Training for 12/31/15

My running year is officially in the books.

Yesterday afternoon, I took Pepper out for an easy lap around the 4.5-mile loop. Today, I had him all harnessed up and ready to go for our last run together of 2015, but we stepped out the door just as Clark pulled into the driveway. So I wound up running one last 4.5-mile loop alone. When I got home, I went upstairs and did some strength training — abs, push-ups, invisible chair-sitting and weights.

And that’s it! First, the monthly summary.

Mileage:

• Week 1 (Dec. 1-5): 24.7 miles
• Week 2 (Dec. 6-12): 20.5
• Week 3 (Dec. 13-19): 29.7
• Week 4 (Dec. 20-26): 24.3
• Week 5 (Dec. 27-31): 30.9

Total: 130.1 miles

Shamrock training got off to a decent start, but I skipped half of the four scheduled long runs this month.

As far as racing went, I ran the half at Rehoboth, which didn’t go nearly as well as I’d wanted, and the Ugly Sweater 5K with Pepper, which was fun, once I got him pointed in a straight line.

In January, I’ve got nothing but training miles scheduled, and lots of them.

Now, my yearly summary:

Mileage:

• January: 115.2 miles
• February: 107.5
• March: 135
• April: 137.1
• May: 142.6
• June: 95.3
• July: 119.7
• August: 160.7
• September: 134.9
• October: 183.6
• November: 120.1
• December: 130.1

Total: 1,581.8 miles

Hell yes. Look at that mile total! This year, I ran about 370 miles more than last year. It’s been since 2011 that I could say I ran more this year than the year before!

Not getting injured was a big help. Except for June, I ran in the triple digits every month. Not sure what happened in June, other than that impromptu trip to San Diego.

I’m pretty happy with my mileage, finally, but damn if my race times didn’t suck this year, compared to even just last year. I would say the low-water mark was the Women’s Distance Festival 5K in June, on a blazing hot day, in which I had to walk in a 5K — three times! — for the first time ever.

So I wasn’t at all fast this year, but I did finish three marathons, which is three more than I did last year, and two more than I did the year before.

Anyway, here’s 2015 in pictures:

January:

Cold as balls. I skipped a lot of miles due to sheer unwillingness to face the often record-setting cold. But I did get to meet my first niece, so it wasn’t all bad.

February:

Colder than balls. Just when you didn’t think it could get any less tolerable around here, it did. Again, actual miles run were much lower than my Shamrock training plan called for. Oh well. I’d rather be undertrained than frozen.

Canal frozen over by the beach house in Fenwick.

March:

It finally started to thaw out around here in March. Pepper and I ran a 5K in Denton in 21:57, which would turn out to be my fastest 5K of the year, and then the following weekend, I went to Shamrock and successfully completed the Whale Challenge for the first time in two years.

After finishing the 8K on Saturday.

Finishing the marathon in 4:02 on Sunday!

Pepper and I also ran the April Fools’ Day Challenge in Cape Henlopen State Park, which wound up being a 3.5-mile run down the beach, through the woods and through and under several obstacles. It was a lot of fun!

Running the April Fools Challenge together.

April:

I ran the Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run in Washington, D.C. I didn’t like it. It was way too crowded. The course was beautiful though. It was also short; there was an accident involving a pedestrian on the course right before they were going to close the roads, and they had to reroute it. It wound up being the Cherry Blossom 9.5-Mile Run.

Coming to the finish.

May:

I paced the Island 2 Island Half Marathon for the second year, this time leading the 3:00 pace group. Another successful outing!

On the boardwalk.

Two weeks later, the weather had suddenly turned hot, just in time for the half marathon in St. Michaels. I really liked the new race course, but it was hard to care about it when I felt like I was going to explode like a popcorn kernel. My face is the reddest I’ve ever seen it in the pictures from the end, and I was sick the rest of the afternoon. Pretty miserable.

Kill me now.

A week after that, Seashore Striders kicked off the annual summer series with the Masser 5-Miler. I was about four and a half minutes off the PR I set in that race two years earlier, but I managed a smile for the camera at the end.

I also raced the first of five 5Ks I had to run to qualify for the summer series, another slow effort on a hot day.

June:

I went out to San Diego to meet Clark, who’d gotten stuck there much longer than expected because of a problem with a customer’s refrigeration system.

After surfing in Encinatas.

