Why "Ragged Cap Runner"?

   Why the name "Ragged Cap Runner", you ask?
    It  does seem like an oddly inappropriate moniker for a running blog, I'd be the first to admit.
   The name came to me perhaps over a year ago as I was writing a blog post and I wanted to end the post off with a fairly flippant, toss-away line to describe myself. I happened to be looking at a picture of me wearing the cap I almost exclusively wore at the beginning of my running career. I saw a runner who was wearing a ragged cap and, all of the sudden, "ragged cap runner" popped into my head. And I kinda liked it!

The cap, before it became "ragged"!

   I never thought about it much after that, but as I became more and more dissatisfied with calling my blog "Strides", the more and more "Ragged Cap Runner" seemed to appeal. Hence the switch.
   Here's why it's actually an appropriate title.
   I identify with that old, sweat-stained, torn-up cap. It is rough around the edges in much the same way that I am, at this stage of my life. I'm in my sixties now and and have lost some of the lustre we all lose as we age. I've got aches and pains I never used to have, loose skin has appeared, wrinkles abound and the skin is marked. The legs are generally willing but they sometimes struggle with a mind that is not. And vice-versa.
   It's a body which has seen much and done much, though, and the ragged cap symbolizes all of that. It has seen a lot of golf, it has seen a lot of sand and it has seen a lot of blistered and nicked fingers. It has traveled most of the way across Canada. Like me, it is old and tattered. But you know what? It still works fine and so do I!

Some goodbyes, some veggies, some shoes, some dogs, and some thank-you's!

   It is with some shock, regret and horror that I notice I have not blogged on this page in over two months! And I call myself a runblogger?!
   I will attempt to recap the last couple of months.
   One of the principal reasons for runbloggers to cease runblogging is that they might also have ceased running. No running leads to no running to write about. For a large chunk of the past two months this has been my sad story. It's not that there was absolutely no running, but the running that actually did happen was so poorly thought out and sporadic that it didn't seem like it was even happening, really. Definitely a case of lost mojo!
  So why did this happen?
   For a variety of reasons, I seem to run less in the summer. This is partly due to the heat and humidity here in London but also as much to do with the fact there seems to be so much else to do. This particular summer, our property has been undergoing a major overhaul and sometimes at the end of a long day slogging away in the garden or building a walkway the running seems to take a back seat. All of this means less running and therefore less runblogging.
   When I say my mojo's gone, I mean it's almost as if it never existed. My last blog post was a recap of the Summer Night 5K race and what I didn't mention in that post was that when I checked the race results I almost came in last. When I crossed the finish line, my feeling at the time was there was a handful of people behind me but, in fact, I was only ahead of one person! Getting pumped for an upcoming race always helps with the mojo but when you're looking at the prospect of possibly being last in the field, it's a little more difficult to let the mojo do its thing.
   One of the surest signs you've lost your mojo happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I was paid and registered to run the 5K in the Springbank Road Races here in London. I picked up my race packet the night before and set everything out before I went to bed. The alarm clock went off in the morning at the right time and I rolled over in bed and didn't bother to go to the race! I just didn't feel like it. I live, literally, five minutes away from the start line and I couldn't force myself to get up and go. And I didn't even feel really all that bad about it. Yes, the mojo was shot. Totally. Gone.
   One of the positive things which has happened in the last couple of months is that I've given up eating meat. I'd been thinking about seriously doing this for the last couple of years and it all seemed to fall into place about a month and a half ago. Essentially, it bothered me that an animal had to die in order to provide me with an unnecessary pleasurable eating experience. I've also been exposed to a whole series of pics of delicious-looking vegetarian meals and this has certainly been an eye-opener as well (thank you, Crystal!)
   This "vegetarian" thing, not surprisingly, has been a whole new learning experience! Mainly, it has introduced me to tofu and a bunch of products which are made from it. I'm pretty sure I've experienced tofu snuck into my Thai food occasionally but this has been my first experience with the original undisguised product. Some things are good and others have already been crossed off my list. One of the good things, though, is that the family has always had some kind of veggie with our meals so the only thing I need to do is complement whatever they're having with a bit of protein of my own. So far so good!


   I am also now a little more into the running on a regular basis. The combination of running and eating more veggies these days has led to about a 6 pound weight loss. All of this combined has me finally running a 5K in slightly less than 40 minutes.This, of course, is ridiculously slow but, at the same time, I haven't been able to run 5K in less than 40 minutes for the better part of a year now. Finally getting under that is huge, mojo-wise.

