A new job

Well it's official now. Tonight the gatorade jug was passed from Helen to me; that and a boatload of other stuff that i'll need to be the organizer for USAFit/Philly in 2010. Helen graciously spent some time with me this evening answering some questions. I'm sure i'm fretting more than necessary but that's my nature. She was great in making me feel at ease and not laughing... Now I have to digest and organize all the information, plan some marketing efforts and get ready for the USAFit organzers meeting in March. There will be plenty more to say about this later.

But before that there is the Goofy Challenge. 11 days to the half marathon, 12 days to the full. 8 days until we leave for Orlando. The first obstacle will be getting through airport security with all the new hubub about terror plots.

I ran another 5 miles last night. The winds had started to pick up before I finished and today they were really bad. Gusts over 40 mph and bitter cold. I'm glad I had an appointment withe Helen; it was a good excuse not to run. I'll likely not run tomorrow either as we are expecting Jimmy to visit.

My plan for the rest of the time is to run some on Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Take Sunday and Monday off. Run 3-5 miles on Tuesday. Wednesday is a travel day. Then a short run on Thursday in Florida just to get used to the climate change. At the very least it will not be as cold there as it is here... and it could be more humid.

Although that is my plan, I will also be listening to my body and making day to day decisions. I had a nasty bug most of last week and my voice is still affected and there is still some mucus issues. I don't want to relapse and be sick on race day(s).

I received my final email from WDW today. Lots of information about the races. I still have to digest most of it. It's hard to believe it's so close!

5 miles by sheer will...

This sore throat yukky feeling isn't going away without a fight. I kept trying to get up this morning and kept falling back to sleep. Finally at 9 I got up to the bathroom and talked myself into staying up. I put on my running clothes made the bed and went downstairs for some breakfast. I decided that i'd go out at 10 for 3 miles and try to make it 5. At 10:01 I crawled back to the couch and lay down. A minute later I dragged myself up and went out. The sun was shining today.. so much better than the past three days. I managed 5 miles and for about an hour after, I felt great. Then it was back to sleep. The road to Goofy is going to be rough the next two weeks. Keep smiling and keep moving right? I hope that works.

Yuck

Well it's raining a lot... the snow is gone all but the piles that were created from shoveling. I have been battling some kind of cold thing for a few days now. It started with a major sinus headache on Monday. The headache has eased up some but I still have a sore throat and general achiness from the shoulders up. I managed to get to the gym twice this week. I'm concerned now about balancing my readiness for the Goofy Challenge and not making this cold worse.

Mostly today I feel listless and groggy. I doubt I'll workout at all. Definitely not outside since it's still raining and cold and lakes everywhere (inclduing our basement). I think I'm working on one hour at a time today.

Merry Christmas Eve

Sunny today with a high expected of 35. I opted for the gym and spent an hour there on the treadmill and finished up with some lumbar stretches. Love that machine...feels soooooo good. Taking tomorrow off and hope to run outside on Saturday and Sunday.

Have a merry Christmas Eve and Day everyone!

Yesterday was a gym day. Still too much ice and snow on the ground for outside...ok and it was really cold! Colder than Marathon 2008 even! Have a lot to do after work today and then tickets for the Nova basketball game so may skip today and go tomorrow. The weekend forecast is calling for rain so have to take this day by day.

Snow break

23 inches of snow yesterday. I've traded in my running shoes for shovels and workouts digging cars and sidewalks out from under.

Will have to see what the rest of the week brings for runs. May have to go to the gym. Stay tuned.

Gym day

Today it was cold...barely above 35 all day. I opted for the gym. I probably should have run outside since the forecast is calling for possible snow on Saturday into Sunday but I just wasn't in the mood for cold running and the gym was better than doing nothing. I timed my trip there and back including the workout. I'm trying to decide if I want to try going in the mornings before work twice a week. I wouldn't start something like that until after Goofy (probably after the cruise even) but it's a thought. Even after the cruise I still have to get through February which is so often a pretty crappy month weatherwise. To do that (workout before work) I'd have to set the alarm for 4:45. I'm really not sure I want to do that.

20 miles for Goofy

Today I wanted to run 20 miles. I needed a 20 miler bfore Goofy and it was either today or next week. My schedule next weekend is just too full with family and holiday celebrations. So it was today or never and never was not an option.

So despite 38 degree rain I headed out about 9:00 a.m. My plan was to do 4 five mile loops that began and ended at my house. This way I could leave my Gu and water on the porch and save the hassle of carrying it. I chose 2 of my favorite 5 mile loops and alternated them 1,2,3,4.

The first loop I found myself skipping betwee street and sidewalk to avoid icy spots. There did not seem to be much rhyme or reason to it but fortunately it was usually one of the other that was icy so I didn't have to stop and find a way around.

After the second loop, I popped in the house quickly to change the two top layers of shirts. They were soaked. I had an inkling this might be necessary so I had brought the replacements down with me in the morning and left them on the living room chair.

