Training 12/19 to 12/25

12/19 Monday: OFF

12/20 Tuesday: 8.5 miles in 62 minutes

Easy running on the Windham Rail Trail with Jim Johnson. Great run and some good conversation about the upcoming running year.

12/21 Wednesday: 6 miles in 45 minutes

Easy running in Haverhill

12/22 Thursday: Hiking

Hiked Mt Tom, Field, and Willey. Three 4000 foot peaks nagged for the winter 4000 footer list. Temps were really nice, but it was windy and there were no views to be had. I moved very fast jogging most of the flat to moderate sections of trail. wore Micro-Spikes the whole way because it was very icy.

12/23 Friday: Hiking

Hiked Mt Tecumseh in the morning. Another winter 4000 foot peak. Snowed about 6 inches the night before, so the woods and trails looked awesome! Great hike, I moved really fast and ran most of the way back down.

12/24 Saturday: 8 miles in 56 minutes

Easy running around Haverhill. Legs felt pretty good considering I hiked the last two days.

12/25 Sunday: 8 miles in 58 minutes

Christmas!!! Ran over to Winnekenni and back. Tried to help rescue a little pomeranian that was running in traffic and the thing bit me!!! Broke the skin too!! so I had to wait for the cops to show up to help catch the dog and take my information. Good news is the dog had all its shoots....so I don't have rabies.

Total miles: 30.5

More miles than last week.

Training 12/12 to 12/18

12/16 Friday: 7 miles in 52 minutes

Easy running along the Shawsheen River trails

12/17 Saturday: 5 miles in 38 minutes

Easy running on the Flat loop in Haverhill

12/18 Sunday: 6 in 41 minutes

Easy running till last two miles 6:27, 5:32. Felt pretty good dropping the pace down

Total Miles: 18

Craptastic week of running. At least the time off made my foot feel better.

Training 12/5 to 12/11

12/5 Monday: OFF

12/6 Tuesday: OFF

12/7 Wednesday: OFF

A few days off in a row.....a combination of work, weather, daddy responsibilities, and a foot that is suddenly very sore led to this. The foot seems to go in cycles....some days it feels good....others it feels pretty bad. I hope its all just part of the healing process.

12/8 Thursday: 7 miles

Another day of running along the Shawsheen River trails. Foot feels ok today...and then legs are fresh. A few days off did the body good!

12/9 Friday: 8 miles

Easy running along the Shawsheen River trails. I am going to keep hitting the trails as long as the weather allows.

12/10 Saturday: 8 miles in 52 minutes

Ran over to Winnekenni from the house and got a couple miles on the trails. Felt pretty good today, foot just a touch tight. Did some stretching and rolled the foot after. I need to keep on this.

12/11 Sunday: OFF

Total miles: 23

Training 11/28 to 12/4

11/28 Monday: 7 miles in 54 minutes

Easy running along the Shawsheen River trails. Feeling a bit sluggish today, not a surprise after the jump in miles last week and the long run yesterday.

11/29 Tuesday: 8 miles in 60 minutes

Treadmill running at home as I did not have a chance to get outside during the day. Felt OK for most of the run, but the last two miles were a bit tough. Still adjusting to the increase in mileage.

11/30 Wednesday: 10 miles in 77 minutes

Ran the Shawsheen River trails out to Andover High then more trails out towards Bakers Meadow. A solid run today.

12/1 Thursday: 7 miles in 55 minutes

Ran the Shawsheen River trails. Felt a bit heavy and slow, but it was still nice to get outside!

12/2 Friday: 7 miles in 54 minutes

Another easy day of running along the Shawsheen River trails. The foot is achy, its time for a day off.

12/3 Saturday: OFF

Spent my off day hiking in the whites! Hiked Eisenhower, my 48th and final NH 4000 footer! We had an awesome day for the hike. Cool, sunny, no wind and unlimited visability. I could not have asked for a better day!

12/4 Sunday: 7 miles in 54 minutes

The legs were a bit sore and heavy after a week of running and then my hike yesterday. I wanted to go longer, but I decided to play it smart and just get in some miles. The foot is also a bit sore after hiking on it.

