Getting back to Boston

Did 30K this morning in three hours and pushed pretty hard to do that. But it's done. Only 207ish to get to 2000.

Finally got out at almost 3 and did my recovery run. Felt good enough to stretch it to 9ish; need those extra miles and tenths to get to 2014 or especially 2055. Kept t low and slow until the last mile, still barely under 10:30 average. That's fine, just wanted to work out the kinks from yesterday's 18+.

I sat down today and did my training plan for May (Toronto?). A 20-week plan needs to start a week from Sunday, so none too soon. Plugged in an off week for the ski trip and for GP races I may throw in along the way. I'll need to make sure I included enough miles to get to my 2014 goal(s).

Out in the mist with the crack o' chickens crew. Slow, slower, but got it done, stretching out to 9 with two loops around the lake. Thought about hill sprints but legs were kinda iffy since yesterday's run ended at 4:30 p.m. Maybe hill sprints tomorrow, or intervals or something.

Sore. Tight. Humid. Rainy, Traffic. Just generally yuck. Got 7 done anyway, somehow. Don't think I'll be doing 15 in the morning though.

Nocturnal 13 after yet another inadequate night/day of sleep. Legs were OK after taking Saturday off and handled hills well including Leigh, 58th and Duncan. Pace was slowish, above 10, but that's what I wanted. Then I came home and ordered bowl game tickets. Hope they come through; StubHub is gonna suck.

Eight mile progression run in late afternoon. Still stiff initially from last night's 13 but loosened up and picked up the pace in the last 4. 

Treadmill progression run, cranked down to <8:00 pace for the last half-mile. Broke in the newest pair of Altras which were fine as expected. Felt just like the last pair on Instincts did on their first treadmill run. Started before midnight, finished after, so the last 1.7 go on Friday.

Conclusion of the midnight treadmill run from Tuesday. Got the last 0.5 at basically a threshold pace (about 7:54)

Got in 11ish this afternoon before work. Started out around 10:00 pace, loosened up a bit, breeze in my face helped, and I started dropping the pace, then hammered the last 1.6. Trying to work on knee lift when I accelerate, which will require some hip flexor work in the next 20 weeks. Gotta get them where they won';t fold up on my in the last 10K, unlike Utah. 

Easy 8 this morning after work to get back on the morning run schedule. Kind of a tough double with 11 last night finishing at 6 and starting 8 at 7:10, but got it done and actually felt pretty good at 10:00 pace.

Tomorrow gets me to 14,000 miles since I restarted my running life on 7/8/07. It continues to surprise me that I've stuck with it this long. Yes, I like that it keeps my weight (mostly) under control, and I like the afterglow of a good run, but it's still not easy to get myself out there day after day after week after month. And you have to figure that I've averaged somewhere in the high-9 range for most of those miles, which means well over 2000 hours running in the last 7.5 years. Probably more than 250 hours a year. Yikes!

Slogged it out for two hours and got past the 14,000 mile mark. Took me forever to get loose enough just to run 10:00 pace, but kept going.

Tested the groin niggle in the cold rain. It did fine. The rest of me didn't. Mud along the sidewalk absolutely sucked the shoe off my right foot at one point. Missed the gang on the Christmas lights run and ended up doing my own loop around UAFS, plus running to and from campus. I don't know if I'll get out there at 5:15 am in this weather, but the flexors are OK

Between not much sleep and graduation stuff with T, missed another day yesterday. So I did two days' worth today with a pretty steady 15.5 on the loop around Ben Geren. GI tract was not entirely cooperative but a well-timed creek bed was just the ticket :) No further issues after that. Folks will be here in 90 minutes or so and we go up for the dinner tonight and graduation tomorrow. I'll be glad when all this is over. Kinda stressing about dealing with Pam and Lil tonight. I suppose everyone will be civil but I'd rather not think about it anyway.

Tempo run on the mill after another URD yesterday thanks to graduation and no sleep before graduation. Run went OK, didn't have any trouble holding 7.3 mph and could have gone farther/faster. Added another 2 miles of cooldown to help make up for yesterday's slacking. It's getting tougher to get to 2K, much less 2014, with each day of slacking, and it will be very hard to get a run in on the 29th unless I do it at work before we leave (which is possible). So my other runs will have to get stretched a bit to compensate, I guess. Or I'll end up doing 22 on the 31st. Or both.

A double on the mill today: Eight miles right before work, 6.16 during, with >MP work thrown in at the end of both. Just felt pretty good during the second session and the nurses (largely) left me alone, so stretched it from 4 to 6+. Two miles closer to the goal...

Nine Festivus miles at dusk. Not sure if that was a feat of strength or an airing of grievances, but I got them done. I'll try to run in the morning and get back on my AM schedule, which I will need to get any running done around the trip to Houston.

No life in the legs at all after an afternoon run yesterday and a 2 a.m. strength workout. Not too surprising. Finally loosened a little in the last three miles but still was over 12:00 average. Just got it done though. Maybe more life tomorrow after 22 hours of rest.

Actually got a little sleep at work, legs felt pretty good, so I stretched the run out to 16. Never looked at pace, just kept going at a comfortable speed. Weather was sunny and cold, very little wind, not bad at all. Hands got a little cold running into the wind on Zero but that didn't last long and I never put the gloves back on. Got back, opened my one Christmas present, now to shower and sleep before holiday dinner (breakfast?) at Denny's.

Recovery 8 after work. Legs fairly heavy so I settled on run a mile, walk a minute, and that worked OK. I was able to pick up the pace to sub-10 on the running segments later on but saw no need to push or eliminate the walks,.

Progression run in the sprinkles after work. Kept it slow and steady for the first 8 miles or so and then picked it up on Phoenix. Since today is Three Bridges, thought a lot about Jacob.

Tempo run after work. Uphill for the first 4.3; busted it on the Old Greenwood downhill and kept busting it when I got on the flat. Felt pretty good. Legs were too tired after nearly 80 miles last week to go sub-BQP but it was darn close. Needed to get this done so I don't have to cram in long runs around the trip to Houston to reach the mileage goal for the year. Tomorrow will take me over 2000 miles which was goal #1, and 2014 won't be a problem. Not gonna get to 2055 though to top last year.

Treadmill run at 3:45 a.m., in and around pages (six to be exact). Was left alone for the last 30 minutes or so and cranked it down to >BQP. Unremarkable run, really, except that it put me over 2000 miles for the year, which I think is the fifth or sixth time in 7.5 years of running that I've hit 2K. Maybe one of these years I'll hit 3K... well, maybe not. But the legs are behaving, and the base building I've been doing for the past 2+ months has me feeling stronger than I have in a long time. Maybe I can really go for a BQ in May.

Wrapped up the year with a chilly cruise. Got my 2014 and 1.75 extra for good measure. December was 241 miles. Going into 2015 on a high note and we'll see what it brings. A BQ? Or two? Good race in Germany? Three or more marathons?