bonds

Had a great week of running.  7 miles at Townlake Wed after work then Sam and I did 22 (3 loops at Forest Ridge) miles at Bull Creek.  Today Shan and I did 10 together and I finished with 4 solo miles for a grand total of FIFTY miles for the week.  I finally did it again.  I haven't had a 50 mile week in a long, long time!!  I would venture to say that I haven't had a 50 mile training week since Dad had his stroke in June '09!!
Sam and I had a great time Saturday.  Diana H joined us for the 1st 5ish miles and then bailed.  She and her husband Robt are long time Austin residents but are moving to Bend Or.  They will surely be missed.  They are a big part of our running community!!  I wanted to bail out on the run at the end of our 2nd loop but Sam said we should get in 5 more and then when we got back to the cars again I tried to quit again but Sam wasn't having it.  If he hadn't been there I would have most likely stopped at 14 yesterday.
Today Shan and I had our usual good conversation recounting the great Thanksgiving dinner that Misty prepared and what a good time everyone had.
I'm very, very fortunate to have the friends I have.  Our bonds are strong.

blues

Headed off some early holiday blues with a 7 mile run yesterday after work.  Still pretty chilly.  Last 3-4 were in pretty much total darkness, which I love!!

stronger

Another good Thursday morning run in the books.  We had a nice surprise when Sam V showed up.  I've been prodding him to join us off and on for years and he finally did it.  We had a great time and Sam's wacky off the wall humor added a nice spice to the run.  I'll add too that Sam burned it up!! He pushed the pace right from the start.  My overeating self had a tough time hanging this morning.  Oh, the glorious pain.  And boy was it painful!!  In the last mile I slowed dramatically and still finished in pretty much the same time as last week, 1:06.23.  If I could get my emotional eating under control I'm guessing I could probably run faster.  I need to be stronger!!

runners

Run, run, run.  That's what we do.  That's what we thrive on.  We plan our lives around running.  We look forward to the feelings of pain and joy we experience while running.  We would be very difficult to live with if we couldn't run anymore.  It is our peace of mind.  Some of us have dreamed about it and done it our entire lives.  We are runners!!

cold!!

Great run this morning with my old pal Mark L.  We did the 7 mile loop at Townlake in 1:06.14.  I was a bit disappointed in the time.  It felt faster than that and we really picked up the pace the last 300m or so.  Oh well, we beat everyone in the bed on this cold morning.  One of my co-workers said it was 28 degrees.  I believe it, it was cold!!

recovered

10 good miles at Townlake this morning in 1:55.  First 9 was in 1:40 and the last mile was easy.  I felt good this morning.  I think I've recovered pretty well from the long Saturday run.  Pretty serious cold front blowing in this morning.  Gonna be bundled up pretty tight Thursday morning!!

lunges

Sam and I got it done yesterday.  24 slow miles at Forest Ridge in a shade over 7hrs.  That was exactly what I needed, some real good slow time on feet.  What a fun time we had screwing with each other and trudging on and on.  We had some unexpected light rain to get the day started but it passed after a while.  We added the relatively short scenic route at the gravel parking entrance twice for good measure.  This is the 3rd straight run where I can really see improvement in my left knee from the lunges I've been doing.  Normally Sam burns me up on the downs but not so much yesterday.  I felt much more sure footed and confident on the treacherous downs, just plain felt stronger.  And what a wonderful feeling it was.  I also felt a difference with the little core work I've done lately too.  I sure regret all the core stuff languishing for a couple of months but it is what it is.  I still feel that I have a good shot at a really good PR at Bandera.

hugging

Really good run this morning with Shan and Mark at Townlake.  We did the 7 mile loop in 1:07.52.  First time in 3 weeks we were all 3 together for our weekly run.  I missed 2 weeks ago because of my shoulder and Shan would've missed because of her back but downtown flooded really bad.  We had a good time and had some great conversation and then a 3 way hug at the end.  Okay, I hugged them when they were hugging!!

townlake

Got in a really good 7 miler yesterday morning at Townlake.  There's still signs of the flood down there.  I took a minute to stand next to the Stevie Ray Vaughn statue.  From looking at the flood picture the water must have been up to my chest.  Truly unbelievable the power of mother nature!!

new beginning

Got in 6 after work Thursday after work and Misty dropped me off 5 miles from her Aunt and Uncles house Saturday morning and I ran the country roads in.

Not real happy with my mileage in Oct especially considering it had 5 Saturdays in it.  There was a whole bunch of stuff that caused that to happen so I'm not going to worry about it now.  Travel, some physical stuff, our Halloween party.  One Saturday morning I was all geared up and just wasn't feeling it.  Each month marks a new beginning so I'm going to make the most of November