12.4 miles from work rio grande-south. planned workout aborted. i gave it a go but it was quickly evident that today was not a good day to run hard. a week with this cold and poor sleep. 8:53 avg.

WT 52.6 miles

three forty-two

4 easy miles with Loki in the wind on the buffalo ranch trail.

WT 51.6 miles

three forty-three

8 miles / 8:17 avg. from work. north east/hills. splits: 8:52, 8:41, 8:33, 8:25, 8:06, 8:13, 7:51, 7:43

WT 52.4 miles

three forty-four

10 miles / 8:34 avg. after work on the LPT (4 pm). first five miles @ 9:05 avg, second five miles @ 8:03 avg. good negative split gained mostly by pushing a little harder through miles 6, 7, 8 (7:58, 7:50, 7:40). good late day run. nice light rain sprinkle and warm temps.

WT 56.4 miles

three forty-five

6 miles after work (6pm) on the buffalo ranch trail. dark, light mist rain, no wind, temps in the low 40's. i've never run this loop in the dark before. i was looking forward to it because for a two mile stretch on the west side of the trail there's nothing; no power lines, no buildings or lights, nothing but land, marsh, coyotes and quietude between me and antelope island off in the distance. i have to admit my heart gave a little flutter when i saw a dark, hulking figure walking ahead of me at one point (i seldom see anyone there on perfect summer mornings! let alone rainy winter nights). i was instantly relieved when i got close enough to see it was just some dude with a large backpack and rifle strapped to his back. i muttered my manliest greeting as i ran by him.

WT 59.4 miles

three forty-six

10.5 miles / easy, foggy commute run to work. 

WT 57.9 miles

three forty-seven

3.3 miles from work. chilly.

WT 54.2 miles

three forty-eight

5 miles from the house with Loki on leash. lagoon loop.

WT 46.8 miles

three forty-nine

8.2 miles easy on the LPT. fartleked my way through the last 3 miles. 8:43 avg.

WT 51 miles

three fiddy

7.3 miles from work. 20 x 30 second hill reps on golden ave.

WT 50.3 miles

three fiddy-one

10 miles around the hoods near work - north east style. 8:50 avg.

WT 50.3 miles

tree fiddy-two

12 miles on 12/12/12. from work - rio grande south. i started the run at 12:12 pm

WT 56.3 miles

three fifty-three

6 miles. not sleeping lately so no morning runs, and no lunch run today (too busy). so i ran after work, in the dark, on the MFT, with Loki. short and easy progression run. splits: 9:26, 9:18, 8:51, 8:26, 8:00, 7:36

WT 51.8 miles

three fifty-four

easy 5 before work.

WT 53.5 miles

three fifty-five

3 miles from home around the hood with Loki on leash. really nice weather for running. wish i had been up for more miles today. thus ends (hopefully) my big "break" for the year. i'd like to end 2012 on a higher mileage (70+) note. we'll see.

WT 51.5 miles

three fifty-six

7.3 miles on the buffalo ranch trail. mile 4@7:01, mile 6@7:47. everything else much easier.

WT 50.6 miles

three fifty-seven

9 miles from work - rio grande south. headwind out, tailwind back. 8:45 avg.

WT 52.3 miles

three fifty-eight

easy 8 from work - north east (hilly).

WT 50.3 miles

three fifty-nine

8 miles on the MFT/LPT after work in the dark with Loki. off leash. because i knew that no one in their right mind would be on the parkway trail on such a cold dark night...

first long pants run of the season.

WT 46.3 miles

three sixty

10 miles / 8:15 avg. one mile boardwalk loops at the nature preserve. progression run. splits: 9:13, 8:53, 8:43, 8:42, 8:10, 7:57, 7:49, 7:29, 7:14, 8:15

WT 50.3 miles

three sixty-one

5.4 easy miles for lunch. from work. somehow i've gotten this middle aged body to turn over 3,000 miles so far for the year.

WT 50.7 miles

three sixty-two

13 easy fair weather miles on the LPT. after the first 6 sluggish miles i did 25 x 1 min hard/easy, with the hard minute@10k pace. after the 10th and 20th interval i took two easy minutes instead of one. 3:15 negative split.

WT 60.7 miles

three sixty-three

8.2 miles from home - medium western loop. sad pace. incredible weather to be running in two days before Christmas.

WT 61.6 miles

three sixty-four

3 miles on the LPT after work in a driving wind/snow. 

WT 55.6 miles

three sixty-five

10 miles on the MFT/LPT with Loki. didn't get started until 6:00 pm. all the sugary crud i've eaten these last couple of days manifest itself in the slowest 10 miler of the year for me.

WT 54.6 miles

three sixty-six

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

10 miles. started at 4 pm from my house and ran to work. majority of the run was on unplowed parkway with 6-8 inches of fresh snow. hard effort netted me a 10:30 avg pace! one of the hardest runs this year.

WT 59.6 miles

three sixty-seven

4 miles after work on the MFT. two days of Extreme Snow Removal has me short on time and energy.

WT 53.6 miles

three sixty-eight

8 miles / 8:10 avg.  progression on the MFT. sun was out. nice to run in shorts, sans jacket. splits: 9:10, 8:55, 8:29, 8:10, 7:47, 7:31, 7:24, 8:00

WT 56.2 miles

three sixty-nine

easy 8 on the roads of west farmington (light traffic, rural landscape). 24F and sun felt comfortable in shorts, two layer top, gloves and hat. 9:05 avg.

