The Next Step

Back home from a weekend visiting the family for Christmas. Last week was definitely a rest week with a grand total of 13 miles. This week plan to get back to running every day (except Christmas) and then next week should be back to normal running. Today it was very cold (-1) and windy so stayed inside on the treadmill. I am really itching to get outside and looks like it will be better tomorrow so hopefully I can get out. Felt good today and ran easy. Increased the pace as I get along.

47:27 (7:55 avg)

We had another ice storm today. I was going out to get the mail and slipped and fell on the ice. Landed on my right hip which didn't feel the best. Thought it would be ok so about an hour later started running on the treadmill but it was hurting pretty bad so cut the run short and iced it. It was swelled up into a nice sized knot. I will probably end up with a bruise but I think it will be ok. Hopefully can get in a full run tomorrow. Luckily I am in rest mode anyway so no big set back on the training. I will definitely be more careful the rest of the winter. It didn't look that bad out but a layer of ice mixed in with some rain made it really slick. A great night to stay home play games and watch movies with the kids. I am glad I have the Christmas shopping done.

The hip was still sore and swollen today. I tried running some on the treadmill but only went about a 1/4 of mile since the hip was hurting. I don't want to do anything stupid at this point so just decided to take it easy today and tomorrow then be ready to go again on Friday. We have a lot of family activities going anyway. We are making a gingerbread house, baking cookies, going to our churches Christmas eve service then afterward will go around looking at Christmas lights. After that will try to get the kids to sleep at a decent hour to be ready for Christmas. This is definitely a great family time!

I hope everyone has a great Christmas!!

I finally got back outside again. It was 36 with drizzle but felt great to get outside. Santa was good to me since my wife got me a Garmin watch. It was great to try it out as well. I found out my standard 8 mile run is 8.04 miles. Glad it is a little long since I would have felt like I was cheating if I had found out it was short. My hip felt better today but was probably good that I took a couple of days off. It swelled up pretty good and I have a dark bruise about the size of a football on my hip. It felt fine running and should be back to normal in a few days. The legs felt great today but I guess that shouldn't be a surprise since I have been resting so much. Looking forward to getting back on schedule though.

Christmas was great for our family. I feel truly blessed with our family. I have a great wife and two great kids. We had a great time playing games watching movies and checking out our new stuff. It was also a great time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas and we really enjoyed Christmas eve candle light communion service, reading the Christmas story together and each of us shared what we were going to give of our self to God during the next year. I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

1:04:28 (8:04 avg)

It was an unseasonably warm day (60) and very windy. Just did an easy run today. I felt a little stiff/tight getting started. Probably because I haven't ran much lately and did the 8 miles on the road yesterday. I was hoping to go longer but my run was the only thing standing between my teenage daughter and the mall. I had promised to take her and a friend this morning so cut the run off at 8. Next week I will try to get back to a normal week of somewhere around 60 miles. Also, will be deciding what I want to do next year so I can get my training structured depending on the distance that I will focus on.

63:14 (7:54 avg)