Trivia: Who has won the most marathons for men? Numbers. After totaling my run and bike miles for 2003, I gave them perspective in this space last year. It occurred to me I am now "my father's age" and got thinking how exercise and health habits have evolved. Thoughts on aging have changed over the past 35 years as more people have become active, eat better and enjoy ever- improving medical care. (Ironically, as America gets fitter, it's gotten fatter too, but that's a topic for another time).

Bear with me while I trot out some numbers: in '03 I ran 415 miles and cycled 5,175 miles. When I shared those figures with longtime friends, a few said, "You used to run as many miles as you biked." True enough, when I was somebody else. Ha-ha. That was back when running wasn't cool, Ozzy Osbourne was lucid, Earth shoes were in vogue, and training theory encouraged more and more miles. Until the mid-'60s, repetition/interval workouts were the norm, supplemented with modest mileage. Thanks to coaches like Arthur Lydiard, the benefits of a steady diet of miles complemented by modest doses of speed, gradually caught on. By the early '70s, the mileage "race" was on.

I wish I had kept training diaries from those days when cotton was king, shoe technology was in its infancy and Gatorade had begun replenishing athletes. I've lost a '72 diary that made interesting reading, and recall a December '73 log that totaled about 650 miles.

My '03 numbers were decent and '04 ones better. I didn't miss a day of running and/or cycling, totaling 1,127 miles on foot and 5,092 in the saddle; an average of a 3-mile run and 14-mile ride every day.

Keeping on is my goal, but some reflection: in my peak year, '73, when Nike shoes became readily available, I ran around 5,600 miles, an average of 15 miles per day. The previous year I ran around 5,200 miles. I was running twice a day and sometimes sensed myself returning from a run as I headed out for another.

I was fortunate to avoid much down time, and pretty much had to run so much to keep pace with my teammates at Eastern Michigan University. An odd "achievement" that illustrates my single-minded devotion is the 57 consecutive mornings I ran at least 10 miles in December '73 and January '74.

It needs saying I'm not trying to sound impressive with these stats. The numbers are end products, and I recall more what led to them and what they led to. The process of covering miles is about interactions, balancing stresses, friends, fun, pressing the edge and adapting; while stats are dry by comparison. A time or mileage figure may bring a smile or evoke a memory, but the everyday showing up, sweating some, is what keeps me going and coming back.

Adapting best describes similarities between '73 and '04. My running was tailing off with an arthritic foot in the mid-'90s, but cycling has proven a terrific complement. After 31 years, too many miles and physical setbacks, I've persevered. It's tempting to compare the numbers, to say current totals are better due to this or that, but I'm not vain that way and don't care. The numbers are good in their own way, fruits of their times. I'm proud of all it took to put them up but don't feel they define me.

The past half-dozen years have been good to me, and the most I can hope for is continued balance, a trouble-free foot and sweet tailwinds in '05. One year at a time. Run for fun, cycle with a helmet on, please.

Enjoy!

THINGS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT.

1. Commands of a starter at a track meet.

2. Pre-race pasta dinners.

3. Seeing friends win awards/honors.

4. Recognizing signs of stress in time.

5. The health of the sport isn't tied to the speed of its participants.

6. Hansons Distance Project.

7. Kenyan-born runners were ranked 1-10 in the world for the 3,000 meter steeplechase by Track and Field News for 2004.

8. Owning a box of winter running accessories with hats, gloves and headbands of various vintage.

9. Cheesecake of any flavor.

10. Your hometown newspaper reports local finishers of the Boston Marathon.

11. The mile run at a high school track meet.

12. Winter running despite the inconveniences and nuisances.

13. The USATF National and Masters Track and Field Halls of Fame.

14. The Gina Relays at Hillsdale College.

15. Tatyana Pozdnyakova of the Ukraine, a multiple Crim masters winner, still beating the youngsters at age 49.

Ten Degrees of Separation. The timing was everything. You'd be right on the money to think Jan. 14 in Michigan would normally be very cold and possibly snowy. Would you settle for half of that this year?

A burst of warm Gulf air arrived Jan. 13, raising temps and melting snow. This was fine by me, and I looked forward to a rare mid-winter run in shorts the next day. Arctic air was forecast to push in from the north after noon Jan. 14, so I was pressing it some with my late-morn start.

It was 51 degrees and drizzling when I began at 11:15 a.m. Twenty-five minutes later I noticed it was getting colder and could feel my shirt brushing across my chest; unusual I thought. Finishing in 46 minutes, I checked the temp and it was 41 degrees! A drop like that over such a short period was a first for me. I also noticed blood on my shirt where my nipples had chafed. That made it a doubly-new morning.

The temp continued to drop and it started snowing at 3:30. The next day, Jan 15, it was 14 degrees with a windchill well below zero, and my run traversed icy streets. I looked in at copperharbor.org and the temp at the other end of the world was zero, making me feel much better. Toss in some areas of dense fog due to the warm air mixing with the cold ground, plus flooding due to snow melt and rain, and it was a loopy 36 hours.

Answer: Helge Hafsas of Norway has won 46 marathons, all in Norway, between 1994 and 2004. His times have ranged from 2:29 to 2:50. Thanks to the Analytical Distance Runner for help. MR