Ethan Cannon

After running surprisingly slow Saturday, was surprised to run 6:55 pace today given that I went mid morning right after the snacking / breakfast routine so my tummy was topsy turvy for quite a while.

Beautiful warm christmas headed east on W&OD

7 minute pace. Went on W&OD headed east again. Was planning on going elsewhere but plans change. Really nice rainy morning. 

Another rainy run. For the first time I ran down this road towards Banshee Reeks. The idea was to test it out as a potential long run before committing to it on Saturday. It was in some ways one of the nicest runs I've been on, especially for it being winter. 6:58 pace on rolling hills through beautiful countryside and some nice homes. The issue was that the road I went on had no shoulder or sidewalk. I counted 19 cars that passed going what I thought was the less busy side of the road. So I don't think I'll run it again, at least as an easy route, which is too bad. A simple sidewalk would make all the difference. 

Another great run. Went to Morven park for the first time this year. Just really serene and pretty out here. It was almost 60 degrees and I didn't wear a shirt (that part was not intended, but it was perfectly comfortable). 6:48 pace. 

W&OD westbound. Really slow pace, like 7:18? Probably a little faster than that in reality. It was a really nice morning but on the way out I felt very hypoglycemic and otherwise trashy. Things got better on the way back. 

Last run of 2023. 6:15 pace east on W&OD. Felt tired, but I should probably wait to be worried till I'm doing my normal runs and normal routine. Started to feel better at some point and did 4 x half mile on, half mile off on the way back, with the hard stuff close to 5 minute pace and the easy stuff close to 7 minute pace. I really feel like that's the type of thing I need to do to benefit from long runs in terms of fitness. The other LR I've done in this direction was in lots of snow. This time I made it further (also because I took a more direct route to get there) and I passed by a place I recognized, after passing my previous turn around point. I realized that was the turnaround point when I came from the previous direction nearly 4.5 years ago on my wedding day in 2019. Kind crazy that I still remember that and all. 

Notes: I fell 1/2 mile short of having my first "organic" 70 mile week since finishing college running (on one previous occasion I did it by having two long runs in one week after skipping the prior week). Also, I finished <3 miles off what I did last year and 5 miles off what I did in 2019, I believe. So technically 5th highest year ever, but close to 3rd. (Even though 3165 sounds a lot less than 3500, it's still 60.7 miles per week, compared to 68 or 69). This year was marked by the most consistency I've ever had: my lowest mileage week was in the 30s (last year I was healthy but took time off for surgery, 2021 was also very healthy). It was also my first year that was 100% free of college running, which is why it isn't higher given my health. Anyway, I'm grateful to be able to run.