Bret

AM - 3.75 miles with Dan on the Milton Trail - kinda cold in the mid 30's very foggy and the dirt road was sloppy after a full day of rain yesterday.  He had some early work commitments so we cut this one shorter than usual.  

AM - 4.25 miles with Dan from Milton HS through Crabapple on a rainy/sleety cold morning.  Did not really want to run in the weather, but also did not want to run on the treadmill.  Decent effort that my apple watch failed to record.  

AM - 5.25 miles with Dan in the neighborhood.  Surprisingly quicker pace than I realized we were going until I looked at the watch when were were done.  I had an early call and then a day in the actual office - so we went early today.  Good bit colder, but no precipitation  - decent running weather once warmed-up.  

AM - solo 5.25 miles on a frosty morning on Dismore through Wood Valley and East Bluff - for some reason the last week or so, my avg pace has been about 30 seconds faster per mile - perhaps it is due to the consistently colder weather in the low 30's or nutritional - not complaining either way.

AM - just over 3 miles with Dan in the neighborhood in a misty drizzly cool morning, but not as cold as it has been.  Had to keep it short because we had the grandkids overnight and Tracy needed to take our granddaughter to school by 7 while our grandson stayed asleep and needed me back in time to watch him and Dan was delayed in getting to my house unexpectedly.   Good pace again today.  

AM - 7.5 miles with the guys starting from my house on a cloudy gloomy morning but not too cold.  Great conversation, good way to start the weekend. 

AM - 5.25 miles solo early before church.  Very dense fog - did the Freemanville/Redd/Thompson loop for a throwback - have not done it in quite some time.  Usually too much traffic.  Was up late with a neighborhood Christmas party, and then clean up and watching the end of the college games.  Probably a bit slower and creekier than normal today. 

AM - 4.25 miles with Dan on the Milton Trail this morning - the dirt road was muddy and sloppy with overnight rains, but the temp at 40 degrees was comfortable.  We have been going a bit faster in pace lately and today was no exception.  My health app gave me an alert to a trend of a jump in my VO2 max which of course is just a formula and not an actual reading.  Not sure what's going on but I am not complaining.  

AM - 4.25 miles from Dan's house with his dog, Rosie.  Quite chilly in the upper 20's.  Slower pace with Rosie who is not really a running dog, but who loves to greet me when she sees me pull up to his house usually goes with us if she's gotten outside to say hello.   I don't mind the slower pace or the frequent stops for her to sniff or go to the bathroom, but Dan gets frustrated with how she lags behind and refuses to run along side us when she's on a leash.   Would have gone a little longer if he was not at his wits-end with her today.  Very sweet dog though.  

AM - 5.25 solo miles through WC and into the Grove neighborhood and back.  Hilly route - cold and foggy out.   Decent pace, effort was a little more focused due to the hills.

AM - I had an early call at 6 am which pushed my starting time out to after 7 am for my run, which then required me to cut it shorter than normal to get back for other work commitments - so just 3.5 miles on a "much colder than the temperature indicates" - run - perhaps because of a steady wind.  Still running a good bit faster on average the last 15-25 days or so by about 20-30 seconds per mile.   Just noting, not complaining.  

AM - 5 quick-ish miles with Dan at Milton HS - meaning we ran all but the first mile under 8 mins - for for a couple of old guys, that's "quick-ish".   It was actually a surprise because I did not realize that we were running at that pace until we finished.  We were conversational the whole time and I fully expected to see an avg pace of maybe 8:45-9:00.  Perhaps the flatness of this route combined with the cool temps was the reason.

AM - 9 miles with the guys going from Summit Hill elementary.   Darryl texted and said he wanted to start earlier and was not "feeling it" today - so I met him there before everyone else arrived and we got about 2 miles in at an easy pace before hooking up with the crew.  I ran with Greg and Ben who just naturally were runnnig sub 8's and we pulled away from Dan and Darryl but after about 2 miles I told them I was going to run with those guys - which prompted them to turn around to run as a group; but those guys were just naturally a lot more comfortable at the faster pace and were planning to go 14 so I ran with Dan and Darryl and got in a total of 9 at a decent pace. 

AM - 4.75 miles with Dan and Rosie on the trail before church.   It was a little muddy from rains overnight, but otherwise decent footing - the contractor work out there is evident but frustratingly taking a long time to complete.  

AM - lunchtime run on the treadmill.  Woke with a very sore throat and did not feel like running outside with temps in the teens.  Had an early work call, so delayed running until just before noon and stayed indoors on the treadmill for 5 miles.  Other than the throat and some achiness, I do not feel too bad at all.   

AM - cold 4.75 miles with Dan on the WC golf course.  Still feel like I am fighting off a full blown cold, but keeping it in check for now.  Hilly route and cold kept the pace a little slower than the last week or so.  

AM - 5 miles solo through Wood Valley and East Bluff - not quite as cold but still below freezing.  Continue to see decent average paces trending lower. 

AM - cold seemed to be worse today - did not sleep well.  Did not feel too motivated to run, so started with a plan to just go 3 miles and run to feel.  Ended up running 4 and kinda pushed the pace after the first 3/4 of a mile to where the last mile was 7:28.  Pleased with being able to run some faster miles lately. 

AM - 3.75 miles with daughter Delaney who is in town for the holidays and with Dan on the Milton trail.  Slower paced but always good to run with your kids and catch up with them. 

AM - just a shade under 12 miles with the guys today.  Started early with Dan who had an early MRI appointment so we began at 6 and then made our way back to the parking lot and then Dan left as the others arrived.  I did about 4 with them before turning back to get just about 12 miles in at a decent pace.  Quite cold in the upper 20's - I made the mistake of shedding my mittens and hand warmers for some cotton gloves because my hands were warm but that soon changed and I regretted my decision.  Lesson learned.  

AM - 4.75 miles with Dan and Rosie on the trail before church. 

AM - 5.25 solo miles on Nix with a little jaunt into the new development.  Felt like I was pushing a bit. and the left hip was suddenly sore after the run.  I attribute that to inflammation due to poor eating with the holidays and family in town.  

AM - 4.25 miles with Dan and Delaney at Milton HS.  Easy running with Delaney is just what I needed.  

AM - 4.75 miles with Dan in the neighborhood.  Felt slow and crappy but the pace turned out to be not bad.  

AM - 3 miles on the treadmill before heading over to the kids and grandkids for Christmas morning.   Merry Christmas!

AM - 5.25 miles with Dan through East Bluff and back.  Warm morning in the upper 50s.   

PM - 8 miles in the afternoon following a late night pick up of my daughter who had her flight diverted and then returned back to Atlanta after stopping in DC and then losing her bag - which resulted in us not getting home until after 2 am.   So unseasonably warm that I was shirtless in December and dealing with mid-70's on my run.  Got it done but it wasn't pretty.