Inching my way down there.

   So I have been running three times a week regularly for the last three or four weeks. What I've been finding in my march toward getting under that magical forty minute mark is that I've been able to trim about twenty to thirty seconds off of each successive run. Basically, I've looked at the previous run and anywhere I walked in that run I've at least tried to run slowly in the next. Any time I ran slowly one day, I try to run a little faster for that same section the next time out. For sections where I was already running pretty free and easy, I tried to ramp things up a bit. So far, it's working!

Hooray!

   New kicks make this all the more fun! About three weeks ago I picked up a pair of Saucony Ride 8's. I managed to find an elusive Running Room gift certificate and this was all the encouragement I required to go pick up a new pair. They feel awesome---light and cushiony and pretty neutral so the running's good!

Damn!

   While I was at it, thought I'd go to the nearest Talize store (good quality second-hand) and pick up a few shirts. I picked up a red tech shirt specifically for running and particularly so that it would sort of "match" the new shoes. I went out for a run the next day and was feeling awesome in all my new stuff and was looking forward to cutting another thirty or so seconds off when the unexpected happened. As I was running past a young couple and their two dogs, suddenly their beagle leaped up at me and put a paw right through my "new" shirt! Big hole! Now, generally people move their dogs out of the way when they see me coming and I do my part by taking a wider route around than normal but this time we both got a little too close and I think I was a little off my guard due to the relatively small size of both dogs. But never again! The lady with the beagle was very apologetic and if it had been a brand new shirt instead of a previously worn one we may have carried the discussion a little further. To top it all off, this completely destroyed my rhythm and desire to finish the run that day and I basically walked the last kilometer. Bummer.
   Finally, part of what has prompted me to get back into running a little more regularly is that a couple of people I know have just run their very first 5K races and have been awesome at it. One of my co-workers, Tricia, ran her first race and did it in about 35 minutes and the other gentleman, Nacer, is the husband of a runblogger I follow down in Ohio and he ran his in about 28 minutes! Both are times I would die for. So thanks, Tricia and Nacer (and my sis-in-law, Sabrina, for a little bit of a campfire pep talk), for the extra smidgeon of inspiration and motivation! It helps!
   Okay, so for the most part, you are all caught up. I'm trying real hard to get out there at least three times a week. The mojo seems to be slowly seeping back in. Currently there are no races in the forecast. There was a Hallowe'en race scheduled but it now looks as though I will be out of town that weekend. This means the racing is likely done for the season and I will re-approach it in the spring. This is quite fine with me and will give me the winter to build up to a fully-replenished mojo level.
   In the meantime, safe and happy running to you all! And I promise to visit a little more often!
   
    

The Really (no, I mean REALLY) Chilly Road Race Recap

   Before I get to the actual recap, I should probably let you know what's been going on the last couple of months, as I have not been very present here in the blogosphere!
   My last post was at the end of December (welcome to 2015, Brian) and in it I described some issues I'd been having with pain in my right foot after long runs. Well, I've done so little running since then that the pain has disappeared and in the the couple of 5Ks I managed last week, I was pain-free afterwards. I did mention the foot pain to my doctor, who thought it might have been a compression issue in that foot and that I should maybe go back and forth with my shoes on long runs to see if any one shoe is better than the other. I may try this.
   One of the main reasons I got out a couple of times last week was that I knew I had a race coming up this weekend and I wanted to fool myself into thinking I might have actually trained for it. The race is the aptly-named the Really Chilly Road Race. It is the first in the series of London Honda Road Races this year. I took a bit of a leap and signed up for the whole series, and saved a little money at the same time.
   This morning, I was greeted by this weather update:

   This confirmed what the weatherperson had been telling us for the last few days----that it was gonna be cold! In conjunction with this morning's race there was also supposed to have been a bunch of musical entertainment and things for the kids to do but, rightfully so, those things were cancelled, due to the temps.
   

Before heading off.

Thankfully, the snowsqualls we'd been warned about did not materialize and it was actually beautifully bright and sunny this morning. Mentally uplifting, if nothing else.
   I got there about half an hour before race time as I'd waited until then to pick up my bib. Generally, I head downtown to Runner's Choice to pick up the race packet the day before but yesterday wasn't a whole lot nicer than today so I'd decided to skip the extra trip.

The pre-race warmth!

