Frigid Run - January Recap

Well, I ended up getting out this morning despite coming up with every excuse in the book why I shouldn't. A brisk 15 degrees, but winds of only 5-10mph so after about a mile it wasn't too bad (in the sun anyhow). Put in 9 miles overall as I started to feel the extremeties showing signs of freezing. The tough part was dodging cars as most of the walkways weren't shoveled or were a sheet of ice. Most cars were great and split out pretty wide to give me room, for which I would wave and nod my head....there were a couple that wanted to play chicken however.... What can ya do..

Total run miles for the month came in at 95.06 with an extra 32.7 coming from the bike and elliptical for a total of 127.76. So I'm 95.06 miles closer to Disney, yeah! The goal for the first 6 months of the year is to get in the neighborhood of 100 miles per month and then will start to kick in a bit more once the MBA program is done (can't wait for this.. gonna party like it's 2099). I'm not committing to the Hartford Marathon just yet, need to talk with the wife as we get closer to it, but think it will probably happen... Going to change it up a bit more in the early summer and work on speed a bit more. I want to get that 5k time down to 23's and that will require more speed work on the track. If nothing else, it will keep the training interesting. :-)

Yes Rae, Lorraine is still running. :-) She just put in some work on the treadmill a little bit ago actually. She was wearing TV yellow tonight as well... She's going to be training for her first tri this summer and will take in a couple of the 5k's with me I'm pretty sure. Trying to get some of our family members out there for a 5k or two.

Running to Disney Update

Okay running this week, a good outdoor tempo run the other day (5.2 miles @ 8:20/mi) and a couple of decent treadmill runs (interval and recovery). Probably not going to hit 100 run miles for the month which is what I would have liked to do, but have added in more cross-training. Since I have been doing the additional ITband stretches I haven't had an issue there (knock wood), but still planning on getting in for the physical therapy and why not, I have a script for it and it's FREE!!! :-)

Run Miles - 86.06
X-Train Miles - 32.7
Total - 118.76

Will probably put in a couple more miles tonight on the mill as I want to do some hill repeats and will try to get a longer run outside tomorrow. The outdoor run might not be in the cards though as we've got an icing situation going on...we'll see, I may brave it as long as I think I can feel safe. Sooo, that should put me somewhere in the neighborhood of 96-99 miles (depending on the long run...."ooooh we're gonna make it, if our loooove is a stroooong one.." -Eagles).

Work is insane busy across two major projects right now, but there is a possibility that they are going to give me some resources that can help me out...we'll see... The good thing is that it gives me extra "umph" when I get my run in. Great stress release.

Looks like I'm going to be running the Colchester 1/2 marathon Feb 27th as my sister has signed on to watch the kids that morning. We used to live in Colchester a while back and my sister is still there. The run is notorious for the hilly terrain, so it's totally a pacing exercise for me, no time requirements on this one.

Dang, and Donald #2 for 2010

First, dang knee/IT band is sore after the long run today. However, I can't expect that I'll be healed after two days of stretch modification. I'm putting in my paperwork for physical therapy tomorrow and will hopefully start soon. We have physical therapists on site at work and they don't cost a thing (awesome!). Not to mention that it'll make getting to and from therapy very easy and I won't have to really miss much work.

Second, well, yeah...achieved my 2nd Donald run of 2010 today. I didn't get out as early as I wanted due to just not wanting to get out there (temp guage read 22 when I got up) and then I went to change my son when something went horribly wrong in my back. Totally locked up for whatever reason. Took about an hour before it started to mellow out. So I dressed and got my rear end out the door. Warmed up to 30 by the time I left, and felt pretty darn warm the entire run (very little wind). Did my normal 13.1 route through the hills in my area and felt pretty good overall (2:01:29). I was trying to slow it down and think I did for the most part, but know I can dial it back a bit more and need to start doing that on those runs over 10 miles. it's tough as I always feel like I gotta be somewhere..LOL. Knee felt good through the bigger hills, but started to tweak around mile 11, nothing major. I stretched out pretty good and have iced it from time to time. I'll see what the therapists want me to do, but I have a feeling they'll tell me to dial it back for a bit. Booooooo! Meanwhile, I think I just heard Goofy laughing at me from somewhere in the deep south.... Gawrsh!

RTD Update: Run miles - 73.61; Bike/Elliptical miles 26.7 Total miles= 100.31
**Justin mentioned that he was only going to include run miles in his totals for RTD, so I can't let him just hang out there...I'm going to do the same, although I'll still put in the combined miles for status.

