Into Week 3

Running in different climates this week, that's for sure.  My run in Mesa, Arizona was very memorable indeed.  Especially when compared to my run in Bellingham on Sunday.  13 miles with 8 miles at marathon pace.  Since we planned on celebrating Christmas around noon when Erin arrived, I got up and out in the morning.  Pretty weird running at 8am on Christmas Day with hardly anybody out.
Of course the weather was wacky all day.  I managed to avoid the rain but the wind was pretty crazy gusting to around 30 or 40 mph.  It's pretty hard to hold a consistent pace when battling a breeze like that.  If it's like that on race day all bets are off.  It was a nice run though and it only sprinkled a little bit around mile 11 or so and then stopped.
On Monday it was off to Denver (Castle Rock, Colorado to be exact) to see Diane's family.  Yesterday's 10 mile run was interesting on several accounts. Although it warmed up as the sun rose, it was pretty chilly when i started. They've had snow here and I ran 1 mile on the trail before giving up and heading back to the pavement.  Running at 6,300 feet elevation has its challenges as well although today's 5 miler felt much, much better so maybe I'm becoming acclimated.  We'll see how tomorrows run unfolds.  It's 8 miles with 4 of them at 15k pace.  7:30 is what i'm shooting for.  And then we'll see how the elevation training pays off on Sunday when I run a 14 miler back at sea level.
UPDATE
This morning's run in Ft. Collins was a good one but the elevation kicked my behind. Trying to run those 4 miles at 7:30 pace was pretty futile. My heart rate was in the 85% to 92% range the whole time so I was working hard, but my pace was not where I wanted it to be. Tomorrow a 4 mile recovery run and Saturday is a rest and travel day and then on into a new year and new adventures.

So, running in the park with no shoes and no shirt on dry grass, running along the harbor trying not to get blown over and hoping to avoid the rain, and running through the snow and trying not to slip on the ice at 6,300 feet elevation all in the space of a week. All in a week's work they say and it surely makes life intersting indeed.

This is the Winter Solstice?

After taking a day off, so I could drive my parents to Arizona, I got in my scheduled 8 mile run with 10 x 100 meter strides thrown in.  Running in the sunshine with a short sleeved shirt and shorts which my daughters would say are too short, it was nice to be in comfortable weather again. After running around the retirement trailer park a couple of laps to get the colon rolling, I was off on the streets of Mesa to a park where I was able to run  my strides.  Two days before the winter solstice, running in shorts with no shoes and no shirt on the grass was quite something indeed.  Something that I could get used to I might add.  A big thankyou to the Volkswagen "Rocket Man" ad for rekindling my love of Elton John and inspiring me to download one of his "Greatest Hits" albums off of itunes. I ran the whole 2 hours (or whatever it was) listening to his greatest hits on the ipod.  Such classics like "Tiny Dancer," Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Levon," and the current one ringing in my head, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" was mighty fine.  I finished feeling quite good and ready for 45 minutes or so in the outdoor pool and hot tub.  Not a bad way to spend a Tuesday on December 20th.

The first week's under my belt

Well, the first week is in the books, kind of.
My tempo run on Monday was hard.  My legs had not recovered from the weekend's XC race. (I was afraid that they wouldn't have.)  I ran the 8 miles and did the 4 mile lactate-threshold.  I was able to hit the heart rate level, but my pace was quite a bit off.  No biggy though.  It was a challenging run and it's nice to be rolling along.  Heading out the driveway at 7:00 am with a big moon, 26 frosty degrees and Steely Dan's Aja playing on the shuffle, Boston training is underway.
My schedule this week is pretty modified due to leaving on Saturday for Kansas City and the next 2 weeks will have to be modified as well due to driving my parents to Arizona and then leaving for Denver the day after Christmas.  But it will all come out in the wash.
Wednesday's run was pretty unusual.  I didn't sleep well at all that night and when Diane's alarm went of at 4:45 I was already awake, so at 5:10 in the morning I left with my headlight on and ran 9 miles through Whatcom Falls Park and surrounding areas.  Running on the beach at Bloedel I scared up a lot of Canadian Geese.  They were definitely not ready for a lunatic running by at that early hour in the dark.
Friday, school got out at 1:15 and I was off to the Interurban Trail for 12 miles as my "long run." Slow down to Larrabee State Park and then I managed to pick it up on the way back.  One of those runs where you start not really feeling into it and then, by the time you're done, it seems like the best run you've ever had.  How many of those have we all had?
Now it's on Southwest flight 1732 to KC and leaving for Arizona in the morning.  But the biggest news of the year is that my dad was told yesterday that, as of now, he is Cancer free.   Now that's something worth celebrating indeed.
Fundraising is going well and I'm inching towards that $3,000 level with money coming in just about every day for the last week or so.
I'm curious where and when my next run will be.
Stay tuned.

update

Well, as it turned out, it didn't take long to get the next run in and it actually completed the Week 1 runs.  I had figured that I would need to skip my "recovery run of 4 miles" which wouldn't have mattered too much.  However our drive from Kansas City to Arizona took a twist when I noticed that there was a blizzard warning for Monday in Southwest Kansas, Northwest Texas, and North East New Mexico.  All areas we were schedueld to drive through on Monday. YIKES!  I was able to talk my parents into leaving on Saturday night and I drove to Wichita, Kansas where we arrived at 12:30 am.  5 and a half hours of sleep later, I was up at 6 am and ready to run in the dark.  Fortunately there was a shopping mall across the street from the hotel and so 2 and a half laps later, I had my 4 miles in.  33 miles in the first week tucked away nicely.

My Dad Says What the Fundraising Means to Him.

This short 2 minute video will introduce you to my dad and give him a chance to tell you what all of this hullabaloo centered around him means.

Boston Training, get set, go

So, having finished a wonderful Cross Country "season" where they let me run with the fast guys, it's time to start training for Boston. Saturday's Cross Country Club National Event was fantastic. It was a treat to have it held in Seattle this year and an absolute honor to be able to run with so many fast runners. There were teams from all over the United States including: Boulder, Atlanta, several from Boston, several from New York, Seattle, and lots of other places. There were 356 runners in my race including a team of men over 80.  Talk about inspirational! I ran hard, did my best, had a great time, and didn't get hurt. My 4 goals - check, check, check, and check.

Now it's time to break out the new shoes, hit the pavement for an 8 mile run which will include 4 miles at 15k pace (7:25). The just passed full moon is out, it's 26 degrees, and it's nice to actually start the training plan.  

Fundraising is going great as I'm now over $2,500 and plans for the wine tasting party are coming into focus thanks to dear friends.

Time for a run!