Half Marathon Kick Off

This week marked the official kick off of 13.1 training as we are now 12 weeks out from the race. I'm using Hal Higdon's Novice One plan as guidance but will most likely improvise along the way a little. Best example being that my long weekend runs are already six+ miles. I think the biggest change in routine will have to do with number of runs per week. I'm used to three runs, so hopefully the additional day and mileage have ONLY a positive affect.

So...what better way to kick off training (outside of the seven miler on Sunday) than to post-surgery PR a 5k run. Bested the previous PR from earlier this month by roughly 25 seconds. Best part was feeling awesome during not quite ideal weather conditions. This evening it was roughly 45 degrees with wind gusts up to 30 mph. It did give me a chance to field test some new apparel (yay Christmas!). So I can give my best two thumbs up to the following items:

Brooks LSD Lite III - lightweight but amazing as far as wind protection. I was extremely warm despite the conditions, plus it contours well to the body. Only a typical tech t-shirt as a base layer. Well worth the money IMO.

Saucony Gloves - basically these gloves, without the weird Euro design. They're lightweight as well, but excellent wind protection. I would say they run big as a medium was plenty of room for my hands.

With all that said, I'm pretty much checked out for the week. Friday, I'm off to Colorado to visit my brother and sister-in-law for NYE. I promise a report from what is certain to be a frigid weekend run. CAN'T WAIT

More Milestones

In lieu of holiday indulgence, I actually decided to venture out on a run this evening in hopes of diverting any Christmas weight gain. Not to mention, this week "officially" started my half marathon 12-week training program. I would say that the training got off to a good start...1:05 and 7.1 miles. This marks the longest run I've completed since junior year of college prior to breaking my leg. Needless to say, this is extremely encouraging as I jump into 2013 full bore staring down the barrel at the half marathon.

So onto some gear talk: I've already been given a couple REI and Academy Sports gifts cards for Christmas, and I'm ready to do some strategical shopping for the winter season. On my list is:

1. Gloves - lightweight, breathable. I lost a nice pair during the move. Since I'm a big fan of Brooks apparel, considering these:

Night Life Gloves

2. Long Sleeve Shirts - Love REI's poly/spandex tech shirts Found Here

3. Shoes - still trying to decide on new shoes and will probably try to find a cheap pair of the GTS 11's that I mentioned a few weeks ago. If no luck there, then it's on to the 12th addition. Although, I'm doing more research into the PURE line from Brooks...not sure if they offer enough control for my gait though.

Good luck to those running holiday races, and Merry Christmas! Put together a plan for 2013 that has you pounding more pavement!

5K PR!

I'm rather swamped these days; even more so than I used. I used to think I was swamped, but those days are long gone. Today, I started a new job (again). Basically, I was expecting your typical orientation type first day but what I encountered was quite the opposite. Sat down, fired up my computer and was given a project that needs a finished contract by the week's end. Oh, and I haven't done what I'm doing now in three years. So heeeerrreeeeeee weeeeeeeee gooooooooo!

Running has really taken a back seat the past week or so. Last week I was busy transitioning my old job accounts to new people, followed by an early departure to Richmond for a wedding weekend. It's hard to complain too much about the weekend as I got to play golf twice and indulge in a tremendous amount of free booze...speaking of...the groom was a friend of mine from Clemson...we warned the bride's father that he would need plenty of bourbon at the reception. They ran out of bourbon...then ran to the store for more...and ran out again...ran to the store yet again...and yes, ran out once more. Anyway, I think I'm supposed to be bragging about running accomplishments right?

December update - haven't run in a week I believe - and PR'ed tonight in the 5K. As always, I'm referring to the post surgery PR numbers. 27:04 & an 8:40 pace. Probably not a coincidence, but I also cracked 200 lbs tonight. The battle with the Clydesdale mark continues....