Just call me Ice Man....

and over there is Maverick and Goose....

Seriously though, I have been holding off on my last long run due to housely duties and had it on the schedule for today. Couldn't have done it the other day when it was 34 and sunny...NOoooooo, I had to wait till today. 18 degrees when I left with winds gusting to 40mph. Yeah, fun stuff. Needless to say I went back and forth on this one and nearly attempted it on the treadmill. I have no idea how Justin and his wife can do that many miles on a treadmill, I get to 6 or 7 and want to shoot myself! Anyhoo, I decided that it couldn't be that bad out there as long as I bundled up.... That worked for about 8 miles. Everything was freezing up on my, stomach (or "insulation" as I call it..), contacts, and eventually hands and arms. Was lovely when I'd turn and get the wind at my back, but of course, I knew it was going to be a bear when I returned that same road on the way back....and it was....at times my legs would get blown into the other one while striding, nearly knocked me over. Add insult to injury (or the other way around), my left knee tendon started to act up again making for a pretty painful final couple of miles. Was more numb than pain, until I got home and thawed out (literally....started to shake about 20 minutes after entering the door).

Sooo, no fallen power lines or branches on my head (bonus!) and I'm icing the heck out of my knee area right now while watching UP (on blu-ray, got Monsters Inc. and UP blu-ray packs for 30 shipped...had to have 'em even thought I already own the regular DVD). I'm sure this knee thing will wake me up tonight, but it should clear by end of day tomorrow.

End result of the run was 13.1 miles at 2hrs flat. Not bad considering I walked the last .45 miles as I wanted to let up on the knee. Also not bad considering I had a constant head wind for 3/4 of a mile in there as well... Hey, I'm ready for this Disney half, no worries at all, but will be going for some physical therapy on the knee post race. Gotta start right away on the training for the 2011 Goof and don't want this knee thing to hold me back.

Wow, long post, sorry folks but had to share my frozen adventure with ya. It was fun to watch drivers shaking their head in disbelief that I was out there running, let alone a half marathon distance. LOL

Mike-speed, if don't converse prior to you leaving next week, have a safe trip (don't go Mike-speed till you get there ;-)) and a great B-day! We'll see ya when we get down there (flying in Thursday...I'm practicing not going to the bathroom for an hour in preparation..ya know....cause that will keep us all safe....wet...but safe....LOL)

Wait for it...wait for it....

Kinda getting a little antsy, anyone else? Ton of stuff to do this week to prepare for my next class on Monday(yeah, we have a paper due the first class..what the...), work stuff even though I'm off this week, and of course, training. One more long run planned for tomorrow as I'll be kid-less for a couple of hours and plan to take full advantage. Not sure on the overall distance, was thinking about 15, but anything over 13 will be just fine. Checked the forcast and it's going to be 24 degrees and very windy at times (yeah!).

As for Christmas, we had a great time and of course lots of food and gifts. Need to work a little of that food off, but I didn't totally overdo it so I'm not concerned. One of the best gifts was a subscription to Running World magazine. I got the January edition to read and was able to get through most of it the other day. I highly recommend it to all you runners out there. It's full of great advice, articles, and witty runner humor. Kinda have to have a sense of humor to put yourself through what we do on a regular basis! One funny quote was "If you have to ask yourself whether your shorts are too short, then they probably are" Had to laugh as many of you know, I own a pair like that. LOL They were the shorts from the Pfizer running team uniform, not something I would purchase normally and don't run in them any more. Anyhoo, Christmas was good, but now I'm ready for Jan 7th when we fly down for the race.

Side note, I'm a fantasy football champion, woohoo! I play in two "money" leagues and won one last year (which paid for our race entry for 2010) and then the other this year. The great part is that the winnings should cover my race entry for the Goofy in 2011!! Yep, I'm already saving money for that trip.... Want to have it all paid for early in 2010 so I can focus on a new charity fundraising endevour. I'll talk more about that later though.

Stay safe out there folks, we're in the home stretch where most of you are probably tapering down your workouts...just don't let your head drift too far into the clouds dreaming about Disney... Lots of bad drivers out there that forget about people running during the winter...

11 Miles and 8 inches

In a last minute decision to get outside for a run last Saturday I ended up going a whole heck of a lot further than planned and just in time as the snow began to fall not too long after. I tell ya, after looking at my weather station reading 22 degrees outside I nearly headed down to the basement for a treadmill run. However, I've got all the winter running gear so I figured why not give it a go. The plan was to start off extremely slow to let my lungs acclimate (couldn't run in cold last year, got lung freeze every darn time) and then figure out how long I wanted to go....maybe 5 or 6 miles.... Well, the first mile felt so good that I decided to do my long loop and nearly decided to run the 13.1 mile loop....the only thing that stopped me from extending the run was the thought that my wife would send out a search part since I didn't say I'd be out that long.

I wasn't fast, but I wasn't slow, just right for this one as I intended it to be. Averaged right at 9min miles which is ahead of my normal pace due to the hills and such. I would have easily finished the 13.1 under 2hrs, very comfortably mind you as I didn't feel like I pushed it at all during the run. Again, this is more proof that the strength training is paying off as I guaged the run based on my breathing rate and not speed. Kept the breathing rate slow as I normally do for a longer training run.

The funny thing is that the more my training takes shape, the closer to easily achieving my goal, I'm more and more nervous about it. It's like I'm waiting for something bad to happen...weird... Anyhoo, time permitting, I may actually get a 13.1 in prior to the new year and then shut it down. I won't be upset if I don't as I know I'm ready, but still would like to...it's so peaceful out there...hardly any runners, walkers, kids playing, etc.... Just you and the road (and the cold).

