Only Did 30 Minutes

My long run this weekend is 7 miles. I got up late and when I finally headed out the weather was beautiful. It was one of those mornings when it was hard to get comfortable - either too hot or too cold. I only did 30 minutes and decided I would do my 7 miles tomorrow.

4.5 Miles in Oyster Creek Park

Patricia and I did a 4.5 mile walk in the 30 degree weather this morning. It had been a really long time since I'd been to Oyster Creek Park. There was barely any greenery in the places that are usually so lush. One of the sections closest to Lexington, just before the bridge, had been totally "scalped." It was really sad. There were a ton of cardinals, though, that brightened the landscape. I tried really hard to get a good picture, but they kept eluding me.

 

One if many cardinals



On the Road

From Monday December 17th, through Wednesday December 19th, Stan and I walked the streets and sites of Atlanta. On Monday, we walked at least 4.5 miles, the rest at least 3 miles. Even though we ate quite a bit of the local fare which included a lot of fried foods, I only ate half f my portions. That strategy worked because I only gained 1 pound during our trip!

Today I ran the Jingle Jog for Jimmy 5K in Suwanee, GA. It was a charity fundraiser for a family of a young man who died this year. Unfortunately, the registrations were low, and because of the heavy rains, there were very few last minute sign-ups. It was pouring down rain when the race started. I had totally forgotten that the Atlanta area was hilly, but luckily this course wasn't too steep.
Since the turnout was so low, I managed to place first on my age group.

Before the race

Race Shirt

One of the hills

 

The finish 43.29

Bling!

Graduation - Achievement of a Life Goal

I graduated from college today - 47 years late, but I did it. Thanks to the distance learning program at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, I was one of 1000 students at Winter Commencement.

3 Miles with Patricia

My friend and running buddy Patricia is back for a long visit from India. We had a great walk in the cold weather this morning. I got to show her the Brindley trail as we caught up on the past 8 months.

40 Minutes in the Chill

There was frost on the grass and cars when I went out this morning. I warmed up pretty fast once I started running, but  the wind made it too cold to take my jacket off. I managed to survive and finished 40 minutes, with about 20 minutes of intervals.

It was nippy this morning. I had an early meeting and when I got back I went for a short walk - just 25 minutes. I'll take Tuesday off  and then plan to get 45 minutes in on Wednesday.

6 Miles

The watch I wore today didn't have interval timing on it, so I ran intermittant intervals. Part of my 6 mile route included the Brindley trail (I just love it there!). I started out late, so it was pretty hot by the time I was done. The temperature today was a record breaker with a high of 83. Pretty crazy for December!

 

 Brindley Trail

30 minutes of 1:00/1:00's

This morning's sunrise - I thought that was the moon above

 but since it's in the last cycle, it must be glare.

 



It's a good thing I layered because even though it was cool, I warmed up pretty fast. I did 1:00/1:00 intervals again after a 5 minute each warm-up and cool-down. It's feeling much more comfortable. If I can keep this up, I may be able to finish my half marathon under 3:30.

 

I got to thinking about how much easier it will be to do a few more half marathons once I've done the Sugar Land half. Maybe it will be a redux of 2006 when I went HALF- crazy.

I signed up for a 5K race outside of Atlanta on December 16, the Jingle Jog for Jimmy http://jinglejog.blogspot.com/  . It's a benefit race and starts at 3:00pm! I thought about doing the Santa Hustle in Galveston, which looks like a really fun race . You get a technical "Santa" shirt, a beard/mustache and Santa hat http://santahustle.com/galveston/ . They expect you to run wearing all that gear, something I'm not ready to do. I think I would rather run the Rhythm and Blues Half, right here in Houston on February 10th. http://rhythmandblueshalfmarathon.com/ 

30 Minutes Walking

This weather is crazy - 50's and muggy this morning. I really wanted to do intervals but I woke up with a headache that turned to a migraine, so I walked for 30 minutes. Hopefully, I'll be in better shape tomorrow.

1:00/1:00 Intervals

Boy was it humid this morning! I started out doing intervals - walking 1 minute and running 30 seconds. Then I switched to running 1 minute and walking 30 seconds, but realized I need more rest time. I went back to my old stand-by, 1:00/1:00's, which I used to do all the time. It felt really comfortable. If I can keep it up, I may be able to increase my speed and go from super slow to just plain slow.
I'm not expecting to win any races - just the one with myself.

Introduced Stan to the Brindley Trail

 

This morning I convinced Stan to explore the Justin Brindley trail. I tricked him in to parking in the main lot, (rather than the one by the dog park which is closer) so we could get a little extra distance in since we were taking a leisurely hike on the 1.5 mile trail. There were several mountain bikers that kept circling the trail, but it was very peaceful otherwise. There's a lot to see and hear if you take the time to look.

 

 

One of the winding trails



Standing in front of one of the biggest trees on the trail