Today's Run - 12/26

It was a tread to sneak out for a run in the afternoon today. Running in during daylight hours is a rare treat for me, especially during the winter. There was snow on the ground from the white Christmas, but the roads were clear. The air was crisp and windy which made the temp feel colder than the low 30's. To stay warm, I tried out my new Northface TKA 80 Hybrid 1/2 Zip. I was surprised this jacket kept me; at times I was even hot. I am almost completely recovered from my head cold and I felt good after this run.

I am concerned about the Marathon Training that I should be 2 weeks into now. The travel and head cold have derailed me. I am thinking about changing to the National 1/2 Marathon in March and picking another spring race.

I am thinking about running the CTC New Years day 5K. It would be a great way to start out the New Year, however we do have New Years eve plans that may make the logistics of getting to the race difficult.

Today's Run - 12/24

The travel and head cold sidelined me for a few days. I still have a slight head cold but on the road to road to recovery. I always like to run during the holidays, it is nice way to break the stress and focus on what is going on.

After the last few weeks of travel it was really nice to get back to my regular routes. I did the Q2 Section and Paddington Loop to get a 4Mile run in.

Today's Run - 12/18 & 12/19

We started off our holiday week by staying with our college friends in Norther Virginia. Although I am struggling with a head cold I was able to get in a couple of quick runs to start out Sunday and Monday morning. The winter weather was in full affect with temps in the 20's and brisk winds. The neighborhood of south riding is considerably more flat than my normal running locations. The hills that I did find were a long constant grind that you don't realize that you are climbing until you realize the effort you are expending to maintain a pace.

Travel and Head Cold

With all my travels lately I should have known I would get a head cold. After getting back from Minnesota I started getting a head cold. I have taken a few days off to recoup to get healthy. We are traveling for the Christmas Holiday to Washington, DC. I hope to be healthy and get the opportunity to do some nice runs outside.

Today's Run - 12/14

I am traveling again, this trip is to Eden Prairie, Minnesota. After a long day of travel on Monday, it felt good to getup and run this morning. It is extremely cold here with recent snow on the ground. I decided not to run outside primarily because with the snow I was worried about running on the roads with no shoulders or walking path. I headed to the hotel Gym and to hit the tread mill. I did a quick 3Miles with intervals.

Training Plan Please

I need to work to build my training plan for the National Marathon in March 2011. I have about 16Weeks until race day. I feel like I am building a base with a good frequency of runs but I am concerned that I am not getting in the required mileage.

I have started to look for training plans and there are a few out there that are pushing the norm of 20+ mile runs. There is a good article in running times about the approach of the Hanson-Brooks Distance Project in Running Times. The idea behind this training program is to build stamina through tough and fast workouts on limited distance. This may work with my schedule and help focus me on speed work.

I will continue to look and build a schedule that will have me in serious training by early Jan.

Today's Run - 12/12

I was out late on Saturday night for a holiday party. Sunday morning was dark and cold, so I decided to get an extra hour of sleep. I spent the morning with Ella doing some holiday and grocery shopping. I was not feeling to good in the early afternoon, just a little tired and groggy. I decided to go for a quick run to see if I could shake off the cobwebs. A 3.5Mile run worked like magic!

Today's Run - 12/11

I was tired from the week of travel and meetings but I wanted to get out for a good run. I was happy to get outside and run in the fresh crisp winter air. I put together a few old routes to get a little over a 10K distance. I ran this with an 8:27 average pace and 88spm cadence. The 5th mile was a more difficult than the others due to the change in elevation. I rebounded in my 6 with my fastest full mile.

Today's Run - 12/8 & 12/9

Traveling again this week, this time to Dublin, Ohio. I was tempted to bring my cold running gear to run outside but left it at home. I opted for two runs on the treadmill in the hotel fitness center. My first run was about 3.5Miles with 1/4Mile pickups and working to get a 5K under 25Mins.



The second run was a simple 5K easy run with negative splits.



My turn over rate seems to dropping and my cadence has been the mid-high 80s with my last few runs. I will work to continue to increase my cadence to 90spm.

Today's Run - 12/7

The cold weather streak continued into this week with temperatures in the high teen's and low 20's this morning. The wind chill made made it a bit colder and I felt like I was running into a head wind in the open areas of my route.

I did the Paddington loop and Q2 to get a little over 6Mile run in. In the Q2 section, I found an area of new development where the construction team has cleared a trail road. I did a quick run down the trail to see how the land clearing activities for the new section of the neighborhood was going. I stopped to watch the early morning light start to shine on the newly exposed landscape. It was nice to catch my breadth and see a peace view.

This was a pretty good run. I am staying on the 8:30 pace pretty well. I feel good while running at this pace and I could easily maintain a conversation if required. My legs feel good and I can see my heart rate is pretty well under control.

In the next week or so I will layout the training program for the spring marathon. I can tell that I will want some speed work soon.

I am traveling this week and expect that the remainder of my runs will be on a hotel treadmill. The weather reports for Dublin, Ohio appear to be cold, windy and snowy.

Today's Run - 12/5

We had a dusting of snow on Saturday night and I was excited to get out and see the frosted landscape. The temperatures were still in the high 20's when I left just after sunrise. The air was crisp and relatively calm with a few wind gusts in the exposed areas of my route. There were some black ice areas that I avoided by running in the roads versus the walking paths.

Today's Run - 10/4

I was looking forward to my Saturday morning run since early this week. I was planning to make this my first long run in preparation for starting my marathon training in mid Dec. This run of 6.2 Miles was not much farther than this weeks runs, but it was the longest run since the marathon. My pace and leg turn over is a bit slower than I would like. I expect that it is that I am starting to build my mileage base. I will continue to monitor and work to increase while being mindful of not going to far to fast.

The temperatures fell in to the high 20's with 5mph winds. My I decided to add a running vest to my outfit this morning and I was very comfortable.

Today's Run - 12/2

The winter weather returned and it was in the low 30's when I headed out this morning for a 5Mile run. Although it was cold, I was comfortable in my running tights, shorts, long sleeve tech shirt, hat and gloves. I choose to run the Paddington Loop and in Q2 Section to get some good rolling hills.


I am starting to build my mileage and I am looking forward to a longer run. This weeks runs have been good a mix of base miles from 3-5Miles. I am anxious to get a 8-10Mile run in soon.

Today's Run - 12/1

The winter chill eased yesterday and developed into a late fall rain storm. Since I did not run on Tuesday I was anxious to get out and run. When the alarm sounded at 5:30 this morning I was happy to see the significant rain has moved out of the area. The overnight rain left the path wet and covered in fallen leaves. I ran the piper / paddington loop and found I was running into a head or cross wind almost the entire time. The wind definitely affected the pace and effort of the run.