Masters Xmas Weekend Races and Runs

A pretty good transition week after taking the week before off. 52 miles, all without a watch. Ended the week with good, steady 10 milers yesterday and today. Today's run was brutal!!! 21 degrees and WINDY!!! Wind chill is about 2. But I loved every step of the way!!!!

Have a great week everyone...

Dave

We have our white Christmas here in eastern Oregon! I will run my long run this morning and then take my kids sledding.

I have not been real motivated to run, I am just kind of going through the motions. Maybe I will find some motivation soon. Motivation has never been a problem with me, I have always known what run I was going to do for the day before anything else.

Run, I went through the lack of motivation phase about two years ago and just about retired from running for good. Fortunately it passed in time and I selected a few races to focus on to keep me on track. Hope it passes quickly for you.

Another good week in chilly/windy SoCal. Several good runs capped with 20 x 400m Saturday.

Merry Christmas to all and have a good week!

OMBTS, thanks for keeping the thread alive and well all year!

1500Master

One of the things I love about teaching and coaching: 2 weeks off at Christmas! Ran 110 mile with 2 workouts: 3x2miT and 12x200R. Ran a 20-miler as well to see whether I had any interest in a marathon this spring. Guess I do.

The lack of cynicism and irony in this thread pulls me back every week. I enjoy the mask of irony as much as anyone, but occasionally it's nice just to shoot straight, which the posters on this thread seem to do.

Have a great Christmas, y'all! (Yes, we really do say that here in Tennessee and elsewhere in The South...)

1500Master, thanks for the words.

I just came back from a nice 16 miler in the snow, I still enjoy my long runs.

Season's greetings from the Great White North, eh?

This was a light week as I was recovering from a cold and started the week easy with a day off, but I felt good later in the week and managed a solid (for me) session of 2 x (3 x 800) a little quicker than 3k pace. Session felt realy, really good....

when it was over. :-)

Next race will be an indoor meet in three weeks. Not sure what distance(s?) I'll run, but it should be fun anyway. Hoping to have a few fun short races early in the new year, then maybe change gears for a spring half. We'll see.

Oh - I'm (not really) ashamed to admit this, but I'm going to bandit a "race" on New Years Eve. We had plans to race it with some friends who'll come over afterward for some food (and maybe drinks), but we waited too long to sign up (it filled over a month ago - it's just a dinky local event, too). Our friends (two couples) are already signed up, so they're still coming (the race starts a half mile from our house). So what can we do? My New Years resolution will be to never bandit a race. ;-) (I think we've talked some other friends into joining us and standing up to the man - I feel dirty just talking about it, ha)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Happy Holidays to all! Hope the season is being good to one and all!

I'm actually ecstatic that for the first time in the last couple years, I haven't caught a Christmas Cold. Usually my body does this nasty physical letdown after Club Nationals, and I'm suddenly riddled with injuries and the flu. Not so this year. What aches and pains I was feeling last week have vanished, and no cold/flu has made an appearance - I'm thinking maybe the nasty bout of allergies I had a couple weeks ago revved up my immune system, shorted out the normal post-Clubs immune system letdown.

In any case, just easy distance miles this week. Except for one particularly nasty run yesterday. Did this run out in Santa Clarita affectionately called "The Beast." 4.7 miles of trail climb, with a gain of 2,700 feet. Shorter Than Frank and I ran it side-by-side, which actually made it fun. That said, I won't be doing it again any time soon!

Okay, hope everyone has an absolutely terrific holiday week!

Damn I hate it when I forget passwords, but I can't remember what e-mail I used for my ONeill account. So I'll take on a character from Private Idaho's past.

SoCal don't jinx yourself I hope you were knocking on something lucky.

Jogging has been 3days on 1day off 2 days on while I slowly come back from PF. Just trying not to get fatter.

That said I've run with my wife a couple times and I remember all the good times we have had while running. It is what brought us together and still binds us. Like an old team-mate that is always there and supportive. But how did she get so fast and I get so slow? It used to be the other way around.

Hope everyone gets what they want for X-Mas me it'll be just to keep up. And that will not be easy after X-Mas day snowboarding.

Happy Holidays, one and all. easy week here of mostly cross-training [elliptical and stationary bike fun; deep water running boring to me] except treadmill hills 4 X 3:00 (2:00 recovery) weds. and 18 miles with a late 6 at goal marathon pace Sat. Shin feels a bit better so I think the easy week helped.

Best wishes for '08!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,

SoCal, I know how you feel - this is the first time I've made it through the fall XC season without a cold that lingered for weeks on end. This year, just a minor one that lasted only a few days back in Sep.

Ran the Christmas Relays last weekend with my Pacific Striders team. This was the final race of the PA road season. We finished up the year with the win, but overall came in second behind Tiki Tim's Excelsior squad. Our 4-person relay had a 20 second spread - not bad.

