Gear

I am not a gear-head . . . with any aspect of my life. I know what make and model my bikes and trombones are, but have to look up many of their constituent details. (Which Shimano gear set? I dunno.) (What is the diameter of my bore or mouthpiece? Beats me.)

Running is much easier that way. At least for me. When I first ran the Big Sur Marathon (2010) I tried on a lot of shoes, asked a lot of questions, and bought a pair of Brooks--the Glycerin model as it turns out. The following year, running BSIM again, I bought Brooks/Ghost 2. Not without trying on other brands, and looking at more reviews; but I was already satisfied with the Brooks brand. For 2020 I bought that year's Ghost model, 12. And yesterday. in a trip that took me all of 20 minutes to and from my house, I bought the Ghost 14. (I'm pretty sure that if I ran annually, I would have all the numbers between 2 and 14!)

I don't get paid to support Brooks; and they probably couldn't care less that I personally like this shoe. But anyway, here are all my marathon shoes . . . yes, I still have and use them all. One pair is now for lawn work, another for walking only. The 2020 shoes are still good for short runs. By March I will only be running in my Ghost 14s.

I learned in 2010 how to dress for winter training. The only thing I have (finally) added is a drawer full of merino wool socks.

And finally, this year's training app is RunCoach. So far, so good! I know I would benefit from the professional coaching they provide, but I'm really too cheap for that, and in any case I'm not trying to prove or win anything. Here's a look at my training calendar for this week.

The Big Sur International Marathon is scheduled for April 24, 2022. Here's hoping!