Motivated to Succeed

6:40 PM - Well, it's December! After today I have only 8 days left of student teaching and ever so close to finishing my Master's Degree! The end is in sight! Had a good day at school followed up by going to the dentist's where I had two tiny cavities filled. My only cavities in the last two years, so not too bad. My two brothers went with me too and we were all in and out within thirty minutes. I grabbed a piece of pizza, not the best decision, and then I wanted to go to the track. I had a pretty good run on the track, though my left achilles is still tender on the outside for some reason. Frustrating! My right one was the one that hurt before, and now it's the left. I'm going to try to get a couple more easier runs like this in this week and see where things go from here. Try to build from 20ish miles a week upwards again. When I got to the track my cop-o-phobia kicked in because I was no more than halfway around the track when a cop pulled over a car with its lights flashing. He didn't give them a ticket I don't think because within a minute the cars were both gone, though the cop swung through the track parking lot and I saw him shine his light into my car. It dawned on me that I was breaking the law by running on the track at night, but how can you get a ticket? After all, isn't it safer to run on the track than to legally run on the road in the dark?! Also, it made my day because when I was there at the track I saw that the "Ghost Trucker" runner was there running. He was still there when I left so he must have been logging a log run today! Splits were pretty consistent. Really had a lot of fun running underneath the moon and the clear skies. Was like the daytime!

• Mile 1: 8:45
• Mile 2: 8:40
• Mile 3: 8:45
• Mile 4: 8:24
• Mile 5: 8:20

Total Time: 45:01 Total Distance: 5.25 miles Average Pace: 8:34

3:00 PM - Couldn't believe the weather for this time of the year! December 2nd and temperature of 50 degrees! Student teaching was okay today. Although at about 4th period I got a pretty bad headache that got progressively worse, especially once I had my 7th/8th graders in study hall. I went to the nurse and I got 400mg of Tylenol which after about an hour made it bearable. It was not very fun. It got to the point where I had a stomach ache, headache, and I was sweating profusely. Not to mention my head felt like it would explode! I drove to Spa Park, and unbeknownced to me I was following two of my seniors. I was made aware of this fact because Ivan and Niel were in the car and Niel stood up and turned around and yelled "HEY MR. GRIFFIN!" at the top of his lungs right in front of the police department. Haha oh brother. Drove to Spa Park and got changed in my car and then started on the trails. Went all around the park, mixing trails with pavement and throwing in some hills for good measure. My left achilles is feeling a little better. Rain expected tonight. Tomorrow = observation #3 at this placement so I have to go plan a lesson. Oii. I will feel more relieved once the observations are done with! Splits were pretty consistent.

• Mile 1: 8:45
• Mile 2: 8:28
• Mile 3: 8:25
• Mile 4: 8:20
• Mile 5: 8:01

Total Time: 44:12 Total Distance: 5.27 miles Average Pace: 8:23

12:00 PM - Chilly in the mid 30s with snowflakes falling. I drove to Emmy's house this morning and we decided to go for a hike at Monument Mountain. There were actually a lot of people hiking today, as there is a snowstorm expected to come in later today/tomorrow. Last nice weekend probably of the year. We had a really fun time. It was nice to have an exercise date as it feels like we never see each other! This week coming up is my last week of student teaching though! And then I will officially have my MASTERS DEGREE! Now if only I can find an open Social Studies teaching position! Total hike time was about 1:05:00.

1:10 PM - Overcast and breezy. Temperature right around 40 degrees. Went running at Spa Park today. A lot of the trails and roads are marked "Closed for Season" because of the snowstorm last Wednesday that dumped 8-10" of snow on us. That didn't stop me though. Decided to go jogging on them anyways. Slip sliding everywhere, but realy had a good time. I was pretty out of shape though, considering I haven't run in nearly two weeks! End of the semester was a busy busy time!

