Wow! Am I Happy!!

After a successful four miler with Dan and Bill Wednesday, I decided to forgo the run on Christmas Day and hit it again this morning.

Was kind of wondering how far I should run and decided to run to 9 highway and back.  I remember it as being around a six mile trip.  As it turned out, it was 6.6 from my house to 9 and back.  I had a goal of walking/running the first mile and then trying to just keep from walking during the last five.

There is hardly any flat areas at all on the trail to 9 highway.  You are either going long up hills or long down hills.  I'm beginning to be more comfortable running the down hills albeit slowly and the up hills are still somewhat of a challenge.  However, I averaged a little over a 12:00 pace and ran the last 1.5 miles in the mid nines.  Very, very happy!

A Christmas Eve Morning Run

Mike, Dan, and I met at the east gate of Cliff Drive for a 7:30 am run on Christmas Eve morning.  It was raining, and we wondered what ever posessed us to plan the run.  But we had a ball anyway!  Ran 4 miles at an 11:22 pace inclusive of several walk breaks.  This was my first real day back running and it felt great.  We were running 10:12's on our return miles running sections which is a push for me.  As always, I ran faster with the group than on my own.  We finished wiht a fabulous breakfast at Corner Cafe in Riverside which was jammed packed with patrons picking up their pre-ordered holiday pies. 

We thought of Ken during our run as he was on a plane to San Jose to meet his new grandson Mick.  So in honor of this special holiday gift, we'll close with our favorite picture from the day:

Noticable Improvement!

Ran with Dan and Bill, Wednesday the day before Christmas, for four miles on Cliff Drive.  Pace was steady with just a couple of short walks.  Ended up with an 11:25 pace for the four miles including the walking, so all is good.  My usual pace, when I'm by myself, is in the 13 minute range, but lately I've been averaging in the twelves'.  Again, really no hurry, I have a eleven months before Philadelphia.

Plan to run from the house today on the Line Creek Trail which is right down the street.

Nice to know everyone had booked their rooms for Philly already.  That's kind of a motivation, but the real motivation is when we register for the race.  I'm going to go ahead and get that done today if registration is open.  I see where the first 1,000 to register can get in for $85.00.  The next jump is $20.00 more.  Hey, twenty bucks is twenty bucks.  That'll pay for a breakfast!

Hope you all had a great Christmas and are enjoying Hanukah.  I know Ken and Pam are!

Adding the Mileage!

Walked and ran five miles with Phil Punswick this morning, then we had a nice breakfast at Roxanne's in Parkville.

I've only ran twice since the Thanksgiving Day 5k, but not worried about it.  I still have more swelling in my knee than I'm comfortable with.  Yesterday marked five months since the surgery.  Time will tell, but again, there's no hurry.
Will try to get in a couple of more runs before the New Year's Day run.  After the new year begins, I'll start ramping up the training for Hospital Hill in June.