Describe Your Running Today, Part II

-436 days to The MOARG, The Mother Of All Running Gatherings in Gimmelwald, Switzerland, 2011.

today: 55 quick and easy minutes in Villa Pamphili with Massimo, Teo and Danilo, muddy, warm, felt totally streatchable.

Merry Xmas.

Thurs. AM. Same run as Monday, with 3" of new snow added.

An active weather system is slated to deliver 6" more locally, before leaving the region.

Christmas travel will be curtailed in many instances as Old Man Winter takes a que from the director of Murphy's Law and puts the damper on Christmas Eve activities. A white Christmas indeed.

7 miles in 71 mins. on slippery roads.

50 days til big indoor meet - did good interval workout on Tuesday that indicates some improvement, but am sore and taking day off. Will do 4 mile tempo tomorrow at half marathon pace.

Sick, for the 5th day in a row. I have not been able to run or do much of anything for that matter. I feel like crap. What is the difference between the flu and a sinus infection? At what point do you get on antibiotics (for the sinus infections, obviously not the flu)?

Ho, Ho, Ho, and a happiest of merries to all of my DYRT friends! I am still "observing" this most wonderful of all LR threads, though I have not posted for several reasons. One is that I still am somewhat sidelined, though the "comeback" -- ha, ha -- should begin in a matter of weeks. Also, I noticed that following my previous post after a long absence, our "friend" still sensed my presence and once again tried to derail the thread. I really feel sorry for that poor, stalking troll. Fortunately you wonderful folks persevered and kept the thread on the straight and narrow. Thank you!!!

At this time of year I truly feel blessed for many reasons. Among them is this terrific thread and the many people who have enjoyed and benefited from it. I am humbled by its success and thankful for the small part I played in its genesis. But it is folks like driske, tpcb, mopak, special O2, etc. who have kept this thriving and at the top of the list of LR's best threads. You are the best!

Enjoy the holidays and keep up the good work, all!

I love running everyday. That is why in the post, i spent lots of money on it. But now, things are different. Because i come into a very good online store: w w w .ok-jordan.c o m. That store has lots of brand sports shoes for less. I love that.

RD,

Merry Christmas to you as well.Good luck with your comeback. Cross the bridges as you get to them.

Christmas Day,PM. 5 miles@ 47;34. The roadways are all snow and slush covered. Yodeling coyotes sounded nothing like any yuletide choir.

Sick with a sore throat MON,TUES,WED. Went out for a gentle 40mins thu am and a hilly but very slow 70mins thu pm. No run yesterday too many family/social commitments.

Today, took the bride for a 10km hike with her new pack -2x up the ridge. Went out later for a relaxed hrs run around Lake Eppalock on the trails.

Hoping there were enjoyable xmases out there among you all.

At my Mother-in-law's with the kids for lunch before afternoon shift; Bride at work since the morning.

I come back from:

A quick 40 minutes under a steady drizzle at the campone at Villa Pamphili; doing these diagonals checker-boarded with wide mud patches. It became one of the best turnover-agility sessions i ever did. VeryVery slippery. Everytime i hit the mud the revs just shot up almost uncontrollably just to keep my balance. Other runners seen passing by on the main path. Did about 20 diagonals. Finished caked with mud.

Back at Mother-in-Law's, on the way to shower:

MIL: "Must you run everyday?"

me: "Didn't run yesterday. And running xmas day is a tradition with my father. We even ran in Montreal sub 25 celsius plus windchill with vaseline on our skin. Others had neoprene masks. But yesterday was for the kids."

MIL: "I dont understand you. Anyway, tell the children lunch is ready."

me: "You DO understand. You just don't know it."

Xmas was fine thankyou, just VeryVery busy.

Yesterday; 10K with Bro-in Law on the streets of DePere. He took one technical fall but bounced to his feet cat like. Bouyed by the carbides imbedded in Inov-8's 340 Mudclaws, I remained upright througout the 1 hour tour of icy, slushy, urban terrain.

Had to chuckle over the MIL exchange. For me it was my Maternal GrandMother. She chided me for wasting my time till the day she died.

Joan Benoit-Samuelson has yet to convince her own Mother of the worth of running. She explained at Grandma's ,that she has struggled against the "Can you stop NOW?" question for over 4 decades.

