Final Run of 2009

I decided today that since it was the last run of the year, that I would brave the elements and run the roads for a half marathons distance. It was fairly cold to begin, about 20F and the wind was in my face for the first 5 miles. Not always in my face and not always blowing, but there none-the-less.

I chose a route that I thought would be fairly clear on the roads as I really didn't want to run on snow. Also, I checked my wallet and I didn't have the $4 required for running at Pettit. At the 5 mile point, I turned around to head back (I was going to add distance at the end), pulled up my sleeve to check the garmin and noticed I was at 8:36 pace. Now I was going to go with the wind for 5 miles so I ever so gently increased the pace. I was feeling pretty good out there. It was sunny for the first 8 miles and I saw quite a few kids with their parents sledding down hills. I love sledding and have done it twice this year so far.

By mile 8, my legs were starting to get cold as the temps were dropping and the winds were picking up. The clouds moved in as well. I got to mile 10 and the average pace was down to 8:28 and now I needed to run into the wind for a bit more than a mile. That was pretty cold and my legs felt it. I had enough layers on top to no issues there. Another out and back to finish the 13.1 miles. In the end, I ran 13.35 miles in 1:52:57 which I was pleased with. That puts me at a half marathon of 1:50:45 and with the conditions and it being not a race, I was pretty happy with.

Back to sledding. As I mentioned, I like to sled with the girls. I took 2 of them along with one of their friends sledding Wednesday morning. It was great! My parent gave me the old toboggan that I used to ride when I was a kid. The thing still is the fasted sled on the hill. The girls each have tube sleds to they ride on those a lot as well. I need to get some pictures to share. Typically winter sucks, but this is one aspect that is fun.

Time to go to my friend Chaz's house to celebrate New Year's Eve. The girls are invited as well so fun will be had by all. I am not exactly sure what we will all be doing, but it will be a nice end to a fairly nice year. I hope you all had a nice year as well. I will have to put a year in review post soon. 1481 miles created quite a few good memories, and some not so great memories.