It's a beatiful, sunny day here in the high desert, although snow flurries are forescast for later today. Ran 48 for the week and passed 2000 miles for the year for the first time in my adult running career.

I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday week.

Jeff

Happy Holidays,

I managed to log in 45 miles in spite of getting my first sinus infection of the season. The cold I caught at club nats lingered a little too long and turned the corner, so I reluctantly got some low level antibiotics to give my immune system a boost. Yeah, I know what they say, but I also know that another week of progressive congestion would knock me out for a couple of weeks and require harsher treatment.

Anyway, I'm starting to feel like a runner after a pathetic fall training season. I've lost 3 of the 5 lbs. I gained and am getting back some muscle tone in my abs and quads. Looking at my running log for the year showed me that my peak in August/September followed a couple of solid mileage months (160-180) with some quality time on the track. I'm just starting to get back in that shape, with a good tempo run on Thursday and 5x1 mile today at a 5:39 pace. I'm still on the fence for the Hartshorne mile - I suppose it would be a good barameter even if I don't have time to do any specialized training.

Scott

Earl Fee says that you get 98 percent of your fitness/speed from 60 percent of your training.That last 2 percent comes from the other 40 percent of your training.He gets alot of satisfaction from that last 2 percent.I am gonna pass on the last 2 percent.The 98 percent for 60 percent of the training is a sweet deal.

Had a great run today.The trail was muddy.The air misty fresh.I felt powerful,5 x 3 minutes hard with 3 minutes ez pace for recovery.

4.6666... days per week is working.Adding the ez 5 milers seem to have added to my running fitness.

bah hum bug(just kidding)

Racerdb wrote:

Today's run was brutal!!! 21 degrees and WINDY!!! Wind chill is about 2. Dave

Ah yes, my northern IN friend, we're getting what you had this morn. Hard rain overnite & wind, high of 49d at 8:30 this morn & now it's 22d w/sustained 31mph winds 8 hours later! Geesh. I scrubbed a planned ride for the bike stand this afternoon, an unhappy trade.

At least most of the snow got washed away...but there's some on the way. A little white for Christmas I can live with.

Fri: 27.5 miles/17.2mph, had to detour on a pretty hilltop loop due to snowy roads, 33d

Sat: 30m/17.3mph, warmest day of month-upper 40's, 10+ miles straight into 15-20mph wind

Sun: 30 min on bike stand, wind advisory, 28d temps, conditions made my inside or outdoor decision for me

I had a nice solid 52 mile week. Next week I'll run the local holiday 5k to see where my fitness is right now. I hope I can run enough mileage to compensate for all the holiday eating. I was doing pretty well, but last night my son and wife forced me to bake cookies and then forced me to eat a half dozen hot off the cookie sheet. Sometimes you have to make these sacrifices for your family.

Managed to make my way out West where it's warm and sunny. Rode 40 miles in the mtns on Sat with a nice group and ran 2 hrs today....the first 2 hour run for 2007 on the trails at S Mtn.

I'm meeting ChiRunner for a trail run in a few days. Should be fun.

Happy Holidays to all. And to OMBTS, a special THANKS for keeping us ALL motivated!

Hi all. Well first Merry Merry Christmas. It is nasty in Wisconsin and December has been very challenging to train in. But I have had a good year so I am thankful. At this age every year is something to be thankful for. I think I ran about 5 miles per day this week. No races until New Years Day and I am actually thankful for that also. I hope Santa brings everyone what they most wish for. Peace. TC.

For 7 years, i've put on a free race on a high school cross country course..by myself.

Will be doing so again tomorrow. Free Race. Just have to sign a waiver. School has always been nice enough to let us use the facility, which is a good course..semi-state course.

I bought 30 mugs, specially designed for Xmas.

Top 30 get the mugs and I've thrown in Chapter 4 from Marc Bloom's book "Olympic Gold" a biography of Frank Shorter..(Munich 1972) with each cup.

Just thought that was a well told story.

Usually only have around 30 show up....and my wife makes free potato soup....for all the runners that show up.

If your anywhere near Bedford Indiana..come to the high school course on the east side of town..right across from the school. 5K..9a.m.

I even put a generator in back of my truck, pushing a big stero system and fire up the XMAS music.

Unless high school kids show up, then they make me put other stuff on.

Just my wife and I's idea of celebrating christmas...we got no kids!

OG II -

You're better than I. When we make cookies, I don't even wait for them to get into the oven. I prefer to eat the dough.

Hello Fellow Master,

Have not posted in a while as I tend not to log in while injured. Knock on wood, I am happy to report that I have been injury free for about 3 months now and have gotten in a decent base with a couple of 5K/10k races over that time.

Currently training for a 1/2 in a couple weeks so am looking forward to that.

SoCaPete....email me regarding nationals.

Happy Holidays to everyone.