33on33

Last year I didn't publish a 32on32 and I regretted it when my birthday popped up this year.
I'm trying not to repeat mistakes of the past.
Good.

This past March I maintained my tradition of running my age in miles on my birthday.
It requires some planning.
I did not plan well.

Why not?
Well, primarily because I didn't have an account of last year's birthday run to reference.

Thinking back to my 32nd birthday, all I really remember is running kinda early in the morning, maybe 6AMish and choosing the worst initial route ever.
A 13 mile out-and-back where the "back" is a big ass hill.
Too much effort early.

Then a 2 mile out-and-back.
At which point it was still dark and getting very trafficky.

So I ended up at the gym for a spell. A 13 mile spell.
Because people still use the word "spell."

Notable because I told one or two people why I was at the gym later than usual and on the treadmill longer than usual.
Notable because after I had showered and changed, on my way out the door Roger at the front desk out of nowhere suggests that he respected my birthday run effort.
Wow.
(Where's Roger been anyway?)

And then I knocked out the final 3 miles later in the afternoon.

Anyway, maybe that's how it went because I really don't remember.


This year, with the poor memory of the previous year still NOT fresh in my mind, I set out.
:-)

I woke just before 4AM to begin a 33 mile odyssey.
My plan was to run this sweet 13 mile out-and-back, then a 5 mile loop, then 13 miles to the local smorgasbord to meet my family for breakfast.

I donned my deteriorating reflective green construction vest and a brand new headlamp.
Fuel was a handheld water bottle with a planned stop at Wawa convenience store for more water.

I headed out for 6.5 uneventful miles to Wawa.
It was beginning to rain.
Glad I wore a hat.

Except it was also windy.
And kept blowing my hat off.
So I had to wear my hat backward.

Defeated the intent of the hat.

On the way back, up the big ass hill, it was raining more.
A white van swerved directly at me.
I stood in the residue of its exhaust and gave a prolonged middle finger.
In hindsight, at that time, I wished I had thrown a rock at it.

Now, I'm soaked.

I stopped home after the 13 miles for a potty break and refilled my water bottle.
I headed out for the 5 mile loop. No bald eagle sightings.

Home again for a final refuel.
I was soaked and cold but fairly comfortable because I had on two long sleeved technical shirts.

I lost the reflective vest and mistakenly kept the headlamp.
It was light out just a few minutes into my remaining point-to-point 15 miler.

During the final stretch of my run on the road, I played chicken with at least 3 horses and buggies.
I always yielded and ran in the lane of traffic.
The horse and buggie drivers always waved "Thanks."

I was behind schedule.

I thought the 33 miles would take me 5.5 hours, meeting my family at 9:30AM.
Ooops.

I hit mile 26.2 coincidentally at about 9:15AM when my family drove by and pulled into a nearby bank parking lot to rescue me.

This was bittersweet.
I was happy to be picked up.
I was unhappy RunKeeper recognized 0 miles of my run. Man.

I was happy to have 26.2 miles in the books.
I was annoyed to look at 6.8 remaining miles to be tackled later.

But fortunately, I had the afternoon while the kids were at school.

The smorgasbord was fantastic.
I drank so many ICEEs.

Home. Shower. Took Goodles to school.

Gym.
Treadmill.
6.8 miles at a peaceful 10min/mi pace.

All 33 miles while listening to tunes.
Pretty sure I ended with Kendrick Lamar. Love that kid.

Showered/changed at the gym.

The kids had dictated that we would go to a Moon Bounce place per tradition.

So while the Run Your Age tradition becomes more difficult year-by-year, let me acknowledge that subsequent Moon Bouncing is also increasingly difficult.
But so worth it.

I didn't stretch after completing the runs.
I didn't use The Stick to rub my legs down.
I didn't take an ice bath.

And my recovery was complete after 2+ days.
Next year, I need to do some Same-Day therapy to accelerate recovery.

At night, family came over for pizza, cake and ice cream.
I had a SpongeBob cake.

That's the 33in33.
Try it sometime.