ogr44 - Saw your message; had questions. Can you reply?

Francessmom -  There are ultras all year, all over the country; although spring and fall are traditional. There's one in Virginia Beach next week, in fact. The JFK 50 miler is in DC; and I've heard of a NYC ultra. See http://www.ultrarunning.com/calendar.html

NHLA - I'd love to run in your neck of the woods. I'd definitely enjoy the deciduous forests. I like conifers, but it's like corn fields after a while. Mile after mile...

Melodylea - Trying to type this with critters on my lap - my two 5 year old tabby boys need to help write, lol!

Easy three this morning. 20 degrees, trace of new snow. I love my Balega wool socks. I dressed well for the conditions; was cold for the first 3/4 mile or so and then just cool. 36.5 miles for the week, highest since my marathon 7 weeks ago, and 4th highest weekly total overall

Run Free!

Hey there everyone!!

Flew back to northern AZ, Saturday, Dec. 9th early evening, no time to run, temps drop by 20 degrees once sun sets.....too dark on the trails too.

Sunday, ran the most flat trail I know but it's still a challenge at 7,300 ft elevation when you just flew in from MN!! 

8.1 miles, slow and easy run, 1:29:40. YAY!!

Don't want to invite injury just because I'm all gung-ho about my trails again, haha!  Kept the motto in mind of:  "too much, too fast, too soon" so took it easy and slow. 

It is soooooo awesome to run my trails again, and be immersed in the elements and nature and solitude.

Spent the rest of the week in my rental car and hotels taking care of business in eastern AZ and western NM.

Decent weather and temps outside but too late to run outside each day, also too many loose dogs in these areas, and don't feel safe running alone on unfamiliar trails.

Monday:  rested.

Tuesday:  9.2 miles on TM, 1:35:20.

Wed.: rested.

Thursday: work schedule took most of the day but I got done and headed home, a 5 hours drive from NM to home in northern AZ, dark by the time I got home, so just counted it as a rest day.

Fri.:  10.1 miles on trail, 1:44:45.

Sat.:  10.2 miles on a more hilly and rocky trail, 1:58:40. Tough but loved it!!

Got call from son-in-law that daughter started having more painful contractions so I decided to head down to PHX for the weekend, to be closer to her just in case the baby arrives earlier than the due date (which I predict), and brought all my training gear to run some desert mountain trails. Will work on endurance due to much lower elevation so I know I can run longer, YAY!!

Getting ready for a 10 miler on the 16th in PHX.

Will be flying back to MN in Jan for a few weeks.

But I hope to run my 3rd marathon sometime in Feb. when I have to be back in AZ for some followup work again.

Been  reading all the posts, sorry too many to respond to but you all are such a motivation for me.

OC:  love your insight and suggestions from your experiences; from one trail runner to another, those technical scrambler/climbing trails are demanding but exhilarating at the same time!  I love them, I ran a 25k, finishing in 2:40, had to climb up from a sandy arroya to the finish line!!

Stay healthy and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Francessmom:  It hasn't been consistently cold enough for ice to form on the lake shore.  Maybe later this month.

No fartleks today: I decided to do some core work.  Save the legs for tomorrow.

MelodyLea congrats on the successful art show!  Love the cold weather running gear.

Old Coyote - I don't know, flat sounds pretty good to me.    As for socks, when it gets cold I love my Smartwool ski socks - they keep my calves nice and toasty

Francesmom - hope DS is feeling better - glad to hear you got that great night's sleep.

Ogr44 - everyone's waiting for winter but won't we all complain when it gets here!

Jeff - good luck with furnace and puppy

NHLA - passed you?  we can't have that - you are our running hero!

az - congrats on the new grandbaby and being back on your beloved trails!

Dan   -  beautiful picture! 