Strong testament to a far reaching Puritan work ethic. That decrees the fruits of our labors should yield a tangible product of sorts.

driske,

you got me going, i'm still laughing! We time-wasters, we...

To be in predicament-sharing with JBS (4 decades?!?) of all heroines is a heart-warming to say the least. LOL, still laughing...The obstinacy of Big Mamas... I wish i could convey the tone of the "MUST you go running" question which in a matching audio dub might sound like somebody from the Waltons.

today: bike commuting.

I think i have learned how not suffer when running escapes me.

Speaking of big mamas, ... -433 days to The MOARG, The MOTHER Of All Running Gatherings in Gimmelwald, Switzerland, 2011.

today:

played with my new watch while kids were at gymanastics.

set the timer on repeat at end for 1 minutem, 1min high turnover (> 180), 1min recovery. Looked at my watch at the end, and i did 38.

Jus' real good.

I've been fortunate in that regard. My parents expected their kids to play sport. In fact my mother seems to think sport is more important than work. My father played sport until his Parkinson's D. thwarted his mobility at 85.

I'm not sure my late FlL thought much of it but he offered no comments. MIL seems to mildly approve.

Funny incident when I first met the In-Laws. I mentioned I wanted to go for a spin on my bike the next morning.

Not knowing the area I asked for suggestions of where to go. My rather lumpy BIL suggested (with a sly sn*****) I ride the bike to the next town of Finley.

Next morning I jump on the bike and happily took off to Finley returning 4hrs later with a pleasant 120kms under my belt. BIL was a little shocked to say the least.

His idea of exercise is the twisting off of the tops of VB stubbies and the subsequent elbow bending required to empty the contents.

Yesterday. A leisurely "stroll" around the town on that 12ish km loop that I sometimes ride. Took me exactly an hour.

Sunday was a 2h 30m kyak. I paddled to the far end of the lake at Metcalfe Pool. Very soothing out on the water.

Today I am planning on running the last part of the journey into work. I left all requirements at the clubrooms last night upon finishing work. Then I will have a 2d run at 10pm back to the car.

Tomorrow is a day off work, perhaps some kyakking and a decent mtb excursion. I may even do the kyak/run/kyak routine.

12 miles today ( avg pace 7:50 )Decided to pick it up at the end, last mile was 6:20.

Felt pretty good when I wasn't running into a headwind. The last few days I've been doing just the bare minimum so it felt good to have the legs under me once again, in responsive fashion.

Nice stretch of real estate to cover on a "casual" ride to Finley. That rather set high the gold standard in terms of navigating relationships with the bro-in-law.

Today. Traveled north for some skiing. Plenty of snow right at home, so I'm not sure why we left. After 5 houurs of white knuckle driving over slick roads and through gusting winds I really question the wisdom of this jaunt. oh, well.

90 minutes Nordic skiing@ 60% HR max. Temps. not bad at 18F but a persistant wind made it's way felt, even through the wooded areas.

no run today

Roughly 3 hours of X-C skiing at varied effort levels. Great trail system here at Houghton. Something for all abilities including a couple of screaming fast hills adjacent to the cemetery. Overall the flow and ebb or the layout is mesmerising and challenging enough.

Temps in the mid 20'sF and clear skies above.

30' on the 'mill yesterday to test the calf.....no problems to report.....kept it sloooooow and easy......some minor knee stiffness today, but no biggie.....day off today.....will try 30' again tomorrow....if that goes well I'll try a 'real' run on Friday?....happy new year.....

Good to hear O2.

I'm pleased to see Jack posting here after the recent lively interchanges on another thread.

Yesterday. I drove to the outskirts of Bendigo and then ran into work from there. About 10kms/49mins. A fair chunk of it on old railtrail. Temps were high 36-38 deg C. Fortunately the first 5kms is through Wellsford forest and quite shady.

No wildlife reports, I'm sure all smart creatures were resting quietly in the shade.

Finished at 10pm and ran back to the car. First 1/2 mostly on backroads, the last 4kms on soft sandy trails, about 8kms in total/40mins.

I'm about to head off on the bike. Temps are again around 38deg C. Not a cloud to be seen.