Christmas

Merry Christmas, Internet! I hope everyone had a relaxing holiday. For my part, I was something of a blockhead and figured "Oh, sure, week off for a virus that knocked me on my ass, I can just jump back into running and do two hard workouts and a long run." I was dead wrong, of course. I spent all week struggling to train hard and wondering why my body wasn't going along with the plan.

So, genius that I am, I swiftly figured out I should just let things ride until I'm ready to go. . . this afternoon, after 7 days of feeling like shit.

At least I had a nice week at my mother's house in New Hampshire and pulled a B in my Applied Statistics class. Not bad for a guy who skipped two levels of statistics and made it through the first midterm on bravado and dumb luck!

The log:

Monday 12/20- 7mi, some with Matt, all of it with Peter. We headed out on the river in a snowstorm. The wind sucked, but it wasn't too bad otherwise. Mostly it just good to be running again.

Tuesday 12/21- Fresh Pond solo, started clipping along pretty good by the end. Not particularly smart. . .

Wednesday 12/22- Back in Derry, in a mild (1-2inches) snowstorm. I did 10mi easy, ran into my younger brother who had left from the high school for practice, did most of it with him. Good run, steady effort but slower pace due to the snow.

Thursday 12/23- This is when things started to pile up on. Felt weak and dizzy all day, frigid wind, no legs for my planned tempo run. Ended up just calling it at 2.5mi and shuffling home.

Friday 12/24- Stubbornly, I went to North Shore to do some hills. As a refresher, this is about a 1/3rd of a mile of merciless climbing. I managed 4 at an increasingly pathetic effort, then jogged home wondering why on Earth I felt so bad.

Saturday 12/25 Christmas- 10mi easy with my brother, Kevin. Again, felt dizzy and weak for the first 3mi, decided to do 6mi, then got really pissed off at myself, thought about Steve Jones, and vowed to finish this 10 miles or else. Ok, it was a really dumb decision, but at 5mi, I started feeling pretty good, and the last half of the run was great. My brother and I got to spend some time together and by the end, I was really glad I stuck it out.

Sunday 12/26- Drove into Boston in the AM with my brother and Ryan Busby, a high school teammate of mine who runs for Bryant now. Ryan and Kev raced and I was a good little Terrier and volunteered my ace timing skills when the FAT broke down and we had to do things old-school (sorry, anyone who ran today, for any mistakes- we did what we could with what we had where we were, like Teddy Roosevelt recommended). We got back to Derry before the snow hit, but I realized 1) I was bushed and 2) I had been a moron all week. I resolved not to run until the mood to do so struck me, and would run no farther or faster than I wanted. After a coma-like nap, I ate a nice dinner, spent time with my family, and headed out for my run in the middle of the blizzard at 8:30. I had a great 6mi run high-stepping through the snow drifts. My old high school is large enough to warrant a campus, and that campus is always lit. The snow wasn't the slippery kind (any Eskimo readers, help me out- what's the word for snow that's powdery and loose?) and I had solid lighting, so the risk of injury was low. Anyway, it was a great run. Things will turn around soon, and I'll PR this season.

Again, merry Christmas to everyone. See you all next week!