12 miles 1 hr 44 min. Got caught in a hard rain. Ran to Sanburg home and back.

fran Timberlake LOL

Do a hill repeats workout once a week.  Much better than just running a hilly course. Find a hill about 200 meters long. Do a mile warmup. Up the hill at a fairly hard pace, down easy for recovery, repeat. Do a mile cooldown. Work up to 6 or 8 or more repeats.  This is considered a "hard" workout, so take that into account when planning your week.  This has worked great for me. 

Len

DebM -  The avatar is my Christmas tree. It's a Charlie Brown tree with my race medals and ribbons on it.

HERE's JOHNNY !!!!

Hey guys, Im back!

I ended up taking a full week off after that silly foot pain. It got better each day, but was probably just a small muscle sprain / strain from over use. In the middle of my "recovery week" my other foot had the same complaints. Get it all out of the way now guys - I thought.

Today was a big decline. Last run was 9.5 miles. Tonight I ran 4.8. Speed was decent. 47:09. I still want to get faster. Felt pretty cold and drizzly tonight, but warmed up quickly. Sneakers get too wet too easily. Need ones that resist the puddles a little better.

OC loved seeing the pics, esp the first tracks in the snow. Sorry to hear about your fall in the dark and your subsequent purple knee. Im pretty afraid of running in the dark.

jane nice 2 mile run. Its amazing how fast your body can adapt to doing more.

Debm- sorry to hear about the fall. I agree about justrundan it makes sense that there would be some loss of motivation. Probably partly your bodys way of saying it wants to heal too.

NHLA - wow 12 miles in 1:44? amazing.

One last thing, Im getting a puppy this week. We decided to get a rescue puppy. Its already spade, and I spoke with the woman who has been caring for the dog. She said that it came from a litter of 7, all 7 have been altered and will be going to good homes, and as part of their program they offered the family to spade the mother as well. She is coming in on a transport on Dec 19th, and I plan to pick her up at 3pm. Its just SOOO close to Christmas morning, that Im hoping we can keep a puppy a secret for... 6 days? I think I can. Running is all about taking one day at a time to get to that big goal right? I'll keep you all updated.

Urbster, Lenzlaw - Good to hear from you.

Jeff - I was running in the dark in July, believe it or not.

Easy 3.1 today, 28 minutes. Weather is supposed to be cold and windy tomorrow, so I'll take a rest day. I felt pretty beat today, although it could have been because I ran pretty late, and didn't have breakfast. I've run every day this month, though, 84 miles so far. I need another 54 to do 1200 this year.

Run free!

A few days off this week, but the weather is supposd to continue to be bad all week. Dang. Got our first real snow today. It actually started last night, and it continued spitting all day, for a total of about 5 inches on the ground. Probably no more road running for a while.

Ran a progressive run on the TM after shoveling this afternoon. 7.0 miles, 52:14. Also did another core workout, with a new plank exercise with dumbbells.

Hoping to take my 3-yr. old grandson to the Y pool near his house for a fun swim tomorrow. Weather dependent.

Francessmom...... Say hi to Robin for me.

Jeff.... That spot on his chest looks like a spirit or a ghost.

Coyote.... My marathoner friend posted a picture of her backyard tree last year, "decorated" with about a dozen pairs of running shoes.

JustrunDan... Keep getting it done.

Have nice days, runners.

13.4 mile run on Sunday, and according to the bane.info calculator, I had an average pace of 10:23 per mile.  Recovery day yesterday.  Today I'll see if I can get some lunchtime fartleks on a nearby trail.

Our snowless streak may be coming to an end soon.  I'll believe it when I see it.

Memo to Mother Nature: Dump it all in the Lake.  The water level is really low.

Last run was 6.2 mi on the treadmill last night in 1:13.  That was in part to punish myself for not running outside on Sunday, also to make up for not running outside on Sunday.  I was lucky enough to get out of work 2 hours early so I put it to good use, getting in my long run plus accomplishing some extra chores around home.

My back has started "twinging" the last couple of days around the area of my injury from Jan so I made an appt with the chiro for Thurs.  Hopefully my weak bulging disc is not bulging too badly and I can get it back in line quickly.  I'll be doing some gentler workouts today and tomorrow until I get advice from the doc.  Keeping fingers crossed!!

JustrunDan - I am there with you in the motivation dept.  Winter weather and dimmer light kind of saps my motivation for everything.  Just keep pushing through.  I'll be starting my half training schedule (a few weeks early in case of any interruptions) soon so that will keep me on track.

Jeff, very cute puppy!  She looks like she'll make a good running buddy in a few short months.  So glad you went with a Rescue, there are so many loving animals out there looking for good homes.

OC - Runner's World has been posting many pic's of "running trees" from subscribers.  I don't have enough bling to do that but I think they all look great.  A nice way to celebrate your successes!

In case I'm not back on before then, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!