Bret

AM - just under 6.5 miles with Dan and the dogs from his place on the horese farm trail roads - much cooler today in the upper 30's than the last few days.  Go run and conversation to begin the new year. 

AM - 4.25 miles on the Milton Trail with Dan and Finn. Even colder today in the upper 20's 

AM - 3.25 miles on the trail with Dan and the dogs.   Got a slightly later start than normal and so decided to go shorter at Dan's request.   The trail surface was mostly frozen - which made for easier running where warmer temps would have resulted in some muddy sections being a bit more treacherous.    Dog clean up was easier too - less mud.  

AM - 7 miles with the guys and a new joiner Ryan so we had a total of 5 of us plus Finn from downtown on a cold morning.  Good relaxed effort and great conversation.  

AM - 4.5 miles with Dan and the dogs on the golf course before church. 

AM - 5k on the treadmill - heavy rains and colder temperatures kept me from considering an outdoor run today - much to my dog's frustration. 

AM - 4 miles on the trail with Dan and the dogs - quite cold in the 20's and the ground is frozen so no issues with the mud from the rains yesterday.  A little twinge in the left hamstring perhaps from running on the treadmill yesterday?   Heading down to Disney on Thursday with the kids and grandkids - Bradlea and Marcus are doing the half marathon on Saturday and I am doing the full on Sunday.  

AM - 3.75 miles with Dan and Finn on the Milton Trail - very cold and windy this morning - in the low 20's with the feels-like temp at 14.  The windy was painfully cold on my face going out on the trail, but then as we warmed up and headed back, it was good to have the wind at our backs.   Heading down tomorrow to Disney.  

AM - 3.25 miles with Dan and Finn 

AM - 2.5 miles with Delaney around the Disney area resorts 

AM - 2 miles running around the Disney hotel trying to time it right to see Bradlea and Marcus in the half marathon.   Got a good video of them and they looked great going very easy.  This was Bradlea's longest run and first half marathon.  Marcus ran together with her and they were dressed in red and black with mouse ears.   It was a bit rainy and humid but they had a good experience.  

Disney Marathon 2025 - This was scheduled nearly a year ago when Bradlea and Marcus had the idea of doing the half and having me do the full marathon with a long family weekend with the grandchildren with visits to the parks to bookend the vacation.   Richie signed up as well but as late as Friday had told me he was nursing a slight calf injury and was not going to run. Then Saturday morning he called and had just finished a 12 mile training run and perhaps FOMO decided he was going to make the drive over from his home in St. Pete.  I was excited to having the chance to run with someone instead of solo.  Funny story - he recently bought a Sprinter van and decided to drive over late Saturday evening declined to sleep in our hotel room and instead slept in the camper van in the parking lot.   
 

The race start is 4:30 am so we were heading to the Epcot parking lot by 2:45 am.  Richie had to get special treatment to get his bib number on the morning of the race and the security layout kept us from the comfort of his vehicle in the relatively cold conditions for Florida of the low 40's.   Side note - with the race starting so early - many of us had to use the restrooms along the course a time or two - since it was a bit off of our "regular" schedules.  :) 

Due to his lack of training and lack of mental preparation this ended up being a buddy run with him - which was really great.  We went out easy and ran together from start to finish and got a negative split.   The course is actually quite uninspiring - mostly of it taking place on service roads and parking lots between the various Disney parks.  Richie was really having a hard time with the lack of spectators and scenery - but perked up when we were in the parks and when we encountered character photos areas.  Oddly, they have Disney characters placed along the course where runners will stop and get a photo with say, Donald Duck or Darth Vader - also oddly, people were lining up for these photos.  

Anyway, this was very much a training run effort heartrate-wise until the last few miles where I was fatigued and started to lose form and we were going a bit faster toward the end.   

Marathon #48 is now in the books.   Good to run a race with Richie from start to finish for the first time ever too.

AM - 1.5 mile shakeout / systems check run around the hotel in Disney.  No real issues, just a little soreness. 

Day off - as I had to be at the airport early for a 6 am flight to NYC for work.

AM - a little over 5k in NYC up the Hudson river trail - and back to my hotel - Quite windy and cold in the lower 20's.   Either catching a cold or struggling with some inflammation in my lungs?  Felt terrible.

