Friday, 12/31 New Years' Eve

Andrew and I exchanged emaisl concerning practice for Friday and we tentatively agreed to meet at school at 9 AM. It's going to be freezing cold and most likely windy. Oh well. We need to run.

Wednesday, 12/29 and Thursday, 12/30

Winds picked up around 6:30 AM and started buffeting the house. Team practice cancelled for Wednesday, originally meeting in Skydome parking lot, however, due to the gloom-and-doom weather forecast, I call Andrew at 7:45, ask all to run on own (how many did that? Andrew got out for 55 minutes).

After canceling I thought about the boys bball team up in Tusayan. I called Coach and told him to bring them home immediately. Coach calls back later and explains he's not comfortable driving in such conditions. A parent and I go up with the parent transporting 6 of the students back and me driving the van back. Conditions were hairy, to say the least. Return to NPA at ~4 PM safe and sound.

DPS closes I-17 Northbound and eventually 180 and I-40. We arrive back at NPA safe and sound.

Today we awake to 15 inches of snow in town and only 4.5 inches here in Doney. I spend perhaps three hours snowblowing the driveway and shoveling walkways. Now at 9 PM its 9 degrees out, but the wind howls, so factor in wind chill.

Not the greatest training weather.

Practices over Break

Last week (the first week of break), we had a good turn-out, with Monday's run taking off from the Woodlands Village Walmart, down the Urban Trail and into Ft. Tuthill. Interesting to see all the elites that were out that day (O'Neill, etc. and someone who I think was Phil Wharton) and then later getting blown off the trail by Rochelle Kanuho, who came flying by. It was disappointing that when I asked some of our runners if they knew any of these people, and they said they didn't (Phil Wharton is the person who wrote the book on the Isolated-Dynamic stretching we use!).

Then on Wednesday, the run took off from the "Y" (and why?) and then ran along Ft. Valley Rd and then up Quintana. 

No organized practice on Friday (Christmas Eve), however, I was over on Continental Golf Course to check out conditions.

I sent out a bulk email to most who I thought would be interested in practicing tomorrow...

We'll meet at NPA at 9 AM, and if it doesn't snow too much tonight, run on the golf course. As a group we'll discuss where we'd like to run Wednesday and Friday.

Looking ahead. There's a ten miler that we (Andrew, along with Jon and Jordan) ran last year... It's held next Sunday on 1/2. The course goes out and back on one of the canals and is pancake flat. Not certain that many of you will be ready to run 10 miles...

Another race to look at is at the Skydome on Saturday, February 12th. Something to think about and plan on...

See you tomorrow...