Taking advantage of the extra hour

Day 59 - November 4, 2007

Ahhh - the 25 hour day. I love it. Today I could run for an hour and it was like I didn't spend any time at all. I decided on an out and back course and ventured out over the rolling hills. I hit the turn-around point in 30:03, stopped and stretched for a quick minute, and then headed back in. It was great to get out and take advantage of a stress-free hour. I hope everyone took advantage of the extra hour today, and if not yet, enjoy it later today.

Chris

Day: 59 ..... Time/Date: 11:30 AM 11/04/2007..... Weather: Cloudy, Windy, 54F
Run: Blue Run..... Miles: 8.2..... Time: 58:24..... Pace: 7:07 min/mile
Miles to Date: 234.1..... Total Running Time: 29:02:15

Darkness

Day 58 - November 3, 2007

Running after dark has given me a new appreciation for the entire running experience. Tonight, I felt like I was running blind. Sure I had my flashlight and the occasional street light, but for most of the run, I was running with only my sense of touch to guide me. There was the occasional whiff of chimney smoke, the distant sounds of far off cars, and faint glimmer of light reflecting from passing mailboxes, but when I finished the run, there was almost nothing I could remember of it. I realized tonight that the run is more than the burn in my legs, the racing of my heart rate, or the time on my watch. It's about the escape from the grind and resetting my mind with the fresh reboot that I get from the overall experience.

Day: 58 .....Time/Date: 9:55 PM 11/03/2007 ..... Weather: Clear, 43F
Run: Geranium-Amicus ..... Miles: 3.5 .....Time: 26:06 ..... Pace: 7:27 min/mile
Miles to Date: 225.9..... Total Running Time: 28:03:51

Shooting stars

Day 57 - November 2, 2007

I don't know if was some kind of Leonids preview, or if I just happened to see some space junk returning to earth. The sky was perfectly clear tonight and I saw half a dozen meteors streak across the sky. The first really got my attention as it lit up the north sky. A few minutes later, a second fainter streak appeared. All in all, four out of the six were very faint, but the other two were quite bright. It was awesome.

The cool thing is, without the streak, I never would have run today. I was exhausted this morning from the craziness and lack of sleep this week. Work was very intense today without a minutes rest. Family arrived this afternoon for a weekend visit, which meant a large dinner. So as you can imagine, it would have been very easy to blow off the run today. Fortunately, they like to go to bed early, and I was able to sneak out at 9:30. But after tonight's light show, I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Chris

Day: 57 .....Time/Date: 9:30 PM 11/02/2007 .....Weather: Clear, 41F
Run: Geranium-Amicus .....Miles: 3.5 .....Time: 25:55 .....Pace: 7:24 min/mile
Miles to Date: 222.4 .....Total Running Time: 27:37:45

Crossing California

Day 56 - November 1, 2007

One of the ideas I had to track my progress along my 1000 day journey was to plot an imaginary course across the country as I logged the miles. I decided to start in San Diego and have now completed almost 220 miles. That puts me smack dab in the middle of Nowhere California on my way to Las Vegas.

I originally wanted to be to Las Vegas by New Years, but it doesn't look like that is a reality with over 300 miles to go. Maybe I'll just try and get to Nevada. After Las Vegas I'll probably head north east and check out Yellowstone. That should keep me busy for a good portion of 2008.

Today's run was at a leisurely pace to recover a bit from yesterday's madness. It was another perfect day with temperatures well above normal. I hope I don't pay for this in February.

Chris

Day: 56..... Time/Date: 4:30 PM 11/01/2007 .....Weather: Partly Cloudy, 65F
Run: N Carnation-Davis .....Miles: 3.6 .....Time: 26:00 .....Pace: 7:13 min/mile
Miles to Date: 218.9 .....Total Running Time: 27:11:50

The end of October

Day 55 - October 31, 2007

The only thing scary about this Halloween was how fast the day went by. I was planning to run at least 5 miles today, but that was not what fate had in store for me today. Bla, bla, bla - long story short, I was lucky to squeeze in 13 minutes for my 2 mile run today.

So another month comes to a close and the streak lives on. I pounded the pavement for a total of 15 hours and 39 minutes this month to the tune of 127.5 miles (Tomorrow I'll give an update on my fictional cross country run). That's just over 4 miles a day and I'm getting closer to the average I'll need to reach Key West in another 945 days. Until then...I'll take it one day at a time.

Chris (sorry for the late post - like I said, bla, bla, bla)

Day: 55 .....Time/Date: 2:25PM 10/31/2007 .....Weather:Sunny, 68F
Run: Amicus 2 Mile..... Miles: 2.0..... Time: 12:50 .....Pace: 6:25 min/mile
Miles to Date: 215.3 .....Total Running Time: 26:45:50