Back to Lewis Morris Park on Saturday

I'm planning to head back to Lewis Morris Park in New Jersey on Saturday to have a go at the 2nd race in the 4 race series put on by the NJ Trail Series folks. This time, the distance is 10 miles and there is a strong likelihood of messy snow on the trails. Sounds like fun. I expect the field to be smaller than last time, but we'll see.

By the end of this week, I'll have 14 consecutive weeks of fairly consistent running in the bank. Finally starting to feel like myself again. Well, at least my nearly-50-year-old self. As I approach a new age group, time to re-set all the personal records again and start over. That's fine, I know I'll never be as fast as I once was (although I can dream, can't I?). When I really think about it, 30 years ago I'd run a 5 mile road race and be aiming to break 5:00 per mile pace, while now I'd like to think I can manage the same distance at just a hair under 6:00 pace by this summer. That's only one minute per mile slower after 30 years, not so bad right?

Apparently, as we men age we are supposed to gain about 5 pounds per decade, and our race times go down by about 6% per decade. If I apply these rules to my sample set of one (me), I come in right about where I should:

• I weighed about 145 lbs in college, and I'm around 156 lbs now (the formula says I should be 160 lbs, so I guess I'm slightly ahead of the curve a bit on that one).
• I ran 5 miles at 5:00 pace in college, and I'm hoping to run just under 6:00 pace now (the formula says I should be able to run 5:57 pace). Okay, there's a goal.

I know that there are some runners who just seem to go on and on, never losing a step, and others who actually get FASTER in their 50s (I want what they are having for breakfast) ... but I'll take my 6:00 pace goal gracefully, knowing that I haven't come apart at the seams ... at least not yet. Time will tell. Literally.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow ...