No snowshoes, just regular shoes. It was about 5 degrees, but the winds died down. Amazing night to be out... saw two great horned owls and a fox. It's always so quiet and peaceful after a snowstorm. Greg... hang in there. I think it's important to take time for yourself... it makes you a better person. (At least it makes me a better, more balanced, and more tolerable person). Nice job on the mileage Kelly, that's awesome! Yike Leslie... that dog would have scared me too. I think I would have been inclined to kick the sh*t out of it - Chris

I, like Imogene, have been doing more lurking than posting but am I always interested in hearing what you all have been up too. Sounds like all of you have been pretty active. I like dogs just fine. It's the owners of unruly ones I'm not too fond of. Chris - we are forecasted to have some snow in the Boston area tomorrow but not as cold as 4 degrees. Yikes! I should have time to post more this week as I rehab my badly sprained ankle this week and maybe next. I injured it running the Fells Trail Ultra last weekend. http://breakhearttrailrunning.blogspot.com/2008/12/fell-trail-ultra-race-report.html Enjoy the weekend! Dan

Hello All, I'm going to write a mini race report here (and crosspost in LLR). Yesterday I ran the First Annual Christine Crusade "5k". That last part is in quotes, because well, the course actually measured 3.4 miles... It was about 25F, sunny, very pretty day. I had been up early because the plan had been to help them setup and register, but when we got there they were all set. The course was mainly around large fields on frozen hummocky grass, and I have to say that I preferred the short bit of single track in the woods with all its roots to the constant fear of twisting my ankle in that grass. I started off fast, perhaps a bit too fast, but after about a mile was hanging onto the back of a team of high school cross-country girls, I slowly worked my way through their pack over the next mile or so. It didn't feel great, but I just told myself that I had to keep with them and stay somewhere in their vicinity. A bunch of the ones I'd passed caught me on the second loop through the field, but I was also holding some of them off. When we rounded out of the woods and came toward the finish, I gave it my customary kick, but the high schooler behind me caught me just before the finish line. Time: 26:05 Pace: 7:41/mile I finished first in my age group and won a fuel belt in the raffle!! So, overall a very successful day Hope everyone is well, and I'll check in more and lurk less. Off to run in snow

Kelly, I think you made the right choice. You certainly do not want to run yourself into another injury when you already achieved something special by running over 2600 miles in one year. For what it's worth, I am proud of you. Leslie, I second Kelly's call for a race report. I am dying to hear how you did. On the dog thing, I am an animal lover too, but I do not hesitate to demonstrate that I am the one in control, especially with dogs. On the other hand, offering a tantalizing target by sticking a leg out at a charging dog might not be the wisest thing to do. So, I am glad you are safe and staying armed in the future. I told your story to my husband and now he wants me to carry pepper spray every time I run too. Well, at least I know he loves me. Today was the sixth day since my last run and it took some serious motivation to get me out the door. I don't understand why that happens because I ALWAYS feel so much better after a run. Why would I resist? Any ideas anybody? I ran three miles and tried out my new Forerunner 305. I bought it for $150 and free shipping on cyberMonday (Monday after Thanksgiving) from amazon.com. What a fun gadget. I know I will have to fight becoming obsessed with it. This past week was tough. I had a major project due for one of my classes. I had to read and analyze 12 journal articles in an 8-page thesis paper. Well, I was all set to start writing (on Friday when it was due on Sunday before midnight) when I realized that I read the assignment instructions wrong. I had to take a specific approach to the topic and I did not do that in my preparation. So . . . I had to reread over 100 pages of articles, highlighting pertinent information in a different color (because my first highlights were irrelevant) and basically start from scratch. I was so demoralized. That is the main reason that I had no time to run until today. However, the paper is written and submitted and I plan to get back on the horse this week. I hope everyone is healthy and happy, Kitrin

Way to go Leslie and great time! You have earned some well deserved downtime. Enjoy it. I, unfortunately, need to step up. Too much time off for me in the last couple weeks. Today is a reverse temperature day. High temp at 8am and then down from there. Perhaps I can find some kind of "reverse" exercise shtick in honor of it. I don't care, as long as I get out. It is a shame that I feel a little sore after only three miles yesterday. Kitrin

Kitrin -- It's so hard when life gets in the way of running, I constantly feel like life is better when there is running, but sometimes the two just don't blend. Good job on finishing up what sounds like a tough assignment. Ozzig -- Congrats on a great race! I hope we get a more detailed race report sometime soon, perhaps with pictures?? Kelly -- What a great interview and a really cool site overall. I think that sometimes rural areas are better at that kind of networking than urban areas. So neat. Makes me want to move "home". OldGuy -- That sounds like fun...If you ever want company on a training run in the Fells, I'm game. I'm in that place where I'm pushing really hard to hit 1,000 miles for this year... only 104 miles to go... this means that I'm also looking ahead to goals for next year. I think I want to train for and PR in a road half marathon, and do a couple more trail events, and maybe train for a full marathon for the fall... depending on how everything else is going in my life -- work, grad school, maybe moving, maybe moving in with my BF, etc. After my trail race on Saturday, I was really sore on Sunday, but headed out for a long slow run in the snow. I didn't take my watch because I wanted to just be "offline" as much as possible, listen to my body, stretch my calves (which are still screaming). It was such a nice quiet time by myself along the river. I was hungry by the end and my legs were tired... but if I hadn't run the race the day before (and had taken a Gu or eaten lunch) I think I could have gone much further than the 12 I did. I like that feeling. I also liked the feeling of crawling into bed after a hot shower with a bowl of turkey barley soup Hope everyone is well.

Hi All Ankle is improving but I'm still resting it (reluctantly) Imogene - great race getting 1st AG with some nice swag to boot! I'll let you know next time I'm heading to the fells. Kelly - take it easy for the rest of the year and come back healthy in 2009. Think of yourself as one of your training clients. What would you tell the client to do? Gotcha Congrats on the interview. Good exposure and hopefully more clients as a result. Kitrin - you got a great deal on the 305. I spent more on my 205. Leslie - nice race, good time. Don't worry about the mileage, What's a couple tenths anyway? Got to get ready for work. Later, Dan