The Knights who say knee?

Went to the Doc yesterday and he thinks its an iliotibiol band causing the issue. He's sending me to some physical therapy and we'll reassess in 4 weeks. Sounds about right as I don't feel anything structurally wrong with it, more muscular and only when getting into longer distances. So we'll give it a go and see what happens. Told him about the Goofy and do you know what he said? He laughed and said "you're Goofy!". Uh, yeah... Ya think you know a person.... :-)

Well, I put in back to back runs the past two days, although, they were only of 4 and 3 miles....but time permitting I'm hoping to get a longer one in on the weekend.

Updated: Up to 60.51 run miles; 26.7 bike/elliptical. This for all of January as that's how I'm tracking milage in my spreadsheet. I need to get back to work on the core daily, that's painfully obvious in my tracking. Although I did get a good full body workout in yesterday, yeah me.

Listened to Lou's marathon re-cap show yesterday on the drive home. I spend the whole time laughing and nodding as I knew exactly what they were all talking about. He does bring up some good points about spectating though.

RTD Update

(Running to Disney Update) Was home from class last night early enough to get a short treadmill jog in (3.17 miles). Those post 8pm runs are a bit tough, but it does feel good to get the work in when you’ve been sitting all day. I haven’t had a strength training session since the 12^th, so I’m feeling a bit behind there. Will hit the Total Gym tonight to keep current.

Total Miles – 75.21 (Run Miles – 49.51, Bike Miles – 18.7, Elliptical - 7)

With another long run planned prior to the end of the month I should be right in the 100 mile range running (if I’m able to get my rear end up a couple of these mornings to run prior to work…with temps in the 30’s that’s entirely possible J)

Heat Wave!!

***Hmmmm....can you find the Team Voicer in this picture? We're so stealth...

Holy Cats, it's bloody hot here in the Northeast, I mean, it got all the way to 45 degrees yesterday... Didn't know whether to open up the pool or what.

Seriously though, the past two days have been much warmer than it has over the past month or so. I was able to get in a 6.75 mile run on Friday, without having to put winter gear on, and still feeling the post run soreness in the knee. However, some consistent icing and it's not bothering me all that much. We'll see what the Doc says this Thursday. Not enough to keep me from some light running in the meantime as I'm planning on getting back out there in a couple of hours for a quick 4-5. Of course, it's colder now, but still in the 30's, so not bad at all.

Update - Got a 5.56 mile run in. Mid 30's, tried to keep it at an easy pace (not so easy to do...). The good news is that I didn't feel any ill effects on the knee pre/during/post. I'll ice it anyway tonight.

On the Disney front, I cancelled my XM radio subscription. So what the heck does that have to do with Disney? Ahh, well, I tend to forget about my podcasts and listen to all kinds of XM stations, so now with no XM I've got two hours a day commute where I can catch up on podcasts. Woohoo! Speaking of, did you guys catch "Snack and Sip 3" on WDW Today? Hillarious!!!

Last thing. I'm going to try to be better about checking the AATM boards from time to time as I think we get into our blog holes and forget there are other AATM'ers out there that probably don't do the blog scene. As Jonathan says, it would be great to grow our brood by next Jan.

2011 Goofy.....

Another half way decent pic of me during the race...

I've done two things this morning (aside from the pile of work...)

1. Made an appointment with my orthopedic Dr. for the right knee. Starting to get inflamation even after riding the bike last night. Now is the time to take care of it though. Granted, I'm a little worried about being pulled out of commission for a bit, but feel like I can fight through it with some anti-inflammatories and physical therapy

2. Registered for 2011 Goofy......I mean, I was going to register anyhow, but something about actually pulling the trigger gives me even more excitement/anxiety/etc.

1/2 Photos are Up

...and as per the usual, I look pretty bad in most of them. Of course, I didn't really stop to take any and I wasn't really caring how they came out as I passed by the camera folks. Soooo, that's what I get. I've posted the only decent one that I found....you guessed it, the descent one is not of me actually running!

