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.

Run 1, Walk 1

Yesterday about 3 p.m. I started sneezing and my nose started running. A severe allergy attack. I was miserable, with horrible headache and body ache to go along. Today was more of the same, and I came *this close* to not running, even after I had on all my gear. I decided I was going to be miserable either way, and hit the pavement. I got about a half-mile in and decided to give at least a mile. At the mile mark I felt achy and crappy, and decided to walk it back. So if you're counting along at home, that's 2 miles total, 1 running and 1 walking. Not my best day, but my gosh, these allergies.

Mild Sunday

I'm going to blame missing Thursday's run on Thanksgiving. Time was when I would do a turkey trot every year, but for now those days are past. I smoked a turkey on Wednesday, knowing that Thursday would be cooler and windier. It was a good choice, and made for a mostly lazy Thanksgiving.

Friday was gorgeous, and yesterday was cooler and partly rainy, especially later in the day. I opted to wait for today to run and it was another good choice. 4 miles, ran it all except for the big hill.

Temperature was in the mid-60s, with a nice breeze from the north, and clear, sunny sky. For an early afternoon run there were more people out running than I expected. Must be the turkey hangover. This next week is supposed to be nice as well, with highs in the 70s. Looking forward to it, and gotta love December in Texas.

Variation on a Theme

Made it out again today for a 4-miler. It was nice, mild but sunny, and the breeze wasn't too cool. For variety I threw in some intervals/strides/fartleks, whatever they're called. All these years of running and I'm not sure what the appropriate term is. I went without my Garmin and so it was more of a relaxed, do-whatever-I-want run,.

Lethargy

I was thinking to myself yesterday that the past couple of weeks I feel like my energy level has been low. And rocket scientist that I am, I realized the problem was lack of exercise. I always feel better when I'm running regularly, and that has not been the case for several months. It's been two weeks since my last run, so today I got back to it. I ran 4 miles, and surprised myself by going the whole way without walking. It helped that the weather was mild and the breeze from the south cooled off what little heat there was. I keep saying this but I mean to run regularly again.

A Little Lame

This morning was great running weather. The temperature was about 50 degrees, clear, and even with a little breeze. I planned on going further but ended up only going 4 miles. My left knee barked at me a couple of times, a sign that I need to get back to regular leg exercises with my ankle weights. I did it a couple of times this week but apparently need to do more. I used to do them upstairs after work but moved the weights to my office so I can do them when I'm in meetings or have a few free minutes. I think I need to do more than just the knee bends and return to hamstring and hip exercises as well.

Stupid

I have no excuse for not running last week other than stupidity. You could probably throw laziness in there as well, but really it was willful stupidity. The weather was nice, I had time, and I just decided to do other things. Today I realized it was time to put that behind me, so I went and ran 4 miles. It felt surprisingly good and the temp was mild enough to where I didn't have to walk any other than the big hill. Tomorrow I'm going to see the Rolling Stones and won't be running on my normal day, so I really needed to get out and do it today.

Running Saturday

I felt better starting today's run than I did on Thursday. The weather was great, starting out at about 65 degrees and cloudy with a nice cool breeze from the south. I ran 6 miles, with a walk at the fourth and fifth markers. The humidity was a bit high, as usual. Plenty of people out walking their dogs this morning, and the lacrosse fields were busy over by the lake. Now it's time to mow the lawn.

Never Go by How You Feel

I felt kinda rundown and crappy this afternoon and considered not running. It was too nice out, though, and I'm glad I ignored how I felt. It took a good mile or so before the crappy feeling went away and I felt better. I went 5 miles total, and by the end I sprinted the last quarter mile at a 7:25 pace. How's that for ignoring how you feel at the beginning of a run?

How About Some Hills?

I was feeling pretty worn down and tired this afternoon, but knew I really needed to go for a run even though I didn't want to. So, I decided to challenge myself a little and run the hill route. I cut it down to 4 miles, which turned out to be plenty. The temperature was just shy of 80 degrees and shaded for most of the route. The only time I walked was up the big hill east of Ridge. Other than that I toughed it out. It wasn't a great run but it was necessary.

Yes

This was a tough week, and particularly on Thursday. I was going to run yesterday as a make-up for that day but smoked a port butt instead. I ran today, 5 miles, and it was a really nice morning. The run went well with no walking other than the big hill. No regrets other than missing Thursday

Doing It

A nice squall line came through last night and knocked down the temperature a little bit. The side effect is that it was humid today. Oh well, you can't win them all. I ran 4 miles and since the temperature is still above 80 degrees I walked every mile. It's supposed to be in the 70s this weekend, I think, and maybe I can get back to no-walk running just in time for the fall and winter months.

Sunday Fun Run

I got hit by allergies, this week. Hard. I was completely out of it Wednesday, Thursday, and started feeling human again on Friday. It was like having a head cold or even worse, a head flu. I haven't felt that bad since, well, last time I had bad allergies. Then yesterday was James Bond Marathon day with our youngest and then finally ,the new one at the theater.

So today I went out for a run after church. It was very breezy and cloudy, but humidity was up a little. I went 5 miles and walked the last. I probably could have and should have run the last bit, but I felt like it was a good choice. Hopefully the cool front that's coming through will level out the ragweed this week.