Happy Saturday everyone!!
Snow flurries off and on but wouldn't you know, it started to snow when I decided to go for a run. About 15 degrees, 8mph wind, feels 7 degrees, cloudy. Tough finding good traction on dirt road but it actually forces you to run SLOW for a true 'recovery' run when you need to. Finished 9.5 8.5 miles!! Longest so far since FM!! Saw DH going for a walk so joined him and made him walk faster because I was getting chilly from all the sweat from my run. LOL!! Can you believe I've run 6 days this week?!? WOW, rest day on X-mas day only. So my week's total was about 25 miles!! YAY!! Really can't believe I'm doing great post-marathon, other than the day that my right hamstring reminded me to run slower, no muscle soreness at all. Although the temps were much colder today, it feels awesome to run when there is snow flurries!! Is that weird .....or is it just me?!? LOL!! I'm over 1225 miles for the year ........ and I have 4 more days!! AWESOME!! Today was a great day!!
So, I registered for Grandma's Marathon in June 2015 ........they actually ask if you are a 'grandma'???? I proudly clicked "YES!!" LOL!!
And, I decided to DRIVE to AZ in March in my new red CADDIE, early X-mas/anniversary gift from DH, to celebrate my 55th!! YES!! My 80 yr old mom can't wait to be chauffeured around in a CADILLAC!! My mom deserves it!! I am planning on running two HM dirt trail races in one week in AZ which equals a FM, right?!? I'm so excited!! Miss my dirt trails!!
DH and I will be dancing away on New Year's eve at a Masquerade Ballroom Dance event.
What are your plans?
Any goals for 2015?
justrundan
AZ- way to go! Those are great miles so soon after the FM! Congrats on the Caddie!
Sluggo- it is Ray's dad who is so ill.
NHRich- 43 degrees, very nice! Almost ideal running weather if it's not windy. Way to keep it up.
Art- good to hear from you. Run as much as you can, post whenever you can. I second what Chantilly said about that 10K time!
Chantilly- LOL re: the streak! Just thinking about that song and Ray Stevens made me laugh! The line I remember was "Don't look Ethel!!"
very slow 2.8 today to keep streak going. yesterdays 5.1 was way harder than it should have been; I don't think that long term streaking is in my future. I think my body does better with 1-2 rest days/wk. We will see.
We had DD/DS and spouses here for our 'official 'Christmas'. I made the traditional French toast casserole everyone loves, then opened gifts. Every year DW does a treasure hunt with the kids for their last gift, started it when they were quite small and they STILL love it and expect it even though they are 28&30! They each have 4 different clues (in the form of a rhyming couplet) which they find in succession based on the previous clue. the last clue leads them to where the gift is hidden. Hopefully we can soon continue that with grandchildren, but nothing on the horizon yet. Come on kids!
Finish the year strong!
Dan
It was COLD but SUNNY for a short run around 11am!! This is NUTS!! But the gorgeous morning beckons gratitude.
About -1 degree, 6mph 'calm' breeze, feels -12 degrees, yes, REALLY!! Just crazy but I'm smiling!! LOL!
Although this photo is from another morning run, this is what this morning looked like and this is my typical winter running gear.
Oh, correction: it was ONLY 8.5 miles yesterday, not 9.5 .......slipped of finger on keyboard.
Today, finished ONLY 3 miles, BRRRRR!! Guess I should post my run on 'more miles than degrees' ......
Dan: those short miles do tend to be a drag out fight sometimes but proud and impressed you've been 'streaking' ......almost there!!
Sluggo: good to hear from you.
Stay safe and warm everyone!!
Sunday, 12/28... 8 road miles today. At 42 degrees, today is the last day of warmer weather forecast, so I took advantage again. Still working on form, this stuff drives me nuts sometimes, but I think I've got it fixed. Splits were 9:23, 8:59, 8:50, 8:48, 8:46, 8:42, 8:35 and cooled with a 9:45 last mile.
Dan... still doing well with the Streak. good for you. Sounds like a fun Christmas at your house, especially the treasure hunt.
az... I laughed out loud when I saw your latest picture... More so about what we runners will go through to get our run in, that picture should be on the cover of Runners World. A Caddie for Christmas? I think DH is trying to spoil you. lol You're getting in some nice runs lately, WTG!
az2mntrail What a nice Christmas gift! Love Cadillacs! Your Mom will be queen for a day. So great to see you are all bundled up and getting out there! Good for you that you got into Grandma's.
The Center of the Nation series would be the one closest and just driving and a hotel room each night would be needed. They usually run these marathons on a loop in a park, with a great aid station you pass each time around. I would do 3 marathons in 3 states in 3 days for marathonmaniac 5 star status. (currently have 4 stars)
justrundan French toast would be delicious. The treasure hunt sounds like fun & a great family tradition!
