Off-season update:Topeka, Kansas

Just got back from a very long run this afternoon in Topeka, Kansas. Just couldn't help it -- the sun is out, the air is mild (about 60 degrees), the ground is dry, and the winds are light. So I went out for what turned out to be the longest run I've done in a long while -- at least in the past year, anyway.

It was 9.2 miles as measured by the rental car, taking 1 hour and 51 minutes. Like all great runs, I was motivated by a simple goal: to "capture" the Kansas State Capitol, about four miles to the west in downtown Topeka. (That's it above, under renovation.) It was ambitious for an off-season run and I wasn't sure I could do it, but I felt good (despite a draining nose and recent lack of sleep) so figured I'd just keep the route simple and see how far I got.

I started out on Fairlawn Road in West Topeka (where I'm staying at a Best Western), a suburban enclave of motels and convenience stores, and started down 6th Street -- or I should say up, because the first stretch slopes up at a surprisingly steep angle, made no easier by the lack of sidewalks. My plan was to stay on 6th Street all the way into downtown, and that's what I did, going up and down rolling slopes, first through residential areas and then past commercial properties.

It's a wide street, with two lanes in each direction, leading me to believe it must have been the main road out of town to the west (towards Salina, Kansas) before Interstate 70 was built just to the north, along the Kansas River. The commercial properties date from its heyday, and now repose in various states of use and neglect.

Up and down I went. Who says Kansas is flat? Not along 6th Street, as I reached major cross streets that told me I was getting closer: Gage, MacVicar, Washburn. I felt good, and was keeping my eye out for the first actual glimpse of the state Capitol's dome, topped by a statue of a Kansa warrior named Ad Astra, and currently augmented by a large construction crane. At one point, Topeka's street grid shifts to the right, and when I reached that point, I knew I was getting closer. Still, hard to see beyond the continuous wall of auto body shops and Mexican restaurants that lined the street.

But then, when the cross streets begin to be named after pre-Civil War presidents (Taylor, Fillmore, etc.) I saw it -- or I saw the crane, at least. Not too far off, actually, but not close either. But for the first time, I felt I just might have a chance at successfully completing this quest.

After getting held up by heavy traffic on Topeka Boulevard, I crossed and entered the downtown area. Even on a nice day, the place was completely deserted: no cars, no trucks, no pedestrians. It looked like a neutron bomb had hit the place! I jogged by the building that houses the Jayhawk Theater, then up 7th Street to Kansas Avenue, the "Main Street" of downtown Topeka. It was so quiet I could have run right up the middle of the street and wouldn't have bothered anyone.

Still feeling strong, I made a right on 9th Street, and there the Capitol was, facing me. I circled around the southern side, "capturing" it by jogging across the lawn and now facing into the sun, which lit up the building behind me like it was about to appear in a Cecil B. Demille epic. And then I started back, knowing the challenge was to keep going but not push too hard so my feet would hold up.

I was on 10th Street heading back, and it was a good choice: mostly commercial, with good sidewalks almost all the way back to Fairlawn. Leaving downtown and heading back west, I found 10th Street to be more institutional than 6th Street: hospitals, churches, the county's modern library, and Topeka's amazing high school, which was build in 1931 but looks like it belongs in an English university town.

The slog began to get to me by the time I hit Gage Road, but I pressed on, determined to make it back to Fairlawn without stopping. Soon the sidewalk gave out and the road narrowed, meaning I must be getting close. Uneven ground near the road forced me out into the flatter part of a gigantic open area, apparently part of a church cemetery, before I finally crested on final rolling hill and saw Fairlawn just below. Nice! I made it.

So pretty amazing that I've got the legs for this length of run at this time of the year. Hope I can keep it up, as it could mean some really good times for races later this year.

Winter Solstice Update

Never thought I'd find myself out running in a T-shirt and shorts on the first day of winter, but that's exactly what happened! No, I haven't gone nuts, but perhaps Mother Nature has. Yesterday (Thursday, Dec. 21), the temperature in our part of the world was in the low 50s, which is at least 20 degrees higher than what we usually see this time of year. Also, there's no snow on the ground, as we've had above normal temps pretty much constantly since a freak snowstorm dumped about two feet on us two months ago. (It quickly melted afterwards.)

And so, when by now I'd usually be spending time in the gym, I've actually continued to run outside pretty regularly, long after the point where it's impossible or dangerous. As a bonus, it's been mostly with the two youngest of our three dogs, who have a lot of energy to burn. We do a regular route that includes trail running and jumping into a brook (them, not me), so it's quite a good workout for everyone.

This has continued pretty regularly, with varying degrees of energy on my part. With the two dogs, however, it's impossible to push yourself in terms of stride or pacing. Often it's enough just to keep them in formation as you barrel along down the local roads. As a result, I don't pay attention to miles/times, and I'm content to do about an hour when we go out.

So it was quite a surprise yesterday when I took out the older dog (the younger two were in daycare) for a solo spin on the shortest day of the year, and from the start just felt infused with a great deal of energy that didn't seem to want to break or let up. She's older, but still very active, so off we went, on a long run that wound up being about 5 miles in the incredible time of 45 minutes!

I don't know if it was the temperature (cool but not cold), the two cups of coffee I had earlier in the afternoon, the different dog situation, the adrenaline of holiday preparations, the 10 hours of sleep I got two nights ago (a rarity for me) or the fact that I had an entire pint of black raspberry frozen yogurt the night before, but I haven't felt that strong running in a long time.

Or maybe, just maybe, it was the accumulated efficiency of regular running lo these many weeks, all through November and December, that finally paid off. Whatever it was, it was simply thrilling to run like that within weeks of my 48th birthday. So I don't care what happens at Christmas: I've already had the gift of a good run!

Looking ahead to 2012, right now races are scheduled in only a handful of New Hampshire places where I haven't run before. Things will fill in more as we get closer to spring, but even so it's getting to be about time when I have to start planning my own 5K runs in communities that aren't likely to hold a race anytime soon—for example, the north country town of Odell, population 0. Otherwise, I'll never finish this crazy quest.

In the meantime, I hope to keep running outside as long as the weather holds. If this keeps up into January, I might be heading into 2012 in the best running shape in years! On the other hand, I might sprain my ankle tomorrow, or fall into the brook with the dogs. Either way, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!