OK, maybe not THAT macho...

If you've seen the new movie "Shutter Island", you're familiar with the storm that hits an island off of Boston harbor. It's a tremendous storm. Hurricane-like winds.

Yeah. That's pretty much the weather right now.

Tonight's run is rescheduled for tomorrow. If Chuck Norris wants to go for a run in this, he's welcome to the "most macho" title.

C-Ya

¿Quién es más macho?

A. Chuck Norris



OR

B. Kurt from Boston...



who just ran 5 miles including 8 X 400 intervals...

on an outdoor track...

in Boston...

in February...

in 38 degrees...

in the rain.

¿Quién es más macho?

An Incomplete Week

Yes, it's true, my training was incomplete this week. I missed one day.

Now, I could blame it on the mid-week snow we had. And in fact, that did shorten one of my runs (the next day I was hoping the warm sun had melted all the snow on the neighborhood track and I could run some intervals -- but no, still covered in slush).

No, I probably have to lay some of the blame on the two bourbons I had Tuesday night (Fat Tuesday!) with my brother who was in Boston on business. That just really took Wednesday out of the picture (and I wasn't going to miss ashes Wednesday evening either). That left me with four runs to do in four days.

Didn't happen.

I did get my six miles in on Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful day to run along the banks of the Charles River. And six miles is still a tough run for me. I'm sure it will be several months before I'm enjoying the long runs again.

Hopefully this week I can get that interval session in. I do have a 5K on the calendar -- less than three weeks away now.

C-Ya

It Was a Very Good Week

Five runs this week -- for a total of 22 miles.

This has been my biggest week since the first of the two injuries. It was capped off (just now) by a 6 mile run down to the Charles River, across a couple bridges (Anderson bridge at Harvard and back to the Arsenal bridge near Watertown), and back home. I was a bit tired the last mile as I haven't done 6 miles in about 2 1/2 years.

It's four weeks to my 5K race. This is going to be one slow 5K. But it will be a fun 5K as I'm running it with several friends.

I'm also pretty happy with a new song I wrote, so it's been a very good week.

C-Ya

Sunny and 16

Yep, 16 degrees this morning. And with a good breeze, the wind chill was probably in the single digits. But I was prepared -- two layers just about everywhere.

And 16 was also the number of miles I ran this week. I missed one day, but got four runs in. Next week I'll get my five runs in and top 20 miles for the week. That will be the first time since the injury two and a half years ago. Seems like a long time ago, and a long ways to go.

As I frequently talk about running the pond (Fresh Pond in Cambridge), I thought I'd post a couple pictures of it. These were taken yesterday when it was slightly warmer (though overcast). It was 20 degrees. (Fortunately we're supposed to warm up to the 30's for the next few days.)

This is from across the pond looking back towards Cambridge and Boston. It's almost totally frozen over. At the top you can just see two of Boston's famous landmarks (buildings). To the left is the Hancock tower. Closer to the center you can just see the Prudential Center (The "Pru" -- finish line for the Boston Marathon). I gave the Pru a wink for Juls.

One more view. You can see the area here where the pond is fed from a spring -- it's not frozen.

Finally, here's a shot of the trail. It's 2.25 miles around the pond on the main trail, 2.5 if you add another short segment. I'll typically run here if I need to get in anywhere from 3 to 5 miles. More than that and I head to the Charles River Reservoir. These days, as I'm rebuilding, I'm getting most of my running in this area. I'll soon be expanding though, so maybe some pictures from the Charles next month.

C-Ya

Not a Bad Week

Last week wasn't too bad. I only got a couple runs in, but I got new shoes and a new pair of mittens.

This week will have a lot more running than last week. This morning I ran 5 miles. Only a little tired the last mile. I also was starting to feel the right knee meniscus-related pain, but it wasn't bad at all. Still, 5 miles may be the limit for a few weeks. The plantar fasciitis was non-existent before, during and immediately after the run. But after a while, the PF really started hurting a bit. It seemed to get worse during the day. I don't know. I'll continue the stretches and make sure I'm not running on it when they're inflamed.

The shoes are sweet. I'm now running in Brooks Dyads. They're basically the replacement for the old Radius's. The Radius's were great -- I've had a few pair over the years. The Dyads feel just as good -- I think they'll work out just as well.

And the mittens are TOASTY! Two layers. The inner mittens work quite well by themselves (I used them alone this morning), but when you add the shell over them they are really warm. Better than ocelot spleens. Last Sunday I ran in the morning. It was about 10 or 11 degrees (F). Wind chill brought it even lower. My hands were sweating after a couple miles. They are quite nice. I don't know why I never acquired a set of mittens like these before.

Anyway, hoping to get four or five runs in this week (if I can keep the PF under control).

C-Ya