   The race begins from the Western Fair Raceway, a harness racing track, and wends it way through the surrounding neighbourhoods for 5K. There is a 10K as well and they just do the same course twice. The race actually begins and ends on the track and I wanted to get a pic from the track before the race actually began. Big mistake. I got the pic but then could not zip up the pocket I put my phone back into. Well, when the windchill is -40, it doesn't take long for bare skin to get into trouble and when the pain hit I just stuffed the phone into my pocket and didn't bother with zipping it up.

Somewhat ill-fated pre-race pic!

   I quickly got both pairs of gloves back on just in time for the race to start. Before we even got past the grandstand, I was in major discomfort. We began by running right into the little bit of breeze there was. About the only part of my body that wasn't protected was around my eyes and no amount of angling my body provided any relief. The thought in my head at the time was that if the whole race was like this then I was probably gonna be dropping out real soon. I also knew, however, that after we got off the track, we would then head in a different direction and hopefully the windchill would not be the same issue.
   In fact, this is what happened. We turned out onto Dundas Street, headed east, and the wind became a non-issue. In fact, I found myself running on pavement for the first time in a long time and it actually started being enjoyable. The city police had cordoned off a running path and were also commandeering traffic at major intersections, making for non-stop running. I went out of my way to thank every volunteer and police officer out on the course, at least we were able to keep warm by running!
   I'm thinking that the little bit of running I did leading up to this race actually did help. I probably could have run the whole thing, which is not something I would have been able to say about my recent training runs. In fact, I only took a couple of brief, 30 second walking breaks and ended up feeling pretty strong at the finish. And damn glad I was at the finish!

SO happy to be back inside!

   I stuck around for the awards ceremony afterwards. There are so few runners in my AG in this series that it almost guarantees someone a third, second or first-place finish and today I took away second place! Out of two runners! Yay me! This resulted in a ten dollar Runner's Choice gift certificate. The bling was actually nicer than last year's race, as well. Everyone got a finisher's medal and a Really Chilly toque. Can't actually remember the last time I got a race medal in London!
   This afternoon, I feel good. No foot pain and the legs feel fine, I almost feel like going out for another run but I might just wait for a balmy -10 or something.....

The spoils!

 

Kicks Pics!

   As requested (and just to wrap up my Running Room misadventure story), I wanted to post a pic of the new kicks. As you might remember, I'd been having uploading issues with Blogger and had been unable to post any pics, let alone pics of the new shoes. Well, it seems the issue was my Compatibility View settings---I'd adjusted them a few days ago and hadn't made the connection til last night. Went back in and changed them to what they were and voila, I can post pics again! Such a relief!
   The RR return policy was sixty days provided I hadn't scuffed them or used them outside. In light of this, I headed off right away to the Goodlife treadmill.
   Of course, I was pretty excited and hopped on the 'mill and started to run and all of the sudden realized I hadn't stretched! Not even a touch!



Asics Gel-Nimbus 15 LS! Here they are! (I can almost here my mum
now--"Get your shoes off the diningroom table
right this minute!")

   Now, I'm not sure what everyone else's pre-run routine is but after my bout with PF last year, stretching before and after a run has become a ritual. The idea that I was running with brand new shoes without even stretching beforehand got me all panicky and I shut the run down almost as soon as I had started.
   The next day (after the appropriate stretching), I hit the treadmill again. Ran three miles and no problems! At this point, I thought I could probably hit the streets so, the next day, I headed to Springbank Park and ran 5K. Once again, no probs. Of course, if you've ever suffered from PF, you know that no run is ever successful until the next morning and you're pain-free. It was with a little trepidation, that I rolled out of bed the following day after that 5K run outside. But, once again, no probs!
   In a running world where people seem to have anywhere up to five or six different pairs of shoes for different conditions or types of races, I now have two reliable pairs. I'm thinking this will probably do me, for the amount and kinds of running I do.
   There is, however, kind of a cool feeling around new kicks...
  
  



Starting Up Again

   Christmas is finally over and I can almost physically feel myself starting to de-compress from it all. Most of the leftovers are finally gone and the shopping's been completed. If there were returns to make, this has been done. The familial obligations have ceased and I also have another week off. So, right at the moment, life is fine.
  

Me, post-run, it was good
to get out again! Need a new
hat, though...

