Bret

AM - 5 miles solo on the Nix route with a short jaunt into the new development.  Not quite as cold but still below freezing.  Tried to keep things easy today. 

AM - 3 miles very easy. 

Had a pretty good race today in the 2nd annual Polar Opposite Peachtree - in which they ran the reverse direction of the Peachtree Road Race that is on July 4.  Last year the weather I am told was quite cold and worthy of the race name - today it was in the upper 40s to low 50's cloudy with a misting rain at times.   I met up with Ben who I run with on Saturdays sometimes in Milton - and two of his friends from Dunwoody where he resides.  Two of those guys are in the 40's and a good bit faster than me - but I was just pleased to be placed in the same starting corral as them.   There were about 7250 participants which is a far cry from the 50000 runners in July's version.   

I found the course more challenging in this direction at least this morning having never run the route this way.   There's a gradual uphill in the first mile, a good sloping / rolling downhill in mile 2, with a much steeper downhill in mile 3, but a very long and arduous uphill from 3 miles almost all the way to about 5.5 miles where it finally flattened out and maybe gave a slight down slope in the final half mile.  

I ran pretty well without really too much of a plan, other than to run to feel and to try to compete a little.  My first mile was my slowest at 7:31 but then the ensuing two downhills had splits of 6:45 and 6:55; and then 7:07 uphill, 7:23, 7:07 and 6:38 for the last .2 miles.  Heartrate was just below tempo at 158 avg but never exeeded 166.   

I connected with Ben and Danny afterward, and they both ran well, at 39:14 and 41:15 respectively.  Ben took 4th in his age group and Danny took 2nd.   I was nevertheless very pleased that at 16 years older than Danny I was just less than 4 or so minutes slower than them.   I will take that any day.  

I ended up running about a minute twenty seconds faster than my Peachtree effort in July.  Granted it was much warmer than today - but I am not sure how much of a difference that made.  

Good way to start out the year.

AM - a little over 3 miles very easy - recovery effort on the trail following yesterday's 10k.  A little sore but not too bad - but kinda tired.  

AM - 5 miles through the neighborhood and around part of the golf course - very slow again at recovery effort.  Really did not want to exert too much today - and though nothing hurts per se - there's more muscle soreness today than yesterday and energy levels were low.  Still a nice morning in the mid 30's and foggy.  

AM - 4.25 miles with Dan and his dog Rosie on the trails from his house.   Slower paced and shorter in length because of Rosie, but it was good nonetheless and to catch up with him after he was out of the country at a wedding over a long weekend in Costa Rica. 

AM - a little over 5 miles in on the WC Golf course with Dan and Darryl on a very foggy and unseasonably warm morning.   Slower because of the hills and the surface - but gradually getting back to normal training pace.  

AM - 5 miles at Milton HS with Dan - avg pace was just under 8 mins which actually surprised me a little bit since it did not feel that quick, but also I had run fairly slowly the last few days and was pleased that my body seems to have rebounded well.

AM - 5.0 miles partly on the trail that appears to be nearly complete - and partly in the East Bluff neighborhood.  Quite warm - nearly shirtless weather today.  Much slower pace.

AM - 7.5 miles with Dan in a steady rain - but it was quite warm in the low 60's.  Got fairly water-logged stepping in nearly unavoidable puddles. Met up with Ben for the last couple of miles - he was doing 20 today - the rest of the group decided not to run in the rain. 

AM - a little over 6 miles with Darryl this morning.  Much colder in the 30's and windy.  Slipped in the new development on a muddy section of road from all of the rain yesterday and went down, skinning one of my knees - but no real harm done. 

AM - 5 miles on the trail with Dan - quite cold in the mid 20's, icy in some areas.  Travel week - later today to London and back and then to Boston.  

PM - 5 miles on a treadmill in a gym in London across from my hotel.   It was raining when I arrived and I knew I wanted to run outdoors tomorrow but my shoes would dry overnight if I ran in the rain - so I did a treadmill run that was probably much too fast for the jet-lag, but got it done.  

AM - slower 5 miles in central London - from the City westward past St. Paul's and over the Millenial footbridge then up the Thames path to the Westminster bridge before looping back.  Probably ran too hard yesterday. 

