Merry Christmas! I hope that Santa was nice to you and that you remembered the batteries. Here in California we are all pretty jealous of you Easterners and Midwesterners enjoying a White Christmas. It's just another boring winter day here in Southern California (snicker).
On the running front, I kicked my own butt yesterday. I did an 8 mile tempo run. One mile warm up, six miles at 10K pace, one mile warm down. A few observations:
- Tough workout!
- My middle six miles were at an 8:53 pace (10K pace minus ten seconds). If I would have done that on December 13th, I would have had a 10K PR.
- Wow. Tough workout!
- So *that's* the way that pain is supposed to feel.
- I finished the six miles with absolutely nothing left in the tank. Had to search for quarters on the ground for a minute or two to make sure there wasn't going to be spewage.
- After all that, I still brought in my warm down mile in 10:20 - that's a 4:30 marathon pace
- Did I say wow! Tough workout!
I *loved* this workout. Hard hard hard. It pushed me. Yet when all was done and I was on my way back to my car the pace was pedestrian. A pace that would put me at a 4:30 marathon. I am getting a feel for what I am capable of doing. Now it's just a matter of being able to do it for 26.2.
On another note, I emptied my camera and thought I would share some photos of Wednesday's run through Shady Canyon. Here's the entry to this pretty community:
Luckily, when developers were allowed to build in this canyon, the City of Irvine and Orange County stipulated that an easement for a multi-use trail be provided. As a result, we have this great trail though the hilly and beautiful terrain in Shady Canyon: 
Hope you are having a safe and happy Christmas!
On the schedule today - rest. Whew!
Note on the battery reference: When I was a kid, I would get so frustrated going with my dad searching for batteries on Christmas day. Face it, new toys without batteries aren't very exciting.
I always emptied the tv remote for batteries. THAT'LL teach the parents for forgetting. ;) I was wondering how that workout was going to go. When you tweeted about it, I was like, "So essentially you're racing a 10k without it being a race?!?!" Phew. Glad you survived and ran HARD. Those sort of workouts feel great (just not very often, blech). :D
ReplyDeleteI've yet to make it out of my apartment, but I WILL have some white Xmas photos to share. The drifts are half as tall as me and it's STILL snowing!
LOL!!, now that is why parents rush on christmas day to get batteries!!, I did not understand that until i read your post!!
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your run, I had a run today, but did not felt good. It has been several runs where I am struggling on completing my 5k's and that is not good.
On the last two runs I even had a small chest pressure....I am going to the doctor tomorrow to see what is going on
Thanks for your comment on my blog, I appreciated it a lot!
Enjoy running!!!, and merry christmas!!
Atrusni
http://web.me.com/amaurydeleon
Did you need some of our white stuff and some -WTF temps to make Christmas seem more real? I will even throw in some batteries!!! Merry Ho Ho!!
ReplyDeleteI envy you for NOT having a white Christmas. I dont care for it now. Not trying to be a scrooge though. Its ok. Nice workout man. Way to go. Very cool pics. Keep it up Glenn. happy New Year. ...and Santa was cool with me this year with everything and more that I wanted. Guess I was a good boy, unless he just didnt know better.
ReplyDeletei hope you had a fantastic Christmas! i think a rest day is a good idea! Enjoy it!!!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas Glenn (one day late). I am always envious of your paths and trails. I love where I live, but it is an older community and thus, no master-planned trails. So I'm either on the streets (sometimes scary) or I drive...((sigh)).
ReplyDeleteI think rechargeable batteries are the BEST INVENTION EVER, speaking as a parent who has gone through those big boxes of Kirkland batteries as if they were toilet paper.
Thanks for your nice words on my blog. I promise to keep doing herd updates until they tell me to stop (which doesn't seem likely).
Hope you had a great workout!
ReplyDeletemerry belated christmas glenn! (i can't remember if i've already belatedly wished you that or not, my old age) ;)
ReplyDeletei wish more planning like this (green space, trails) had been used here in south carolina... they are kind of trying now, but c'mon, a 1/2 mile trail is rather pathetic! (not kidding!)