SO... it's been awhile. Went to the Dr.'s yesterday to get a physical, get some achilles stuff checked out because I'm still getting pain when on my feet for extended times, and got the H1N1 shot as well as weight check.. It's official.. I'M A CERTIFIED FATTY! - - 201 LBS! That is simply unacceptable. So I made myself go running today. Really am going to work harder to get base training in this winter. Lazy time is over!

Celebrated on Friday after work with coworkers and friends (and Emmy!) at the Parting Glass. Was my last official day of student teaching. Bittersweet because I am really going to miss the kiddos. However, on Thursday I drove an hour to the BOCES to drop off an application for subbing for the 23 local districts. I got a call before I even got home saying they checked my references and I got the job! So I have orientation for subbing this Thursday morning.

Yesterday was my last official day of grad school classes EVER! I filled out all my paperwork, got a lot of assignments back, and then went to Panera Bread with Emmy followed by yet another surprise on her part. She took me to get ice cream at Emack and Bolios ice cream shop (all organic and everything); the inside of the shop looks a lot like Ben and Jerry's (bright colours, etc.). My goal is to work up to running 4-5 miles a day for 5 days a week.

Trails were covered with snow and there were a lot of walkers out. Had to avoid a couple dogs too. Haven't been having a good experience with dogs this year. I have found that now I almost have a phobia of dogs, even my own. Our youngest St. Bernard Marilyn loves to play rough and is prone to jumping and biting at your sweaters and sweatshirts. Well now I cringe and draw my hand back (ever since the dogbite incident in September which still left a scar on my hand!). Splits were pretty good considering the conditions, and even when trailblazing I managed a sub 10:00 pace!

• Mile 1: 9:36
• Mile 2: 8:54
• Mile 3: 8:41
• Mile 4: 8:53
• Mile 5: 9:48
• .75 (7:26; 9:54 pace)

Total Time: 53:19  Total Distance: 5.75 miles Average Pace: 9:16

8:15 AM - Cold, windy. Temp was 28 at the start. Drove to Spa Park for a jog before going to Emma's. I decided today that I wanted a challenge, so I decided to jog in two states during the sme day! Things went pretty well at Spa Park. The roads were just a bit icy and I slipped a couple times. It was a lot of fun though. After running the first 3.2 miles I drove to Emma's and I jogged 1.12 miles quick on Dublin Road in Richmond, MA in about 9:00 minutes. Now it is time to go bake some holiday cookies with Emm, her mom and sisters! Splits:

• Mile 1: 8:50
• Mile 2: 8:38
• Mile 3: 9:06
• .2: 1:45 (8:20 pace)

Total Time: 28:18 Total Distance: 3.20 miles Average Pace: 8:51

Run in New York:

• Mile 1: 8:02
• .12: :58 (8:03 pace)

Total Time: 9:00 Total Distance: 1.12 miles Average Pace: 8:02

Total for the Day:

Total Time: 37:18 Total Distance: 4.32 miles Average Pace: 8:38

8:30 AM - Woke up this morning and the air temp was -5 degrees below zero, with a wind chill substantially lower than that. Decided against running outside, so opted to jog inside on the dreadmill before going to work tonight 3-1115. Yesterday I had orientation for BOCES substituting. I don't think I'm going to activate my account though until after the New Year's trip to California with Emm, Kara and Liana. Read a bunch from Trail Runner magazine and a good article I've read about 10 times on basebuilding. Feeling pretty good. Run on the treadmill was @ 2% incline and 10:00 pace.

Total Time: 46:00  Total Distance: 4.6 miles Average Pace: 10:00

11:45 AM - So cold it freezes your nostrils cold out today. Got home late around midnight from work last night, and then my brothers had friends over because they were all going snow boarding today up at Gore Mountain in the Adirondacks. I didn't get to bed until about 1am and they woke me up around 7am with all their ruckess. I got up and made coffee and said hi to my dad. Gave him an early Christmas gift. One of his favorite singers Kenny Rankin died earlier this year and I ordered an autographed notecard from eBay for him and made a nice photo collage for him. He really liked it a lot. Talked to him for about an hour and then hopped on the treadmill and jogged a bit. Felt pretty good. My left achilles is still a little sore. The grinding/bubbling/scraping sensation on the inside of the tendon is gone today, though I suspect it will be back later today or tomorrow. Ran between 6-6.2 mph @ 2% incline. Read from a really great book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz. I am about 50 pages in after today's run. Might jog a bit later to read some more as a reward.