NH Runner That is warmish there. Your snow will be gone. no skiing.
I must confess that I use a bottled mincemeat from the grocery store, but make my own pie shell, or do tarts.
I couldn't log on yesterday, but 7 miles yesterday with weights, and a bit of snow shoveling/sweeping.
Working today & tomorrow.
"dancing on the path and singing, now you got away,
you can reach the goals you set from now on, every day"
Sonata Arctica
NHRich- not as warm here as where you are, but still mid-20's, sunny and only slight wind. 6.5 on the road today, felt better than the 5 earlier in the week. Day 29 of the streak, 3 more days to go. But after that it's holiday, day off, then weekend, so it should continue for a while yet.
AZ- love the cold weather gear! You are really acclimating to northern MN!
Chantillly- 3 marathons, 3 states, 3 days??? Wow, that's amazing. What a challenge!
Well it finally happened to me. Had a long reply post, clicked Post and poof! there it disappeared. Let's try a smaller one.
Christmas morning-8 miles
Friday morning-3 miles. Weather was cold, low 30s and slight breeze. Not use to that temp and breathing felt off because of the cold.
Saturday morning-5 miles. Felt a little better running. Same morning temps
This morning put in 13 miles. A couple of degrees warmer. Felt fine running with little trouble breathing.
AZ - Congrats on the Marathon and the new car. Liked your picture. Feel I should dress like that the past few mornings. Two half trail races in a week. Well at least the weather should be warmer. Hopefully.
Dan - Good work keeping the streak going. The treasure hunt sounds like a great family tradition. Don't sweat the grandkids. I'm sure they will get here eventually. We just welcomed number 11.
Rich - Nice miles and times. Now you need a couple of events to run in.
Chantilly - I agree on the 3 marathons in 3 states in 3 days. That would fit my criteria of a marathon maniac. Question though. Around here races are usually held Saturday and Sunday. How do they figure running 3 in 3 days.
Sluggo - Keep working at it. It gets easier and better the more you run.
Art in AZ
Mesa, AZ
az2mntrail What a nice Christmas gift! Love Cadillacs! Your Mom will be queen for a day. So great to see you are all bundled up and getting out there! Good for you that you got into Grandma's. The Center of the Nation series would be the one closest and just driving and a hotel room each night would be needed. They usually run these marathons on a loop in a park, with a great aid station you pass each time around. I would do 3 marathons in 3 states in 3 days for marathonmaniac 5 star status. (currently have 4 stars)
Yeah, I deserve the CADILLAC!! LOL!! It's red and drives SO NICE!! This is the best X-mas!! DH is most thoughtful and my mom is so looking forward to riding in it!! It was FRIGID this morning, I can't believe I did it. DH was all proud of me when he opened the door after my run, with a cup of hot coffee .........for him, not me, LOL!! I couldn't wait to get out of my sweaty chilly running gear, BRRRR!! I thought of my (hot/humid) TX run which kept me going; it was good this morning.
Chantilly: Which runs are you considering? How do you go about running them? I know the areas ......SIL lives in Rapid City. Where would you stay?
NH: HAHA!! I look tough huh?!? Can you tell I'm smiling?!? LOL!! It was really cold this morning ......so 3 miles was ALOT for me!! Crazy what die-hard runners do to pile on mileage!! By the end of my run, I had an icicle on my balaclava!!
Art: Thanks, despite the lousy FM time, I'm glad to have had the experience ......and learned what NOT to do. Getting a caddie as part of the bling ........well, it was worth it, LOL!! I'm planning on running the Xterra Black Canyon and the Aravapai Mesquite Canyon trail runs in March. Any 2015 race plans? The RnR is coming up in Jan. in Phx. I don't run them anymore but the IMS is a small but energetic race on the west side of PHX. Glad you're back.
Fletch
A belated Merry Christmas to all! Haven't had much time to post with all the holiday happenings.
AZ - Nice job toughing it out in your marathon! And congrats on the caddie!
Art - Good to hear from you. You're getting in some good miles.
Dan - Nice job on the streak! Sounds like you had a great Christmas with the family. I especially like the treasure hunt idea!
Chantilly - Nice job with the miles, the weight training, and the snow shoveling/cross training. I can't imagine doing 3 marathons in 3 days! But based on what I've seen in your posts, I'm sure you'll have no problem!
NH Rich - You're getting in some good miles. Hope the form change is working for you.
Sluggo - Good to hear you're still plugging along. Congrats on the high mileage for December.
WDW Rich - Hope the training is going well for your 15k. I looked at the website for that Resolution Run - looks like a fun race!
Ray - Sorry to hear of your father's decline. Thoughts and prayers for you and your family.
