Fitness wise, I’ve lost an entire year.  I made some attempt to train and race through the 1/2 marathon in April, but after that I didn’t do much at all.  This was mostly due to total mental block, but increased work stress, heavy school loads and a slow-to-heal-injury played into the mix.

Now that vacation is over, and I’m healing up fast I’m considering signing up for the 1/2 marathon in Philadelphia.  I’ve got a copy of Hal Higdon’s training plans and it looks do-able, though possibly a bit of a stretch considering my current lack of fitness.  I’m meeting with the doctor tomorrow for a follow up from my PRP 6 weeks ago.  If it looks like my achilles is healing up well, then I’m going to go for the November race.

I finally decided that I needed to kick my own ass out of my funk.  The weather forecast all week called for a spectacular day for Sunday, so that became my target.  If I could just make it through to Sunday I’d be ok.

So this morning I slept in a bit, ate a big healthy breakfast, and then got out for a nice & easy bike & run.  For some reason I wanted to ride the dirt roads through the horse farms of Bedminster, which means I needed to swap the slicks for knobbies on the Surly.  Normally that’s a big PITA, but this morning I was in the flow and everything went smoothly.

I made it up and over Schley Mtn easy enough, and when I came across the River Rd. Park bridges, I came across this lovely sight:

There was a small field of these flowers poking through the underbrush in a sunny patch along the bike path.  That one image made me smile through the rest of the ride.

I got home with a bit over 21 miles, switched to my VFF’s and headed out for a quick brick run.  This was the 1st time I’ve been outside in the VFFs so I kept the run short.  They felt pretty good on the sidewalk, but really GREAT on the mushy grass.  I could really feel my toes trying to paw into the turf.  My run HR was a bit higher than normal, but that was to be expected after the long time off.

Today’s long run was 2:45 Z1-Z2. I knew that I’d need to run 16-17 miles, so I headed out to do a “lake loop”. This route used to be a favorite 60 min bike ride. I’ve done this loop enough to know exactly where I need to be at any point on the bike. I’ve never, ever done any part of it on the run, but as I chugged along, I started to figure it out.

“I’ll get to Far Hills in :45″
“I’ve got to get to the top of the hill on Willow by the halfway”
“I need to be make the turn onto Liberty Corner Rd by 2:00″

I hit some, but not all of the time marks. Still it ended up as a GREAT run. Scenic, low traffic and challenging. Everything one wants in an early spring run. Plus, corned beef dinner cooking when I got home. BONUS!

It may take me a while to get motivated and get out the door, but once I start moving, I remember how much I really enjoy the long run. The pace is easier than most of my runs, and it gives me time to think and reflect on the week. After the first 15 or 20 minutes, I’m in a groove with the tunes (I always keep my iPod on ‘shuffle mode’), and I can feel my head starting to clear out. At times (like today) the feeling is quite a bit like popping to the surface of a very deep lake. My mood is high, my head clear and I’m cruising along with almost no effort.

Today’s long run was a bit of a “little Billy” run. I wasn’t planning on the route I took, and in fact had intended to go in a different direction. But after the first 30 minutes along a familiar route, I decided to make some changes. I ran down Evergreen into Bernardsville, then headed straight into Little Italy, down Bernards ave and up Liberty onto Pill Hill. After the long downhill, I turned UP Meeker Rd, and finished that brutal climb. Then out to Annin Rd, to Whitenack, and back through Cantebury. If I hadn’t made a wrong turn and had to backtrack a bit, it would have been a PERFECT 1:45 run. As it was, I came in at 1:50:51 and 11.18 miles.

Have I said how much I hate intervals? On the bike they are bad enough, but running on the treadmill, they suck like a black hole.

Today’s serving of pain was a 60 min run, at 10 min insert 7×3 min Z4 with a 1 min jog. I did the intervals at just over a 7:00/mile, with the 1 min jog at just over a 10:00/mile. The whole festival ended up at just under 9:00/mile. Right at my goal pace for NJM.

I’m a dead man.

After being a total slacker since last Saturday, I finally got out for a run today. 2:00/12.4 miles. 1st hour was on the road, doing the normal loop. I had planned to stop back at the house to use the bathroom and head back out for the 2nd hour, but with all the ice and snow on the sidewalks & roads, I was spending too much time too close to traffic. So I hopped on the treadmill and finished the run.

While I was running, I was thinking why my consistency is so bad. Good intentions seem to always end up falling short, then into a week of sloth. Perhaps a touch of bi-polar or something.

I need to make a pact with myself. Only focus on today. Tomorrow will take care of itself.

Speaking of tomorrow, it’s President’s Day and no workee! WooHoo!