Running to Disney Update: So far I've logged a total of 41.28 miles (running/biking) with 28.58 of them coming from running. I'm not huge on the elliptical, but will probably log some of those miles once ours gets fixed (parts are in, just need to make the appointment). Jeff, we forgot Rae on this challenge!!! We should make her milage to Disneyland Paris though....otherwise she's going to smoke us! :-)

Planning on a light run today, not sure whether it will be indoors at the work gym or outdoors. Weather.com says it's 27 out there, but feels like 15 with 24mph gusting winds. Reminds me of Disney weather... I forgot my gloves so I was going to definitely be inside, but there is a fleece vendor on-site today, so I might man-up and go buy some and get outside for 5.....okay, so, now that I've said that...I kinda feel obligated...LOL

Sounds like everyone here gets runners world, but in case you missed it...Make sure you're supplementing your Vitamin D!!! Especially those that work at night (like Lorraine) or those of us who live on Hoth, which apparently is the greater 48 these days...or 47 as Amanda is still in tropical land. :-) The article cited all kinds of nasty stress fractures due to VitD deficiency.

Fogot to mention a great purchase from the World from this trip. I bought the Four Parks One World CD, very cool collection of park music. It'll get me by till July anyhow.

Anyhoo, that's all I got for now. Stay safe out there folks!

Update: Got out for 5.45 this afternoon. Felt like Disney, okay, maybe a little colder...Mid 20's with a light snow. I thought I was running slow, but clocked out at 8:54/mile. Lots of ice to dodge and of course the occasional car with driver holding a cell phone to his ear... :-) Felt good, metatarsal area on right foot still a little sore, but will ice it down tonight.

"So what does it all mean, Basil?"

Thant’s what I’m left with after a cold-blustery PR half-marathon.  Honestly, I would be lying if I didn’t say I still think I could have done better…. 1:45:00 perhaps?  I dunno, but I had a tough time coming out of the Magic Kingdom in the same spot as last year, tough time with the lungs feeling heavy so I had to slow up a bit there.  Other spot I slowed down more than last year was the last on-ramp as my legs were burning with lactic acid (didn’t get this during last year’s run).  The only other factor that cost me time was the traffic handling as I was bumped back a corral this year and by the time I weaved through most of the C traffic, I hit the back end of the corral B traffic….  However, it wasn’t horrible, just extra energy and time is all.

How I’m feeling right now.  Legs feel fine and have since the race, shows a bit more maturity in the muscle.  The tendons in my right knee hurt a bit, as expected, but I iced the heck out of it after the race and it kept the pain down.  Froze up on me once during the night that night, but good since.  I’m going to get to the orthopedic guy to see what’s going on with it.  Leading up to the race I was starting to feel some more pain in the metatarsal area, same as last year, but I think it had more to do with my trainers starting to break down on me.  I’ve retired them to walking shoes and moved into the last pair of GT-2130’s I have.  Will look at the GT-2140’s or 50’s in another month or so to have a new pair on hand.  Other than that, I’m feeling pretty good post race and hopefully won’t lose any time as I did last January (6 weeks with the sesamoid “injury”).  Gotta get those pesky 1213 miles in prior to next year’s run!

What’s next?  Well, I’ve already committed myself for the 2011 Goofy, holy cats….  For this run I’m also going to do a bit of charity work, I mean, c’mon, anyone who can’t get on board with a good cause and someone subjecting themselves to two days of torture, has to be on some other planet! LOL    What I’d really like to do is to raise money for ALS research as my Brother in-law was recently diagnosed with this horrid disease and I’m kinda feeling like it’s the only thing I can do…..  So I’m going to dedicate the Goofy run to him and hopefully help the cause along the way.  I’ve got to get organized with all of that soon, but will probably wait till I’ve actually registered for the run(s).  Overall mileage will need to go up, but will be a much better mix of cross-training.

2010 Races - Other than this run, I’m not sure what other races are in store for me, but perhaps may jump back in sooner rather than later.  There is a half-marathon in the town I used to live coming up in February so I’m pondering that one, might just do it as a training run and not be looking for any kind of fabulous time…depending on the knee prognosis.  It’s only like 15 bucks to enter, so we’ll see.  Ya know, cause if you can run in a freezing cold Disney race, you can do anything! LOL  There is a local 5k that Lorraine and I do and are trying to get some other family members to run as well, so that’ll be on tap again.  And I think I’ll probably run the Hartford Marathon again in October as I should be able to run it without issue if I’m training right for the Goofy.  Will be a good test at that point.

