Am I the only geek that reads articles about the physiology of running, who endlessly pages through message boards trying to glean that bit of information that is going to help me the most? LT pace this, AT pace that, the numbers and abbreviations can make your head spin.

I looked at the clock and noticed that I have spent 90 minutes reading through endless pages. I'd say the best piece of information I have pulled from all this searching and all the other searches I have done over the past couple years is "Consistency". Putting in the miles everyday, every week, every month. Training in the rain, in the cold, in the dark, when you aren't feeling so hot, and when everybody thinks you're a little nuts for running so much. (That is of course with the exception of your running friends who think it is totally normal to drag your ass out of a perfectly cozy bed to go running in 20 degree weather on a random January, Saturday morning.)

Of all the training tips I need to keep in my head and put into practice over this winter, consistency is definitely #1.



I totally contradicted all of the advice above on Thursday night. There was a planned group run but the weather had conspired against us. I was driving home from work at 20 miles an hour in the middle of a horrible storm and Jenn called me telling me there was no way she was running. I felt the same way and decided to take the night off.

As I sat on my couch watching a movie the guilt crept into my mind and the weather cleared. I was able to drag myself away from a compelling documentary on Penguins and get out the door for a moderately paced 5.5 miles in 41 minutes.

Friday was a planned and taken day off.

Saturday I met up with the group and put in another loop on the drives. I swear the loop run is never comfortable for me and I think it has more to do with the monotony of that route than my physical state. Stevus, Deirdre and Kevin G made for some good conversation and they took my mind off of the route. We lost Kevin at Mile 3 and Deridre at the Falls Brdige. Stevus and I continued on to the finish. 8.4 mles in 63 minutes.

I attempted to run a couple miles at 8:00 pace in prep for some running with E-Mike in the marathon tomorrow. I don't think Stevus realized that we would actually have to slow down from out current pace to get to 8:00 pace. Despite my best efforts the miles just kept coming in at 7:30. Oh well.