Though I haven't been posting here, I have still been running. Today is day 33 of my holiday streak. I am at 117.25 miles since the streak started on Thanksgiving Day, and 108.75 miles for the month of December, so far. My goal for December was 105, so anything I do for the next 3 days is GRAVY!
Got a big boost in miles this past Friday. The gang I run with for speed work on Wednesday mornings has a traditional run on the day after Christmas. They call it the 5 Towns run, because it touches on 5 different townships over the course of the 18 miles. This year, they added a 10 mile option, which I decided to run. We parked at the 10 mile point (shopping center), and then were shuttled to meet the 18 milers for the start. Started running at about 5:30 am, with 20 runners. The group quickly separated, with about 8 of the "speedsters" pulling ahead, and the remaining 12 of us falling behind. At the one mile mark, all the watches/gps devices started beeping, and the consensus was that we were on about a 9:25 pace. I thought, "oh, crap. I can't maintain 9:25 for 10 miles. I'm either going to really hold this group back, or I'm going to get left behind." We kept going, but did not maintain that pace...WE GOT FASTER! Somehow, I got into a good zone, felt comfortable, and really enjoyed the run. The drop point ended up being at 11 miles instead of 10. One of our gang that was not running met us at mile 5 with his van for a water break, then skipped ahead to mile 7.5, and then to the drop point. Splits for the 11 miles were: 9:25, 9:00, 8:55, 8:50, 9:00, 8:56, 8:58, 8:55, 8:55, 9:00, 9:00. Average pace was right at 9:00. It was a fantastic run with a great group of people. Next year, I'll join in for the long run!
I won't bore you with all the daily totals, but I will say that last week was my best yet. The 11 miler, along with the other daily runs, gave me 32.5 miles for the week. So far, no injury problems. However, I will concur with Dan...I don't see myself doing long streaks. I need a day off every now and then!
Happy Running, everyone. If I don't have a chance to log back in before Thursday...HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Monday, 12/29... 1.5 mile walk / jog on the railtrail with Simba the dog. It's been a while since he's gotten any exercise and he thoroughly enjoyed himself. Especially the part where he found all the droppings from the dog sled team that had gone through earlier...
Chantilly... we had 3 days of melting snow, but there's still some snow on the ground. With temps back below freezing again, the railtrail's a rutted mess that's frozen solid and won't work for skiing, but that's ok, I'm not looking for high mileage just yet anyway. What did you mean by 7 miles with weights?
Dan... nice 6.5 miles. I go through the same thing, one day a run feels good, the next it's "ugh." lol
Art... you're running some serous mileage! Racing season around here doesn't start 'til March when the weather improves and that's when I run my first race of the year, a "Shamrock Shuffle" 5K. Right now I'm just logging miles trying to build a decent base...
az... yeah, you look tough... lol
Fletch... the form change is working. I'm jut thankful I figured out what I was doing wrong... Your running is rock solid these days, excellent 11 miler!
Quick 3 miles this morning to loosen up for the day. Sunny and cold still. Weather is suppose to change in the next few days to colder and rain. Oh Joy. Should be able to run the next couple of mornings to close out the month and year.
AZ - Funny you mentioned the IMS. Son in law wanted to do another half and asked if I was willing. So we signed up for it and got a good price when they offered a discount. Other than that nothing else planned for the year. Looking at a few others but that's it.
Fletch - Nice streak and mileage. You demonstrated why I don't run with a device. They seem to lock people into a certain pace and ignore their bod. They never worked for me. And I don't miss them. Remember your earlier "gump" runs?
Rich - I'm trying to get better prepared for the half on Feb. 15th. Don't want to embarrass myself. I'm sure you'll do fine in your 5K.
Thanks everyone for your well wishes, they were greatly appreciated. Dad passed away last Monday with 9 of his 10 kids there in one form or another (2 were present by skype video). Dad's body wore out and he truly wanted to be with Mom. Funeral was today and with any luck running will get back on track. It was nice that I could tell him that I had qualified for Boston, something he could appreciate and seemed to share my joy in the accomplishment. Been a bit pre-occupied with getting things ready for the service and our annual family get together.
I've enjoyed your reports during this time, even if I haven't responded. Let me wish you all a belated Happy Holidays!
Running has been a bit sporadic with only 23 miles logged last week. Hoping to get back on track the rest of this week. Take care and run strong!
Ray
Ray - my condolences to you and your family on the loss of your dad. I'm glad you got to share your BQ with him. That can be one in a long list of good memories that you take with you going forward.
Ray: May you find strength and peace in the love of family. I'm glad you shared the great news regarding Boston with your dad. Running will have a renewed and cherished meaning for you. Our sympathies to you and your family. Know you are close in thought and prayer. <<<HUGS>>>