Sick

Still sick with a fever

Zero - very sick with the flu and with a fever. 

AM - 3.25 miles on the trail with Dan and the dogs.  Slow going - still recovering from the flu - very muddy trail.

AM - 3.75 miles from Dan's house up to the horse trail roads.  Very cold at 16 degrees and a "feels-like" temp of 5.   Hands/fingers were painfully cold despite gloves and mittens.  Ran shorter due to that.  

AM - 4.25 miles on the Milton Trail with Dan and Finn - not quite as cold but I had some rechargable handwarmer pods as a Christmas present  - that I used for the first time today.   A little awkward, but they were effective.  Put them inside my mittens and rolled them around - they are like a large key fob.   Hands were warm and that was the key.  

AM - 4.5 miles from my house with Dan and the dogs over to the WC Golf Course - colder again today with a temperature of 14 degree with feels-like temps in the single digits.  Some snow hit the area just south of us - but we were spared.   Handwarmers were effective.   

AM - 4.25 miles on the trail with Dan and the dogs.  Under 20 degrees again this morning - and the trail was completely frozen - so the muddy track from the construction equipment was not sloppy, it was challenging because it was not smooth - and tough on the ankles.  

AM - 4.25 miles with Dan and Finn from Milton HS through Crabapple.  Temps still below 20 degrees this morning - pace was quicker today with mostly flat roads.  

AM - 8 miles with a considerable group.   Dan, Greg, Ryan and Darryl with Finn to start - and then we ran into two random guys doing a long run on the horse trail roads - and asked them to join us - Allen and Ben - two pretty accomplished runners of similar age.  Shared about 3-4 miles with them before they headed further out and we turned back.  Still quite cold, but a good pace and good conversation made it an enjoyable morning.  

AM - 3.25 miles easy with Finn before church. 

AM - 5 miles on the treadmill as it was raining this morning.  Just did not feel like running in the 40's with rain.  

AM - 3.5 miles with Dan and the dogs on the trail.   Rain from yesterday, even though it was at or below freezing temps this morning left some areas still quite muddy and others frozen and slippery.   Had a stop a number of times to locate Rosie who was exploring - at one point she had a massive frozen dead fish in her mouth - which was really disgusting.  So lots of stops and starts - and not much distance - but good conversation.   May try to get a couple more miles in later today on the treadmill if I have time. 

AM - 5.25 miles with Dan and Finn from Dan's house out to the horse farm trail roads.   Decent pace - though my Apple Watch was buggy this morning at the start of the run - when I tried to start it with Siri (to avoid removing my gloves to start it) - which normally works fine - but today it did not appear to start a run workout, but something else - and when I attempted to correct it, Dan repeatedly gave Siri other crazy instructions as a joke - "like record the audio from this run" - and in the end it failed to record the first 4-5 mins of the workout.  

AM - 5 miles on the golf course with Dan and the dogs. 

AM - just under 5 this morning from the high school through Crabapple with Dan and Finn.  Wore the Kinvara's for the first time in a while, which felt weird.  The NB Supercomps I got are a half size too small and the left big toe is getting an ingrown nail because of it - so I gave it a break today - and bought a larger size.  

AM - 9 good miles with a group of 7 runners plus Finn - a new addition for today was Venu who is a friend of Allan and Ben who we met last week.  Very cool to have a group this size and with similar talent and age.  

AM - 4 miles with Finn in the neighborhood before church. 

AM - 5 miles with Dan on the trail - but we left it because it was too muddy and slippery and Rosie ended up not coming with him which is why he wanted to run the trail in the first place. 

AM - 5 miles with Dan and dogs on the golf course.   A bit slow-going with Rosie but a pleasant morning.  

2000 meters of indoor rowing afterwards 

AM - 5.25 miles with Dan and Finn from Dan's house up to the horse farm trail roads.  Last 3 miles were sub 8 min pace without Rosie running with us.   2000 meters of indoor rowing following the run.

AM - 5 miles on the Milton trail with Dan and Finn.   Warm enough this morning in the uppper 50's for just shorts and a shirt.

