December 7 (91 miles/week)

PM: 11 miles easy, 6 x :10 hill sprints, yoga

Beach Drive. My legs were a little more awake than yesterday and Friday. I went to yoga with Valerie at the gym as well.

My day was filled with writing grad school applications, so I didn't make it out until the mid-afternoon.

December 6

AM: 17 miles easy/moderate

Ran with the GRC guys from the store, up Glover Park, down Rock Creek Parkway, and finishing up on the canal. I added about 15 minutes solo afterward. I felt a little stale, though we started moving for 2-3 mile on the towpath.

December 4

AM: 11 miles easy/moderate

PM: 5 miles easy

Ran the back stables loop for the first time in a while. Around the parking area near where Military Road crosses over Beach Drive, I had a stare down with one of the biggest birds I've seen in the wild. A plump, dark-colored bird, it looked like a cross between a peacock, emu, and a vulture. As it started to scamper away from me toward the creek, I thought, "There's no way this thing could get off the ground." Proving me wrong, it took to the air a fluttered across Rock Creek. Too weird. I've tried to look around DC audobon websites, and I still can't figure out what this creature was.

After work, I ran a new loop that uses a cut-through on top of the Farmingham Drive hill to go through some neighborhoods to get to Connecticut Ave. Cold, rainy, and tired legs made this run less than fun, but Christmas decorations this time of year at least add some charm to otherwisw dreadful runs in the dark.

December 3

AM: 4 miles easy

PM: 4 x 1600+400 with 400 jog recovery on 3:00 rest, 10+ miles

The morning shake-out on the Capital Crescent was probably the coldest morning I've had this season.

I met a Klim, Bain, Nate, and Melissa at the track after another busy day at work. The purpose of the workout was to run four laps at goal 10k pace, followed immediately with a lap at 5k pace without recovery (so really 2k total for each rep). It's a gear-changing workout, which is something that I wanted to refocus on now that I'm done with marathon-specific work until next summer/autumn. The workout was a nicely controlled effort with negative splits overall, despite a few laps here and there that were fast or slow. On the second rep, we ran clockwise because of Jake's nagging hip. That definitely felt weird at first, but it ultimately didn't make much of a difference.

Splits: 5:13/:74, 5:10/: 74, 5:07/:74, 5:07/:73

December 2

AM: 10 miles easy

PM: 5 miles easy

Rock Creek Park in the morning; I gradually loosened up. After work, I watched Jeopardy! with Valerie on the treadmill.

December 1

AM: 7 miles tempo, strides, 10 miles

PM: pilates?

Averaged 5:30-5:40 pace around Meadowbrook. Slowed slightly, which obviously isn't good, but I just sort of rolled right into it without wearing flats. So-so effort, but it felt great to run hard again nonetheless.

After work, Valerie and I went to the gym for yoga. Unbeknownst to us, they switched the schedule around, and we ended up doing pilates (being yoga rookies, we didn't know the difference, so we just kind of rolled with the punches). I wasn't wild about the my pilates pilot, so I'd rather stick with yoga.

After our pilates class, we enjoyed our marinated tofu burgers with organic asperagus and carrot juice. OK, that last sentence was a total lie, but I did feel somewhat "earthy" having gone through the experience.

November 30 (73 miles/week)

DNR - rest

No time for running today with a 14-hour drive from Atlanta to Maryland. Traffic was horrible. I'll be glad to get back to a normal running schedule next week.