Hitting the snooze button

Yup, actually that was the plan when I went to bed last night. I've been burning the candle at both ends lately with work very hectic, all that running, getting up an hour earlier than usual most days to do those short dreadmill drudge runs and so falling behind on that most important training aid of all - rest and sleep. I've heard that the Kenyans sleep 9-10 hours in heavy training, so today I hit the snooze button, went back for another hour and slept like a Kenyan for 9 (count em) hours!

And they didn't even miss me at work because, a-I work flexible hours and b-most of my co-workers were in another dumb meeting. But it still was a long day on the job and wasn't able to sneak off as early as I would have liked since there were more meetings to get sucked into and a couple of reports to finish off before the end of the day.

Meanwhile, out in the real outdoor world it's been freezing cold here the last few days. Temps today had a high of -9C (12F) and with the wind of 15-30km/hr made for a windchill of -16C (or 0F). Brrrr, extra layers for sure! At least I started out my 13 mile run in the sunshine, but into the wind it took a few miles before my face warmed up (all the other parts were fine with 3 upper layers and 2 bottom). My left leg was still a bit sore at first but improved after a few miles; need to keep working on the daily stretching and easy warmups. The run went very well, felt reasonably fresh and kept up a good pace until the final few miles when the spring in my stride seemed to go. Nevertheless it was a remarkable easy 13 in about 1:50. Even the longer runs are now starting to seem easy which must be a good sign.

The forecast for Bar Harbor on Sunday isn't looking so good:

Snow. Blowing snow. Windy with highs in the mid 20s. Northeast winds 20 to 30 mph. Chance of snow 100 percent.

I've decided to call off the trip to Somesville for the 10/20 mile race. It's a 3+ hr drive and don't want to be doing it into the teeth of a nor-eastern blizzard and then have to return along the same route. This would have been a great run to test my fitness, even if only 12 miles at marathon pace but would rather be safe than sorry when it comes to winter weather and driving. Are you listening Andrew? Be carefull!!