I hardly ran while I was out there, and when I got home, I didn’t feel like getting my butt in gear again. This is when things really got ugly. The Saturday after I got home from California was the day I had to walk in that 5K. It was bad!

SERIOUSLY. Kill me now!

I ran two more 5Ks in June. They were still slow but not as bad as that first one. And I didn’t have to walk again!

July:

I ran two races in July. First up was one last 5K to qualify for the summer series, which, at 22:49, was much slower than the same race a year earlier, but was also much faster than the first four 5Ks of the series. At least I was moving in the right direction.

Then, I went to Rosaryville State Park to run a 25K. It was awful. It was extremely hot and humid that day, and it took me 3:24 to finish 15.5 miles. I was just glad I hadn’t signed up for the 50K again.

Jen and Niki, who both ran the 50K, and me.

August:

I didn’t run any races in August, just cranked out some miles, including — gasp! — a 16-miler! All alone! A proper long run. How about that.

September:

September started with the Last Blast Prediction 5K. I didn’t get anywhere close to my prediction, as usual, but I won first in my age group in the summer series again.

We went to Chicago for our destination NASCAR race. I liked the race track and I really liked the city itself.

Clark, me and Mike before the race.

In front of the Chicago marquee during a running tour of the city.

We got to run the Dogfish Dash 8K at the end of the month. My brother won our bet, beating me by three minutes, so I had to pay his race registration fee, but I ran the 8K (4.97 miles) two minutes faster than the Masser 5-Miler in May, so that made me happy. The post-race Dogfish Head was pretty awesome too.

Coming to the line.

October:

I only ran one race in October, the Baltimore Marathon, which I ran in place of the final 20-miler on the training plan for my goal marathon three weeks later. I loved that race! The course was hilly but scenic. If it hadn’t been for two port-o-potty stops I had to make in the final 10K due to sudden digestive distress, I think I’d have run sub-4 that day. As it was, I finished in 4:10.

Somewhere in the first half of the race.

November:

The first weekend in November was my fall goal race, the Outer Banks Marathon in North Carolina. Like at Shamrock, I did an 8K+marathon challenge. The 8K was so small I won third in my age group. I paid for that the next day though; my legs were trashed by the second half of the marathon, and I missed my sub-4 goal by a freaking minute. Still though, it was my third marathon finish of 2015.

Mile 4ish of the 8K.

Finishing the marathon.

I also ran the Huffin’ for Pumpkin Pie 5K in 22:42.

December:

I was really hoping for a good race at the Rehoboth Beach Half Marathon the first Saturday of the month, but I had a Code Abby at mile 4 and then felt like I was going to puke the rest of the way. I finished in 1:56, which was still my best half marathon time of the year haha.

Even worse than the shitty race was Saturday night after the race. Everyone else went out to party their faces off, but I had to stay at the rental house because I was puking my guts out for several hours. Whatever.

The last race of the year was the Ugly Sweater 5K with Pepper. Nothing special as far as our time went, though we were first woman and first dog finishers, but we got some good pictures of ourselves running in ugly Christmas sweaters.

So, looking ahead to 2016.

Right now, I am registered for four races: the L.A. Marathon on Feb. 14 (Clark’s first marathon!), the Whale Challenge at Shamrock in March, the St. Michael’s Half Marathon in May and the Rehoboth Half Marathon in December.

I’m sure we’ll do the summer series at the beach, and the NASCAR schedule is allowing us to do the Dogfish Dash again, but registration for that doesn’t open until April 1. I’m also pretty certain I’ll pace the half marathon in Ocean City again this year. They haven’t started putting together the pace team yet.

There’s talk of a five-year LoopPhest reunion at Philly in November, which in 2011 was the biggest single gathering of Loop runners we’ve ever had. I’m considering making that my goal marathon for the fall, but I haven’t settled on anything yet.

And that’s about it for plans right now.

As far as goals go, I want to continue to run injury-free, first and foremost. I’d like to make myself put in the training, specifically long runs and speed work, to get back to the speeds I’ve run before. Finally, I want to keep the mileage total moving in the right direction, so my goal for 2016 is to run at least 1,582 miles.

Happy New Year!

Training for 12/30/15

I haven’t run yet today. I brought Pepper into the office this morning so I could get some stuff done before the year ends tomorrow. I haven’t been in here in a while, since the meetings I usually have to cover were cancelled the last couple of weeks due to the holidays and I could do the rest of my work at home. It didn’t look like anyone else had been in here either; several days’ worth of newspapers were piled up on the floor.

