Weekly mileage:
73.5 A fine total for a busy, holiday week. I weighed about 165 on my parent's scale (this was just before my mother decided to walk in on me taking a shower). This weight is probably ok, it has fluctuated between low 150s to upper 170s throughout my 20s. Ran my mileage all in singles, which is more difficult. Got some nice rest and holiday cheer. Fought a headache for 3 days, but finally have that jerk whipped, I reckon. Want to continue to do strides, upper body, and core strength exercises in addition to runs.
Sunday, Post-Christmas, 12/26/04
85 minutes, about
13 miles. Ran from my home up to "Woody's Woods," a little patch of state game lands about 3.5 miles down Coventryville Rd. This was the first time a colorful sign, with the colorful title, was present. The trails are rocky, but don't get too muddy, and I know that the Horseshoe trail is still a mess. The difficult part of this run is a steady, strenuous 9 minute uphill mountain slope that you face on the way to the park. Takes the wind out of ones sails a bit. To me, this didn't seem like a tough long run, but it's still longer than I was advised to partake in.
Alas, the holiday weekend is terminated. Somehow, I agreed to commute into
Philadelphia and work for Alan at my old lawyer job Mon-Wed. I'm not really looking forward to it, but it should be good for me and keep alive our relationship, and it's good to keep him as an ally. Funny, looking back on my days working fulltime and living in Philly, I have good memories and tend to forget the tough times. I think it's often like that with memories, which tends toward idealization. Yes, no? Anyway, I'm back in my cold cell-like room, typing out my blog, as the snow scatters outside.
Saturday,
Christmas day!
64 min, close to 10, will call it
9.5 miles to be safe. Chilly today, in the 20's. Didn't help when I took a dive at a stream crossing on the horseshoe trail. The rocks to cross were peeking out of the water, but were icy, and when I flew off into the water. At this point, I thought of returning home to dry off, but instead I just waded through the 20 ft icy crossing, since I was already wet, and continued my trek. My feet numbed up and it was a challenge to negotiate the rooty and rocky trails. Upon my return, my lower pant legs were iced over, and my shoelaces were so icy that I was unable to untie them. I'm so hardcore, yo.
I sent my Uncle Paul down the same trail, but he was wise enough to turn around at the "raging river."
Friday, Christmas Eve
Workout. 2 mile warmup. 8 mile tempo run in 45:42, which is about 5:43/mile pace. 2 mile cooldown. (total
12 miles). I measured out a 2 mile stretch of road in the AM in the van, then repeated it back and forth twice. (From yellow caution markers beyond the Iron bridge to the end of the elementary school down warwick furnace rd). The course was a series of gradual hills, so wasn't really easy. There were icy sections on the basically deserted road. Managed to get a functioning heart monitor (combined parts of my new and old ones). Kept HR low the first 2 miles, a little below threshhold (170bpm) next 2, then in the lower range of vo2 wrkt the next 2 (175), and in the upper range for the last 2 (178). I think this was appropriate. Unfortunatly, had to make a pitstop around 21min, as my tummy was killing me. (Note of caution: if you think you find some chocolate under the iron bridge, it's probably something much less pleasant). This was my first 8 miler in a long time (since college?). A little draining, took a nice afternoon nap. Lifted weights later in the day, which made me quite sore, but also a little buffer (if that's even possible).
I did a few strides near my house after the run. One of the horses eyed me during the first 2, and joined me for the 3rd, flying around his corral next to the road. Then he just watched me continue, probably laughing at having put me in my place.
(Pretend this is under "Christmas", I wrote in the wrong section and now it's just going to remain here): Didn't get to open gifts until later in the day on Saturday, although eventually I did get my haul. An assortment of clothes, games, etc., much of which had a
harry potter/
lord of the rings theme to it (unfortunatly not the clothes). I ate much good food today and it was great that my grandmother was able to make it. I had 3 pieces of red velvet cake, a few pieces of Harvey Wallbanger cake, and probably a half dozen cookies. It ruled. I got my parents a microwave, which will hopefully help to beckon them into the modern age. I think they believe that magic spirits make the food hot, and hence don't trust them. The star of the day was "Smokey" the stray cat, who my family is trying to capture. I gave him some turkey, even though he ran away from me. He eats better than Rudy, our real feline.
Thursday, Christmas eve-eve
63min,
10 miles. A wet wet wet day. Luckily, it was nice and mild (50's). Once we got Stacy on the road I hit the road, too. Actually, I did about half of my run slopping around on the trails (later in the week my footprints were preserved in the then iced over mud). Upon hitting the roads, I was able to open up and hit a good tempo. Did pilates (yesterday).
Managed to get my hair chopped today at Supercuts. It didn't have the word "Master" or "Cost", but it was still a pretty good deal, and Erin did a nice job. Consequently, my dad went to the same place at the same time the following day and got the same haircut from the same woman. He's a
copycat. Stacy and I went to the Exton mall, where I finally terminated my Christmas shopping. I lost a tad bit of patience because Stacy would disappear with 5 pairs of pants (for herself) in the dressing room for 37 minutes at a time. Managed to get some butt-kicking presents, in spite of all this.