Total Miles: 46 + 6.5 hiking

A solid week this week. I have to continue to be consistent and get out the door, while also being smart and listening to my body. Easier said then done.

Update and Training 11/21 to 11/27

Its been a long time since my last post. Its hard to write or talk about running when your not running much and when you do actually run its slow, painful, and discouraging. A quick update on the Plantar Fasciitis issue, about 5 weeks ago after lots of time off, again, I went to see another foot specialist, got x-rays, and a physical examination of the foot. He determined that yes it was Plantar Fasciitis, no other issues, and there seemed to be a lot of scar tissue in the heel area. I guess running and racing on it for 5 months will cause some damage! He felt that I was healing well and that getting back to running shouldn't hurt it anymore at this point. As long as I take it easy and ease back into it. I also was told to continue with the stretching and exercises. One tool I have found very helpful was something called the footlog. Check it out if you are having foot issues. So about 5 weeks ago I started back running very easy and taking lots of days off. The last three weeks have been 28-30 miles with 1 or two days off. This week I stepped it up a bit more and decided to start blogging again. The foot has been OK so far, no pain, but still doesn't feel quite right yet.....still plenty of tightness and some aches, but I can deal with that. I hope this is the start of a great winter of training....only time will tell!

11/21 Monday: 8 miles in 59 minutes

Shawsheen River trails in Andover.

11/22 Tuesday: 10 miles in 73 minutes

Ran over to the Bradford section of town. Ran the new "rail trail" and did the Bradford Valentines 6k loop. Bonked pretty good at about 9 miles. Otherwise it was a good run.

11/23 Wednesday: 7 miles in 54 minutes

Easy running on the treadmill. It was cold,wet, and windy outside. Thankful for the treadmill today!

11/24 Thursday: OFF

A day to visit family and eat lots off food!

11/25 Friday: 7 miles in 55 minutes

Easy running with Heather. Nice and slow today, feeling pretty sluggish after eating my face off yesterday and stuffing myself with a large breakfast this morning.

11/26 Saturday: 7 miles in 50 minutes

Easy running, did 4 x 20 sec strides towards the end of the run. Felt OK overall.

11/27 Sunday: 12 miles in 89 minutes

The run felt good! Unfortunately I am sick!

Total Miles: 51

Biggest week in a very long time!

Training 10/3 to 10/6

10/3 Monday: OFF

A day off after two days in a row.

10/4 Tuesday: 7 miles in 52 minutes

Easy running from Cedardale in Haverhill. Felt good on the run, but the foot was pretty achy and a bit more than I would have liked. We will see how it feels tomorrow.

Training 9/26 to 10/2

9/26 Monday: OFF

9/27 Tuesday: 6 miles in 46 minutes

Easy running in Andover. Foot felt a bit tight in the heel and ankle area. No pain, but not comfortable either.

9/28 Wednesday: OFF

PT at Off Season Sports and Physical Therapy. Treatment is going well!

9/29 Thursday: 10.3 miles in 73 minutes

Ran With Jim Johnson and Emery Bickford from Jim's house. Did a loop that went up and over Spicket Hill.....and it was a pretty good hill! The run got interesting when it started to thunder and lightning and the skies opened up. Overall it was a great run and the kick in the ass I really needed. It was great to get out there and run with some other guys and it got me excited to get back out there racing. Next time I will get a few of those town lines!

9/30 Friday: OFF

10/1 Saturday: 8 miles in 64 minutes

Was going to go over the Winnekenni to catch the USATFNE 25k trail Championships, but 7am came way too early. So I went over to Lowell to watch Heather race 5k at Jennifer's Run. I warmed up with Heather and then ran around the course to cheer on those racing. Heather ran well and got second place! I finished up cooling down with Heather, her sister Emily and the Fallon's. Got in a total of 8 miles......the foot felt pretty good. I will take it!

10/2 Sunday: 6 miles in 49 minutes

Very easy running with Heather. It was my first back to back day of running since taking time off. I felt really slow and heavy, but the foot felt alright.

Total Miles: 30.3

Not a bad week of running. The foot seems to be holding up OK. Its not 100% yet, but I feel like it is heading in that direction. I will keep bringing up the milage slowly, as long as the foot feels good.