It turned out Pepper and I were not alone in here though. I carried a big pile of old newspapers to a back room, to stack them up for recycling, and found… a pet rabbit in a cage. All alone. I have no idea whose it is or why it’s in here. Weird!

Anyway, once I get done with this, I’ll head home and make Pepper run the 4-miler on the schedule with me.

 

Training for 12/29/15

Today, Pepper and I did an easy middle-distance run, which, this week, increased to 8 miles. It rained some this morning but stopped by the time we went out. It was a decent day, long sleeves and shorts weather, a little breezy and overcast.

I had video game music stuck in my head the whole way around the 8.4-mile loop haha. Altered Beast, Columns, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine and Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2. I love my stupid Game Gear!

Training for 12/28/15

I had a pretty nice long weekend. Not a whole lot of running to speak of, but a good Christmas.

I did get in a short run Thursday afternoon. By that time, the rain had moved on, which was very much appreciated. I did a quick 3-miler.

Thursday night, Clark and I went to the Christmas Eve service at church, and then to Aunt Helen’s for our family’s party. We got to meet her new whatever-she-calls-him, Bill, and everything was fine. He got along great with everyone and no one completely humiliated Aunt Helen by mentioning the book of quotes my younger sister has been keeping for years or the time Aunt Helen put a student behind a door as punishment for talking in class and completely forgot about him until everyone else had gone home for the day. She even relaxed a bit on the 11:30 p.m. curfew and didn’t seem to mind that Dave, Clark and I were the last ones to leave at almost midnight.

Friday was Christmas Day. We got to sleep in until 8 a.m.! Pepper was very excited to see all the treats and new squeaky balls Santa brought him. He was less excited about the new running harness and leash haha. Since Clark and I bought each other’s LA Marathon registration as an early Christmas gift, we just got each other a few small things to open that morning. Most of it was cold weather running tops, which seemed funny because it was in the 70s that day. Maybe it’ll cool down here enough to use them sometime over the next couple of months. Not that I really want it to.

Late that morning, we went to Clark’s parents’ house for brunch with his family, one of my favorite meals of the year. Everyone loved the new Christmas outfit Chad and Samira put Snoopy in this year. He’d gotten too fat for his Santa outfit, so they demoted him to an elf:

Pepper thanking his lucky stars we didn’t make him wear that.

Pepper had his ugly Christmas sweater on for about a minute when we first got there, but it was so hot we took it off him. This was the first Christmas I can remember we had a fire in the fireplace and the air conditioning cranked up at the same time. It was so weird.

I also got to drive Chad’s brand new 2016 Honda Civic. He got the new Touring edition, with a 1.5-liter turbo. I have to say, Honda has made vast improvements to the Civic in the nine model years since they built mine. As much as I liked the new one though, I think I still like not having a car payment better. We’ll see if I change my mind when Honda releases the coupe and a manual transmission for the turbo sometime next year though.

In the evening, we went to my parents’ house for Christmas dinner with my family. When we exchanged gifts, I got from my brother a handheld gaming system with a bunch of SEGA Genesis games pre-loaded on it — basically a Game Gear! He also gave me a pair of Copper Hands (those As Seen On TV arthritis gloves) so I don’t get arthritis in my old lady hands from playing it haha.

Saturday morning, I slept in until 10, played Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on my Game Gear and then watched TV while eating cake for breakfast. When I was 11, that was exactly what I thought adulthood was going to be. It was glorious.

Clark eventually got up too. We didn’t do anything all day Saturday. Just lazed about. Other than some raw veggies that evening, I didn’t eat anything all day other than Christmas cookies and the spice cake I’d started on for breakfast.

Sunday, I went for this week’s long run, a 10-miler. It was painfully clear I hadn’t eaten anything but cookies and cake the day before. I had zero energy and just felt like crap the whole way. I didn’t let myself take a shortcut though. I eventually finished the 10.5-mile loop.

That afternoon, there was a small Christmas miracle — the Ravens actually won a game. Over the Steelers! Ravens fans may be able to count the team’s wins this season on one hand, but two of those wins came over the Steelers, so at least we have that.

Last night, we went to Abbott’s Grill in Laurel for dinner and then to Salisbury, where I did something I’ve never done before. I watched a “Star Wars” movie.

It wasn’t bad, but I’m not clamoring to watch the first six. I only looked at my watch to see how much longer it could possibly go on twice. The best part was the big grin on Clark’s face. After the movie, I learned CGI took away from everything but the light saber fight, which was much cooler with today’s advanced special effects.

