The Year Comes to a Close

I had to run on a tread mill today; snow and lack of sleep drove me inside. 4.7 miles, I didn't want to run so much that I was tired tonight. Total for the year: 2019.2 miles. It was a great year of running! Tomorrow I try to recap my miles and compare the total to the past years.

Howling Beagle Mix

I came home from work today tired so I hoped to get a couple hours sleep before I ran. Well with school out this week our dog had too many distractions. She was barking and howling for over an hour. I did lay down for about 21/2 hours but no sleep. I still ran 12.5 miles at a slow 8:54 pace but I have now run 2014.5 miles with one day left to run. I'll have to check the past years to see what my totals were compared to this year.

I have now signed up for the Myrtle Beach Marathon in February, Virginia Beach (Shamrock) Marathon in March and Boston in April. I will soon sign up for the KeyBank VT City in May. I love having goals, it helps me stay focused in all areas of my life not just running.

I'll finish "Born to Run" tonight and I will discuss it soon.

2002 Miles

Yesterday I ran 8.1 miles making an even 2002 miles run for the year. I didn't run today; it was really cold and very windy and I had too many things to do. I will run tomorrow regardless of the weather so I can add to my total. I'm not sure I will top that in 2010 since I would like to run more marathons and possibly an ultra.

Feeling Great

I can't tell you how good I feel right now.

I have run 6.0 miles 12/25, 8.1 miles 12/26 and 11.1 miles today and I felt I could keep running each day. I'm within 7 miles of 2000 for the year; I hope I feel rested after work tomorrow so I can run 7. It was misting at first today and then a cold rain but it felt great! Right now it is sunny and warm for the end of December in CT.

Christmas Eve

I love Christmas. This year all my kids are home except my son and his family; but my wife and I will see them in February.

Today I ran 10.3 miles at a slow pace of 8:27/mi., fastest speed was 6:24 and I burned 1213 calories. The Garmin 205 definitely is information overload but great for comparison and all the info can be saved on the computer.

I'm almost done with "Born to Run" and I will give you my impression when I finish. I'm happy to say that I was running a modified version of the method in the book. It has certainly inspired me to run more outside this winter. I also think that losing weight has helped my legs for winter running.

Today I ran after work and I was "running" at work from 3:30 on. Right now my legs feel great!

I hope to run early tomorrow when the roads are free of traffic.

17.3 Miles

Yes after not running for 2 days I ran 17.3 miles today. It was warm (28-32F) and sunny and I didn't want to stop. Last night I had a dream I ran 50 miles. I woke up an hour before I had to get up so I fell back to sleep and dreamed I was biking up a really steep and curvy road. I had planned to run 10 miles after work but it was just too nice to stop. I'm 42+ miles from 2000 for the year.

A Day Off

It snowed last night. In anticipation, I ran 10.3 miles yesterday even though I got up at 2:45 to get ready for work. I ran it in 1:25:33, an 8:18.3/mi. pace. It was cold but not too windy and I felt good at the end. Friday I got to run 5.2 miles in 8:03/mi. pace. The total for the week was 45.0 miles. I will probably take today off and wait for the snow to recede some from the side of the road.

We got our Christmas tree yesterday and my wife and my grandson Sam were decorating it when I went out to shovel the snow. I love this time of year!

New Shoes, a Massage and Head Wind

That about sums up my run today. I got new shoes on Monday which I started breaking in today. Another pair of Air Max Moto 7s. I had a massage yesterday for the 1st time in a month and I needed it. A foam roller can do just so much and a few nagging problems were cleared up yesterday. I felt strong on the run, had my hat blown off at one point because of the strong head wind 3 of the last 4 miles. The result: 10.1 miles in 1:22:14, for an 8:08 pace. My son called just before mile 1 and we talked for about 3 miles. He hadn't signed up for the marathon and I saw just now it is full. So if he really wants to run he will need to do it through a charity.

Sunday/Monday

Yesterday I ran 14.1 miles in 1:52:30, a 7:58.7/mi. pace. I felt good and tired at the end. I'm reading "Born to Run" and it has definitely inspired me.

I had to go to the doctors today for a follow-up and I had lost 2 more pounds. I'm at a great weight right now and I feel real good running.

Today I ran 5.3 miles in 45:09, an 8:31 pace. It was a recovery run and it was really icy so I had to take care not to slip.

I now 83.5 miles from 2000 for the year.

The End of the Week Already

I finally finished my web site project for my class. I couldn't get everything to validate but I did learn a lot and I'm looking forward to my next class, Web Design II.

I did run Wednesday but because of the weather I ran at the gym on the treadmill, 5.25 miles. First time since April I had to run on the treadmill. Very boring :( I ran outside on Thursday, 7 miles in 1:01:04, slow but it was cold and tough running. Today I got to run after work; 7.1 miles in 58:35, 8:15/mi. I felt good and the sun was shining! Hopefully, I can run more next week. For the week I only ran 25.1 miles although I did pass 1900 miles for the year.

The Cold is Here!

Today I had a chance to run early. I went out at 6:15 with the temperature in the low 20s. I ran 5.8 miles in 47:45. It was nice but I did notice it takes a little more out of my legs.

Long Run Tooday

I ran 22 miles this morning. I started @ 5:45; one advantage to getting up early for work ;) I could have run farther, I was feeling really good and my legs were holding up well. I ran 22 miles in 3:08:22 an 8:33 pace. 1:53 for 13.1 and negative splits. I was able to run 7+ pace at least in part for each of mile 6-22. I would like to see how far I can run in 5-6 hours. I'm thinking 6 miles per hour at least but I don't know what will happen after 4.5 hours. I have to find someone who will run the last 3 hours with me.

Happenings **

After taking Monday off I ran 7.1 miles yesterday and 6.1 miles today. Both days were fairly slow and I had to run in the late afternoon with a lot of traffic. I hope to run 20 on Saturday; the first Saturday I am able to run since October 31.

I just received "Born to Run" in the mail. I bought it used from Amazon. I can't wait to start reading it. I may read some tonight. There is even an official web site, http://borntorun.org/

Click on the links for more great sites.

I also read an article on " Becoming your own massage therapist" in the NY Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/health/nutrition/03fitness.html?ref=health which mentions foam rollers. I could not run as well as I do without using mine.