Staying On Pace

Even though I lost both my scheduled repeat workouts this week I kept myself on pace for another 60 mile week.
W/ another 10 miler on tap today I set off just b4 noon,a combination of a lie in till 10.40am{yeah I know,lazy little toe rag but I had just worked my first 5 day work week in five weeks}plus I wanted to let the mercury rise a little.
It's amazing to cross the Schuylkill River on South Street bridge and see it frozen in large areas,you know it's cold when the river is frozen!

Full credit to whoever clears off the Schuylkill Banks and Kelly and West River drives after any of the recent snowfalls,I'm not the only runner out there on a daily basis so kudos to the powers that be for helping like minded souls such as myself for being able to get out there day after day....maybe I could ask a couple of them to clear off the Temple track for me!!!

The question of the day tomorrow is what time do I do my 16 miler?the conventional 10.30am may still be a little on the brisk side plus Spurs play Man Utd at 11am,so holding off until 1pm might work out better all around,I have a free afternoon so a slightly later start isn't the be all and end all.....six months from now I'll no doubt be getting up early to beat the heat.....something to ponder as we're half way through January.

Smarter Than The Average Possum

Having remained on pace for a 60 mile week I had a choice today another 8 miler today and a 12 miler tomorrow,or 10 miles today,10 miles tomorrow,either way by tomorrow I'd be at 44 miles w/ a 16 miler on Saturday.

Today wasn't as cold as predicted or as yesterday for that matter,however I was taking no chances as I doubled up on gloves and socks and threw on a hooded sweatshirt over my jacket,frankly I didn't need them,as I passed trusty Peco Tower on the inbound leg I saw 31 degrees,yesterday began at 29 but ended at 28 degrees.

I toyed w/ making today another 8 miler to combat the so called colder conditions and utilizing having all day tomorrow to go longer to make up for it but aside from being warmer I also ducked out of work 20 mins earlier today,normally I'm the poster child for milking the clock for all it's worth but I felt it prudent to duck out a little earlier today and get the 10 miler in,I need to get back into the routine of 10 milers plus tomorrow I have a project on tap for the afternoon that will be time consuming so 10 milers today and tomorrow over 8 and 12 free up a little more precious time tomorrow.

Today was my first 5 day work week in five weeks due to days off and the holidays,and it could be the last one for a few weeks,I'm off next Friday after the 5,000m at The Armory,the following Friday is Millrose and it looks like I could be going after all{more on that to come}the following week I could be on my way to Boston for the Masters Mile at the Reebok Games{more on that to come also} and then the following week it's week #3 of the Thursday Nite Series and another Friday off.

Brass Monkeys

Strewth it was brass monkeys out there this evening but in fairness a month ago I ran in 24 degree temps w/ falling snow in much darker conditions so 29 degrees today was quite balmy compared to Dec 16th.
Conditions underfoot weren't too bad,who knows I may've been able to run yesterday after all but since I get a rest day these days taking it yesterday seemed logical.
I'm still on pace for a 60 mile week,either another eight miler followed by a twelve miler on Saturday or going ten and ten,either way I'd be at 44 miles on Saturday going in to Sunday and a 16 miler,granted another week w/out repeats but hopefully by next Saturday either Temple or Lower Merion's track will be clear and I can resume repeats or at least do some hill repeats.

Somebody Said We Got Snow Last Nite??

I figured since a run was out of the question today I'd cheer myself up w/ a photo of my current "uber babe"Krystal Forscutt.....suddenly the snow and the prospect of no running don't seem so bad after all!!!

I discovered the Aussie beauty by accident,there was a link on Facebook for Hot Australian Women and this photo showed up,following some "extensive" research{don't judge me!!} I was able to put a name to the face and the considerable body of an angel.

One question lingers?on one website Krystal was tagged as the second sexiest women in Australia......who's #1 for christsake???

If anyone has the answer I'd be curious to know....

Final thought/flight of considerable fantasy if Krystal and I got married she wouldn't have to change her initials....just trying to keep things practical!!!

The Calm B4 The Storm

W/ yet another winter storm working its way up the east coast it was important to get out there tonite and log some miles,there's a very good chance tomorrow will be shot,they're calling for between 4 and 8 inches so I would imagine tomorrow won't happen and maybe even Thursday but let's take one day at a time and see what I'm faced w/ when I get up in the morning.