Today, it’s back to work. I have a 3-miler and strength training on the schedule. Looks like Pepper’s going to get to try out his new harness and leash!

Training for 12/24/15

Merry Christmas Eve!

I finished up all my last-minute shopping last night, got everything wrapped and even made five dozen gingersnap cookies and some banana-oatmeal cookies. My favorite thing about the banana-oatmeal cookies is that you have to buy an entire bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips to make it, but the recipe only calls for 1/3 of a cup. Which means I now have most of a bag of chocolate chips to eat too.

While I was out, I stopped at Dunkin Donuts. I just wanted a coffee so I went through the drive-thru. When I got to the window, the cashier said the nice woman in the car in front of mine had paid for my coffee. So I decided to keep it going and said I’d pay for the order of the person behind me, thinking it was another $2 coffee. Haha no, it was a $15 gift card. Only a real grinch would say “never mind!” so I sucked it up and paid 7.5 times more than I would have had I just paid for my own order. I hope whoever got that free gift card appreciated it!

Anyway, today it is 70 degrees and there are some pretty severe thunderstorms rolling through. So Christmas-y! I did strength training upstairs — abs, push-ups, invisible chair-sitting and weights. It’s so humid up there. It felt like working out in my middle school gym locker room. Gross.

I would also like to go for a short run, but it’s pouring its butt off, so I’m going to wait until Clark gets home from work so Pepper can stay here with him, instead of making him trudge through it with me again. I am so sick of rain!

Tonight, we’re going to Aunt Helen’s for her annual Christmas Eve party. It should be interesting this year. Aunt Helen has a boyfriend! Well, she calls him “company,” but someone who drives 11 hours to spend Christmas through New Year’s is more than company, if you ask me. Aunt Helen and this guy graduated from high school together, and reconnected at their 50th class reunion this summer. He lives in Kentucky now, and is coming here to spend the entire holiday season with her.

I think it’s wonderful she has a boyfriend — sorry, company — but it’s made Aunt Helen even more neurotic than usual. She’s so worried about her family completely embarrassing her she’s been handing out lists of acceptable conversation topics, telling grown-ass adults they can’t drink and putting a time limit on the festivities. I have a feeling she’ll chill out once we all get there and the party gets going and she realizes this guy isn’t completely horrified by us. I hope so, anyway.

Tomorrow, we don’t have to be anywhere until 11 a.m.! We’ve never gotten to sleep in and laze about here at home by ourselves on Christmas morning. We’re going to Clark’s parents’ house for brunch, and then to my parents’ house for dinner.

That reminds me, last night Clark stopped by Petco to get some treats and a new leash for Pepper’s Christmas gifts. He bought so much the cashier asked him how many dogs he has haha. When Clark said just one, the cashier said “That’s one lucky dog!” Yes, he is!

Merry Christmas!

Training for 12/23/15

Today is Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us! Here is my gift for everyone:

If we gathered around the Festivus pole right now, for the airing of grievances, I’m pretty sure No. 1 on Pepper’s list for me would be the 5.5 miles I made him run with me in the pouring rain earlier. It really wasn’t raining that hard when we left, and the radar made it look like it was going to stay that way long enough to get in our run, but the radar lied. We got dumped on.

I had some more digestive problems that had to be tended to about halfway through the run, but other than that, it was fine.

 

Training for 12/22/15

Happy first day of winter! The days are now officially getting longer. Only three months until spring!

Pepper and I went out for a middle distance easy run this afternoon, after it stopped raining. He didn’t need his dork jacket and I was comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt. It didn’t feel like winter at all today, which was nice.

Unfortunately, I had some digestive problems that plagued me just about the whole way. I had to stop in the woods to use the bathroom about 1.5 miles from home, and after that I finally felt better. Other than that, it was a normal lap around the 7.3-mile loop.

 

 

Training for 12/21/15

Saturday morning, Pepper and I ran the Ugly Sweater 5K in St. Michaels. It was part of a series of free 5Ks started this year by TriCycle & Run. For a free race, it was pretty well run. No frills like chip timing, event T-shirts or age group awards, but we got a well-marked course closed to traffic, free downloadable photos of ourselves running in ugly Christmas sweaters and $1 off pints at Eastern Shore Brewing after the race.

