Holiday Charge.

Holiday Charge is the title of a recent Runners World article that claims "Even a minimal amount of mileage keeps you fit, sane and motivated through the silly season." I'm planning on taking the next 2-3 months pretty easy - but I do plan on getting out at least 3 times/week and make an attempt to get stronger and more flexible at the same time. Last week I managed 3 runs of about 4-5 miles each totaling 13 miles over 1 hour and 45 minutes. More importantly I did about 1 hour of what I'll call miscelaneous activities including 3 yoga sessions, one core session and an upper body workout.

This week I'm continuing the "charge". I've done two more runs: 5 miles Monday and a 4x400 today. I tried to do the 400s as fast as possible - add some intensity once a week. I'll try and do hills and blah/tempo runs at some point - along with a goal of one longer run [8+ miles] once every 3 weeks.

Light Blogging

End of the year blogging. I'm really not doing much - 2-4 runs/week and only 12-15 miles this week and maybe 16-20 miles/week for the next 2 months. I'm thinking the following runs next year:

1. O'Niantic 5k [March] - a decent shot at an age group place. This would be my 3rd year in a row.
2. Providence 1/2 [early May]- or another spring 1/2 following an easy 10 week plan - nothing too intense.
3. Twilight Trail Run - late May tradition. I actually hope for rain.
4. Bottone Mile - Track mile in July.
5. Misq. Beach Run [late August] - worth it just to knock-off work early and spend one more afternoon at the beach with the kids.
6. CVS 5K [Sept.] - have to do a team race at some point.
7. Niantic half [late Sept.] - can conflict with CVS - but I enjoyed it this last year.
8. Memorial Strides 10K [Oct.] - want to nail a 10K.
9. Tarzan Brown [early Nov.] - Tradition.
10. Lil' Rhody [late Nov.] - would like to nail this one also.

There are other possibilities - but I'd like to PR at a 10K and a half this year - two very doable goals. And I'd like to kill the lil'Rhody - I'm overdue. No marathon this year. As much as I loved training and doing Philly - it does distract from all the other fall or spring races. Maybe 2011.

What else is going on? With my mileage down, I've been [obviously] thinking about my goals and my shoes. This year I went to a rotation between the ASICS 2140 and the Brooks Adrenline 9. The Asics shoe feels more cushioned, less stiff than the Brooks - but it feels like the Brooks positions the gate a little better. In fact, I went with the Brooks for the marathon and a majority of my long runs because I feel it handles the legs a little better - even if the ASICS has better cushioning. The other thing worth mentioning is I bought a 10.5 size for both - the ASICS feels a little too large, while the Brooks feels a little too small. Finally, the Brooks gets the overall nod for adding the BioMogo to the shoe - this helps the shoe breakdown in the landfill and it's a little lighter.

Anyway - enough rambling - time to watch the Oregon-Oregon State "track meet" football game.