Team Voice – A general shout out to ALL Team Voicers, as you guys are the glue for me.  I feel like I own a piece of the team and am accountable as a result.  This really helps drive me on a daily/monthly/yearly basis as is a great part of why I feel like I’ve had some success with this running thing.  Having the Disney race and meets (the ones I actually get to…) give me that beacon to look for as the year goes on.  Not sure how exactly I’d do this as long as I have if it weren’t for this group.  I also really enjoy in sharing all your successes (and even being a part of the difficulties as well..there are NO failures here!) as it adds more purpose for what we’re all doing.

Another long post…of course….typical post-race activity as I’m sure we’re all missing Disney at this point (those of us who’ve left anyhow), even though it’s bitter cold there!  I think our running to Disney challenge will help keep us active through the year though. ;-)

We DID IT!!! Again...

Wow, that's all I can say. I think we jinx'd the race with all of this talk about "Hoth"....cause Hoth visited Orlando today. Freezing cold pre-race (windy as well) and then some sleet starts to fall to top it off. Headed down toward the corral area, gave my wife a kiss for good luck as she went to hers and then took a 3/4 mile warm up and stretch. Ran into Mr. Mike-Speed himself along the warm up path. Then it was time, so I wished Mike-Speed good luck, told him to break a leg (or at least tweak an ankle enough for me to catch up to him ;-)) and settled into my own corral...C....but Chris, you say, weren't you in B last year? Why yes, yes I was, thank you for reminding me... Not sure what the deal was, but with the same exact qual time I was bumped back to wave 2. No worries, met some outstanding people in the corral. An Army vet who just returned from a tour in Afganistan and was running the Goofy. Great guy, wish I had more time to talk to him, but I thanked him for his service, shook his hand and move up a bit for the wave 2 start.

5...4...3...2..1...GO TIME!!! This year I was alone, so no talky-talky and I kept on pace pretty well. 25:09 5k split, which was interesting to see as I had a ton of traffic to weave through, even ran in a ditch for the better part of the first mile...yep, same as last year... 10k a little bit slower, but clocked in at 50:46...15k 1:16:21 (very close to 10k speed). Just prior to entering Epcot I notice two familiar folks all decked out in yellow shirts...I was psyched to see them (Rae and Eric) that I ran over an slapped them five which juiced me up a bit for a good finish (thanks guys!!!)...Finally, I see the finish, which is good cause my quads have been burning for the past two miles! So, the goal was sub 1:50...and I got there...1:48:52....8:18 mile pace (35 seconds off last years pace)... 1027 overall and 810 among the men. At least, this is the unofficial results, but I'm positive it's correct. So yeah me!

After the race was done for me, THAT'S when it started to get cold. All the sweat on my body began to freeze and a thin layer of Reynolds Wrap wasn't going to keep me warm. I walked all over the place trying to find a spot to see my wife finish, but couldn't....funny story...as I walked in front of the TV cameras filming, the news guy asked if he could talk with me. Sure, why not. So I got interviewed on the local news, LOL. Of course my brain and lips were frozen, so people watching must be like "why did they pick this idiot!". Anyhoo, my 2 minutes of fame... Anyhoo, I finally headed back to the family reunion area to see if I could see my wife (Lorraine) finish on one of the big screens. And sure enough, right at the time I calculated her to finish (which was faster than she was predicting mind you...) there she was! I was so proud of her for battling the injuries these past two years only to be greeted by sleet and freezing cold temps...but she did it! right around 2:15:00 or 2:17:00 as the site has her time all funkified. I think the 5k checkpoint didn't get picked up on the D-Tag, but the other splits looked fine. Hopefully they'll correct it for her so she doesn't have to start in Corral G next time! :-)

What a long post...sorry folks, typing this while I'm in my room icing my knee so I figured I'd get it all out now before I forget!

Congratulations to all the Team Voice folks out there that braved the elements to complete this run! Mike, Amanda, Jeff, Matt, Goofstin, Trace, Lisa, Rae and Eric's son (I'm totally spacing on his name...but he did awesome! 10 min miles for a 17 year old and I think he's going out for the full tomorrow? Holy Cats Indeed!)

Best of Luck to Rae, Eric, Goofstin, and Bryan in the full tomorrow, I know you'll all do great!

Florida...I think...

I don't think I've ever been to Florida where it's been this cold. Took a light 2 miler this morning in 43 degree temps, which at this point we wish was the forcast for tomorrow! Looks like lows around 34'ish and highs in the mid 40's. There is some precipitation in the air and will be showering in the AM with a possibility of snow mixing in. Yeah, I trained in this type of weather, but not exactly what you expect for the race. Going to be tough to keep the footing while navigating through the hords of people, but it' s going to be fun no matter what...

