Earned Runs
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Request Bibs/Contact
  • GEAR LOVE
  • FAQ
  • Starter Checklist
  • RESOURCES*
  • Oh the Places You'll Go!
  • Generosity
  • THE HONOR SERIES
  • BONE STRENGTH FOR ATHLETES
  • About

5TH ANNUAL EARNED RUNS HONOR SERIES: 2019 PEARL HARBOR REMEMBRANCE RECOUNT

12/30/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
December 7th top speed. Taken by PKSenagore December 21, 2019. All rights reserved.
Note: It’s a bit delayed, but below is the yearly recounting of my effort in the second part of the Earned Runs HONOR SERIES which has been posted on the HOME page. Going forward the postings for this series can be found on a separate website page.
 
THE FIRST PORTION OF THE TWO-PART SERIES is the "11k Race to Remember 9/11".  The “7K PEARL HARBOR REMEMBRANCE DAY” effort is the series SECOND EVENT, run several months later on December 7th each year.
 
Since 2015, these September and December events have been solo ‘competitions’ for me (see the HOME page). I so very much enjoyed the quiet of the pre-dawn hour sessions that first year that going forward both have been planned as individual efforts.

I’ve used Earned Runs bibs, to design events on occasions that are meaningful to me, yet at the same time observed by a much greater number of people.  In effect, regardless of everyone's location, we remember together. On these days I am able, 'in spirit', to join with the entire country in honoring the heroes without traveling to New York City, Washington DC, or Pennsylvania in September, or in Oahu HI in December. And in solitude, personally remember loved ones and past events.


DECEMBER 7, 2019 The morning was cool, cloudy, and dry similar to 2018. Again, this year no rain or snow was falling. But I awoke with anticipation and excitement.  The previous two years I had walked 7K to commemorate the date; today I planned to walk/run 7 miles! This day was very near the 2nd anniversary of the 2017 NYC orthopedic visit that convinced me to forego my favorite sport of 42 years. Walking instead, to preserve knee function.  However, in May 2019 I made a decision to try running again
 
My training plan leading up to this event included alternating walking with running on distance days, usually 3 minutes vigorous walking then 3 minutes easy running after a 1mile warm-up, progressing from a 30-minute session to 48 minutes total.  On this day my goal was to average 12-13 minutes per mile, with at least one mile covered in 12 minutes or less (5 miles per hour).  The challenge was to hold to a ‘safe’ running speed without pushing too hard, and work with greatest intensity during the walking intervals. 
 
This annual memorial event was to be my longest distance effort in more than 2 years. Because of this I spent roughly the same amount of time concentrating on my movement as remembering the day’s history.
 
The lakeside course I used at Ottawa Beach Michigan was breezy with drifting sand.  Wind-chill temperatures felt low enough that I dreaded having to endure a 3.5-mile return leg of an out-and-back course facing the wind head on, so I ran loops in a campground parking lot instead. [ I thought of the coincidence that the beach’s name matched the American forces landing location on D-day in World War II.]
 
Without music playing, a phone conversation going, or an audible book electronically delivering content into my ears (not allowed in my ‘rules’ for these 2 challenges) there was an opportunity to remember my parents and the other members of their generation.  To recall that time in history and acknowledge the daily courage needed to join the war effort and fight, or stay behind and work at vital and non-vital jobs on the home front. To muster optimism and not concentrate on dreaded outcomes. 

I resolved to meet my 2020 challenges, personal and greater, knowing my parents had managed harder times.

 
In this quiet environment I initially felt the heaviness of this history, but my mood quickly lifted with the real time physical effort and lightening sky.  I was so happy and grateful to be running again, even in a limited way, and for a time, reaching my goal speed of 5 miles per hour!
 
 
RUN & MOVE HAPPY!
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    BRIDGE TO PHYSICAL SELF
    Running, walking, and fitness activities enable us to experience our physical selves in a world mostly accessed through use of fingers on a mobile device.
    Picture
    Finished my first 50K challenge, a virtual but real effort April 6, 2021. Qualifies me as an ultra-marathoner! All rights reserved.

    Author

    EARNED RUNS is edited and authored by me, runner and founder.  I began participating in road races before 5Ks were common. I've been a dietitian, practiced and taught clinical pathology, and been involved with research that utilized pathology.  I am fascinated with understanding the origins of disease as well as health.

    Archives

    September 2021
    August 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015

    Categories

    All
    Greeting
    Image Only

    RSS Feed

    New! Search Box

    Earned Runs is now searchable! Check it out...
EARNED RUNS LLC                                                                                                                                                                                                    Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Request Bibs/Contact
  • GEAR LOVE
  • FAQ
  • Starter Checklist
  • RESOURCES*
  • Oh the Places You'll Go!
  • Generosity
  • THE HONOR SERIES
  • BONE STRENGTH FOR ATHLETES
  • About