AM - 5.25 miles with Finn through the neighborhood over to the Groves and back.  Quite warm compared to the last few weeks in the low 60's and humid.   Rough acclimation with such a rapid change.   Dan was heading out early to do a college visit with his son to Tennessee where he was accepted - (though he has acceptances to multiple schools already) but had not visited yet.  

AM - 10.50 miles in total this morning.  Did a short run with Finn of a little over a mile or so because I did not think he should run quite as far as I had planned today especially with it being warmer.   Met Dan and Ryan at the Summit Elementary school and we ran for probably 5 miles or so and then went back to the school to meet Ben who had just arrived.  Greg never showed.  Dan headed back home and I ran with Ryan and Ben for another 4 miles or so before heading back home as Tracy had something on the schedule for early today.   Ran reasonably well, but not sure if the warmer humid temps the last couple of days, or the indoor rowing I did everyday or the combination of the two (and the slight increase in mileage) had me feeling a little overly fatigued today.   Too much perceived effort. 

AM - a little under 4.5 miles with Finn on the Nix road route.  Very fatigued and probably in need of a day off - but Finn was very persistently wanting to run - so I kept things very slow and easy at a recovery effort. 

AM - 4 easy trail miles with Dan and the dogs on the MCC trail behind my property.   Not too muddy - and the temperature was nearly 20 degrees cooler today.  Needed at least another recovery day type effort. 

AM - 5.25 miles from Dan's house today with Finn  - on the horsefarm trail roads.  Colder and windier today - but a decent run all the same and much more normal pace.  

AM - 5 miles on the treadmill - as I had no interest in running in the rain at 37 degrees this morning.   Good run - followed by some indoor rowing, 

AM - 5 miles with Dan and the dogs on the golf course.  Heavy rains and thunderstorms yesterday and overnight - with still some drizzle this morning.  

PM -  5 miles around Stowe Vermont - we arrive late last night and stayed in Burlington for the night at a B&B and had a nice breakfast drove around the town and headed out to Stowe at the Green Mountain Inn where we have stayed 3 out of the last 4 years for Valentine's Day weekend.  

AM - 6.25 miles on the Stowe Recreational Path from the center of town.  Got a little lost in the snow as there is a smaller loop called the Quiet Path and it is not well marked.  So after hitting a dead end I retraced my way back to get on the trail which was at times very slow going with soft snow in some areas.  Quite cold too at 3 degrees but sunny.  I needed up losing the path when it came parallel to the road out to the ski resort but decided it was long enough to just turn around and finish up on the roads.  Got a good snow beard from the cold 🥶 on my face.  

AM- 4.5 miles in a fairly heavy snow storm this morning before we headed to the airport.  Had 10 inches of snow with more coming down.  The strap on spikes for my running shoes that I bought last time we were here have been pretty helpful- never slipped even once on the snow and ice.  

No run - super early rescheduled flight due to weather kept me from getting out today.

AM -  5 miles with Dan and Finn on the Milton Trail - cold here but relatively speaking to the temps in Vermont at 25 degrees this morning - not too bad.  Good to get out with Finn and have some conversation with Dan.

AM - 5.25 miles with Dan and the dogs - much of it on the WC Golf Course.  

AM - 4 miles with Dan and Finn in the neighborhood very early as I had a meeting in the office.  Very cold this morning as well - but not quite as cold as Vermont on the weekend. 

AM - just under 5.25 miles with Dan and Finn from Dan's house.  Temps in the mid teens today - but I think the handwarmers were the missing link in my cold weather gear up until a few weeks ago.   Now, I really have very little discomfort running in cold weather.  Good merino wool gear and tights with a windbreaker if it is breezy - and with the hand warmers I really don't mind it at all.  Dan did not initially want to go out today but was glad that he did - though he was not dressed well enough and his hands were freezing :). 

AM - 9.25 miles with the group of 8 minus Dan from Summit Hill Elementary.  I started before everyone as I needed to be home earlier than previously expected - so Finn and I did about 3 miles and then ran back to the school to meet everyone else.   Cold again in low 20's but not much wind.  Finn seemed a little bit "off" today but maintained.  Pace was honest at between 8 and 8:30 and coversation was good.   I split off on Wood before the bridge and made it home on time.   Would have liked another few miles - several ended up with 12+ for the day - with Ben extending his run to 18 in his Boston training.  

