Canceled Race

The Nephew and I ran 1.5 miles today, our shot at training before Saturday's race. The problem is that snow and freezing cold is landing here Friday night, and after our training run I got an email saying the 5k race was pushed out to the following Saturday. So much for starting out 2022 with a race. At least we got in a run today, and maybe another tomorrow before the weather goes bad. After lunch I took him driving since he has his permit and needs some instruction to get going. He didn't hit anything other than imaginary parked cars in the high school parking lot. No harm done.

'Twas the Day After Christmas

Thought about running yesterday on Christmas but never got around to it. The Christmas Day temperature was 81 degrees. Gotta love holidays in Texas.

Today is a few degrees cooler, but not by much. There's a breeze and the sun is covered by clouds, but it still wasn't horrible. I ran 4 miles. Trying to keep up enough endurance for next Saturday's 5k. This morning I looked at the forecast for Kansas and it's supposed to snow an inch on race day. We'll see about that. I figure it goes one of two ways: 1) the chance of snow completely disappears, or 2) we get a blizzard. I vote for the first.

Solstice Day Run

Today is the "shortest" day of the year, and it turned out to be pretty nice. Especially for a day in December. 62 degrees, sunny, and just a hint of a breeze. I ran 4 miles, once again without the GPS. I saw a hot air balloon a little to the south as I was re-entering the neighborhood, and a few minutes later it flew low over our house. Yes, I'm still a kid and enjoy that kind of thing.

One thing I forgot to mention the other day: I was having somewhat achy knees for several weeks, or maybe more. I kept trying to figure out what was wrong: too much salt the night before, too much beer the night before, bad shoes, not enough exercise, etc. It finally hit me. As I've said before, sometimes it takes awhile for me to figure out something that should be obvious. I realized the problem started after I got a standing desk, at which I stand from time to time. Sometimes too long. Once I made the connection I started sitting more. They say sitting is worse for you, but not at the expense of my knees. So, I'm going to work standing back into my routine, but for short bursts of time. We'll see how it goes. 

Events

Events conspired against me this past week for running. On Monday I ended up planning a last-minute trip to Austin for a holiday party on Tuesday. So I drove down I-35 (my favorite, not) on Tuesday and back on Wednesday. On Thursday Honorable Daughter #1 stopped on her way through town for a grand total of six hours, in which we celebrated her birthday (which was Friday) and Christmas. Plus, I smoked ribs that afternoon for dinner. Friday was Friday, yesterday was cool and extremely windy, and today I finally made it out for a run.

The temperature was 47 degrees, with a slight breeze out of the north. It was actually a good day to run, mostly sunny with a few high clouds. I ran 4 miles and strangely enough, didn't see anybody else out at all. Guess everybody's doing their final Christmas shopping. I need to keep up the routine since I'm running a 5k on New Year's Day. Don't want to lose what little fitness I have going these days.

A Chill Wind

Yesterday the temperature was in the mid-70s, but today was only in the mid-40s. What a difference. The wind blew out of the north and chilled things quite nicely, and at least the sun was out. I ran 5 miles total, with a stop of about 15 minutes in there as I ran into a guy I know from the pub. Hadn't seen him in a couple of months so we caught up and then I continued on my way. Overall it was a good run, with a pick-up at the end to round out the session. I'm running a 5k on New Year's Day with my nephew, so gotta keep in shape for that.

Pleasantness

Today's 4-miler was a late morning outing, mainly because I had a gap of several hours in my work schedule. It's been cooler this week until today, which is supposed to end up in the 80s. It was really nice out. I have a holiday dinner for work later on, so it was nice to get out earlier and make sure I ran. Have been feeling lazy again this week but as before, I noticed my energy level dropping. That's a sure sign it's time to get out and exercise.

Walk + Run

Today's total was 6 miles, which included a mile of walking with The Wife before I went out on my own for a 5-mile run. The temperature was nice and the sky was cloudy. The humidity was up a bit since it felt like maybe it should be misting, but there's no precipitation in the forecast until tomorrow. Regardless, it wasn't bad at all compared to the summertime humidity. I made it out for three runs this week, and even though one was abbreviated due to allergies I still count it as a victory to get back into my regular schedule.

That's Better

That allergy attack lasted through yesterday. Tuesday was horrible, Wednesday was mildly better, and today was the first day I didn't feel like hammered sh!t. In fact, I was feeling so much better I ran 4 miles. The weather was great, 74 degrees in December, and I wasn't a sneezing wheezing loon. Seems like my allergy attacks this year have been more intense, and that's not a trend I enjoy. At least I felt well enough to run today.