, museums, lots of events, and good recreation opportunities. I decided to document once such weekend just for fun. 

On Friday, April 29th, my wife and I went to packet pick up for a local 5K and registered for the race. We decided at the last minute to register. The ASK 5K takes place every year at the Diamond in Richmond's Northside. And since we happen to live 1 mile from the Diamond, we thought it might be fun to roll on over there and race. 

On Saturday, the start of race day was pretty nice. We did not have to get up too early since the race was so close by. Melissa and I ran from our house down to the 5k. We warmed up a little more and then jumped into the start coral. The gun went off, and so did we.

The race was fun. I will spare you all the 'race report' details. Nice course, good support throughout with plenty of police officers helping keep everyone safe from goofball drivers. And it is pretty flat which makes pacing easier. 

The race ends inside the Diamond. I have never been inside the Diamond in all the years I have lived in RVA. That was definitely an interesting way to end the race. It was really fun! After crossing the finish line, I went to get some water and whatnot and realized that the Jangling Reinharts were playing at the venue.  They sounded really great in the stadium. They played their unique blend of life, the universe, and everything. At one point, while Melissa was playing with the free Yo Yo that the ASK 5k gave out to participants, I mentioned to her that it sounded like the guitar solo the guitarist was playing did not fit the song. Melissa said, "Isn't that the Stairway solo?" While I had noticed the solo seemed out of place, I had not placed it yet. But Melissa has a keen ear and a quick mind and he put it together as soon as I mentioned it.

We had a good time at the post race celebration. But also, there was some solemn moments. The postrace presentation by the ASK volunteers was quite moving. We had a very long moment of silence for those friends and family who have passed on. The ASK organization sounds like an organization grounded in love. 

After the race, we walked out of the stadium straight into an arts and craft market that is held every Saturday at the Diamond in one of the parking lots. We saw some very interesting hand made arts and crafts. We talked to one particular vendor for a few minutes. He had these really interesting functional sculptures that seemed to be made out of found things. They were all lamps essentially. But they were much more than that. I don't think I could do the artist justice by trying to explain how cool they were. I plan to go back and see him again sometime and see what new things he might have. 

It turns out, seeing those arts and crafts were really a precursor of more to come. Once we got back to the house, we quickly got cleaned up, refueled and were ready to head back out. Next on the agenda was to drive the short distance down to Arts in the Park. Arts in the Park is a very large gathering of vendors selling hand made art and crafts. And it is in the park! There are so many talented artists showcasing their work and their methods. We walked around for 2 hours looking at beautiful artwork created in all kinds of mediums as well as amazing handmade crafts including jewelry, glass, pottery, and other materials. Melissa even found a specific vendor she had been looking for all day. It is so easy to miss things because the show is so big. 

It was a busy and fun day. Getting out of the house to see all the great things RVA has to offer and spending time with Melissa was a great start to the weekend. And that was only Saturday. I recommend the "ASK 5K - Arts in the Park" weekend extravaganza to everyone. If you are from out of town, these events are worth traveling for in my mind. Thankfully, I live close by to all these great events and activities. I hope to chronicle more RVA events in the future as I work on getting out more and interacting with people and places. 

  

What is Good Mental Health?

In my previous post, I brought up the idea of "good mental health".  I wanted to give a little more context to that idea. According to Wikipedia, "Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences cognition, perception, and behavior. It also determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making."

Furthermore, according to mentalhealth.org.uk, "Good mental health is not simply the absence of diagnosable mental health problems, although good mental health is likely to help protect against development of many such problems."

They go on to say the following:

"Good mental health is characterized by a person’s ability to fulfil a number of key functions and activities, including:

• the ability to learn
• the ability to feel, express and manage a range of positive and negative emotions
• the ability to form and maintain good relationships with others
• the ability to cope with and manage change and uncertainty."

In the context of this blog and the topics within, "Good mental health" simply refers to these things above. 

So, how does one measure good versus bad mental health in the context of the definitions above? It takes a bit of introspection and meta awareness to grade oneself. I think that it can be operationalized but I am not sure how much detailed analysis I can bring to bear on this. I think creating some simply milestones might be a good idea. I will need to explore this further.

If we accept these definitions of "Good mental health" and we come up with a way of measuring it, how do we work on ourselves to improve our mental health?  After all, I would wager that most of us could benefit from improving our well being. Even if we are happy most of the time, there are always gains to be made. 

According to Dr Sapna Zarwal in her article posted here: https://www.healthshots.com/mind/mental-health/this-five-step-guide-to-boost-your-mental-health-will-always-come-in-handy/ , there are 5 simple things we engage in to help boost our mental health. 

1. Surround yourself with positive people
2. Practice mindfulness
3. Take a break from the digital world and gadgets
4. Learn to say ‘no’
5. Focus on helping others

So now that I have laid out some definitions and some behaviors to strive for, the next step will be to operationalize some of these things. What specific tasks help boost mindfulness for instance? Can I set aside some "no-gadgets" allowed periods? What can I do to give back or help others? How many times did I feel down or augmentative or have other negative emotions? Of course this will mean paying attention to these things and making a concrete note of their occurrence. That can be hard, especially when you are talking about observing oneself. But with practice, I think it can be accomplished. And, I think the benefits of such an endeavor are plentiful. 