6.5 miles this morning - strongest run in weeks.  Not sure to what to attribute the turn-around:  better fueling?  I had cheerios and a 1/2 cup of coffee 30 mins pre-run  the iron pills kicking in?  I've been good.  better stretching?  I did some yoga this morning too.  Definitely not due to a good night's sleep. Miles 1 and 2 were at 10:40 and 10;30 respectively, and then the GPS went askew (I did not run mile 5 in 7:42 hahaha no) I also didn't run 7.30 miles total - verified 6.5 miles at overall pace of 11:06 m/m.  Included some trails around the pond - not like where I go hiking with the dog that are way to tough for me to run - these trails were not too rocky/root-y/unstable for me and my weak ankles -  I'll do these trails as often as I can.

Hopefully this bodes well for upcoming runs. 

Happy running all!

Is it sprain? If it is sprain you really need to rest, apply ice  compress on the injured part for 5 minutes then elevate it.

Melody - congratulations on your successful show!  Loved your pic,  you really look like a 'scary ninja'!

NHLA - "He must not know who I am" made me laugh.  Good thing you Showed Him!

JustRunDan - great pic, sort of looks like that around here too.

Jeff CT - +1 to OC's comments.  Feet must be taken care of!

Saturday's Jingle Bell Run was great, we had beautiful weather and all the members of my team were very nice (I had not met some of them before this).  We all tried to start close together, turns out I ran the whole race with a girl from the team who I also work with.  When we got to the finish we discovered they actually did have a timing clock running (nothing official but at least a good estimate).  Our time was either 33:28 or 33:38 I don't remember, but that's about as fast as I've ever done a 5k.  I guess running with someone does help.  Then I went back up the route to find my friend Lori and ran with her to the finish, as I have done every time we sign up for an event together.  I hope everyone else had as good a time as I did!

Sunday my friend called and had to drop out of our planned run/walk so I went on my own, planning for just a short run since I had done the race.  About a mile into it the snow began; by the time I hit mile 3 the wind picked up too so I just headed for home.  4.25 miles in the first snow to stay on the ground here.

Ran a decent 4 miles yesterday morning. I bought a new pair of Under Armor tights on eBay auction ($30.)! By far my favorite running tights. So warm and stretchy. Tomorrow I hope to start a streak od four runs back to back.

degregorius Save those legs.

Old Coyote **High Fives** on the sub 20 degree runnin'. "I want to run that one and volunteer at the Dirty 30 in 2013." <~ Smart move! LOVE those sweet Tabbys. Give them a rub under the chin for me.

Francessmom I hope your son feels better soon. Glad the new shoes get a thumbs up. I hate having my ears cold, so I put on a hat for temps below 50. You can always remove a hat too.

Ogr44 Smart man sticking to the rehab plan.

JEFF CT Plantar fasciitis perhaps? I concur with rest as a wise choice. I also like to ice any painful spots.

NHLA "He must not know who I am. " <~ LOL!! For sure.

az2mn Congrats on the new grand baby to be!!!

justrundan Beautiful snow!

Debm2011 Thanks. Re: art show and my Ninja gear. So happy to hear you had a strong run.

OshCat Yep, scary ninja...that's me! The Jingle Bell Run sounds wonderful.

jmsab - I grieve with you. I've been exactly there, and it still hurts, and I still wouldn't trade a second of my time with that beautiful dog to avoid all the pain.

Yesterday after my run I scratch-made whole wheat buttermilk panckes and ate standing up as they came off the griddle. I had a bar set up with real butter (do I need to specify?), peanut butter, preserves, molasses, honey, and...nutella. NOTE: I am a trained professional. Signs of nutella intoxication may include a seemingly irresistable urge to consume the other half of the jar.

Decided yesterday afternoon that I was due a true rest day, streak or no. The last 9 days have all been 5K or longer, and there've 2 hard group trail runs and a road race in that time. So I did 10 minutes of step aerobics on the Nintendo wii fit, and marked it as a mile in my log. It's my log, I can do what I want. Streak continues!