Total Time: 51:30 Total Distance: 5.25 miles Average Pace: 9:48

5:30 PM - Emmy called after looking at bridesmaids dresses with the girls. And she told me she "may have" found a dress or tried some on or something. I was actually half asleep. Decided to get up and try to get some more endorphins. Jogged another 31:30 on the 'mill. Read another 20 pages from Junot Diaz's book.

Total Time: 31:30 Total Distance: 3.30 miles Average Pace: 9:32

10:00 AM - Went for a jog before heading to Emmy's house today. Felt pretty good. Achilles is still a bit tender though. Blargh. Going to concentrate on doing eccentric lifts every night. Read some more of Junot Diaz's book today on the 'mill.

Total Time: 41:30 Total Distance: 4.3 miles Average Pace: 9:39

10:20 AM - Really windy out. After coffee I went running on Emma's treadmill. Was actually harder than I thought it was going to be because 1. the furnace is downstairs and 2. I am too tall for the ceiling so I bumped my head a couple times. Watched some of Law and Order on the tv. Later went to get hot apple cider and went down and skipped some rocks across the ice on the lake by Bartlett's. Ended up doing 4.32 miles and felt pretty good considering all the miles I've done the last week. Kept about 9:40 pace for most of the time. The rest I did between 6.5-7mph at the end of the run, all at 2% grade. Now time to drive back to NY from MA to do a shift at the bookstore. They have cut all our hours though so I am only doing a 4.5 hr shift.

Total Time: 41:00 Total Distance: 4.32 miles Average Pace: 9:29

12:30 PM - Ran some errands with my mom this morning. Our youngest St. Bernard Marilyn got into a box of fruit snacks and ate 2 or 3 packets whole. She threw them back up but my mom took her to the vet to get checked out because she was gagging a bit and she also needed a distemper shot. We also went Christmas shopping and came across our neighbors (They've been married 61 years I found out!! How cute is that!). Hopped on the treadmill before work and did 42:00. Feeling pretty good, but the left side of the achilles and heel area continues to be a bit sore. Not to the point where it interferes with running but noticeable enough. Any suggestions?

Total Time: 42:00 Total Distance: 4.52 miles Average Pace: 9:18

8:40 AM - Hopped on the 'mill and finished reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz. It was an okay book. Supposedly it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, but I don't know if I would say it was exactly worthy of that. It's a good book, and gets you thinking about other people's experiences in life and how fortunate you/we really are to be where we are. Diaz succeeds in creating empathy for the protagonist, Oscar, an overweight recluse whose days consist of writing sci-fi and hoping to be the next J.R.R. Tolkien. You read about all the girls he loves and their cold indifference back to him.

Total Time: 40:30 Total Distance: 4.30 miles Average Pace: 9:25

11:00 AM - Had a great time going to Emma's aunt and uncle's house yesterday out in Harvard, Mass. Got to meet more of the family and had a really fun time. Got home late and went to bed. Hadn't run in a while so I wanted to go jogging. It was snowing this morning, those big, fluffy wet snowflakes that just seem to float down to the ground. By the time I had breakfast, there were 1-2" of snow on the ground. Emma said she would do the Power-90 workout while I jogged on the treadmill. So I went on the mill and ran. Looked through the latest issue of Trail Running Magazine for the first 30:00. Felt pretty good during the run, except I was just tired because I haven't run since two days before Christmas. Winter running is hard! Going to have to try harder to get in 4-5 jogs a week! Finished with the last .3 miles at 8:00/ mi pace.

