Training Widget

Thursday, December 31, 2009

1460 - And a year of running

Day 365 - December 31, 2009

I'm not going to lie - I enjoyed every stride of my run today. I was grinning ear to ear and counting the miles as I approached 1460 for the year. Yesterday, I was still a little nervous. If you followed my first attempt at 1000 days, you may remember that I got a horrible 24 hour virus on day 365 and failed to get in a run that day. I was so afraid that every sniffle and stomach gurgle was going to do me in yesterday.

But, I made it and now I officially qualify for the United States Running Streak Association membership and listing. I'll be sending my membership application in ASAP!

So, here are the totals for 2009:

Days Run: 365
Total Miles: 1460
Total Time: 189:05:56
Average Pace: 7:46

I hope everyone had a great 2009 and best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year 2010! Thank you to everyone who followed along this year, posted comments, and offered their support. I hope you'll be back in 2010 as I work towards 730 and on to 1000!

Heading out for 365

This is it - once I get out the door, this will officially be my longest streak ever! Three miles to 1460!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Another good run

Day 363 - December 29, 2009

Cranked out another 7 miles today - that leaves just 7 more to 1460! It took me a few miles to warm up, but the last 4 felt great.

Monday, December 28, 2009

3 days to 365

Day 362 - December 28, 2009

With three days to go, 1460 is only 14 miles away! When I make it, I'll have to raise the bar for 2010.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas

Day 359 - December 25, 2009

Just a quick note after my Christmas morning 2 mile run. I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season and are able to find time to burn off a few of those Christmas Cheer calories. Thanks for following along this year and for all the encouragement. Eight more days to close out the year and start year two of the streak.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Just what I needed...

...another excuse to hit the snooze button. Thanks to ACE over at The Longest Run for first tipping me off to a study that shows exercise is better in the afternoon. Now I don't feel so bad about not getting out of bed this morning - well at least a little bit better.

Monday, December 21, 2009

I never would have thought

Day 355 - December 21, 2009

...The roads would be worse two days after the blizzard than they were the day it snowed. Man is it icy. I guess it is a good core workout trying to keep your balance. At least I didn't fall today.

I wish someone from Pennsylvania would come down here and teach these southerners how to plow. You do in fact have to drop the plow down to the road. Leaving two inches of snow on the road only makes it worse.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Today was harder than yesterday

Day 354 - December 20, 2009

No plows yet anywhere near here today, so that meant another snow covered road run today. Yesterday, the snow was deep, but fresh enough that traction really wasn't an issue. Today, with cabin fever setting in around the neighborhood, lots of people tried to get out and about. All that accomplished was the snow packed down and iced over. I was slipping and sliding all over the place. Fortunately I only fell once and luckily I even had an audience to witness it. I'm sure they thought I was crazy to be out running when they clearly were not enjoying shoveling their driveways.

Two feet of snow was a nice novelty, but I'm ready for some melting.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Running in snow

Day 353 - December 19, 2009

I mean deep snow. To get out to the road, I had to wade through knee deep snow. Fortunately, when I got up to the road, there were a few tire tracks from a few foolish brave souls who ventured out earlier in the day.


As long as I could stay in the tracks, the snow was only 4-6 inches deep. Enough to cover my running shoes, but not too bad. The trouble came when I would slip and step into the untouched snow and have snow over my knees.



The run wasn't too bad and I had no traffic to worry about. I took my time and slipped and slid for 3.3 miles. I saw a few people while I was running. Some shouted encouraging words about dedication and others called me names that I probably shouldn't type. One guy even stopped because he assumed my car was stuck somewhere. I thought that was a nice gesture even if he was less than impressed that I was out just for fun. Hopefully by tomorrow some plows will make it out this way, but I'm not holding my breath.

Today is going to be interesting


For those of you who may have seen a weather map, VA is getting pounded by snow (by VA standards anyway). Currently there are 15-20 inches of white powder on the ground and we are probably going to get another 6-12 inches today. Crazy.

For those of you who are used to snow, I should point out that VA has about 5 snow plows for the entire state. I'm not expecting clear roads for at least a couple of days. I have no idea how I'm going to run in snow this deep, but I'm going to give it a shot. For you northern runners, what do you do when you get this much snow?

