December Totals

12/1 – 12/31 = 124.8 miles average pace of 10:16

Last run of the year

I promised my wife that we would do our last run of the year together so once she got home from work we went out and did the mile loop.

We have had a great year…and the completion of this mile makes it officially 6 months of daily running. I am so proud of my wife…she never thought she would be able to run regularly and yet here we are completing a streak of 6 months worth of running. The new year will bring with it new running goals and new races but I will always remember these last six months because I did them together with my wife.

Monday, December 31, 2007

The Goofy runners decided to get together and do another “long” run…turns out to only be 10k due to multiple reasons. The group ran the Panera route and then hit the coffee shop for a while. Pace was 9:14 and a negative split too!! 1st 5k: 28:50 2nd 5k: 28:29

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Slept in and ran a little later in the morning. Simple mile loop in the neighborhood at an 8:59 pace.

12/23 – 12/29 Totals

12/23 – 12/29 total miles = 25.27 miles at an average pace of 9:29

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Needed to run extra miles so I got to the running location at 6 AM. The girls were already there and with the recent snow they decided not to run the cemeteries but to run the roads. I wasn’t able to keep up with them but was able to maintain a great pace…also very consistent!!

Ran a total of 11 miles with a 9:50 pace.

1st 5k: 30:02
2nd 5k: 29:53
3rd 5k: 30:05

Friday, December 28, 2007

We had a plan for today that was totally shot due to the coming weather. We headed out just as it started to snow. We easily ran the mile loop in 8:53 pace.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Since I put a second coat of paint on the spare room in the morning and I decided to run once I was done. The simple mile run wasn’t going to be enough for me today so I decided to make it 2 miles. I did the usual 2 mile loop out to 3 mile rd and back and managed to keep an 8:40 pace!!

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Spent most of today cleaning the spare room out and getting the room prepped to be painted. Once my wife got home we went to buy the paint and started to paint the room. By the time we were done it was 10:30 at night and I still had not run…so I donned the running shoes and went out for a 1 mile run at a 8:16 pace.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Christmas day…but that does not mean that we ignore the fact that we have to run. We didn’t get out until 7pm tonight but we got out none the less. Ran 1 mile with a 9:14 pace.

Monday, December 24, 2007

It was still windy this morning but not as bad as it was yesterday so I kept my promise with the group to run this morning. There were 5 of us in total and an additional 3 dogs!! We ran the Panera route for 6.2 miles and I was able to maintain a 9:13 pace

Sunday, December 23, 2007

With the weather being so bad…the wind was at 30+ mph…we decided to go to the YMCA. I really hate running on the treadmill but you have to do what you’ve got to do. I ran 3 miles in 29:40 and then spent the next 10 minutes doing a hill workout.

12/16 – 12/22 Totals

12/16 – 12/22 total miles = 25.21 miles at an average pace of 9:36

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Only 3 weeks before Disney so we needed to do a little extra. I didn’t know if anyone was running early but thought I had better get there at 5:30 just to get the extra miles in. When I arrived there were already people there so I guess I’ll be running with them. I thought that I’d be able to get in 9 before the rest of the group got there but I only got 8.4 in. I quickly dried off and headed back out on the road with Andy. We ran the church run and I finished with 14 miles at a 9:55 pace.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Just an easy mile around the neighborhood at 9:21 pace.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

I really did not want to get out of bed this morning. I was warm and I wasn’t really sore from last nights run but I could feel the muscles healing. But the wife got her running gear ready to go so I had to get ready as well.

We got outside and found the temperature to be rather nice compared to what it’s been recently…the only problem was the wind…it was cold!

We simply ran our 1 mile loop (9:00 pace) and stretched.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

I figured that I should do a few more miles today but it was my wife that suggested that I run around 6 miles…I only wanted to do 4…I’ve told her that she is a bad influence since she makes me run farther than I really want to but it is all for the best.

With the snow on the ground I was running as close to the shoulder as possible. I managed to put 6.19 miles in at a pace of 9:18.

In the end my wife was right…I needed to do the longer run and I felt good when it was all done.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Early morning run with my wife and got the mile in at a 9:08 pace

Monday, December 17, 2007

First day back from Italy and wanted to sleep in so I ran in the evening. Colder than I expected but it is winter!! 1 mile at an 8:38 pace.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

After spending 9 plus hours on a plane I was happy to be home and itching to get out for a run but the snow and the cold were a bit of a deterrent. I spent some time unpacking and getting comfortable but then we headed out after the end of the Packer game. An easy mile at a 9:04 pace.

12/9 – 12/15 Totals

12/9 – 12/15 total miles = 39.42 miles at an average pace of 11:52

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Last day in Italy and after being out until 5 AM this morning I got a bit of a late start on the day. I knew that there was a cache I wanted to get to and since it was 5 miles from the hotel I would easily be able to get in my 10 plus miles.

When I started out it was rather cold to be wearing shorts but I’m glad that I brought my gloves with just in case. I was headed out of Turin and following the river and I had a thought that the cache just might be at the top of Superga Hill which holds Basilica of Superga a church built in the 18th century and the hill is notable since the Turin soccer team was killed in a plane crash in the 1940’s on that hill.

