Monday, December 26, 2016

End of the Streak, Holidays, Looking Ahead

So I lost my running streak at Day #29 this year (the eve of Christmas Eve). There are a lot of reasons for it, but in the last month or so I've been lacking in sleep and having a really hard time making time to go for a run. We had the baby's first birthday party on Friday, and my wife got sick with a fever around that time as well, so I hosted the party while she rested and then have been helping care for her while she recovers.

Christmas Day was excellent. We woke up early, did gifts with the baby, and then ate before retiring to bed so my wife could rest. The baby absolutely loved her gifts, and has had a fun time playing with them (along with us.) We've been reading (playing, really) with board books lately, and she'll now ask me to read to her, or offer me books, and accept other books from me. That's a pretty cool thing that has had me thinking a lot about literacy and how important starting kids around books from day one is. I may do a post on that in the next couple of weeks.

I'm looking to get back out on the road, of course. But I'm not going to rush it. We have good years and bad, and I have to deal with the fact that this year was not one of the better ones in my running career. I'll get to all of that when I further assess my running goals and resolutions later this week.

Moving forward I'll be making a race calendar for 2017, and making the appropriate plans to support my running of those races. I'm hopeful that 2017 will be a more adventurous year for me, but truly as long as I'm able to keep moving I'm grateful for that.

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Holiday Run Streak, Days #9-#16

Well, fell off the wagon of blogging with every run. Things have just been so crazy, and I've not been well. But I'm keeping up the streak of at least a mile a day. I'm having to adjust expectations because of how different things are now than they were a year ago.

I've been running later at night (between 8pm and 11pm) depending on how much we have to do when we get home. I'm definitely feeling exhausted, and not in the best shape aerobically. There are a couple of big events coming in the next week, so if I can keep my streak alive until Thursday or so I should be in good shape to add in more miles approaching the end of December.

With regards to health, the whole family is constantly in one cold or starting another. My wife and I have been sick on and off, and last week I started to get a fever coming on. I took a couple of days off, which was good, but truth be told I'm still constantly running a low-grade fever. I can feel it in my body. I think maybe I have a flare up of mono? That's not super common for folks my age, but I've had it in the past and know it can come on in times of excess stress. Full time job? Check. Baby under the age of one year? Check. Adult responsibilities? Check. So, I've got all the stress I need plus ten extra tons of it.

I feel again like I've gotten lost from where I was. I was so happy at the end of the summer run streak, but I wasn't where I wanted to be running wise. Then I just absolutely fell off the running wagon. I haven't had a week where I put in more than twenty miles since October. That's really unlike me for the last few years. I need to find my way out of this rut that I'm in. But it isn't going well so far. A drastic change is going to need to take place, but I feel like I'm fumbling around in a dark room looking for a flashlight.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Holiday Run Streak, Days #7 and #8

One mile each on days seven and eight. In addition to the frequently changing New England weather, I've also been sick with some sort of sinus thing. It has been accompanied by a fever, which is explains my shorter mileage.

Baby girl is doing well. She's clingy to us, and demanding of my attention. I'm not at all upset by this, and rather I'm taking it as a positive sign that I'm doing well bonding with her. She's using more sounds that resemble words now, too. "Auggie!" when she looks at the dog, for example. It's an exciting time, and crazy to think how much our lives have changed in just one year.