Another 8 miler,this one at my regular time of 4.40pm,as I reached Franklin Field the first tell tale flakes of snow began to come down,that said they seemed to stop b4 I reached the turnaround on the Schuylkill Banks and held off until after I got home,however it's coming down now.
I'm resigned to not being able to run tomorrow between Friday and Saturday's snow we got just over an inch which didn't hinder a run Sunday,I sense we'll get more tonite and tomorrow is a long shot at best,a day off won't kill me.

Back To Normal.....Whatever The Hell That Is!

Able to run,able to blog,it's all good,shame work sucked,but in the words of Meatloaf"Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad''!!
Cranked out an easy 8 miler,was tempted to make it 10 given we're about to get more sodding snow and I'll probably lose a few days but frankly if we do get snow and I do lose a couple of days then upping today's scheduled 8 miler to a 10 miler isn't going to make a can of beans worth of difference.
As for the snow,I think the proverbial cheque is in the mail it's a question of how much and for how long,thanks to my fellow"dingademeon" Sean I know the track at Temple is still snowed under{Jaysus do I have to take a feckin' broom and shovel down there and clear it myself?!!}so my scheduled 8x800m is out and probably Saturday's 12x400m also so maybe I should just focus on mileage given I could lose a few days,or try and get some hill repeats in somewhere,all things to consider tomorrow.

Weekend Update

First up apologies for the tardiness of my blog entries,between being stuck at the longest track meet in the history of mankind on Saturday and having a battle w/ my pc yesterday as to who could be more temperamental{the pc may've won yesterday but long term I'm more likely to wear that crown....seriously if the Olympics had a contest for being temperamental I'd win the gold for Ireland by a country mile!!}it's only now I'm getting around to blogging.

Saturday,sweet jesus,I thought Summer Solstice was months off,mid June,I left home at 7.45am and returned at 7pm,all this for a race that only takes 57 seconds....and considerable insult to injury as of this morning the official results still aren't posted...as Chuck commented"maybe the meet is still going on"....at the pace they were moving Saturday that's a real probability.
I arrived at the University Of Delaware just after 10am....and didn't run till just after 4pm....six frickin hours.....seriously are you shittin me???
I recall going to PGI in Landover a few years ago and waiting forever to run and vowing never to return for that meet well frankly this meet can join that.
Don't get me wrong I think it's great high school kids want to run,they are after all the future of our sport but if that's the case run two meets,one for high schoolers one for open and masters athletes because to sit around for 6 hours to wait to run your event is a joke,christ only knows what time the 800m or 3,000m went off.....maybe they're still going on??

As best as I know I ran a high 57,maybe low 58 for the 400m,not fast enough to make it on to the Millrose Games A team that's for sure,am I disappointed?sure but I said way back in mid August if I didn't make either the Millrose or Penn relay squads it wouldn't be the end of the world for me,and I stand by that comment now in early January in the harsh light of day that at best I'll only make it to Madison Square Garden on Jan 28th IF we get a b team accepted in to the event,I'd be surprised if lightning struck twice in the same place like it did a year ago.
Being realistic,Millrose Games owes me nothing,I've been fortunate to run on that track four times,race there three times and have a Millrose Games medal in my collection and frankly running 50/60 miles a week now to get ready for worlds in July doesn't afford me 55/56 second 400m speed in early January,I've only managed four repeats since December 13th,I lost two last week and obviously w/ two races on tap this week I couldn't get any in this week.

Yesterday I awoke to frigidly sub zero temps and the prospect of my 16 milers at 10.30am was not warming the cockles of my heart....or anywhere else for that matter,I ended up running 11 miles in the afternoon,having spent an entire day at Delaware on Saturday had seriously eaten into my chores,thank god I'd had Friday off to get a jump start on things.
Frankly the late start to my run meant a two hour 16 miler was pushing it if I wanted to knock out the domestic chores of food shopping and laundry but after some considerable thought an 11 miler to round me out at 50 miles for the week in a week w/ two races isn't so bad.
Of course w/ another bout of snow on tap it remains to be seen what kind of mileage I can manage this coming week.
This is the weekend update,I'm not Dennis Miller