It now seems like a good time to get back into a running routine. I realize there are likely several million runners out there who are all quite likely feeling the same way right about now--it's almost impossible for the holidays not to have some effect on your normal routines, running or otherwise. The extent with which we get back into our normal routines will vary, of course, but my plan is to get back to doing what I was doing this time last year.
   A year ago, I was running at least every other day. In  many of my off days I was playing ball hockey in a league (let's call it interval or speed work, if you like) and might occasionally double-up on the running. On Saturdays, I was slowly building up my long runs and was at the 9k mark when the PF hit. The PF and a couple of other niggling little medical concerns derailed huge chunks of my running this year and fingers crossed that it won't happen again!


New tights (Sugoi) and, yes, my legs DON'T
join at the top...

   All this being said, I headed out for a run today. I did a run a couple of weeks ago but with Christmas stuff going on I hadn't had the time or energy to get in any more. That run was a 3k and I decided today's would only be a 4k. I ran for 2k, walked a minute and then finished what was left of the final 2k by running it. The best part was at the end I was pretty sure I could easily have kept going.
   Today was also an opportunity to try out my new running tights. I had very generously been the recipient of a multitude of Running Room gift cards this past Christmas so I headed down there yesterday and picked out some tights and running shorts. Last winter, I ran in an old baggy pair of sweatpants and although the warmth factor was present, they were lacking in a couple of other important areas. Wind resistance was an issue--I remember them whipping around my legs constantly. As well, I simply didn't feel like a runner when I was wearing them.
   Today, new tights on, and it was great! Lots of warmth, no flapping, lots of ease of movement. And, according to my wife, I looked like a runner!
   All in all, it was a successful run today. The underfoot conditions were a little iffy in places with lots of slush and/or melting ice so I tried if at all possible to stick to the roads, which were fine. Tomorrow, Doralyn and I plan on hitting the gym, which neither of us have been to since the early fall. My plan is to alternate gym and run days, get back to the point where I can run 5k without stopping (again) and then find a goal race to sign up for!
    In the meantime, happy and healthy running to you all!

   The running conditions were just not that good today! You can even see the tracks my wheelchair someone's stroller left...

Epic Fail

   After a couple of failed running attempts this past week, I went out to try it again today. I looked at all the likely reasons the past two runs didn't work out and I tried to make sure that all had been rectified.
   They were. There were no issues with rain and no issues with cold. Today what foiled me was snow.

   At least I think it was the snow. A couple of days ago we got about nine centimeters of the stuff and overnight probably another three. The sidewalks were covered but quite passable. Occasionally they were heavy with slush and, rarely, were bare. But I ran out of steam and had to walk three or four times. I have not had to walk for about a month now and I saw this as a major setback, particularly as I have a 5K run fast approaching.
   I'm trying to figure out what part the snow played and what part may have been played by my interrupted run schedule lately plus an extra pound or two of festive food. I never felt that I was going to slip or fall down at any point but what the snow caused me to do was run a little more flat-footed and it also did not provide a totally reliable push-off. It always seemed as though my foot would slide just a fraction of an inch with almost every stride. Whether this caused an extra energy expenditure or not is unclear to me. It certainly was a mental distraction, if nothing else.
   So now I need to figure out how to run in snow. I went out today and picked up a few hex head metal screws and attached them to the bottoms of my shoes. They would possibly be workable in actual snow but on concrete I can feel them pressing through the botttom of my shoe, uncomfortably.
   I'm rather hoping that the race course on New Year's Eve will be well-groomed and fairly bare. In the meantime I will have to look at alternatives and will likely be purchasing some YakTrax to train in, if I continue to do the run thing.
   Just one more reason to hope for an early spring....  

Fail

Stuff I need to pay more attention to.

   Twice in the last week or so I have set out on runs. I bailed both times.
   The first instance, I began to run in what I thought at the time was a light rain. It turned out to be much heavier than I thought and, in fact, ended up blowing sideways. I was ill-prepared for this and began giving myself reasons to abort the run. My principal concern, I reasoned, was that my phone was strapped to my arm in a mesh holder and I thought that it might get wet and therefore destroyed. I'm not sure how real a fear this was but after awhile it became compelling. If nothing else, it became a nagging doubt.
   I have a hard time running while being dogged with nagging doubts and this caused me to cut the run short after slightly less than a kilometre. In my mind I reasoned that even a short run is better than no run at all. It was still difficult to accept this as anything other than a failure.
   In the second run, I once again misjudged the elements. There was no precipitation this time around but there was a biting cold. I simply neglected to check the temperature before heading out. I'd gotten a new pair of earwarmers for Christmas and was eager to give them a try. Well, they kept my ears warm but completely left the top of my bald head uncovered. I thought that as I warmed up so would my head but this did not happen. At some point things up there actually began to hurt and I thought to myself that thirty more minutes of running uncovered like that could possibly cause a frostbitten head. I tried to imagine what that might feel or look like and neither one was something I wanted to experience so, once again, I opted out.

