December 7

AM: 10 miles easy/moderate

PM: 4 miles easy

Ran with Joey and Liam on the ATT in the morning, picking up the pace decently on the way home.

After school, I got in a night run with Valerie through the neighborhood.

And now I study...last final of the semester on Wednesday!

December 6 (90 miles/week)

AM: 17 miles easy/moderate

I met Liam at the WaDuke trail parking lot for a run through Duke Forest, which will soon be open during the week again. Thank god for that. Lately I've felt like Ben Stein running so many loops on that damn golf course trail: "Buehler...Buehler...Buehler..."

I felt a little tight until Liam and I split off about 12 miles into the run. By that point, Valerie had finished her run so I threw her the keys and ran home from the trail.

Next week should bring one workout on Tuesday before race day in Kentucky on Saturday. I'll also be bidding Durham farewell for a few weeks when I wrap up my last final on Wednesday and kick off winter break, getting some much needed recharging in Atlanta, Florida, and beyond.

December 5

AM: 7 miles easy

I met Fellows, who was in Durham for a weekend visit, for a run from my place. It was a great run to catch up and take in an easy recovery day. We had cold and light rain the entire time, but it was certainly bearable (and definitely not snow). Tomorrow should be 15-17 for me.

Once we finished up, I did some core work with VH. I've actually been pretty good about getting in core work and/or pushups and pull-ups lately, but I haven't been logging it in here.

December 4

AM: 4 miles easy

PM: 9 x Fitness Loop (.58) w/ 1:30 jog recovery, 11 miles

The morning run was just a shake-out before getting some things done at school.

In the afternoon, I jogged from the "SpacePickle Vista" (i.e. my apartment) to the side loop on the Al Buehler trail. I dithered around during the warmup trying to find a bathroom because I'd eaten lunch too late, but I had trouble finding one because the school has taken away all of the port-o-johns now that football season is over. I ultimately settled on the WaDuke Inn (a fancy hotel/country club that the trail encircles, which was funny because a guy in a tuxedo opened the door for me and addressed me as "sir" both entering and leaving the building. Given my sole purpose of entering the building was to take care of #2, the formality struck me as ironic.

As for the workout, it went well once I finally got going. I was strictly trying to run goal XC pace for the .58-mile loop (just short of 1k) with a shorter recovery period. I wanted to hit 3:00 for each lap, which would put me somewhere in the low-32s, a time which seems reasonable for a cross-country 10k for me right now (though this obviously varies a lot in either direction depending on course and condition).

The trail is a packed dirty surface with rolling hills. I honestly wanted to get on some grass because of the race next weekend, but I didn't have a great place to do it that I knew of, especially after heavy rains this week. I'd planned on doing 8 but added one bonus rep, feeling sharp throughout.

My XC spikes were happy to see daylight again...

Splits: 3:00, 2:58, 2:58, 2:59, 2:57, 3:01, 3:00, 2:56, 2:59

December 3

AM: 11 miles moderate

Running my ass off is easily the single-best stress relief for me.

December 2

AM: 12 miles easy

PM: 1:20:00 indoor bike

Ran with Liam in the morning on the ATT through some cold rain.

After school, I got on the indoor trainer for a little bit while waiting for a lasagna in the oven...good stuff.

December 1

AM: 9 miles easy

PM: 5 miles easy

I hit the Al Buehler trail and Duke Gardens in the morning, but cut my run a little short on account of fatigue and some lingering tightness in my quads and IT bands (both of 'em).

My run at Duke on West Campus after classes felt a little better, however. Somewhat counterintuitively, I seem to feel better opening up my stride and running faster than rather than slower.