Motivated to Succeed

11:20 AM - Temperature was about 22 degrees, sunny, and Caribbean blue skies today. Perfect day for a run. Today was Epiphany Sunday in church and the whole family went including my cousin Kara and her two little girls Maggie and Annika who have been up all weekend. I really enjoyed the service and thought about what our minister talked about. I am truly blessed to have everything that I have in life today. I have a wonderful family, an amazing fiancee, and so many opportunities to be thankful for. I truly am a lucky guy! Went jogging on the backroads from my dad's school to Crane Rd. and back. Quads are still sore, but feeling stronger. Just wanted to do 3 miles. Emma is at a bridal convention thing with her mom this morning in Pittsfield so I can't wait to hear all about it. I guess we are registered to win $1000 or something out of the people that go so that's neat. Splits were strong on the run today. Roads were almost clear so that was a huge factor. Stretched afterwards. Splits were:

• Mile 1: 8:43
• Mile 2: 8:34
• Mile 3: 7:58!

Total Time: 25:19 Total Distance: 3.01 mi Average Pace: 8:25

9:30 AM - Rainy, sleety freezing rain this a.m. delayed almost every school district so my brothers got an extra couple of hours of their winter break. I decided to drive to Emma's hosue since it was my day off today. The normal 75 minute drive took me an extra 40 minutes today, but it was worth it. Emma and I had a jogging date in her basement, her on the elliptical machine as she is still nursing a sore right ankle from her tumble the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and me on the treadmill. I ran at 2% grade the whole time, and even though I was running 10:00+ per mile pace the entire time, I still got a workout! Felt great though :) Stretched afterwards. Happy Monday all!

Total Time: 35:00 Total Distance: 3.37 mi Average Pace: 10:23/ mi

10:00 AM - So funny thing.. it turns out that Emma was keeping a secret from me! At the wedding expo the other day she ended up winning something, which she surprised me with! It was a 1-night guest pass to the Crown Hotel and Resort in Pittsfield where her sister works! She won it (retails at about $200 a night!). And she also had a gift certificate for dessert, so we enjoyed some nice desert a la mode (well okay mainly just me because Emma only wanted an apple), and then we watched a movie upstairs in the room before passing out. This morning we had a workout date in the weight room which was really nice. I felt like a movie star because you can only get access to the workout room and pool area with a swipe card! It's cool because a lot of famous people stay out here, i.e. the dad from American Pie series was there for a couple months this past fall, and all the other "Taking Woodstock" stars were there as well. It was still sinking in this morning as we were getting ready to checkout by noon. Before we left we grabbed a dip in the swimming pool. It was so cool though to be essentially the only ones there! As it's the off season no one really goes there. I got to see Emma's Aunt Sandy and her cousin Alicia too when we got home this morning and we got caught up on a lot of stuff as I haven't seen them since the "big day". They loved the ring which is cool ;). All in all a great day. Kind of funny.. and corny at the same time, but I concluded that I am awesome as I have run "every day this year". Hope everyone's Tuesday was splendid! Note: Treadmills are funny creatures. I was trying to figure out the innerworkings and physics behind them as I jogged today, but then realized that the funny rubber smell was not the belt or motor about to fry, but my brain! I will try not to think too hard tomorrow. ;)

Total Time: 30:00 Total Distance: 3.2 mi Average Pace: 9:22

7:15 AM - Snowy and wet outside today. Almost every school district was closed today. Emma and I went and got Indian food at our favorite Indian restaurant in Pittsfield last night and then passed out and slept 8 or 9 hours until the alarm went off this morning. I wanted to get a run in before having to go back to New York and work the stupid 11-8 shift today. I like our workout dates. I think they're fun and Emma told me that I am good motivation for her, as she might otherwise want to quit before completing the alotted time/distance goal(s) we set. The soreness in my quads is mainly gone which is nice. I think I am getting stronger. The run today was steady at 2% incline again. Phew! I was sweating up a storm! Now if only I could lose some weight! I will write more later. But I have to get going to make it to work in time because the roads will be horrible. I am expecting a 2h15m drive instead of the usual 1h30m :(. Hope everyone else has a great day. And to everyone in the Pacific NW, especially Snoqualmie - Let me know if you need to borrow my canoe or dingy! I heard that you all are getting 10-20 inches of rain! Crazy! Run on friends!!

Total Time: 30:00 Total Distance: 3.10 mi Average Pace: 9:41

3:20 PM - Went over to Spa Park after work and changed in my car. It was blustery cold and had been snowing all day. It finally stopped at about 3:00 so I decided it was definitely worth a go. There were a bunch of people walking their dogs but the highlight of today's run was during mile 3 when a momma deer jumped out in front of me and was staring at me, probably because my gloves were flourescent orange just like the hunters wear. I had a moment of ESPN where I was like "Woah. Easy does it. I'm just a jogger!" Then little Bambi came hopping across the road so cute! Momma and Bambi went off in to the woods and I kept jogging. I slipped a couple times during the run, but no falls. Ran pretty even paces despite the hills.

• Mile 1: 9:04
• Mile 2: 9:06
• Mile 3: 8:55
• Mile 4: 9:01
• Mile 5: 8:59
• .6: 5:14 (8:49)

Total Time: 50:23 Total Distance: 5.6 mi Average Pace: 9:00

GOOD NEWS!: I think that I have convinced Emmy to join the blog! Hopefully we will set her up with an account tomorrow as she's coming to New York!

Today was a much welcomed day off from jogging. Emmy met me at work during my lunch break and after work today around 3pm we went to a late lunch date at Panera. I love our little lunch/dinner dates! After that we went food shopping for later. Hopefully I can get her blogging tonight!

3:15 PM - Emmy went to my work today. She's such a trooper! After I got out we drove up to Spa Park and got changed in our cars. I laughed because imagine what some nonrunner would think of two cars next to each other each with a weirdo changing their clothes in the middle of a Siberian tundra winter! Crazy kids! We went jogging and had a blast. We both laughed at the icicles that formed in my beard. We were going to get a picture but forgot. A very fun run despite really icey roads. Took it slow because we are both a little sore and don't want to injure ourselves! I love running dates! =D

Total Time: 26:07 Total Distance: 2.32 mi Average Pace: 11:14