Oh yeah, and the snow did fall right after the run to the tune of 8 inches locally, more like a foot down the shoreline. Crazy nor'easter apparently... No more need to dream of a White Christmas, it's already here and will surely stick around for the week. :-)

Visions of Mike-Speed Danced in My Head...

Ya know, like the theoretical "speed of Mike" not actually visions of Mike running around in my head, what kind of sicko do you think I am, yeesh!?!!?? ;-)

Put in a 5.5 miler yesterday as the temps were in the mid 40's and I didn't want to waste it with arctic cold on the way for today and the rest of the week. This was my tempo run and I was able to keep every mile under 8min (like just under...7:57, 7:56, etc.). Man, I was pretty psyched aobut that. Apparently the weight/strength training is starting to pay off, who knew!?!? I'm not saying that I'll average under 8/min miles down at Disney, but I'm encouraged by the progress that I've made towards my goal of a sub 1hr 50min half marathon. So the strength training continues and I'm still putting in the miles for January. Very un-like last December where I had a strong November and cruised through December....wasn't exactly helpful for my Jan run...

Hope everyone is happy and healthy!! and Thanks for the B-day wishes! and what is this Club 8 thing? I'm still behind on the podcast thing....did I miss something?

Happy Birthday...

To me! :-) Well, I made it to 35 (half way to 70...) and appear to be well. Hey, no complaints out of me as I'm probably in the 2nd healthiest state of my life thus far. First time was when I was on the football team in college, man I was ripped! Too bad I didn't realize how fleeting that was otherwise I would have enjoyed it more. If you take into consideration the time value of health (ripped off from my finance class in realtion to the time value of money....I hate finance), I may actually be in better shape, relatively speaking.

But, to quote Austin Powers "what does it all mean, Basil?". It just means I'm still thankful for the ability to be healthy/happy. Sometimes life just doesn't give us that choice, so I'm fortunate enough to have it (for now). Some family issues in regards to health recently, so it tends to make you reflect even more. So again, I say, I run because "I can" until one day when I can't....

Heavy post today, huh. Sorry bout that, just throwing down some words that come to mind. Anyhow, I'm hoping to get some sort of long run in this afternoon just to get outside. It's a lovely 33 degrees at the moment with some sleet/freezing rain on the way, so it'll be a blast for sure.

Can you believe we're only a couple of weeks away from the best weekend of the year? :-)

Oh, the weather outside is....

Mellow? I tell ya, it's true what they say about New England. "If you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes." We've been roller coastering through 20 degrees to 60+, tornado-like winds, downpours, snowshowers, you name it....we've had it the past couple of weeks.

Although I love Christmas-time, and yes, I'll say Christmas over "holiday"...I'm one of the growing bitter crowd who thinks Christmas is being taken from us... Not going to go down that rathole though. Anyhoo, I love this time, but I'm really looking forward to the week after (work shutdown) and then the excitement that will creep in prior to Marathon weekend. I'm a week away from being able to renew the annual pass, which is exciting in itself, and feel like my training is on track, so what's not to be excited about?

As for the "old" post...well..yeah, I realize I'm not the oldest in the group (sorry Rae :-)), or the youngest (Damn you Matt for reminding us you're 22!!! LOL), but it was more of a tounge in cheek comment than anything. I don't mind my B-days as they are typically uneventfull since it falls so close to Christmas (I'm on Dec 13th, so yes Justin, you can call me "old man"). I'm glad you guys commented though as it shows that no matter what your age, we are bound by our fondness of a mouse and maintaining a healthy (and sometimes competitive) lifestyle for the long haul!!

Oh, and my wife will laugh at this since she does read the blog occasionally... My mother in law made a comment while we were down on vacation as we were figuring out our run scheudle....You people just run to be thin..... When I heard that I was like "ummm...yeah, and that's wrong becauseee....... LOL I honestly don't think she meant it the way she said it, but it was funny none-the-less. But again, it made me think of "why" I run. Every time I think it about it, 1000 thoughts rush to mind, but the one that keeps sticking is "because I can". Honestly, I feel blessed that God has given me the ability to throw one leg in front of another and the drive to do it any time of the year in any condition. Cause then, and only then, am I able to see some of the most wonderful sights, natural sites, that you just don't take in unless you're out there on the road. Even something as simple as a tree line in the distance or clouds slowly passing by. I always get a tingly feeling when I'm out there and that perspective takes hold.

Okay, I know, I'm whacked... but figured it's a great time of year to share these kinds of thoughts. So get out there and make it a great December folks because "you can".

Getting Old

Okay, not really all that old...but with 35 looming off in the near future it's something to think about. :-) Honestly, after 30 age has been more of a frame of mind for me. 31 and 32 felt old, but since I've taken up running and such, I haven't even thought about age. It's almost a good thing as I'll now be in the 35-39 age bracket, lol! Tired of competing against those skinny 30 year olds!

Just kidding as who am I kidding, the 39 year olds will probably kick my butt.Anyhoo, primed for a good work out at the end of the work day. Running through the routine they set me up with for weight training and then will do some intervals on the mill or give the spin bike a try...either way, looking for a good sweat today as I'm feeling like I'm coming down with a cold. They are also holding a running symposium at the work gym, so I've got that going for me today as well. I think the topic is stretching techniques.

So, December goals... Not going to put up a mileage goal as I want to sprinkle in more x-training this month, but I do want to get 2 runs over 10 miles in. With school and work going full bore through the 22nd or so, I haven't been able to get too excited about January yet...pretty soon though, once I can get through some of these deliverables....