AM - Quick trip back from the UK, ran with Dan and Rosie on the trail this morning.  Temps in the mid 20's with windchills in the single digits.  Not too bad to run on the trail today.   Heading out this evening for a long weekend with Sam and Riley in Boston. 

AM - in a town on the outskirts of Boston - called Stow, where my daughter and son in law reside.   We are spending the long weekend here - as she is midway through her first pregnancy and Tracy wanted to get some maternity clothing and furniture for the nursery for them.  Weather was quite cold and windy.  Temps were in the mid teens and the winds in places easily were in the low single digits.   I ventured out with a plan of a route that was suggested, but its all winding country roads and I probably missed a turn and ended up running a fair bit more than originally planned.  Fortunately, I ran with my phone and the gps got me back to their place after a nearly 8.5 mile run.  Great scenery and for the most part, good run. 

AM - just under 4 miles from Riley's house with her dog Molly in a light snow.  Roads were slightly slippery but I figured we'd be fine once we got to the trail at Delaney Pond.  Took a hard backward fall on some snow covered ice and hit my head.  Felt like a hard tackle in football.  Gonna be sore for a few days.   

AM - 6 miles on Riley's treadmill in the basement before church.  Good amount of snow and ice on the ground and I did not feel like slipping again after yesterday.   

AM - 5.5 miles mid-morning from Riley's house. Good snow overnight probably 6-8 inches.   Wore her crampons in case of any slick spots or ice but the roads were fairly clear.  Lots of folks put snow blowing their driveways or shoveling.    Sun was out and it was causing the snow on branches and power lines to drop sporadically during the run.  Started slowly as my back is still sore but ran reasonably close to normal training pace after about 3 miles.   

Day off from running - travel day back to ATL

AM - just under 5 miles on the trail with Dan and Rosie.  Good to catch up after being out of town for 5 days.  

AM - 5 miles on the treadmill - as it was 39 dagrees with heavy rain and sleet outside when I awoke.   Dan had some medical injections in his knee yesterday and needed to take a light day on the bike anyway.  

AM - 4 miles on the trail very slowly with Dan and Rosie.  Dan had an injection in his knee for degenerative arthritis on Wednesday and the doctor told him to go easy for a few days.  It was cool, foggy/drizzly out - the prelude to a winter storm coming in the next 36 hours - which possibly will find us just on the fringe of the really severe weather hopefully.  Meanwhile everyone is prepping as if a hurricane is on the way.  

AM - 9 miles with the guys.   Ben joined us after the first 3 and because he was doing 23 we turned back well before he was going to turn.  He's so fit and fast - I am sure he appreciated the company for a few miles but was probably just as happy to speed up to his normal 7:30-7:45 long run training pace after we turned back.  

AM - 7 miles on the treadmill due to an ice storm outside.  It doesn't look too terrible but having slipped last week - I decided to keep it safe indoors today.  

AM - 5 miles on the treadmill due to the conditions outside - icy with freezing rain and very cold temperatures overnight.  Did not want to slip and fall again. 

AM - started out on the treadmill for about a half mile, but when Dan final responded to my text and wanted to run outside, I bundled up and ran with him and Rosie on the trail.  Temps were cold for here - 11 degrees with a feels-like of 0.   Had good cold weather gear and handwarmers that made the run tolerable.   Wore the crampons for the trail, but probably did not need them - though the boardwalk/bridges over the ponds were quite icy.  

AM - 4.5 miles from Dan's house with his dog Rosie on a very cold morning.   He's heading up to his mother's place in Connecticut today as she's having some health issues.  

AM - 5.25 miles solo this morning through East Bluff - a bit on the slow side but it is quite cold still and it takes a while for me to warm up, and though I felt fine, I just did not seem to have the energy to push too much today.  

AM - about 5.25 miles solo in the neighborhood this morning.    Cold in the low 20's and we are forecast to get some snow early tomorrow morning.   My runs in this colder weather lately take a good 1 to 2 miles before I reach my normal training pace.  Old equipment needs a little more time on cold mornings, I am told. 

AM - 10 miles on the treadmill today.  Snow and cold winds in the forecast this morning and most of the guys either out of town or doing other things - so I stayed inside.  Sometimes just an easy solo run on the 'mill is good.  Watched the second half of the Mel Brook's 99 year old man documentary of his life and work.  Did not realize that Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein came out in the same year 1974.  