During the third loop the rain stengthened a bit and most of the ice had melted. It was more or less uneventful. I was pleased that my ankles, knees, hips and back were all feeling pretty good. It was strictly a brain game and I was winning!

On the fourth loop the rain let up but the puddles were so big in some places I gave up trying to find ways around them. Going through was a shock to my feet but after awhile that didn't register either. I almost tripped on one spot on Jackson Street. My toe caught an uneven slab of pavement. I didn't go down but it probably looked interesting to anyone watching me try to stay upright. I was very cold and feeling the strain by this point. So I took advantage of the random spaces of brick sidewalks to take walk breaks. There were just enough to give me a little relief... but not long enough that I stiffened up or lost my desire to run.

The picture above is of me just after I came home. Dave took it after getting me a peanut butter granloa bar; I was really hungry! He also brought me my my robe because immediately following the picture the wet clothes came off. I didn't want to go one more inch in them.

I dare anyone to tell me what a mess I look in the picture! LOL... I do, I know that but emotionally I was in great shape!

4 weeks now to Goofy. I'll still be running between now and then but my 20 miler is out of the way now.

Christmas Lights

Today I wanted to get in 6 miles. I had to work today though which meant being at the office at 7:30 and not getting home until 4:30. So that meant my run would take me into the dark. I layered up for the cold and put on reflective gear for the dark and took off. I decided on three 2 mile loops. This is my neighborhood loop plus a litte extra on the other side of State Road to make the 2 miles. As it grew darker more and more lights came on the houses. Each time around I saw a new set of lights. It was a nice way to make the run enjoyable.

All in all it was a comfortable run and I'm really glad I didn't bail on it.

Yesterday I had a great 5 mile run after work. I had several run ins with the reality of turning 50 during the day including an unsolicited application for AARP.... but the run put all that in perspective real quick.

When I woke up today I decided that it would be a gym day. It was raining like mad; there were pools and lakes where there had once been dry land. However, by noon the rains stopped and on my way home the temperature was 57 degrees. The forecast for tomorrow is for 37 and high winds so I decided to run tonight.

Again I went out feeling good. The problem was that although the waters had receded the debris that the waters brought had not. It was tricky dodging the branches, stones and piles of mud. I was about 2.5 miles into the run and had to turn around from my original course. It was just too dark. The street lights where I was headed were too far apart. I wear reflective gear and run against traffic but the shadows between the lights made it difficult to see where I was stepping. So I turned around improvised an alternate plan through Media. I'm happy to say my estimate was pretty good. I checked the route on mapmyrun.com and it came out to just a little over 5 miles.

Tomorrow I can go to the gym or run. I haven't decided yet.

Weekend 15 miles

First let me say that it snowed yesterday......... first of the season. Ok I know technically it is not winter yet but it is after Thanksgiving when the playing of Christmas carols and the falling of snow should be allowed without scorn.

Yesterday was the first 'winter' run for USAFIT Philly. 6 of us showed up and that worked out nicely as it gave each of us someone to run with. Krisite had to slow her pace a bit to stay with me but she so kindly did that. She and I completed 9 miles and we were both pleased. It was her first long run since the marathon and my first day back after the week off.

When I left home yesterday morning it was raining and sleeting off an on. By the time I arrived at Oaks the precipitation had stopped. It was cloudy, chilly and humid but nothing came down until just at the end of our run when we were spit on a bit. As I drove toward home it started to rain/sleet again. I had thoughts of adding another 3 around home but was not in the mood for the rain/sleet thing so I drove on to the gym and did a 30 minute workout there instead.

The snow did arrive late in afternoon. By this morning the sun had melted most of it although the sidewalks were icy. I waiting until 2 to go out. I started with a loop around the neighborhood just under 1.5 miles. Funny but halfway into it I was sort of wondering if I really wanted to do this today. My right calf was stiff. By the time I finished the loop it was loose though and I decided to head over to do a lap of the Media Five Mile run. And then I decided to do another. It's amazing what happens when you hit the rhythm. And I think I am definitely a distance runner. Not a fast distance runner but my body seems to prefer distance over short. The more I go the better I feel about it. Of course if i'm tired or hurt it doesn't matter but all things being in good shape distance feels good to me.

So that's 15 miles for the weekend. I hope to get 15 more in during the week (3x5) for a total of 30 for the week. The next two weekends will be difficult to do back to back because of work and family obligations so total miles for the week will be the goal.

Have a nice week!

Day three of my week off

I have a sore throat and an ear ache and I'm really tired. The forecast is for hard rain tomorrow and dropping temperatures. So all in all if I was going to pick a week to take off this is looking like a good choice. Of course Saturday (when I expect to return to running) there is a chance of wet snow depending on the track of a storm system heading this way. Oh well.....

I've started to think of the Goofy challenge as 3 half marathons. This is accurate. It's just that two of them are back to back. I like half marathons though. I've run three and had a lot of fun in all of them. So breaking Goofy down into that is helping when I start to feel overwhelmed at this undertaking.