AM - 4.75 miles with Dan and Rosie on the trail.   Still in the 20's the trail surface was frozen - so the mud was easier to traverse.  Gave Finn the day off since he was walking like he had a hind quarter issue following Saturday's longer run. 

AM - 3.6 miles with Dan and Finn on the Milton Trail.  Dan is having an issue with the left hamstring now - last year it was the right side and he had PRP which worked very well - so we had to slow down and cut the run short this morning.   Finn seemed ok on the run with his hindquarter issues - but then slept all morning afterwards - so he's not quite back to normal.    I got on the treadmill when I got back to the house and did a couple more miles at a faster pace. 

AM - a little over 5 miles this morning with Finn through Wood Valley and the North Valley neighborhood.  Dan took the day off from running and has an MRI scheduled for today for his left hamstring.  Decent run but Finn is still slightly off his norm - stopped to turn around about 20 meters before we would normally do so.   Temps improving to the upper 30's this morning - less cold weather gear needed.  

AM - just under 5 miles today.  Took things quite slowly and easy mostly on the trail with Finn.  Dan's out until further notice and I felt like I have a possible tweak in the left hip - and generally felt a little like I needed either a day-off or just an easy recovery effort day.   Seemed to be the right choice to run slow and easy on softer terrain - not quite as cold, and though the trail was not frozen, it was also not muddy (rain is expected tomorrow) and the ground was softer as a result.   I did a long loop out of the neighborhood first before entering the trail.  It would have been exactly 5 except that a contractor/construction pick-up truck arrived just was we were reaching the Dinsmore gate - and though it was still dark, I had a headlamp on and I thought they may have a problem with me being on the trail during construction - so we turned around quickly to head back to avoid any interaction in case that area is in fact supposed to be off-limits to the public until completed.  So we ran a bit faster to stay out ahead of the vehicle which seemed at times was stopping to check on equipment - until we exited the restricted area.  

AM - 5 miles with Finn in the neighborhood early ahead of a meeting in the office today.  Slightly faster than yesterday - hip felt fine.  

AM - 5 miles on the Nix road route with Finn - still minus Dan due to his injury.  Cooler yet again this morning in the upper 30's.  

AM - decent long run this morning with Darryl.  The larger Saturday morning group was scattered in response to texts on Friday evening so the two of us just decided to do our own thing - in which I ran from my place to his, and structured a longer loop back near my house and he ran back to his.   Took Finn for a short 1 mile loop before heading out to meet Darryl who just moved into his house which is about 3 miles away just past Bell Memorial Park.   Had a nice relaxed effort with him with some good conversation.  Ended-up just short of 12 miles today.

AM - just under 5 miles in the neighborhood with Finn before church.  Cold again...

AM - 5.5 miles with Finn out to the Groves development through the neighborhood.  Upper 20's this morning...I know its early March, but it feels like the temperatures should be moderating more than they have been.

AM - 4.25 miles with Dan and Finn from Dan's house.  He probably should not have run today with his hamstring injury - but he had taken 9 days off and thought it felt ok to run.  He was fine for the first couple of miles but then we had to walk and jog.  Good to catch up with him nonetheless.  

AM - 6 miles with Finn in the neighborhood.  Felt a little sluggish today and the perceived effort did not match the pace or HR.  

AM -  5 miles on the treadmill.   Just not in the mood to run in 30 mph wind gusts with freezing temps today. 

AM - 5 miles on the trail with Finn. 

AM - did 2 miles with Finn in the neighborhood to give him some exercise and then met the guys in downtown Alpharetta and did another 12.5 miles, which were fairly fast in the low 8 min pace with a few under 8 mins.  Last several miles required some concentration to maintain.  Ben was going to do 17 and Greg did a few more with him.  Good effort today. 

AM - recovery effort 5 miles with Finn on the Nox road route. 