AM - 7 miles on the treadmill.  Wind chills at -3 and snow and ice kept me from wanting to venture outside today.   We got maybe an inch of accumulation of snow but this area does not have a whole lot of public works to treat roads or sidewalks for those rare conditions - so it seemed safer and more comfortable indoors.  

AM - between 4.75 and 5 mils this morning with Dan and Rosie on the trail.  Temperature was right at 20 degrees - but not too windy.  Dan had been out of town to see his mother who is having some medical/health issues and so we caught up today and he spent a long time processing / discussing it with me.   

AM - 4.5 miles early with Dan in the neighborhood ahead of an early flight to Orlando for work.  Still the 20's but not quite as cold.   Return tomorrow evening so I will get a run in some shorts weather for a day.   

AM - 5 miles in Orlando at the airport.   My company had a sales conference at the Hyatt Regency which is at the airport in Orlando.  When I checked in I asked the desk if they had any running trails or routes as some hotels do and so they told me about a running track on the roof of the parking garage which also the helicopter pad.  So, I went up there at 5:30 am, and it was dark and only lit up with the red landing lamps for the helicopter pad.  From what I could tell there may have been a "track" at one time with a lane painted on the surface around a wider perimeter of the pad but it was well faded and parts of it were blocked by temporary construction fencing on a couple of sides - at any rate, I found my way around at least a larger loop than just the helipad which worked out to be about 6 laps to a mile - and though I considered bailing and going either downstairs to the treadmill in the gym or figuring out a run on the roadways leading up to the airport, I kept going instead on the circuit until I reached 5 miles.  Although I could not in good conscience endorse this as a good option for running for anyone staying there, it is an option, and one that made for a converstaion or two with my colleagues.  

AM - 5 miles solo on the Nix road route.  Cold with some spitting snow at times.  Felt a little slow and clunky particularly on the hills.

AM - 4.25 miles with Dan on the Milton Trail.  Good to catch up with him.  He shared updates on his mom's health situation and seems to be in a better place.   Cold again today in the mid 20's.  I am headed to WV to be with Tracy and her parents for the weekend.  Significantly colder there with lots of snow on the ground.  May need to consider alternatives to running outside this weekend. 

AM - 10 miles on the gym treadmill in WV.  Very cold (feels like 0) with lots of snow already on the ground for the last couple of weeks, but there was snow and freezing rain overnight and the option of running indoors made sense.  Bought a weekend pass and it is open 24 hours.

AM - 6.5 miles on the treadmill at the gym in WV - with it being 0 degrees outside and quite icy and slippery - I opted again to stay indoors.  Heading home tomorrow, but will likely do another treadmill run given the forecast is not much different tomorrow.  

AM - a little over 5 miles on the treadmill at the gym in WV.  Outside temp was 1.  Leaving later today for some warmer temps at home.  

AM - 4.25 miles with Dan on the Milton Trail back at home.  Much more seasonal temps in the high 30's.  Good to catch up after being away for a long weekend to be with Tracy's parents in WV.

AM - 4.5 miles with Dan through Crabapple starting at Milton HS.  Much warmer today in the upper 50's with a light rain.  Felt crappy, weak and clunky - but ended up running about the same pace as yesterday, which was on the faster end of most of my training runs with Dan.   

AM - 5.25 miles with Dan on the trail - which is now officially re-opened from the work they did for the phase 2 construction work.  We've been running on it pretty much the whole time of the contractor work, but now there are no longer any areas blocked-off and all of the heavy equipment is now removed.  The newer area looks very nice with pleasing landscaping, boardwalk bridges and stable gravel pathways.   They extended the trail surface all the way through the earlier phase behind my property which was sorely needed, but did not really do much in the way of improving the landscaping which was a little disappointing.   Nevertheless overall even though long overdue, its a very nice improvement to this amenity.  We can now do a full loop instead of an out and back, but that's only about 2.25 miles for one loop starting and stopping at the clubhouse.  We don't usually do that but instead re-track back before heading up to the clubhouse and instead then do the south woods which has not yet been cleaned up or improved or adverstised for official use, but doing that trail route gives us a little over 5 miles.    

