Snow, Snow, Why Can't I Ride in the Snow?

Well even if I don't understand why, I still can't so I had to do a trainer workout during Cole's nap. I chose Time Trial 10.0 and did it ever kick my ass. Super spins, ladder time trial efforts (>100 cadence at 5 different gear ratios for 5,4,3,2,1 and then again for 3,2,1), throw in a few one-legged drills and this was the hardest workout of the new year. Really exhausted by the end! Felt pretty good and really feel like I got a good workout in. Great effort, but need to remember to take it easy tomorrow. Of course with 5-6 inches of snow, that shouldn't be too difficult!

Quick run between experiments

Had an hour to wait for an experiment to finish, so I decided to hop over to the gym for a quick run around base in the interim. Felt pretty good, but had to do two laps around to get in >4 miles and also had an issue with the GPS not recording for the first 0.45 miles. However, finished with a pace of about 7:49 min/mile overall, this despite the insane winds along the waterfront.

Treadmill Track Workout.

I forgot my running pants today, so I decided to try to do the track workout at the gym on the treadmill instead. I guess I overestimated my abilities, because I started off trying to do a 6 min/mile and had to quit after 2x800s. Teach me to shoot for the stars eh? Crap workout for a crap day.

First trainer workout of the new year.

Wow... hard to imagine, but this is actually my first trainer workout this year! Lack of motivation is a bad thing. Anyway, in an effort to punish myself for being so lazy with the bike, I decided to do the hardest workout I have, Suffer-O-Rama. Of course the pessimist in me would now say that this will ensure that I won't do another trainer workout for a long while, but we won't listen to him. I actually felt really good, lots of sprint work, a couple TT efforts and a decent amount of time out of the saddle. Legs are toast now, but it is good being tired. I finally broke down and ordered a new heart rate monitor so hopefully I can start getting that data again soon.

Family 'long' run.

Yesterday there was a model train convention up at the Dulles Expo center and with Cole in LOVE with trains right now, we decided to take him up to see it. Unfortunately, this meant that despite it being sunny and in the 50's, we didn't get to go for a run. However, we had a great time, got to hang out with the Labries and Adairs and then went to the silent auction our church put on. So overall it was really nice. Because we missed our run yesterday and the rain today was for the most part holding off, we got out for a 6 miler around 10 with the little guy. The weather held and we kept the pace around 8 min/mile, finishing in 48:19 overall. Felt pretty good and I wore my toe socks today and they worked really well, so my fears that they were causing blisters appears to be unfounded. Good run overall.

5K Time Trial BABEEE!

I missed running yesterday because I was in the clean room all day, so rather than take the risk that another full day of experiments would keep me from getting exercise in, I decided to go to the gym before work and do a treadmill 5K time trial. I started off with a 1 mile warmup in 8:30 or so and then hit the restroom, stretched and set the speed to 9.0 mph and ran a 5K, picking it up to 9.1 a couple times, finishing with a time of 20:36, my fastest 5K ever! Felt pretty decent, a bit drained at the end, but I did just set a 5K PR by almost an entire minute!!! Started off what turned out to be a pretty darn good day!

Run at Bolling.

Had a pretty crappy day and needed to get out for a run. Hopped over to the base after work and got going, felt ok, not great, but ok. Got the 6 2/3 miles in in 52:30. It was pretty insane how much goose poop was on the trail.... UGH... Tired and not much more to write.

Hangover and running… NOT FUN.

So we had a bar day for my buddy Nabil yesterday as his last free day preparenthood. After much drinking, some petron and lots of football, Betsy drove me home. This of course led to a really terrible nights sleep and a twisted stomach. I now remember why I don't go out drinking anymore. Anyway, we went for a short 4 mile run this morning, not worry about the pace at all. Pushing Cole added an extra level of difficulty and I did have to stop to take off my long sleeve jersey at one point and then my running pants at another. However, I definitely feel much better now that I went and got shower in, so all in all it was still a good idea.

Hilly weekend run.

Got out for a 'long' run, only 7 miles, but with the hills felt like a bit more! Got out on a new course, this one out Farmington Rd, which drops down a steep hill. I did two out and backs on side roads, seeing some nice scenery and heading out to the Potomac. Of course when you run down a steep hill, you have to climb back out, and this of course was no exception, with three separate hills with grades of 13, 12 and 16%, ugh... Anyway, I averaged just under 8 min/mile for the 7 miles and felt relatively good. Unfortunately, with Betsy's back hurting her, she couldn't get out for a run today, despite the nice weather.

Family Run... Finally decent weather!

Well the cold spell finally broke. With temps stretching up to the 50's and me taking an early afternoon after a long week, Betsy and I decided to take Cole on a short 4 mile recovery run. Felt a bit rough, tightness in my back and legs, and shoulder soreness, but overall it wasn't too bad. Betsy appears to have hurt her back somehow though... We kept the pace to about 8:10 min/mile, getting progressively quicker in miles 3 and 4. Not the greatest run ever, but it was wonderful to get out for a run with my baby boy again!!!

Frigid run with Mike...

Well I did it, I finally forced myself to get out for a run in this crappy weather. It was about 20 degrees today with pretty strong winds, but we got out for the 10k loop. Felt ok throughout, put in the run at a 8:07 min/mile pace. The heat in the locker room wasn't working though, so we got back to a freezing change... at least we have hot water. But how could I expect anything more, this is the same gym with a 6 lane lap pool filled with water that we aren't allowed to swim in...

Birthday Run with Betsy!

So we made a deal with Greg and Heather that they would watch Cole for us and we would watch their three girls so we could each go for a nice afternoon run. It was really nice with Betsy and I getting out for about 5 miles, keeping a really nice 7:51 min/mile pace despite neither of us having gotten a good nights sleep since before we left. Apparently sleeping in the same room with Cole is not conducive to a sound nights sleep. Oh well. It was a decent run to end the year. For the year I got in over a 1000 miles running and biking, alot of hiking, broke 4 hours in a marathon (3:46 in Atlanta), set a PR and won my age group in an olympic triathlon and raised a good bit of money for MaryPaytonsMiracle with help from all my sponsors! I am looking forward to raising money for them again next year, hopefully doing better than this year! Hope 2009 was a good year for all and 2010 is even better! Best wishes!