Monday, December 14, 2009

Back on pace - Bring on 1460

Day 348 - December 14, 2009

I've posted many times about my desire to get to 1460 miles this year. That would be an average of 4 miles per day for the entire year. Back in August I realized was 30 miles behind where I needed to be to make that happen. To close the gap, I started adding a quarter or half mile to each run where I could and threw in some longer runs on the weekend. Tonight, I finally wiped out the last of those 30 miles and have brought my daily average back up to 4/day. I'm totally psyched - just 17 days to go I'm confident I can make it. Keep your fingers crossed that I can stay healthy and make it through the holiday madness to find the time I need to run.

The other thing I wanted to let you know is the running group is still going strong. Tonight we had 5 runners and 4 of us put in 5 or more miles.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

More meteors - Geminid Shower

Day 347 - December 13, 2009

I have to say I wasn't at all excited about running tonight. It has been raining all day and by the time my wife returned home to take over kid duty, the fog had rolled in and it was thick. But, around 8:30 I finally laced up the Asics and ventured out into the pea soup. I was about 10 minutes into the run when a warm breeze came up. A warm breeze in December sounds a bit contradictory, but it was a good 10-20 degrees warmer than the still air and the fog literally vanished in front of my eyes. And that's when my mood changed.

Once the fog and clouds were gone, I had the most amazing view of the night sky. As I was watching the stars, the first meteor shot across the sky. It seemed like it went from one horizon to the other. A few minutes later, another flash of light and then another. I'd guess I saw at least 20 shooting stars in the 40 minutes I was running. It was cool. The excitement of each streak of light was enough to keep me going and I actually ended up running almost two miles further than I had planned.

The really awesome thing is that if it weren't for this running streak, I'd never have seen them. I'd have been sitting on the couch, watching a football game or surfing the web. There's no way I would have been out running. I hope there are many more cool surprises awaiting me as I run towards 1000 days.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Where'd the week go?

Day 346 - December 12, 2009

It has been a crazy week with sick kids, dance recitals, water heaters leaking, and lots of holiday planning, but I'm happy to say I still managed to log 31 miles this week. That gives me 1381 miles for the year and with 19 days remaining I still have a good shot at hitting 1460.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Charlottesville Men's Four Miler

Day 339 - December 5, 2009

Well, it wasn't exactly ideal racing conditions this morning. The temperature was about 38 and it was pouring rain. But, I had to run anyway right?

I ran a little over mile to warm up and my rain gear did a pretty good job of keeping me dry, but for the race I wanted to lose the baggy pants and jacket. It wasn't too bad at the start, but it was raining pretty hard. I inched up to about 10 rows from the start and was surprised when the gun went off that I didn't find myself wishing I had started closer to the front. I tried to hold back a little at the start, but hit the half mile split exactly on the 6:15 pace I was hoping to finish the race in. I guess that is better than being 20 seconds ahead of pace.

At the half mile point I started working my way up through the pack and reached the first mile mark in 5:58. Much quicker than I expected, bu I was feeling good.

And then the snow started.

I finished the race in the snow/rain mix by hitting the half way mark in 12:10 and the third mile in 18:25. The last mile was a struggle to maintain my pace, but I held on for a 6:20 last mile and final time of 24:45. After catching my breath I walked back onto the course and cheered on many friends who ran either their first or fastest 4 milers today. I have to say it got pretty cold waiting for them to finish.

The race organizers did a great job with the race and made the smart call to cancel the awards ceremony. I have no idea what my overall place was, but I assume it was a top 30 performance. The results should be online in the next day or so and I'll post an update. But, my unofficial 24:45 was 15 seconds faster than my goal time of 25 minutes. I thought I'd get to use the weather as an excuse - now I've ruined any chance of using it in the future. If I can run a good race today, I can't really anticipate worse weather for a race.

UPDATE: Official results put me in 23 place overall in 24:45. That was good enough for third place in my age group - Nice!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

And the rains keep coming

Day 336 - December 2, 2009

We were three for another group run in the pouring rain. Even I have to admit that tonight was miserable and this rain thing is getting old. But we all got in at least three miles and I can check another day off.