WT 51.2 miles

three seventy

10.3 miles / big western loop from home. outstanding running weather.

WT 53.3 miles

three seventy-one

6 miles on the bluff trail from jensen park. kind of a crap run. i've been fighting a cold off and on since just after Thanksgiving, and not sleeping well and it's catching up with me. fortunately though, i have achieved my goal of RUNNING EVERY SINGLE DAY IN 2012, so i'll be taking tomorrow off. i'll write up a recap of the year, with fun stats and stuff later. but i just want to say now that each and every mile logged on my blog is an actual running mile, as opposed to a converted - i took my dogs for a hike - i went shopping at the mall - mile. all of my miles have been run outside as well (i haven't been on a treadmill in over three years. i kind of miss the treadmill for the great speed work!). this has been by far the most miles i've run in a one year period. this year also included my highest mileage month (August - 352 miles) and pr's in the half and full marathon. i am so grateful with how well everything went this year, and that i've stayed relatively healthy and injury free. i'm very grateful for Fast Running Blog, which really adds an element of fun to being a runner, and is an invaluable source of experience and information.

3,083.3 miles for the year. about 8.4 mile a day avg. 59 mile a week avg.

i took advantage of my one mile a day requirement just once, in january after some dental work i had done. i waited until evening and ran a gentle mile on the track. my longest run was the Salmon marathon @ 26.2 miles.

here's a breakdown of how many days i ran each specific distance. a whole number reflects a range of that number through .9. for example any days that i ran 10 to 10.9 miles i simply record as "10" .

miles    #days

  1        1

  2        7

  4        35

  5        31

  6        33

  7        36

  8        45

  9        10

10        59

11        18

12        24

13        11

14        13

15        2

16        4

17        3

18        6

19        1

20        3

26.2     1

this breakdown makes clear that i need to work a lot more long running into my training! it also shows that i really like 10 mile runs. also, 220 days were LESS than 10 miles per day, 145 days were 10 or MORE miles per day.

running everyday really put me in tune with my body. i learned that my muscles have very short term memory, thus i kept my mileage pretty high right up until the marathon i ran in september, running 72 miles the week before (off a peak of 85 miles), i always thought long drastic tapers were more harm than good, and ending the week of the marathon, including the race, with 65 miles. i put in a 40 mile week following the marathon and felt great. i'm strong, i just need to figure out how to conjure some speed out of my body. so my focus in 2013 will be on endurance and speed. go figure.

i also learned that for me, minor injuries, pains, niggles etc. are better served with active rest, ie; short easy runs, rather than complete inactivity.

i also learned that excuses are basically lame. i know now that if i want to run, i will. if i don't want to run, i won't. simple.

up until october i was feeling really good about how easy it was to run everyday, and believed i was going to breeze through the year. around the middle of october i started feeling some burnout, mental burnout. but it was minor and easy to deal with each day. except one morning when i had changed into my running clothes and sat down...for twenty minutes...just not wanting to move, not wanting to step out the door and run. it was probably the hardest time i've ever had getting going. i wasn't sore or injured, or even tired, i just had no will to get going. it was a little spooky. luckily, it was during a full moon (or big moon anyway), and i happened to look out the window and saw this huge orange moon just hanging low in the western sky, something about that sight just made me jump out of the chair and out the door. as is the case in 99% of my runs, i felt terrific after just a few steps, and my little drama was quickly forgotten. that morning illustrated for me the fact that you've just got to get going, moving, without thinking about it, no matter how unwilling the mind and body feel. almost without fail the body and mind instantly jump on board and go with you, but you're the one who has to start. often times the only way to start is to just turn off the brain and go through the motions - once you're out there, everything falls into place.

that being said, i did struggle with motivation these last few weeks. a combination of winter weather, sleep issues associated with a couple of colds in a row, and my brain insisting on principle that it deserved a day off if it wanted one, made finishing up with the goal not as pleasant as i thought it was going to be back in september when i was riding high.

i made this goal because i've always slacked. the previous three years on this blog before 2012, i was taking an average of 80+ days off a year. i knew the only way to get more consistent was to make the goal of running everyday. like most things in life, once you make a choice to do something, everything sort of works in your favor towards accomplishing that goal. even with the many obstacles thrown my way during the year, regular life stuff, the fact that i would run each day was never in question. however, if i hadn't wanted to run each day, i wouldn't have.

now that i've completed my goal of running everyday in 2012, i plan on taking it real easy for most of january. like real easy. i anticipate several days off and maybe 120-150 miles for the month. then february i'll start training up for the moab 1/2 in the middle of March. i will hopefully run a marathon this year too - but don't plan on entering any other races. i'm hoping that i can stay consistent (after january) throughout the year, continue to increase my mileage and improve my speed. i'm planning on really giving racing a serious effort in 2014. i'll turn fifty years old in April of 2014 and want to do well in my age group at that point.

well, this is getting long winded and indulgent. i applaud anyone who has read this tale of mediocrity all the way through. hopefully in the next couple of years i'll have some real running accomplishments (much faster 1/2 and full marathons!) to report on.

WT 56.3 miles

three seventy-two