Battling a cold but got out for a nice 14 from Wintergreen. Ran roads to get in a little tempo. Climbed 2500 feet. Going to try to lay low and get rid of this cold before it gets worse. Climbing legs are slowly coming back.

I am really enjoying training again. Certainly, I pay constant attention to my foot and I have quite a bit of fitness still to get back, but nonetheless, there is something refreshing about the daily grind. Getting up, lacing them up, getting out, repeat. I know I've said it before but it's worth saying again. I am thankful for the ability to run. So, I think I'll do it again tomorrow:)

Blustery cold and windy this morning but once I got rolling I didn't really notice it. Got out to the end of Decca in 29 and negative split the return trip. It feels like the climbing legs are slowly coming back. It will likely take a few more weeks to feel totally normal (I am also still carrying about five extra pounds from the holidays, etc...) but it seems as though each week brings me a step closer to fitness. Also, I am kind of psyched that my spring schedule is taking shape and I'll get in to two of the classics, Cool and Bull Run. While I certainly won't race them it will be nice to pin a number on a couple times before the summer.

Not sure what I'll do tomorrow after I drop off Carson at ski team but likely something hilly. Then Sunday I'll get my introduction to the Masanutten Rocks as the VHTRC is putting on a 26 mile training run on the course.

Clear proof that rest and sleep really do make a difference. After a frustrating day yesterday which resulted in an unplanned zero I got out this morning after nine hours of sleep and had the best run I've had in a month. Off the doorstep things flowed smoothly and effortlessly. Obviously, as I move into bigger volume through the spring I need to remember this. The good times make the bad times not so bad.

And, I must say, yet again, the Hoka Bondi B's have changed my life! The support they provide is truly amazing and the ride, if you will, seems so natural and smooth that I sometimes forget I have them on. We'll see over the next few months how they perform on more technical terrain (as I have yet to really take them on Class 5 stuff) but for now they are absolute money!

Today was one of those days when the run just didn't happen. Slept in because of staying up too late working, had about four mini-crises at work, got stuck running an errand for an hour and then, when a small window for a run opened up, my phone rang and I got further delayed. Oh well, in the end, it's probably for the best.

And, I'm all set for Way Too Cool. Flying out Thursday night, giving a talk at Head-Royce School on Friday, running the race on Saturday and taking the redeye back home that night. Patagonia gang will be there, as well. So, I guess this means I'm getting back on the horse.

It took me a bit longer than normal to get out the door this morning. No excuse, really, other than the frozen fog, icy roads and darkness. Once I got out there and fell into a rhythm all was well. Went down to the Mechums River Bridge and back. Looked for the guys from Deliverance down there but couldn't find them. Knew that spring was on the way when our conversation on the way to school gravitated toward cycling and the Tour de France.

Great memory here:

On our run yesterday we were chatting about days off and how great they are. Considering how most runners have, at one time or another, considered "streaking" it seems to me that some of us can become obsessed to a fault, I know I have from time to time. These days, taking a day off now and then seems a sensible thing to do. Certainly for me, in my "age and stage" of life, these days provide a wonderful opportunity to rest and recover as well as to prepare for the next phase in training. It also helps me psychologically and emotionally to declare them days off as early as possible.

Today is one of those days!

Here's a good article on the topic.

It could just be me but I have always thought that for a run to qualify as a "long run" it should be 20 miles. I know that's just an arbitrary number that doesn't take into account elevation, weather, trail conditions, etc...but it's always been a benchmark for me. And today, for the first time since Western States in June, I ran over 20 miles. 20.7 miles, to be exact, on the Appalachian Trail in Central Virginia. It was glorious.

Sure, I got dropped on all the climbs by the fit fast guys and I was crying for my mommy when the run mercifully came to an end 3:41 after it started but it was, nonetheless, a real long run and a true sign that I am coming back. For most others it would have been a walk in the park but for me it made me really happy to be alive. Which is, by the way, what running does for me most of the time.

I am in a pretty interesting place right now. On the one hand, I am certainly coming to grips with aging and realizing, at 44, that there is only so much I can do. On the other hand, I also know how important the mind is in all of this and as I slowly grind myself back in to shape it makes me feel good to know that my mind is not aging as quickly as my body. I guess that's the way it's meant to be.

Fun memory for a Sunday evening...