Happy Monday Jay and all to follow. I'm glad you got through your session yesterday without that quad acting up.  Hope it stays that way. And have fun cross training with the snow blower. There's not much snow on the ground here, only bitterly cold temps these last few days with 15 to 20 mph sustained winds. It was 1° this morning when I got to the Y. Yes, I wimped out and ran on the track. 4 miles was all I had time for and these cold temps have brought everyone indoors. The track needed a traffic cop this morning!

Steve - your boss sounds like a "glass half empty" kind of guy. Why always assume the worst in people?  It sounds like your friend really wants you to spend these last few days with him. You're doing the right - and compassionate - thing.

{{{Mike}}} Stay strong, friend.

Great video Bill! Like Ribs said, next time you do a solo, wear your running shorts.

Hugs to all of the flu sickies out there. Hope your fevers are gone and you feel better today.

My DD#2 got engaged yesterday!! Well, actually she's my stepdaughter but we've been together a long time and she even calls me mom. First time for her and her fiance. She's 35 and he's 40. He's a great guy and we're thrilled for both of them. Look like 2014 is the wedding year.

Two brothers coaching the Super Bowl teams? Wow! Have a great Monday everyone.

Jay—quite the philosophical introspection yesterday!  At that hour of the morning I’m usually limited to not making a mess as I pour my first cup of coffee.  When I’m out running, watching the sun rise, then I get philosophical. 

C-R—I bet you enjoyed that mediocre Pats performance. I'm ready to declare the Brady-era officially over.

Carolyn—nice racing (and welcome back)

Mari—you did it again, referencing “MIL” in relation to me.  What’s “MIL”?  (and welcome back, too!)

Ribs—nice job on a 22!  Those are never easy.

Tom—Geez, that sale sounds amazing.  Nothing like that around here.  And never underestimate the healing power of Guinness!

Holly—hope you’re feeling better soon.

Gordon—nice going on the weight loss.

Steve—you’re in the right.  Best to you in dealing with this.  I hope you can work it out.

Beautiful clear sunny morning.  They’ll have a great day for the inauguration festivities up the road.

10 miles with 4x1200’s.

Here is the post:

http://runningblog.dallasnews.com/2013/01/specificity-of-exercise-a-distance-running-training-tip.html/

Spareribs

Got a nice 10K for lunch but legs still a little sore. Hopefully tonight's run will be better but whatevs.

4:20 Jay - sleeping in I see. 

I did enjoy the Pats woes and what a class act by Bellichick skipping the post game on field t.v interview. Glad Sharpe called him out on national t.v. Cherry on top. I was always taught to compete like hell, win with grace and lose with class. Guess he skipped that one on the Being a Leader correspondence course.

Ribs - I just saw the 30 mile weekend. WTG.

SteveP - you're right and your boss needs to see the big picture. He wouldn't feel the same if it were someone close to him in hospice.

Stay strong Mike

Nice Tramps - I wonder the type of hazing he will get at rookie camp once he's drafted and signed. He better get a tough skin and real quick.

...Burger//..........Great video yesterday...........you guys sounded great.

A quick missive from out past the end of the road.

Saturday's run was a bit of an experience. Neal was busy, so Mo and I took Choco to the end of the road and then ran back home, a one way trip with a tailwind again. With the warm temperatures and howling east winds, it may become our new way to do all our runs. Especially if every Saturday corresponds with the arrival of another low pressure system moving in from the Aleutians...

As we left, it was getting a little more windy than the 25 to 35 that was forecast, but 33 gusting 43 seemed okay with a tailwind. We got to the end of the road to park the truck, and it was pretty windy all right. Certainly the windiest weather I can remember running in. I've been out a lot of times when it got up into the 35 mph range, and usually that is about where I decide I'm not having fun any more. But tailwinds are good, so we started off down the road after we verified that we could, in fact, stay upright.

After a few minutes, it was obvious that this was not going to be any normal run. The wind was certainly strong. But when the gusts would hit, it was at entirely another level. We were finding ourselves propelled down the icy roads with a huge hand pushing on our backs. Most of the road was bare, but any time we were on a patch of ice when the gusts hit, it was quite a dance to stay upright while trying not to overspeed. Some bends in the road offered a little shelter from the breeze, but most of the time we were getting a pretty good push. And of course, what could be better, right?

After a few miles, we crested out on top of our 'hill' (don't laugh, Carolyn...) and oh, boy. Nearing the top of the hill, we were actually getting pushed uphill. Hard. As we hit the top, the wind was picking up sand and gravel and hitting us in the back of the legs, butt, head. I have never run in wind like that anywhere. Mo was concerned about how out of control she felt, so she slowed down. I was concerned about getting a piece of gravel embedded in my skull, so I sped down the hill until I got out of the worst of it. I probably have never run a hill like that in my life. Between the downhill and the ferocious wind, it was full-on sprint speed. Of course, my full-on sprint speed isn't what it used to be...but still...

After that, we noticed that our legs were pretty thrashed. We ran on, feeling wiped out and shoved along all the way home, 10.6 miles. When we got there, I checked the weather...

Wind: 46 mph gusting 68 mph.

Yep, that explains some things.

The quad pounding that is normally associated with downhill running was pretty much the rule of the day the entire way, so Sunday was a day of sore muscles. Today, we went out for a more relaxed 7.4 miles. Felt a little soggy, but overall good. The 'breeze' was only about 20 mph, so it felt pretty benign, and we actually ran both directions without setting ourselves up for another tailwind day.

Sorry been poor at keeping up. We are in the internet doghouse, as the super-speedy new service only comes with 25 GB per month, then $20/G for overage. Some of the folks in the household went a bit nuts with the nice new speeds, and we topped our use limit in 6 days then were headed for thousands of dollars of overage, so we unplugged the line...

Now were are probably going to install some substandard satellite internet just because those don't charge extra, they just put you in the doghouse and throttle your data when you go over. I can live with that a lot easier than a bill that exceeds my paycheck...

I'm so behind in here, so I hope I don't offend by not sending out individuals "heys."  I see that Holly's back is feeling better - thankfully!  A fall like that can be so scary and until you see how things will shake out.

4 EZ miles in the late afternoon.  When I run later in the day, the route I take has me doing a decent climb around Mile 2.5 and I have been struggling to run the thing.  Today is the first time in awhile that it hasn't felt like I was gonna die before I got to the top.  Sweet!

Back to work tomorrow, and I suspect we'll be filing a petition with the court regarding the trust admin that seems to be going sideways.  Ugh!  I had almost the whole thing typed up about a month ago, but somehow the original document got corrupted and it won't open.  Thankfully, I had printed out a draft and kept it in the file "just in case."

Have a great week ~