I looked back at my goals for 2022. From my 2021 year-end post, “on to 2022, my goals are completing all 12 Coldwell Banker Elite Grand Prix races, finishing my 27th JFK and 15th Historic Half. I’ll run a spring marathon to raise my consecutive year finish streak to 30. I’ll skip a fall marathon to focus on JFK training.”
In late 2021 or early 2022, I started noticing skipped beats when taking my pulse. I wasn’t sure what the issue was, but it would probably fix itself if I kept running without problems.
On January 1, 2022, I knew I would stop working at the end of the summer. Then, I would be able to train without any time constraints.
My spring races were slower than in previous years, and I tended to bonk in the last miles of my long runs. I struggled to pick up my feet over the roots and rocks on trails, which slowed my pace.
I knew my time to finish a marathon in all 50 states was running out. I only had 13 more states to complete. My legs were aging, and times were slowing. I added a goal to finish at least seven states in 2022. I planned to run six marathons in the spring and one October marathon in preparation for JFK.
I finished my 15th Historic Half Marathon but had issues in the last 3 miles, not being able to grind the two big hills.
I decided to take two road trips and plotted out six marathons in 8 weeks during April and June. After those six races, I could relax and run one marathon during JFK preparation.
My six spring marathons were slower than expected. I was DFL in two, never broke 5 hours, and finished over 6 hours in four. A couple of the walking miles in these marathons exceeded 15 minutes which was foreboding for a JFK finish.
With my race and training times slowing faster than typical aging, my doctor referred me to a pulmonologist to review my breathing. When she listened to my heart, she did not hear any issues.
The PFT I did in August showed my FEV1 at 65%. 85% is considered the bottom limit of normal. I’m not exhaling all of the air in my lungs and can only push out 65% in the first exhale second. That is a sign of either COPD or Asthma. I have never smoked, so my doctor started treating me for Asthma. The pulmonologist listened to my heart and did not hear any problems. He put me on Albuterol as needed.
Once on Albuterol, my training runs improved, and I did not feel winded after an easy 4-mile run.
Even with the slowing issues, I was on pace to run 2000 miles. I needed to run 100 more miles than in 2021. By Labor Day, I was 26 miles ahead of last year’s pace and, without work conflicts, motivated to get to 2000.
During a follow-up with my pulmonologist a couple of days after a difficult Braswell 5km, she changed me to daily Symbicort. Listening to my heart, she heard an arrhythmia which ended up being A-Fib.
On September 27, 2022, I was shocked during an echocardiogram to eliminate the A-Fib. In a follow-up with my cardiologist, we decided to stop running ultras. Running marathons was still OK. I only had seven more to finish the 50 states. He said, “we can get you through 7 marathons and then limit races to half-marathons.”
Three weeks later, I took a road trip to Albuquerque for a marathon. On JFK weekend, I was in Tulsa for another marathon. And in December, I ran a marathon in Hilo, Hawai’i. All three marathons were under 6 hours. However, there were some walking miles in each over 15 minutes. At JFK, I would have needed to maintain a 15-minute-per-mile pace for 34 miles. In these marathons, I could not keep that pace for 10 miles.
I finished the year with 1902 miles compared to 1900 for 2021. I took four road trips, driving about 20,000 miles to run eight marathons.
I finished 22 in-person and three virtual races. I ran the virtual races to continue my finish streak in Coldwell Banker Elite Grand Prix, now at 34.
The 22 in-person races are one more than 2021 and include a 50km, nine marathons, three half-marathons, five 5km, and ten, five, three, and one mile races.
In 2009, I founded the Dahlgren Heritage Rail Trail 50km and directed it for 12 years. I’ve finished the race in the past two years. Little did I know that my 2022 finish would be my last ultra.
I only won one age division in the 60 and over at the Halloween 5km. Somehow, I finished third male overall in the Stafford Race Series. Even with crappy races, I finished in the top 20% in the Historic Half 65 to 69 age group and fourth in the Deuce Braswell 65 and over age group.
The Coldwell Banker Elite Grand Prix is in its 29th year. The series awards use a five-year age group structure with age on August 1, 2022. Series organizers pulled one runner in my age group into a Grand Master cash award group. So, I finished with an age group second place.
I reached four of my five goals. Though I don’t feel I’m running well, I guess I am doing OK.
On to 2023, my goals are completing all 12 Coldwell Banker Elite Grand Prix races, all 5 Stafford Series races, my 16th Historic Half, and my final four state marathons. The spring marathon will raise my consecutive year, finishing a marathon, streak to 31 years. My final goal is to write my 2024 goals at the end of the year. Goals are best when written down and published. On On!.