Worst Blog EVER/Merry Christmas

I would like to begin by apologizing to anyone who, and I don't know why you do, still looks for updates on this blog. It has been 3 weeks since I updated and I am very pathetic for not having done this for so long. As a matter of respect to my fantastic manager Kevin Adams I have come home from a quick visit to the Rbk HQ and decided to throw an update out there!

So, the question is, what have I been doing the past 3 weeks that is so important I can't do my pathetic little training log that I do? Well 3 weeks ago I got a little injured which always delays my training log entries because the are embarrassing. 2 weeks ago I split between San Diego and Millbury, slowing progress of running and again sending my log into a low mileage state. The fact that I had no bag for the first 2 days really hurt as well because I had to spend all day waiting for them to deliver my bag as I was the only home to sign for it. Lastly I spent last week catching up with old friends and seeing the family and put running on the back burner. So, although I will throw down some numbers below, the hope of hitting in the 90's while I was home was a far cry from what I actually did. With excuses abound I plead for forgiveness.

The training for the Carlsbad 1/2 has definitely not gone quite the way I had anticipated and I have definitely had to begin adjusting my goals accordingly. Having sort of bagged the training for this event I may look to another spring event, yet to be decided (Boston?), to train for. This is probably a better idea as I have put in some decent mileage the second half of 2008 and a long race sometime in the spring may work well. I still plan on running hard at Calrsbad, but I think something in the 71:30-72:30 time range looks more realistic.

So here is a quick look at the past 3 weeks and I am making a New Year's resolution to keep up with the blog and try and post my training every Sunday night and at least one entry mid week to keep you all frothing at the mouth wanting more...

DECEMBER 8-14:
M - 9mi
Tu - 10mi, right foot hurt bad after run, couldn't walk on it at night
W - off, right foot hurts fairly bad still
Th - 80min pool workout w/Di, 3X10min hard, 10min of 1 on/1 off
F - 6mi, foot feels a bit better
Sa - 9mi, foot better
Su - 10mi
Total - 44mi, 5 runs, one solid pool workout

DECEMBER 15-21:
M - 10mi
Tu - 9mi
W - 9mi
Th - 8mi, left for the motherland to an awaiting snow storm
F - 8mi, barely made it through that much during a big snow storm
Sa - off, snow bound and waiting for lost luggage
Su - off, same as previous day...
Total - 44mi, 5 days

DECEMBER 22-28:
M - 9mi, w/Mario
Tu - 10mi
W - off
Th - 9mi, Annual Worcester Christmas Morning Run through Worcester, this years participants included Mario, Katie Gwyther and Mark Discroll. Usual participant Erin Dromgoole was dealing with a slight injury but we did stop by and pull her out into the cold wind so she gets a shout out for that.
F - 10mi, did an old school Millbury High-esque hill workout at the Shaw School, did 30min of non-stop running up the hill, around the school and down (~1mi per loop) using the downhill has active recovery
Sa - off
Su - 8mi, solo on the streets of Hamilton and Ipswich while visiting at Di's house
Total - 46mi, 5 days

That's all I have for now. Poor month of December training, but it has really motivated me to get off my ass and training in January. I'll probably make a decision in the next few weeks on what I will do as far as a big Spring race, truthfully I'm thinking anything from a 10k on the track to a Marathon, so we'll see what gets spit out the other end when I am done coming up with the plan.

Happy Holiday's to everyone out there and best of luck in 2009!

Training Summary: Dec 1 - 7

Note: I forgot my Garmin on my trip and therefore have just guesses as far as distance for most of the runs early in the week, not a big deal because anything prior to about 3 years ago were all guesses so it was nice to go "old school" for once, haha.

Mon 1/1 - 7+mi, 54:30, easy with Millsy in Beverly Hills (how fancy!)

Tue 12/2 - off, long travel day, 2 appointments, poor excuses...

Wed 12/3 - AM 8.5(?)mi, 59:30, solo, hilly, windy run in SLO.
PM - 4.5(?)mi, no watch, easy with Millsy in Beverly Hills (fancy again!)

Thu 12/4 - 9mi, 63:25, easy solo run in the dark on the bay.

Fri 12/5 - 10mi, 62:20, hard up and over Mt. Soledad, getting a bit run down and caught I cold on my trip...boooo.

Sat 12/6 - 9mi, 64:00, solo on the bay, felt terrible.

Sun 12/7 - ~15mi (same loop as last week), 1:35:22, easy/moderate pace for about 5.5mi then tempo run on the big Fiesta Island loop, ~4.3mi, then easy/moderate for the remainder of the run. The "tempo" was more like a bunch of surges for 4+mi because the wind was just crazy on Fiesta Island. I did the loop in 24:17 which is something in the mid 5:30's but I would say there were points I was under 5:00 and others where I was probably over 6:00 because of the winds. It was a good run though, and I averaged 6:20 or so for the entire run so I'm happy with that.

Summary: 63mi, 7 runs, 6 days. Pretty easy beginning of the week and finished it up with a solid long run on Sunday. I got a little run down on my sales trip early in the week and also caught a cold which made a few days feel hard that weren't. With a full week next week I should be in the high 70's for sure. I will try and put together at least one work out next week and another hard long run. I'd say things are looking decent so far and the plan is getting finalized as to key workout over the next 4-5 weeks before I need to start to rest up for the Half.

Training Summary: Nov 24 - 30

Monday 11/24 - 10.5mi, 1:15:39, easy with JLew in Rancho Santa Fe.

Tuesday 11/25 - 10mi, 67:20, solo through La Jolla.

Wednesday 11/26 - 10mi, 69:20, solo run up and over Mt. Soldedad.

Thursday 11/27 - 9 mi, 62:20 solo through La Jolla.

Friday 11/28 - 9mi, 59:45, easy with JLew around Del Mar.

Saturday 11/29 - 10mi, 68:40, easy solo on the bay.

Sunday 11/30 - ~15mi, 1:39:30, solo on the bay, easy to start and slowly picked it up, felt great.

Summary - 73mi, 7 runs. Great full week of running and on one-a-days which is great. No workouts specifically but Soledad runs are always hard and the long run was harder near the end. The plan is one more week of fairly easy days except for the long run, which I tend make a progression run. Possibly a day off next week with all the travel for work I have planned but that will likely be my last day off until 2009. I still think getting in the 80's is only two weeks off and I definitely want a week in the 90's when I am home for Christmas.