Huh? Huh!

Are we men enough?
Tough Mudder
This race benefits Wounded Warrior Project. Sounds fun a bizarre and painful way.

Wages of Sin

I did a strong 5 this afternoon even though the run was sluggish and crummy . I bailed yesterdy when I couldn't find the gear I needed to run in the cold and got really frustrated. Footing was tough, and afterward my calves got all tight and lousy feeling. It could be the footing, it could be some dehydration, not sure. My pace was all over the place, and I'm attributing it to the major league meal we prepped for my parents as their Christmas gift and the two Negronis and the wine. You reap what you sow, and the wages of sin are steep. It was good to get one in early this week, I'm feeling consistency building. I'm two weeks from the start of the Vermont City Marathon training , and therefore 20 weeks from race day. I'm about 4 weeks from the Super Sunday 10K; 8 weeks from NooBeffid Half, and 12 weeks from the Cherry Blossom Ten. Spring is shaping up nicely which is good because I'm sick of January.

San Fran Run

I got out for a solid 4 miler in downtown San Francisco on Tuesday evening. I ran down Post Street to Mission, down Mission to the Embarcadero, along the water to 2nd, then up 2nd to Post, and back up the hill to my hotel. It was about 65 degrees and clear. A nice evening run.

I flew to Seattle on Wednesday but wasn't there long enough to squeeze in a run. Next time.

Ms. FA and I freed up the Sunday before Thankgiving to run a NYRR 4-miler in Central Park, so I'll make A's goal of a race before Christmas.

Waiting for the NYC 1/2 Marathon application to post online, December 1. The race is Mar 21. There's a new pullout couch in the FAs' living room, if anyone wants to come down and run it.

Let's Get It Going

OK. My goal at the end of this year is to regain some balance in my life. Part of that effort means running more and taking more time to run. It also means blogging more. I want to throw down a challenge to all of us still (nominally) involved in this blogging venture.

1. Let's all commit to run at least three times/week until the end of the year
2. Let's all commit to at least two contributions/week to the blog -- be it a post or a comment
3. Let's all commit to run at least one more race before the end of the year

This blog is most successful when we're participating on it. There are too many post with 0 comments, and too few posts. I'm totally at fault here too, I've been inconsistent as a runner and a contributor. Let's finish 2009 on a strong note.

The week after Columbus day was a great running week -- I got in 4 runs. The week after that was a disaster with tons of work. Last week was a disaster of sloth. I went this past Saturday for 3.3 and again on Monday (yesterday). I felt pretty good Saturday, and quite strong and fast yesterday. I've been having some respiratory issues this fall with allergies etc. but feel like I'm starting to overcome them. I'm looking forward to getting back out. I want and need to run, and i've been letting my business venture take over vast tracks of my life. As I've said often, I'm a better husband father and worker when I'm running.

Here are some things percolating in Race World:

Hingham Turkey Day Trot. I'm in and so are VTR and BR (http://www.marathonsports.com/races/turkeytrot/) 11/26/09, need to sign up soon.
Jolly Jaunt (http://www.jollyjauntboston.org 12/5/09)
Registration is open for Vermont City Marathon as of 11/1/09. I'm going to sign up and use last year's deferral.