Seven Weeks Ago I Drove Past the Location of the Tucson Shooting

Twenty eight days into 2011 and I don't have a lot to write about. But that's o.k. Funny thing is, I was in the same boat a year ago with this post "Training Without Any Goals in Mind."

Call it my new year's lull. Or just recuperating from my late fall marathons. But really what it comes down to is...running is not high on my list right now. I went through the same thing a year ago.

I was about to write about other stuff when it dawned on me, I wonder exactly where the horrific Tucson Shooting took place on January 8th. It certainly was on my mind the fact that I happened to be in Tucson last December to run the Tucson Marathon but I had not taken the time to actually look at the location of the cowardly attack.

The Safeway supermarket is located at the corner of Ina Road and Oracle Road. To get to my hotel, I drove west on Ina Road and made northbound turn on Oracle Road. So tonight, to my surprise, I discovered that on Saturday, December 11th, I literally drove past the fateful location of the Tucson Shooting, exactly 4 weeks prior to the date of the attack.

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I also drove past that same location, southbound on Oracle Road, after the marathon on December 12th.

This attack sickened me as I'm sure it did all of you. Very, very sad. Let's hope that Gabrielle Giffords continues her recovery. Yet another reminder that any of us could be at the wrong place at the wrong time. And a reason to pursue everything that you want and can in life and to not hesitate in so doing.

Quick New Year's Update - Tracking Mileage

At this time of year I usually update my annual mileage tally. I've been tracking my mileage since I started running on May 5, 1993. But I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Yes, times have changed. In my early days, I would carefully update my daily mileage in an Excel spreadsheet each day. Back then I would literally drive the course that I ran in order to log an accurate mileage count (this was back in the days before anyone could buy a mileage tracker like a Nike Plus). I had a hand-drawn map of the mileage for different courses in my neighborhood.

I updated that simple spreadsheet at one point to track both mileage as well as time spent running, then added a column to show a rolling 7 day and 10 day average. There is a "comments" section to the spreadsheet where I indicate if I was sick, injured, was travelling or ran a race.

This spreadsheet has become a monster, with over 6,000 rows. But I continue updating it. Not quite as regularly though...

The last time I updated this spreadsheet was at the end of last year. Yes, probably this coming Friday night I will be on the computer updating a year's worth of running escapades onto this spreadsheet. I obviously don't look at this spreadsheet often any more. But I do feel compelled to continue updating it as long as I'm alive and running.

There's an old fashioned side of me that has not given up use of a daily planner book. Every day I jot down the duration of my run and the estimate mileage. I no longer drive my courses. I have no need for that level of accuracy. I do have a Nike Plus somewhere in the house but I haven't seen or used it for several years. I feel no need to track mileage to that degree of precision (perhaps in 1993 I would be saying otherwise).

I estimate my mileage based on how fast or slow I feel I ran that day. Having logged over 45,000 miles since 1993, I now have a pretty good feel for my pacing, be it a 7 minute, 7 1/2 minute or 6 1/2 minute pace. It takes me just a quick moment to jot down my time and my estimated mileage each day. No worries if it is off by two tenths of a mile. It is close enough.

Yes, times have indeed changed. But I still have to update that darn spreadsheet. May have to take my body to Jiffy Lube at 50,000 miles. At 100,000, I may need an engine replacement.