Clark, Pepper and I were a little later getting to the race site than I intended. I got my bib and really didn’t have time for anything else, including a final bathroom break. I was standing in the crowd listening to the pre-race instructions, hoping the strong urge to pee would go away once we started running, but it wasn’t just nerves making me feel like I had to go, it was the coffee I’d drank on the drive over. This wasn’t going to disappear once we started running. So I handed Pepper’s leash to Clark and ran into the tri shop to use the bathroom.

The line moved quick, but by the time I got back outside, the crowd had already walked down the street to the start line on a paved bike path. Pepper and I arrived just in time to hear the starting commands, but we were the very last ones to start, behind all the walkers and people pushing double-wide strollers. Not where I wanted to start at all!

Pepper was very excited as we caught up to and started running with this huge group of people. I was trying to keep him off the pavement and in the grass so we could pass people without getting too close, but that was just confusing him. He kept trying to dart into the crowd, and then, when I pulled him back toward the grass, he’d stop and turn around and leap on me. It wasn’t going well, to say the least.

Lots of other runners thought it was adorable though haha. After Pepper looked back at me over his shoulder with this crazed look and then took off in a zigzagging sprint through the crowd, I heard one woman say, “Aw he’s so cute! He’s like ‘I love running! I love Christmas!'” He’s actually just insane, but yes, he was very cute in his little dog sweater.

I was thinking the race course was a simple out-and-back on the paved bike path, but it turned out the first mile or so was in a little neighborhood just across the street from the tri shop, before getting on the bike path.

In that neighborhood, there were two short out-and-backs. The leaders came running back at us not far into the race, to my surprise. I barely had time to get Pepper out of the lead guy’s way before Pepper plowed into him.

Pepper and I made both U-turns in the neighborhood, passing other runners the whole time. It took a lot of work to keep Pepper from tripping over other people. He kept getting so close to their feet! That dog has no sense of race etiquette haha.

We ran out of the neighborhood and back toward the bike path, which is where a photographer was camped out taking pictures:

I already look like I am completely over trying to run a race with this crazed dog. But look how cute he is!

We turned right on the bike path headed toward yet another short out-and-back and a U-turn. It was about at this point that I looked down and noticed my red sparkle skirt had disappeared, the one I bought last year to wear in the marathon relay in Baltimore. How the hell does a skirt fall off without the wearer noticing?! I stopped right there on the side of the course to look for it. Then I realized it hadn’t gone down, it went UP, sliding up my tights until it was so high it was under my sweater vest. If you look really close in that picture, you can just see the bottom edge of it.

I didn’t bother pulling it back down because I figured it’d just slide up again. So Pepper and I took off. We made the U-turn right behind this little kid wearing tights with leg bones printed on them, like a skeleton. Every time Pepper tried to move around him, the little jerk moved right in front of him, I guess to block him, almost kicking him in the head. I finally swung Pepper out wide off the bike path and then let him speed up enough the kid couldn’t move to block him in time.

So now we were on the longest stretch of the race course and we finally got to settle into an even pace. Soon we passed where we’d turn for the finish (after a fourth and final U-turn) and I saw Clark waving from behind some bushes, where I could see him but Pepper couldn’t, thankfully.

The rest of the race was better. We only had to pass a few more runners. Other than several attempts to stop to pee on something, Pepper calmed down and just ran in a straight line. We even passed the lead woman about a quarter-mile from the finish.

We made it to the parking lot off the bike path where the finish line was located. Just as we came up to the big inflated finish line arch, a gust of wind blew it right toward us. Pepper panicked haha. I was able to get him to run under the arch and finish, but you can see he was NOT happy about it:

 

Then Pepper finally saw Clark standing off to the side and forgot all about the evil arch trying to eat him:

Oh, hey!

Not long after we finished, they took down the arch.

Officially, Pepper and I finished in 23:21. We were first woman and first dog, and 12th overall of 188 finishers, but this was a prediction run, and I’d written down 22:42 on my registration. Once again, not even close.

We hung around to see Clark’s coworker finish his second 5K, and then TK and a bunch of her family came through. They all left right after the race, but Clark, Pepper and I went to Eastern Shore Brewing for a couple of beers.

We tried to get a good picture of Pepper and me in our sweaters in the brewery, but he wasn’t cooperating.

After a couple of beers, we stopped at Dick’s so Clark could get some goggles and a pair of swim shorts, and then we went to Sunflowers and Greens, a little lunch cafe I’ve heard about from some family who work in Easton. It was pretty good! I had some black bean soup and a slice of quiche, and Clark had a salad with Wagyu beef. They even gave us each a glass of white wine on the house.