AM - 5.25 miles solo in the neighborhood.  Dan was cross training this morning to give his knee a rest before a longer run tomorrow.   Seasonably cold - right around freezing today.  Slow start as always - even slower when running solo - got warmed up into a low 8 min pace around mile 2.5 to 3 and cruised in.  Takes the old body and mind a little longer on colder mornings to get going. 

AM - total of just about 10 miles with a couple of the guys - we did a tour of Milton and Alpharetta.  Darryl and I got there a little early and did a short warm up while waiting and then connected with Greg after a couple of other guys canceled. We had an encounter with an owl on the road near a busy intersection in which a fairly good sized owl was sitting on the road in a left turn lane.   We could not tell if it was injured and two of the guys attempted to coax it out of the road - but the bird really was not interested in moving until a police vehicle happened by, and then suddenly it flew away - with no apparent injury - and we all felt good about it not getting run-over by a passing car.   Oh and the run was faster than it should have been but good all the same.

AM - 6.25 miles on the treadmill because it was cold and raining outside this morning.  

AM - a little over 5 miles this morning in WC with Dan.  He's headed back to CT to see his mom who is back in the hospital and not doing well.  Spent a good amount of time chatting about that with him.  Surprisingly fairly quick pace today - as the weather damp and foggy but in the upper 40's - so not too cool and pleasant for running and talking. 

AM - 5.5 miles solo today - went out on the finally reopened trail and out through the East Bluff neighborhood and came back by the clubhouse for a full loop.  Colder today in the upper 30's - decent pace again today.  

AM - 5 miles on the Nix road route with a little variation near the end from my norm.  

AM - 3.5 miles in WC - early start and shorter run due to an early meeting at the office today. 

AM - 5.25 miles on the trail.  Unseasonably warm.  Ended up shirtless.  

AM - just under 9.5 miles this morning solo.  Rainy at times - decided not to meet up with the guys - several were out of town or unavailable and I was feeling a bit tired the last two or three days.   My first 3 miles were really slow - but intentionally just allowing myself to run to feel - so like 10 to 11 min pace.   Then without even really trying around 3 miles I started running mid 8's with a couple of sub 8's but all completely relaxed.  Good feel run today.

AM - 3.25 easy miles on the treadmill.  Temperature dropped 35 degrees overnight from yesterday and it was super windy too; so I opted for an indoor run. 

AM - 5 miles on the treadmill.  Dan said he was not feeling well, and with the "feels like" of 11 degrees outside today, I stayed indoors. 

AM - just under 5 miles on the trail with Dan.  Temps were same or a little colder than yesterday - but we had not run together in over a week with him out of town for his mom.  Good to catch up.  Pace was considerably faster than we normally run on the trail - not too sure why - perhaps it was because he did not bring his dog today.  

AM - 4.5 miles with Dan starting from his house.  Was surprised to see a pretty decent pace per mile on my watch after we finished, especially since it seemed just like a normal pace and conversational the whole time.  

AM - 5 miles solo on the Nix route.  Had to do an early start as I have a meeting at the office before 8 today.  Pushed a little on this one to replicate yesterday's pace - which was close.  

AM - 4.5 miles with Dan starting from Milton HS and running through Crabapple at a much easier pace than I had run in the last few days.  Legs were feeling a little stressed yesterday.   Good run today and good conversation. 

AM - 12.25 miles solo today.  Ben is doing Tokyo and Venu is doing the Atlanta marathon tomorrow.  Darryl's got a medical restriction and Dan is headed back to CT to move his mom to hospice.   Never connected with Greg and anyway I was not feeling up to a pace that he usually goes.  This was a decent mid effort longer distance than my normal long runs of late.  Cloudy dreary cool morning that I enjoyed nonetheless all by my lonesome.

AM - 4 miles very easy/slow in the neighborhood before church.  Good level of recovery effort following yesterday's long run. 

AM - 5 miles on the Milton Trail.   Solo again today as Dan is out of town with his mom - they have called hospice and he's staying with her.   

AM - 5 miles on the treadmill.  Had an early call today and was going to be solo anyway.  Some days now, I just feel like a treadmill run fits the bill.