January 2 - January 8

Monday, January 2 – Off – because of a late night at work on Sunday I didn’t want to get up early and head out for a run. I knew this week was going to be really busy and work and didn’t want to get rundown by not getting a decent sleep on Sunday night. I will try to make up for this on Friday with a double. This week is more about getting out and running everyday than running a specific number of miles. If I can run for 20-25 minutes per day for the rest of the week I’ll be happy with that.

Tuesday, January 3 – 3 miles – Sweet Gum Loop– Today was the first chance I got to break out my head lamp for a morning run. My running took a hit when the sun starting coming up later so Amanda got me a head lamp for Christmas. It’s nothing too intense but it throws enough light to see the trail at my feat so I don’t eat it (or at least I didn’t today.)

I ran the Sweet Gum trail loop this morning. It’s a common run for me that in 90 percent trail and runs through the Gwinnett Environmental Heritage Center connecting a couple of different trails. The run is about three miles and has some ups and downs which makes it a little more fun to run that the out and back gravel trail that I ran a lot in the hot summer mornings last year.

Naturally my first head lamp run took me home to Massachusetts, because it was freezing. It was a balmy 22 degrees at 6:45 when I headed out the door in the dark and didn’t warm up by the time I returned around dawn at 7:10ish.

Wednesday, January 4 – 3 miles – Sweet Gum Loop – Same run as yesterday. Once again it was freezing cold, 21 when I hit the trail. Thankfully I was able to pick up my new Saucony Rides at Big Peach last night. I was in desperate need of new shoes. A few months ago I decided to try the Brooks Launch because I’d heard good things about them and I like the Brooks Cascadia trail shoe, but I quickly found that they are too soft for my liking. That combined with a hamstring injury suffered in Friday football at work during the fall had caused some tightness in my IT band. The new shoes definitely helped alleviate some of that.

Thursday, January 5 – 3 miles – Sweet Gum Loop – Same run as the last two days, but it was much warmer today at 38 than the previous two days. Two runs in my Rides have definitely helped my IT/hamstring issues. I probably still need to be a little more vigilant with using the stick and stretching it, but I think the fact that I got a new pair of both running and casual shoes has helped.


Friday, January - 6 - AM - 3 miles - Sweet Gum Loop - Kept it the same this morning. I felt pretty good and even though I haven't been wearing a watch lately but I'm pretty sure today was faster than the last couple of days. I know I haven't been running a ton of miles, but right now I'm focusing more on getting out and running for 20-25 minutes a day just to get back into the swing of running everyday. I'm starting earlier than I did last year, so I am confident that if I can string together a few weeks of consistent running, I can ramp the miles up fairly quickly after that.

PM – Sweet Gum out and back – 5 miles - Added a second run this afternoon since it was a fast Friday at work. Ran out the sweet gum trail out to through the GEHC, down the creekside trail and back. My legs were a little bit tired and I probably didn’t drink enough water today, so the run wasn’t great, but it still felt good to get out for a second run today and run for more than 20-25 minutes.

Saturday, January 7 – Sweet Gum Loop – 3 miles – I wanted to run five again this morning but my legs felt miz and I had to be at work to get ready to head up to NY/NJ for the weekend. It was nice to be able to run in the sunlight (two runs in a row!) and the weather has warmed up a little bit. I’ve had Lonely Boy by the Black Keys stuck in my head for about three days now and it’s one of those songs that I don’t know any of the words to aside from the chorus. I might have to download it on my sweet new iPhone.

Sunday, January 8 – Office Park/Short Hills Mall loop – 3 miles – Short Hills, NJ - Woke up this morning to find that I didn’t pack my shorts or jacket for the trip up to New Jersey for the game. It wasn’t really all that cold so I was able to wear two long-sleeved shirts and I had my sporthills so I had enough to get out the door. Our hotel was in a small office park next to a mall so I ran through the park and around the mall. I found a golf course and a nice neighborhood behind the mall so I added on a few minutes winding through the labyrinth of huge houses. It reminded me a lot of Topsfield and Boxford actually. I didn’t have a lot of time so I ran for about 12 minutes and then headed back to the hotel. The run was probably a little longer than three but whatever.

While running I realized that I got my sporthill running pants my freshman year at Keene State. That was the fall of 2002, so I’ve had them for almost 10 years. I think it’s probably time to invest in a new pair.

Weekly Total

23 miles on seven runs – I know it’s not much mileage, but the theme of the week was run and I got that done. This week was really the beginning of my training for this spring and summer’s racing schedule. After yesterday’s loss the offseason for work begins. That means I will probably try to run a race in the next couple of weeks, mainly as a workout but also to give my training a little more incentive. This week I’d like to get another 20-25 mile week under my belt, then after that start building up to more mileage each week.

As for a race schedule, I’m going to try and defend my Dirty Spokes trail title. The first race in the series is in early February. It’s the lone race in the series that I missed last year and I’d like to run all seven this year, but we’ll see what happens. I think my loose plan for now is run a 5k either the 21^st-22^nd weekend or the weekend after that to see where I’m at go from there.