A good idea--Adidas pays me to wear Nike anyway...

   All of this happened in conjunction with the festive season as well. This meant that not only was I missing the odd running day but I was also eating extra sweets and then only doing one kilometer runs in compensation. Just not a good feeling, all-round.
   It has been a learning experience, for sure. This is the first time in my life when I have felt compelled to run in winter weather. To date, the winter in these parts has been fairly mild and I've been getting away with it. It is now more like a true Canadian winter, however, and I need to adapt.
   In three days I'm running in a 5K race so I figure I have one more training run I want to get in before that. Hard to say what the weather might throw at me between now and then but, damn it, I'm going to be prepared the next time I head out!

Whether Weather

   It snowed this morning. Not a lot, just a dusting really, but it was still snow and a reminder that I live in Canada. Where we get snow. Occasionally, lots of snow!

Running in the fog

   There are several reasons why I'm not particularly fond of the snow--I have a double driveway and have not yet been able to invest in a snowblower, I drive a lot for work and this is always problematic, you never know what a ton of snow will do to your roof, and I'm not one of those winter sports kinds of people.
   This year, however, there is an added concern. I need to run in it.
   I have a target race, the 5K Brita Resolution Run, coming up on December 31st. Given that it is the end of December here in Canada, there could be snow. There should be snow. And quite likely ice, while we're at it.
   I am just in the middle of getting the hang of running on dry pavement, let alone snow, slush and ice so I am having more than a little trepidation (one of my favourite running words) as to how this might work out. More than anything, it's the footing which concerns me, naturally enough. I'm not as nimble as I used to be and the vision of me flying through the air, feet first, and landing on the back of my head rather haunts me right at the moment.
   I was running last night in 0 degree (freezing) temperature, and it didn't bother me too much--dress in layers, protect the extremities and you're okay. A couple of nights before that, the warm ground combined with the very cool night air produced heavy fog. This was not a major problem either, just make sure you're even more highly visible than usual. It's rained more than once as I've been on a training run and that's pretty par for the course.

Yaktrax--a little pricey but apparently they work

   It's just the snow which has me concerned.
   Fortunately, in this day and age, information is at your fingertips and I was able to go to several websites which offered advice geared toward running on ice and snow.
   There are a variety of devices which you can strap on to your shoes which hopefully give you the required traction in bad weather. They apparently go on and come off pretty easily and quickly, as well. They have metal cleats or rows of metal coils on the bottom which, obviously, grip the ice. Of course, there is some expense involved here and, if you've followed this blog at all, you are aware that I am a Broke Runner.

A cheaper alternative

   Fortunately, I have come across a cheaper and, frankly, cooler solution. Simply screw some sheet metal hex head screws into the bottom of your run shoes! This trick has been around for years. Depending on your running style eg. heel striker vs. midfoot striker, place the screws in a pattern you feel will give the most traction. Screw them in from the outside of the shoe until only the hex head protrudes from the bottom of the sole. The shape of the hex head is what gives the great traction. From what I read, it's not even uncomfortable to go from ice and snow to dry pavement and then back to ice and snow, all on the same run. If I end up adopting this method, I will let you know how it works out.
   I had to convince myself to go out and run last night, our cozy, warm little house was way too inviting, especially after a long day at work. It became a question not so much as to when to run but whether to run. This is was pretty well the first time whether had popped into the equation. Then it occurred to me that, winter-weatherwise, this was probably as good as it was going to get. If I didn't want to run in temperatures that weren't even below freezing then I was pretty well toast(y) as a real runner in Canada. So I got out and ran and it was no big deal. The weather will get worse and I'm going to need to pretend it's still no big deal, when it does. Will update you all, when the snow really flies!
  

Am I a "real" runner...?

