Chantilly - 8 miles, nicely done.  Are you referring to the "Holiday Challenge?"  Think that was Dan.  Just working on building base now and see if I can beat my previous best continuous streak of 25 days.  Currently at 21 days.

Jo - Nice start.  It probably doesn't mean much now, but listen to your body - it will let you know if you're too much or too little.

Fletch - Good to hear from you.  Good that you're feeling better.  Saturday is going to be fun!

adkkev - rest days and sleep are important.  Good luck with the renovations.  How did the run go last night?

Rich - You're a skiing machine!  Good to hear the achilles is holding up.

Az - It has to feel good to get out there and run.  Good to hear you're smiling!

3/10 so the youngins at work are going to do the "Ayala Cove Run" with me this year.  It is April 12th out at Angel Island in the middle of SF bay.  Has to be one of the prettiest runs ever, 360 degree view of the entire bay and lots of single track trails.  I'll be doing the 15 mile version (they also have 5 and 10 milers).  At least 1 is going to try the 15 miler with me, 2 others are going to try the 10 miler.  Should be fun.  Anyway, so they're starting to run with me on Mondays too.  Normally, I do a little extra and can easily catch up.  Not yesterday.  About 1/2 way into the run we split up so I could do some extra hills and I sorta slowed down to watch a low flying turkey vulture.  Didn't see her so sped up a little, still didn't see her about 1/2 mile later so turned around and went back a bit.  Realized she probably was further ahead then I thought and picked up the pace.  Didn't catch up, found her back at work.  Last two miles were 8:15 and 7:35 with a total of 5.1 miles in 45:18.  She finished 4.1 in about 41 minutes.  Pretty sure I saw a bald eagle - white headed raptor, but didn't look much bigger then a hawk - so, might have been something else...

Tuesday, 3/11... 5 mile road run today, splits were 8:53, 8:32, 8:37, 8:41 and 8:57.  Last mile was like throwing out an anchor, my achilles tightened and I eased up, but no harm done.

Chantilly...I didn't realize Ryan Hall was running Boston.   It'd be awesome if he won, he's certainly capable.   And I see Shalane Flanagan is running, but Desi will handle her.   The real test will be Rita Jeptoo, the woman who won last year.   Anyway, we're in for a real treat on race day.

az... I was going nuts watching that 2011 race also, the Kenyans kept trying to drop Desi, but couldn't do it.    Congrats on your better weather and 4.5 mile run, every day the sun gets a little higher!

Fletch... Probably by the end of March the skiing will be over for the year.   Since January I've skied 139 miles and have had enough, bring on some heat and green grass!   Hey, a few striders at the end of your last run, eh?   And a few hill repeats not long ago.   You're learning pretty fast there Grasshopper.   How'd those striders feel, are you ready for the 5K?

Ray... the Ayala Cove Run sounds awesome, 15 miles is a stroll in the park for you these days.   You're always on the look-out for Raptors when you run and I'm watching for distracted drivers with cell phones in their ears...lol

Monday evening - 7 miles around town, lots of hills along the way (up and down!).

Tuesday evening - 5.55 miles around town, not so many hills but enough to feel it!

Looks like Wednesday & Thursday may be cross-training days with the snowblower - supposed to get anywhere from 10 to 16 inches of snow by Thursday morning.  Then Thursday is supposed to greet us with temps in the teens and wind gusts up to 45 mph.  Yeah, and it was 50+ degrees & sunny today.  Ahhhhhhhhhh ... March in the great northeast, eh?

Young Dallas Seavey won the Itidarod today ... his second win.  A dozen or so racers dropped out along the way, conditions were tough this year.  If there are reruns of the Ultimate Alaska Survival challenge on NatGeo, you'll see Dallas & his team win that endurance "race" as well.

Nice running everyone!!!

adkkev It would be exciting to watch part of the Iditarod.

If you're going back up north this summer, there is an indoor run called "6 Days in the Dome" in Anchorage Aug. 4-10. There are 24 hour, 48 hour and the 6 day distances available during the week.  See www.sixdaysinthedome.com  for information.

There are going to be several elite ultra marathoners there trying for various records.

Jo_  You are doing it right, with every other day running for a start.  When we are over 50, we can't increase running as fast as a younger person. So don't feel guilty for being sensible and avoiding injury from over-use.

rmcj001 Sounds like a nice run, weather-wise..guess you didn't see any of the fire.

NH Runner  Ryan Hall and Abdi Abdiraham were added to Boston after Dathan Ritzenhein and a couple other elites dropped out. I think Shalane can have a good race, will be good to watch her, also.

