Monday, December 27, 2010

December 27, 2010 - Christmas Update

well, i made the decision to stay at home over the holiday season; partly because of the weather reports, which proved to be serious in terms of delaying flights and ferry boat trips, and partly because i was anxious to have a couple of nice long runs and a couple of long sleep ins. after 3 days of getting 10 hours of sleep, and after 2 days of essentially no running, i felt ready to give it a go this afternoon.

having not run more than 22k in one day since sept 26, i knew i would have to take things extra slow, and i did. i started by running over to burton's pond with a bag of bird seed. and after a lovely visit with the duckies, i ventured down the trail to quidi vidi lake, where i hadn't been for probably 8 weeks! then i did 8 laps around the 4k trail, stopping each time for a brief visit with the infamous greylag goose, who has lived down at the lake for many years. She was honking away at the many ducks that were also there.

the weather was 2 degrees, quite windy and drizzle on and off, which made for fairly nice running conditions. after 17k, i popped into the store to grab a powerbar and 1.4 litres of gatorade. then i carried on, lap after lap. at 20k, i was actually running harder and stronger! at 25k, i decided to do one more lap, before taking the final 5k jaunt home. at 28k, i could feel it in my knees, but my endurance was holding up nicely. i arrived back home at my door just under 5 hours after leaving. taking into account the duck breaks, i estimate i ran the 34k in about 4 hr 25 min. i can't help but feel extremely happy and excited about the run.

having now been home resting and stretching for a few hours, the legs really aren't that bad, and the chronic foot pain is not too bad either. in fact, the foot was never a factor in the entire run. well, i hope i managed to run off a few of those christmas calories.

this brings me to 2220k on the year, with 4 days left. i am hoping to get in a few more long runs and close out the year with 2300. with major surgery coming up in less than a month, i know i will have a long break in my training, but i am laying the foundation for what i hope will be a great year ahead. a little base building now should go a long way.

anyway, time to relax and cuddle with my cats and watch some bowl games!

Jenn

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