AM - 4.5 miles on the treadmill as it was raining and 44 degrees outside.   Ran a little easier and slightly shorter - as I really only run on the 'mill when it is raining and my legs are not as used to the treadmill as when I ran on it fairly regularly several years ago.  

AM -  5 miles on a somewhat chilly morning just under 40 degrees.  Wore my gloves with the handwarmers, but no tights.  Stayed in the neighborhood and pace was easy, but I felt fairly recovered from Saturday's harder longer run.   My pace on easy days now is much slower in comparison to a few years ago - but I am healthy and have no injuries and so I am ok with that. 

AM - just shy of 5.25 miles this morning with Finn on a variation of the Milton Trail starting on Freemanville up to Summit and Brittle then back on Philip's Circle and Wood Rd.  This DST has left it so dark from start to finish on the run.   Moon was bright and yellow on the horizon not quite full but close.   Felt smooth and no aches or pains and lacking any feel of inflammation - so much so, that it was noticeable.   First mile was uphill and slow as a warm up but the rest of the miles were at a good pace.  Finn seemed a little off this morning.

AM - 5 miles with Finn on the trail - a bit early since he got me up ahead of my alarm - slightly warmer - trail was not too bad - though still under pretty heavy construction around the ponds - and it seems that they still have work to do on drainage - with some low spots and standing water from rains all the way back to Monday still there.   

AM - 4.25 very easy run/walk miles with Dan and the dogs from his house.  He's easing back into running after a few weeks off for a tweaked hamstring.   The effort this morning seemed to be well tolerated by his hamstring and it was good to catch up with him after so many days of not connecting on a daily basis. 

AM - 2 miles with Finn and then met the group at Summit and got 11.5 miles in - fairly fast and lots of elevation.  I think Ben did 23 today and was very solid in his effort - preparing for Boston in a few weeks - he's aiming for a sub 3 time.   I ran with him and Greg up front - everyone else dropped - I peeled off when I knew I would have close to 14 miles total.  It was a fairly intense effort for mwith GAP pace under 8 mins and avg HR of 150 in much warmer temps at right around 60 degrees.  

AM - slightly less than 4 miles with Dan and Finn in the neighborhood going with a run/walk approach for Dan's hamstring injury recovery.  It was actually perfect for me after a hard long run with elevation yesterday and 2 days of yard work.  Big storms came through overnight keeping Finn on high alert for a few hours - fortunately we had just rain and wind with some lightning- but nothing more serious and really nothing in the way of damage.  

AM - just under 5 miles this morning on the Nix route with Finn.  Considerably colder today and with winds at 15 mph - the feels like temp was 26.  Saturday I ran shirtless, today I had two shirts and wore tights.  Such is the Spring in Atlanta. 

AM - 3.75 miles on the trail with Dan - doing a run/wak thing for him every other day to recover from his hamstring injury.   Probably will do something later today to get a few more miles in. 

PM - I did a workout on the treadmill - 2 x mile; and 1 x 800 with a full recovery in between with a mile warm up and short cool down.   Felt good to run with some speed - I do not think I have done a workout in ages.   The miles were just sub 7 and the half was at 3:20 pace - but I really enjoyed it.  

AM - 5 miles easy through East Bluff with Finn on a chilly morning.  Enjoyed the solitude of that neighborhood in the dark. 

AM - another walk/run with Dan and the dogs helping him recover from his hamstring issue.  We definitely ran much more today - and he seems to be improving.  The slow pace is good for him to gradually strengthen and it is a nice break for me to do these less intense effort - though I feel like I still need to run again later today.  

AM - a little over 5 miles this morning.  Quite cold again just around freezing with lower "feels-like" temps - but I feel like this may be the last really cold morning now for a while - at least according to my weather app.   Decent effort with just Finn today.  

AM - did a short run to give Finn a little exercise then met Greg at the Greenway and we did about 14.5 miles - and at a fairly fast pace- averaging 7:45.  Temps were cold but not as cold as yesterday.  Good effort today. 

AM - easy run/walk on the trail with Dan and the dogs allowing for his gradual hamstring recovery.  

AM - 5.5 miles on the hotel treadmill in DC.  Raining this morning - and no backup shoes or clothes for a run in the rain today to allow a run tomorrow - so I stayed inside today.