139 miles is quite a bit of skiing.

9 miles on the track. Nice to talk to my (69 yr. old) friend for a bit, she said she is still feeling pretty good on her runs.

Took a rest day yesterday.  Today was a bit cooler, about 20 degrees, 10mph wind, felt like 12 degrees, partly cloudy.  But really, it's just ideal 'winter' temps for running outside, "it could be worse" .........which I tell myself and I get my butt out there, LOL!!  My stretching from yesterday did wonders for my run today.  Took it easy and slow, finished 4.5 miles with 30 seconds walk break after every mile.  Thought of running 5-6 miles but thought better of it; I'll save those for this wknd into next week.  Post-recovery exercises took about 30 minutes with some weights and lunges.  The wind off the still heavy snow covered areas was pretty chilly with the head wind, didn't wear my balaclava, brrrr!

Jo:  taking it slow and easy is good, and with combine with rest days, it allows your body to catch up with the new demands from your running.  Yes, we've all started as beginners at some point and after injuries, it seems like 'starting all over again.'  You're doing great!!

Rich, adkkev, Deb, Dan:  yikes, I hope the storm isn't as bad as the previous ones.  Most of the cold front/snow/freezing rain will be south of us but we get the frigid wind.

adkkev:  good job on the 'hills' .........I wish I had some of those, I miss running hills (on my AZ trails), it's pretty flat here in MN.

Rich:  thanks for the video.  I spent alot of time watching and re-watching the cross-county skiing events of the Olympics!!  Love it!! Nail biting finishes were absolutely exciting!! Tough sport!!

Some guy our age has shown up at the track the past week, walking for well over an hour with a heavy backpack.  Wonder what he's training for?

Maybe he's preparing himself for some major long distance hike ... Appalachian Trail, PCT, CDT?  At least he'll get used to carrying that heavy pack on his back ... but walking on a track is some different than hiking up & down those trails!!

We did not get the forecasted amount of snow, not by a long shot.  But mother nature made up for that shortcoming by giving us nearly an inch of ice ... coating everything!  Very windy & very cold now ... I did cross training this morning with snow & ice removal!!

Greetings!

Good for you, Ray, for helping the workmate with his training.  And I like the wildlife updates. I ran past a herd of about 15 white-tailed deer on one of my morning runs through horse country.  They were about 50 feet off the road, and calmly watched me run by.  Did your oldest (son/daughter?) follow the GT basketball team to Greensboro for the ACC Tournament (tough loss last night - but closer than I thought they would be).

adkkev - If I had to choose between 10 inches snow or 1 inch ice...I'd ask for a third choice!!  Glad you were able to get in a couple good runs outside before it hit.

Rich - I'll give back some of what you guys gave me a few months back... better to take it easy and be able to run the HM in June, rather than push too hard now and have to sit it out completely.  RE: striders - I'm somewhat informal with them.  I don't time them, but rather run them by "landmarks."  I'll pick out some target (next intersection, 3rd driveway, 2nd telephone pole, etc.) and run hard to that point, then slow down to a walk to recover. They definitely tire me out, but I think it has helped with my form when I pick up the pace.

7/9/7 - that's some strong running days, Chantilly.  Lots of military in my area.  Often the backpack runner/walkers are getting in shape for deployment.  RE: garden - we can start a little earlier here, but you'll have a leg up on us when we start hitting the 90-100 degree days in mid-summer and the plants are gasping for air and water.

Az - Nice run- 4.5 miles, in the cold and wind.  I know what you mean with the stretching.  I MAKE myself spend that time stretching after every run, and I think it has definitely helped.

Jo - Don't worry about what your training plan looks like "on paper."  If it works for you, you're more likely to stick with it.  As for the critters in the garden, we have three dogs that pretty much keep the critters out of the back yard.  But I have to fence in the garden to keep the DOGS out.

No running on Wednesday.  Took the day off from work and traveled to Greensboro for the first day of the ACC basketball tournament with brother-in-law.  Drove back in the middle of a severe thunderstorm - wind gusts up to 60 mph!  In fact, three people in the area were killed by falling trees or limbs.  Two were in cars when trees fell on them, the other was a man who walked out on his back deck and was struck by a falling limb.

Got out Thursday afternoon for my final run before the race Saturday.  3 miles.  Forecast for Saturday is partly cloudy, 50 degrees at race time.  Should be a good time.  They're expecting over 1,200 runners.