That which caught my eye

   The other day as I was rooting around on Google Images, I ran across one of those humourous "postcard" type images and immediately had it catch my eye.
   It did so because I am currently in the middle of passing on little tidbits about my new running adventure and I've already started to wonder whether I'm telling people about stuff they won't give a damn about. Assuming they even read it.
   I've certainly stopped short of doing a training blog and I make almost no mention of running on Facebook, apart from posting links to the blog itself. So I think I'm doing okay.
   I don't mind if people know I'm a "rookie", I go out of my way to describe myself as a neophyte, so no big deal there. Right at the moment, this whole running thing is so new to me that I keep having these holy cow moments as I go along, self-discovering. The urge, then, is to write about them. Hence, I don't have copious amounts of gear or training information, I can't talk about all the different places I've run in, and I can't talk about all the innovative training techniques I've run across. About as much as I am able to talk about are my first fumbling steps, or strides, as it were.
   Right at the moment, it's a little difficult to see where I might be with my running in, let's say, a year from now. Presently, all I'm trying to do is get myself to where I can run 5K without dropping dead. My goal is to run a 5K race at the end of December, the Resolution Run. After that, if I've not lost any digits to the cold, I will need to decide where to go from there with my running.
   Since starting to hit the streets regularly back at the beginning of August, I've certainly felt better. There's a little more spring in my step and I've lost about ten pounds. I can think of no reason to stop running. Whether or not I "graduate" to 10K is hard to say. Right now, running 5K is a hell of a workout, both energy and time-wise, and it feels as though it might be enough. We'll have to see.

Question answered!

    I'm still hard-pressed to call myself a "real" runner. I get out and run every other day, regardless of the weather or my inclination at the time. I look forward to run days and am somewhat at loose ends on my days off. I enjoy reading about running and visiting running stores. Does all this make me a "real" runner? I'm not sure. Part of it is because I have never encountered a definition for "real".
   I occasionally run into other runners as I am out and about. They almost always look like "real" runners--this by the way they dress, more than anything. At this point, I don't think I look like a "real" runner but, at the same time, I am not running to be fashionable. I run consistently and, right at the moment, I run the same route every time. This takes me past the local Tim's. I have this fantasy that there's a couple of regular customers in there who, because of my routine combined with their routine, have noticed me streaking by on occasion. In my fantasy, one person says to the other, "Hey, there's that old guy out there again." The other person replies, "Man, I guess he must be a real runner!"
  

One broke runner

Some of my raggedy running apparel

   Tonight was another run night and the only thing much different was the fact that I had decided to run 4K instead of 3K. I didn't think it was necessarily a good idea to bump things up by a whole K so I decided to break the run approximately in half and walk for a minute.
   I had my usual pre-new-thing trepidation but I've sort of come to take this in stride (no pun) and didn't let it deter me. At the rate I've been doing 3K I figured that 4K would take about 30 minutes so I set my timer at 15 minutes and headed out.
   About a minute into my run I am still on my street and another runner comes out from a side street and then runs past me, going in the opposite direction.
   Now, this guy was a runner. He had new shoes, a running jacket, gloves, running tights and a toque. He also passed me twice as fast as I passed him.
   Me, I had on a couple of old ball hockey jerseys, a frayed Nike cap and an old pair of sweat pants. My shoes have holes in the toes.
   Granted, I am a neophyte runner. This and the fact that right at the moment I am also broke. Well, not broke for important things but I am broke for running stuff. It just ain't a priority. So I don't maybe look good when I'm running but I hope that I'm at least running effectively and moving forward.
   I was window-shopping at the Running Room here in London just the other day, to get an idea of some of the stuff I could be buying if I, indeed, was a buyer these days. I sort of concentrated on cold weather items as it is November here in Canada.
   I could easily have spent three to four hundred dollars on clothing and assorted accessories. This may happen some day but not any day soon. In the meantime, I am happy with the runner I am right at the moment, regardless of the raggedy appearance.

"Cotton is Rotten"--but warm...

   In the Learn-to Run clinic, they spend a fair amount of time telling you what to wear and what not to wear. Their credo is "Cotton Is Rotten" and runners are directed to principally polyester materials which "wick away" moisture (sweat). It's a funny kind of setting because you sit there in class at the back of the Running Room store, they tell what to buy and all you need to do after that is stand up, take four steps and there it is! All ready to buy! Unfortunately, "Cotton Is What I've Gotten" at my house and it is the principal layer next to my skin, particularly now that the weather's getting colder. So far, though, so good.
   As far as the run went, it went fine. The timer went off about where I thought it might, I walked for a minute, and then started running again. No real problem finishing the 4K. At this point, my plan is to do this another two or three times and then try a whole 4K running.
   Next stop after that---5K!