This is the second year I signed up for a race named Run For The Ranch, which is a three-race 5K series that winds through Paramount Ranch. I hike almost daily at the ranch, so it feels like I’m running on my home turf for these races. That psychological boost is nice, because I can use all the help I can get. My short running career has taught me that any advantage, no matter how small, is worth clinging to like a life raft in the middle of the Pacific.

One major difference from last year was that I started using ChatGPT as a personal coach. In particular, ChatGPT put me on an 80/20 plan. The main idea is that most training runs are slow and longish, which is good for both aerobic training and injury avoidance. Every few days the coach intersperses a high-intensity workout, like 4 repetitions of 800 meters or 8 reps of a 100 meter hill. It has probably been decades since I’ve done sprints like these, so at first it was quite painful. Gradually after building up a rhythm, the workouts began to feel good, boosting the anaerobic limit and neuromuscular system in general. Towards the end of the schedule, I found myself looking forward to the sprints, causing something of an identity crisis as I sat there wondering who was this dude enjoying these painful workouts.

The results by the numbers were:

Race date	Time	minutes/mile	Rank in age group
June 18, 2025	25:10	8:05	3rd
June 25, 2025	24:22	7:50	2nd
July 2, 2025	24:44	7:56	3rd

For comparison, the fastest race last year on the same course was 26:27 (8:31/mi). This year had a 2:05 (41 second/mile) improvement, which I’m quite happy with, and I’ve also decided that I will improve by that amount every year. As such, I’m on pace to set the world record in 7 years, and I’ll be running at close to the speed of light in 13 years. It is important to have goals.

However the real ego-crushing moment that I’m trying to distract myself from: Despite a marked improvement, I was soundly beaten by a ten-year old girl. Now it turns out that the town of Agoura Hills has had its brush with the Olympics¹, and if this young person follows the steady improvement you would expect for someone hitting their teenage stride, she will be rewriting the Olympic record books a number of years in the future, and she’ll be running at superluminal velocities shortly thereafter. I don’t know that race organizers are prepared for the relativistic time effects when she crosses the finish line before starting, but her future success will greatly aid in the recovery of my battered ego.

Here are a few other items I wanted to collect in one place.

• The 60 year olds faster than me were 6:58/mi and 7:40/mi. As before, some old guys can still rock.
• There is a 100 ft hill right in the middle of the race, and two other smaller hills.
• VO2Max: 52.5 (AppleWatch) 44 (Polar)

Next year’s goal: Beat at least one person who can legally drive a car. And maybe, just maybe, avoid being passed by someone who still believes in the tooth fairy.

The glory of the podium, at least as much glory as 60-69 year olds can have.

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1. One of the volunteers mentioned that this race and the club that runs it was in part formed to raise money for a young Deena Kastor while she was in high school here. ↩