Sure enough as I got closer to the ‘hill’ the cache seemed to be right up at the top. So like a true cacher I continued on toward the cache until the climb got to be a bit much at which time I walked up Superga…it was a hell of a climb and the walk back down wasn’t much better!! The views from the top were fantastic…kind of wish I had brought the camera. The cache was missing so it was a small waste but it was fun.

Managed to get back to the hotel before dinner and I had completed 14.25 miles at an average pace of 13:51.

Friday, December 14, 2007

With the audit conference dinner tonight I knew that it was important to get the miles in early so I was up and running at 6 AM. Put in 2.42 miles at a pace of 8:45.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Didn’t feel like getting up this morning but did anyway so I only ran the mile and called it done for the day. Pace was 8:52.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Still a little groggy so I decide to run in the evening. Was able to run 2.11 miles at an 8:59 average pace.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

First day in town and knew that I needed to get into a routine right away. Managed to find a relatively easy route…the only problem is that the buildings occasionally block the GPS signal. Ran 1.5 miles at a 9:21 pace.

Monday, December 10, 2007

With the impending flight I decided to sleep in a little and run a bit later. Ran at 8:30 AM and just did the neighborhood loop for 1 mile at a 9:15 pace.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Well with all of us getting ready for the goofy it was decided that we would get a high mileage day in today. We started out at Panera missing only Jodi who organized today’s run.

We ran north then west…both directions that the wind was blowing from which caused all of us to have ice sheets covering our fronts!! Andy and I ran a total of 17.11 miles at an 11:34 pace.

12/2 – 12/9 Totals

12/2 – 12/9 total miles = 21.65 miles average pace 9:20

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Race Day!! Today is the Jingle Bell run but I’m still training for Goofy, so I set out to run about 6 miles before the 5k race but based on my faulty mapping it turned out to be only 5.44 miles.

The race went really well. The 1st mile was 8:05 and my time at mile 2 was 16:05…hmm negative split is pretty good! I was starting to catch my wife and a few of my fellow runners so I slowly moved past them and finished the race. Here is what is odd…The 5k race turned out to be 2.79 miles…so the running group decided that we should finish the 5k so we ran a couple of laps and finished the 5k.

Total for the day was 8.57 miles for a total time of 78:40 or a pace of 9:11.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Cold night but needed to put the mile in ran around the neighborhood and completed the mile in 9:02 pace.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

It was cold but I still wanted to run outside…I have to get used to it…it’s going to be a long winter!!

1 mile in 8:56.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

I really would prefer to run outside but when the roads still need to be plowed it makes running rather difficult so I reluctantly decided to run at the YMCA. We got there around 6pm and it was surprisingly not very busy. Running on the treadmill for 3 miles sucked but still managed a decent time of 27:20 or about 9:07 pace

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

We were lying in bed deciding if we wanted to run this morning or tonight and then it dawned on me that we have a meeting tonight so we had to run now.

My wife and I dragged our butts out of bed and got ready for the morning run…as we headed out the door I made the disclaimer, as I do most mornings, ‘this is going to be an easy run.’ I think both of us agreed, we put 1 mile in at a 9:40 pace.

Monday, December 03, 2007

Nice cold evening for a run but it was very good. The wind appeared to come from 3 directions!! UNBELIEVABLE!!
1.01 miles at a 8:46 pace.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

With the weather turning to winter on Saturday I thought that today was going to be a bad run. But the temperature felt good and the snow/rain had stopped.

My wife and I decided that we would go shopping and go to the YMCA afterward…I would run from YMCA home (about 5.8 miles) and we would call it a day. About the time we were going to leave…the clouds opened up and it started to rain.

I hoped that the rain would stop before we got to the Y but no luck.

I ran home in the muck…there were way too many people that have yet to shovel their sidewalks and unfortunately with the temperature most of the muck was water covered by about 1/8 of an inch of snow. By 2 miles in my shoes were drenched!!!

Other than my feet being wet and the stiff wind coming out of the west I thought the run went pretty well! Managed 6 miles at a 9:52 pace.

11/25 – 12/1 Totals

11/25 – 12/1 total miles = 30.12 miles average pace 9:52

Saturday, December 01, 2007

I needed to meet Kristen and Jodi at 5:30 am and I was running late. I ended up getting to the meeting spot at 5:40-5:45…they were still there…Damn!!! I was hoping that they had left on time and I wouldn’t have to run with them. Alas they waited for me so we got moving at about 5:45.

The reverse Culver’s Route is bad even at this time of day (if you want to call this day!!) I had to walk twice going up the hills but the girls waited for me so that I could catch up and we continued together. Once we got to the end of the Culver’s Route we continued down the road between the dump and Sam’s club. There is a nice gravel road that we followed…I’ll skip the part where we attempted to get into the park but met up with a fence…and at about 6:25 we turned around and headed back to the meeting point.

Once we met up with the rest of the group we headed south toward Kenosha. I managed to get 2 miles down the trail before I had to start walking. Carol and her 2 dogs kept me company for the final 4 miles. She kept me moving and running.

We got back to the meeting spot and I had completed 13.25 miles at a 9:51 pace…Not too bad!!!

After a bit of stretching we all went to Panera for coffee.