By that time, the pool at the Y was open for lap swimmers. Pepper and I waited in the parking lot while Clark got in his first swim workout. I got a decent picture of Pep trying to look badass in his sweater.

Clark came back and we headed home. Before getting in the shower, we finally got a good picture of Pepper and me together in our sweaters.

That night, we went back to Easton. Instead of exchanging gifts this Christmas, Clark’s family decided to go to dinner and a show. We had dinner at the Bartlett Pear Inn and then went to see a live production of “A Christmas Story” at the Avalon Theatre, capped off by dessert at the Tidewater Inn. It was a lovely evening.

After the rest of Clark’s family left Easton, we met Corey and his roommate at Doc’s for one more drink. It was 12:30 a.m. when we got home, eight hours since we’d left Pepper. I was expecting a Yule log in the utility room, but I was wrong! Pepper was a good boy.

Sunday, we finally got our Charlie Brown Christmas tree decorated. It looks better with all the lights and ornaments on it, but it still makes me laugh to look at it.

In the late afternoon, I ran a lap around the 5.5-mile loop. It wasn’t the long run I’d been planning (big surprise), but it was a nice run.

Last night, we went to the Denton pub for the “Holiday Baking Championship” finale viewing. The place was packed! Clark and I both got our pictures taken with Steve, the local pastry chef in the finale, before the show:

Steve made a beautiful cake in the championship round, but in the end, the win went to one of his two competitors. Oh well. It was pretty cool to see Denton represented on a national show like that. Everyone was happy for him even though he didn’t take home the $50,000 prize. Clark and I are going to try to make it to brunch at his bed and breakfast next month.

Today, we are four days out from Christmas. I think I’m just about ready. I’m waiting on one final gift to be delivered in the mail, hopefully in time, but other than that, I’m all set.

As far as running plans go today, I’ll take Pepper out for an easy 3-miler, and then I have strength training scheduled.

Training for 12/18/15

Today, I took Pepper out for another easy middle distance run, this time around the 7.3-mile loop. The rain yesterday washed away all that nice warm weather, so Pepper had to wear his dork jacket and I had to wear gloves, capri tights and a long-sleeved top. It was really windy too, which only made it feel colder. Oh well. It was a good run in spite of all that.

Tomorrow morning, Pepper and I are running an Ugly Sweater 5K in St. Michaels. It’s free, with the donation of an unwrapped toy, and it’s another prediction run — anyone who finishes within 10 seconds of the time they predicted on their registration “wins.” If I wasn’t going to have Pepper with me, I’d probably just take it slow with some friends who are also running it, but Pepper won’t go for that. So I wrote down 22:42, same time I ran in the 5K a couple days after Thanksgiving.

I’m wearing the hideous Christmas sweater vest I got last year, and I even got a dog sweater for Pepper. A week ago, it was so warm I’d have worried about overheating, trying to run in a sweater, but I don’t think that’s going to be a problem tomorrow. It’s supposed to feel like 28 degrees with the 13 mph wind at 9 a.m. in St. Michaels. Brr!

After the 5K, Clark wants to go try swimming at the Easton Y. Tomorrow evening, we’re going with Clark’s family to see a live production of “A Christmas Story” at the Avalon Theatre. I love the movie! The play is supposed to stay true to the story.

Sunday, I’d like to do a long run, and then we might go to the Denton pub again to watch the finale of “Holiday Baking Championship.”

Training for 12/17/15

Today, I went upstairs first and did some strength training. I’d been doing pretty well about doing it regularly again until last week. Hopefully I can get back on that wagon. I did the usual ab exercises, push-ups, invisible chair-sitting and weight lifting.

Then I went out for an easy run. It was absolutely pouring, so I left Pepper at home. He’s been doing better with rain, but it was coming down in buckets when I had to leave today. I figured he’d be happier dry, even if he was alone.

I did an easy lap around the 4.5-mile loop. At first I felt a little sorry for myself, trudging along in a deluge like that, but then my clothes reached a point where they couldn’t get any wetter and I didn’t notice it anymore. It turned out to be a decent little run.

Once this rainy mess moves out tonight, it’s supposed to cool down to more seasonally appropriate temperatures, unfortunately. I was hoping the springlike weather would continue through the entire winter. I guess not.