Preparing for Retirement

Recently, I have started thinking about and planning for my retirement from the work force. I am hoping to retire relatively young. While an actual retirement date is well into the future, I have started to position myself so I can have a successful retirement. I guess first I have to decide on what success means and perhaps define the opposite as well. 

For me, success will be defined mostly by my psychological well being as well as maintaining my physical and cognitive health. I believe my experiences so far in life have me well suited to maintain good physical health. Good physical health can be a challenge but I would argue that all the building blocks are out there and it is pretty easy to define good physical health. Physical activity, proper diet, biometric measures - all of these things are pretty easy to operationalize and measure. Sure, it can be a challenge to strive for good physical health but we at least have some targets to shoot for. While motivating oneself to be healthy can be challenging, there are some pretty well researched and documented measurements of good physical health out there to use as guide. I will talk about those more later. 

Regarding mental health, what does it meant to have good mental health? What does it mean to have poor mental health? Those ideas are bit more illusive and often require lots of introspection and quite a bit of work to define. And once you do identify what it means to have good mental health, how do you work towards achieving it? Can we be both the observer and the subject of our observations? I believe we can and I think it all starts with awareness and mindfulness. I will talk more about that later too. 

I do have some concerns about my well being once I stop working. I have heard lots of stories about people losing purpose when they retire and suffering rapid declines in physical health, mental health, as well as experiencing rapid cognitive decline. I want to avoid all of that for sure. Since I am making this examination now, well before I retire, I think I am setting myself up for success which in this context means not succumbing to some of the things I mentioned above. 

As part of my retirement planning, I have started to work on myself. I have set some goals that I think will help me maintain my mental, physical, and cognitive health. Below is a simply list of the topics, tasks, and other things I want to work on to help me prepare. I believe organizing my thoughts and having a plan will help me self-actualize which is something I am passionate about. I plan to flesh out each of these goals in more detail and document them all here in this blog. This is just a continuation of my quest to grow where I am planted and live a full and happy life. 

Some Physical Exercise Goals

1. Incorporate more weight lifting and core work into my weekly exercise regimen.
2. Continue to work on my cardio through running, biking, and swimming.

Some Diet and Nutrition Goals

1. Cook more, eat out less.
2. Eat more varieties of fruits and vegetables.
3. Strive for 5 - 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day
4. Eat less junk food including sugary drinks - this will be a tough one for me

Mental Health and Well Being Goals

“I can feel guilty about the past, apprehensive about the future, but only in the present can I act. The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.”

― Abraham Maslow

1. Increase Self Awareness and Mindfulness
2. Continue to grow the relationship with my wife
3. Engage in more rewarding social interactions
4. Engage and challenge the mind by mastering new skills
5. Read more fiction to help foster more empathy
6. Get out of the habit of engaging in the infinite scroll
7. Volunteer and give back to the community
8. Engage in creative acts as often as possible
9. Travel
10. Self-Actualize

 

Now I Have Done It

Well, it is done. I have officially signed up for my first proper single-track trail 50K race. On April 9th, I will line up with other like minded individuals for a long day of trail running at the Single-track Maniac 50K in Williamsburg, VA. When I say it out loud, it does seem a bit intimidating. 

The race promises to be a big challenge but also has the potential to be fun. Of course we are not talking about 'playing dodgeball with your 8th grade friends' fun. No, this is a different kind of fun. In fact, there are undoubtedly going to be times during the event when I feel like it is the opposite of fun. But planning for those inevitable low spots is the key to success with an event such as this. Not only will I need to train my legs, lungs, and heart, I will also have to train my mind and equally important, my stomach. Taking in and processing calories will be an important factor that could determine my success or failure.

In an attempt to set myself up for success, I joined a winter training team that is training for this particular race. As a endurance athlete who has done most of my training solo over the last decade, this group training team could prove to be just the extra motivation and accountability I need for such an endeavor. The training team has a structured training program with long group trail runs at various places in and around the greater Richmond area as well as coached tempo runs. I am looking forward to meeting everyone and learning from some veteran racers. Of course, I am not a total newbie as I have completed 7 full distance Ironman races. But this will be something very different I think. 

I will actually miss the first weekend long run with the team as Melissa and I will be in NYC for our anniversary. Plus, I will miss the New Years weekend run as I will also be out of town for the Van Gogh Immersive Experience in Washington DC that weekend. I plan to do a solo run on New Years day, most likely on the W&OD trail and perhaps on some cross country trails up there.  We are going to a NYE party the night before that will likely mean less than optimal sleep before a long run of 18 miles but doing something epic on New Years Day is something I l always strive to do. 

So, that is the plan for now. After getting my training plan this morning, I decided I better snap out of the winter doldrums and get to work. I started by putting all my workouts in to my Training Peaks app, doing some 'Planking with Jim' and writing this blog post. Tomorrow I will go for a long run, perhaps solo. 

And the journey begins.