Plan for today is to get some coffee in a minute and walk over to the Studios. Sounds like there will be some other Team Voice members over there as well. Should be fun :-)

Hoth Jr. Jr....

I'm adopting Justin and Mike's assertion of the ridonculous cold weather that we've been seeing. Typically, CT doesn't get bitter cold till mid January and then it mellows out a little (20's - 30's) in Feb throughout. However, December has been insane cold and it's getting worse. It's in the teens and down to 0 with the wind chill on a regular basis and now the snow drifts are making it much more of a nightmare.

Anyhoo, if Iowa is Hoth, and Rochester is Hoth Jr. ...I guess that makes me Hoth Jr. Jr. So yeah, I'd agree with their assessment that a low in the 30's for Disney on Saturday is like tropical for us! Still, it was much warmer last year (50's and people were complaining, lol) during the day I think, so we'll still have to pack accordingly. Although, I'll still be sportin' bare legs for the race as I've got to retain my "Ice Man" status.....

That's all I got as I'm buried in work trying to make up for being out Thurs/Fri. Weight training today and perhaps a 3mi treadmill tomorrow. Unless I get out of school early tonight as I'll get a quick mill run if that works out. :-)

Holy Weather Changes, BATMAN!

Dude, from like clear and a low of 55 to rain, potential rain, slightly cloudy, lows at like 28.... Honestly, man, give us a break here! We just want to plan! LOL Bring those cheap throw-away sweats folks!

I just checked the NBC affiliate (WESH 2 accuweather, I'm sure they are never wrong...) and they have a high of 58, low of 38 with a 30% chance of showers. Says the normal high/low is around 70/50....at this point that would sound lovely!

Anyhoo, I'm going to pack a little warmer I think for the post race stuff. For the race I still plan on shorts (although I might bring the cold weather get-up....) and my 09 Team Voice shirt....subject to change all the way through Wednesday evening. I called the Dolphin today to ask if the marathon busses stopped there and the guy didn't know, but said he thinks we'll have to walk over to the boardwalk/Yacht-Beach Club. Interesting....I'll ask at registration, but that won't be all that big of a deal if that's the case.

Running-wise...I put in 5 on the mill today, moderate pace. Felt really good, I'm feeling great about Saturday. Tomorrow is an off day with school and all although I may sneak a workout in at the gym, we'll see. Will get 1 or 2 more jogs in prior to arrival, nothing more than 3 miles if I get the time.

Started to pack last night just to keep some stuff separate but will wait till Wednesday to finalize. I'm working from home on Wed. so I'll have some extra time to do wash and such hopefully. :-)

Almost there, folks!

Mired in Liquidity Ratios

I haven't even started part 2 of our financial management class (Jan 4) and I already hate it. Part 2 is the case analysis portion of the program so it's breaking down a company in detail on a week to week basis to see if they should raise capital to expand, sell the company, get on a private jet and run really fast from the shareholders....that kind of thing.

Anyhoo, I'll make it through I'm fairly certain. Just reinforces my own belief that financial management is not one of my great pleasures in life.

Sooo, training...what's going on with training....I think there's a race coming up or at least I've heard that somewhere.. Oh yeah, that's RIGHT!!! The local penguin plunge race is coming...I knew there was SOMETHING going in in, saaaay, the next week or so. Oh yeah, and I hear Disney is doing something as well, but I'm sure it's no penguin plunge..... :-)

Put in 3.5 on the treadmill last night at a slow/moderate pace to see how the knee was coming along. Knee fared just fine. I iced it down afterwards and didn't wake up with extreme pain like the other night, so all is well. Time to start ramping up the carb ratio (oooh, maybe I can include this ratio into my finanical analysis...how many carbs does the CEO take in prior to making a big capital decision...you think Eiger carbs up before he announces a park expansion? LOL). Anyhoo, the plan is to get in some light work whenever I can get it over the next week, nothing more than 4-5 miles at a moderate pace. Also, I want to hit the "real" gym at work prior to leaving for Florida. The Total Gym is okay, but lets face it, Chuck Norris goes to the gym too....

Keep safe out there!

Oh, and am I the only one that noticed rain in the forecast for Disney on race day? Low of 47, which was pretty much the same as last year, although they are calling for some rain as well.... Singin' in the Rain jokes will be "running" rampant.....I crack me up...

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".