Total Time: 53:11 Total Distance: 5.55 miles Average Pace: 9:35

2:40 PM - Starting last night through tomorrow morning there is a Windchill Advisory. Windchills may be in excess of negative 15 or 20 below zero. I was at Emmy's the last couple days for Christmas. Had a really swell time, but I work tonight at 5 so I had to come home before going into town. Got home and no one but my brother Jonn was home. My youngest brother Harry went and broke his arm again snowboarding this time. They all went over to the Remscheid's who are are in Mississippi checking in on their newly born grandson. My mom and sister and Harry went over to check in on the grandparents who are housesitting for a few weeks.

I hopped on the treadmill and was watching the movie Saw V. Watched the first hour of it. It's alright. As of late I've been reading David McCullough's biography of John Adams. I'm about 110 pages in right now. Really phenomenal writing. I can see why the HBO miniseries was based off of his work.

Warmed up with 1.5 miles @ 6.2mph, then starting doing pick ups. Did about 5 or 6 x 1:00 pick ups to 8-8.5mph, with :30 second breaks. Jogged another mile or so and then 3 x :30 second pick ups at 9mph. Warmed down. Felt pretty good. Left achilles area still tender. What is average recovery time for achilles I wonder? Last one took a long time to heal as well!

Total Time: 41:00 Total Distance: 4.61 miles Average Pace: 8:54

9:15 AM - Woke up this morning early to the dogs barking their heads off. My mom and sister had to take both of their cars in to fix a broken windshield and something else, I forget. Then we got a call and my sister's car broke down on the way there. My brother Jonn wanted to take my car to take his girlfriend, Ellen to Fonda to watch a girls's basketball game. So I am home with my youngest brother, Harry who is himself stuck here because of his broken arm. Oii never a dull moment in the house, eh?

My left achilles is still hurting me. I am not sure why, but it is always on the outside, left part of it. It is bearable when I run but then I have to ice afterwards because there is that grinding feeling afterwards. What the heck is wrong with me. It is frustrating sometimes!

Did 41:08 on the treadmill. Felt fine, not too taxed aside from this bum achilles. Did 300 crunches afterwards. Going to do 3 x 15 sets of eccentric lifts on the stairs after my shower.

Total Time: 41:08 Total Distance: 4.28 miles Average Pace: 9:36

2:00 PM - Hopped on the treadmill for an afternoon run. Was watching part of "Saw VI" movie. Pretty gruesome, but non stop action so it helps to pass time while you have to get your run in. Kind of tired and I did a lot of stretching before and afterwards. I don't know but my achilles feels a little better. We'll see what happens. Going to get a shower and then ice some more. Felt good though on the jog just now.

Total Time: 51:30 Total Distance: 5.45 miles Average Pace: 9:26

8:30 PM - After dinner did a quick .5 miles @ 10:00 pace on the 'mill. Had to get to double digits. First time since Thanksgiving! Ran in a pair of Sanuks that Harry gave me.. a pair of skateboarderish sandals. Just wanted to get to 10 miles haha. The crazy things runners do. First time in my life I've run 3 times in a single day.

8:30 AM - Have to work this evening and early tomorrow a.m. for New Years so not sure if I'll get another chance for running this year. So here it is, my final run of 2009. It's been a pretty good year, and aside from the lingering achilles pain in my left leg as of late, I have been fairly injury free. Just wish it'd go away so I could put as many miles as my heart longs to log. Goals for next year include running a trail marathon, logging a couple trail 1/2 marathons, and hopefully finishing Curly's Trail Marathon in September. Maybe a marathon PR?! One can dream. Read from Geoff Williams's C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America, the first 50 pages. A good book. Really puts it into perspective how crazy people were in the 20's.

Total Time: 41:00 Total Distance: 4.25 miles Average Pace: 9:39

 2009 Accomplishments: