Yes, It is November and Happy Birthday Lil' Chef!

Mother Nature finally decided that it was time.  November has been on the warm side for us and the kids have been anxiously waiting for the first snowfall.  Wait no longer, children...

Before my 9 mile run

Looking outside, the pavement didn't seem too slushy.  Therefore, I wore my Asics Nimbus instead of my trail shoes.  At mile 6, my foot stepped into a huge puddle of freezing water.  My toes were frozen for a mile.  Note to self:  When in doubt, wear the trail shoes.

My beloved running path ... may be one of the last times running on it until spring  =(

There are five deer in this picture ... trust me.

The falling snow was so beautiful.

Today is a very special day in our house; the day I went from a working mechanical engineer to a domestic engineer.  Eleven years ago, we welcomed our first child into the world.

Lil' Chef @ 18 months

Her birthday requests were:  ham with honey and brown sugar glaze, butterscotch pudding, ice cream cake, two friends over for a sleepover, kitten, and snow.  We actually came through on all requests this year.

One Year Anniversary of Running!

November 12, 2009, I started a run / walk program.  Thirty minutes later, I finished 1.8 miles.  A 16:40 pace.  All this was done in my dark basement.  I used the PodRunner:  Couch to 5K on my iPod to let me know when to transition from walking to running.

I've looked and looked for a picture of me before I started this journey.  I tend to take all the pictures so there are very few of me.  These two are the only ones I could find:

Yesterday, I ran my 'long' route of 4.0 miles.

Stats:
Feb. 6:  58:51 (14:43 pace)
Mar. 20:  48:42  (12:10 pace)
Apr. 12:  45:28  (11:22 pace)
May 17:  44:54  (11:14 pace)
June 17:  44:09  (11:03) ... now classified as easy run in my training log
July 6:    44:11  (11:02)
Nov. 11:  43:44  (10:56)


Mr. T took this picture of me this summer.  The fence in the background is what I was working on the summer before in the picture above.  You can notice a big difference in my face.

Milestones:

• December 02, 2009 - Intervals of 90 seconds of running with 2 minutes of walking
• December 25, 2009 - Intervals of 3 minute of running with 1 minute of walking
• January 9, 2010 - Intervals of 6 minutes of running with 1 minute of walking
• January 27, 2010 - Ran for 0.8 miles without stopping
• January 30, 2010 - First run outside.  Temperature was -5 deg and sunny.
• February 13, 2010 - Visiting in the in-laws and ran outside for 5.4 miles (longest run at this point)
• March 6, 2010 - Continued to get my runs in even on vacation in Wisconsin Dells
• May 26, 2010 - Weighed in at 155 pounds; compared to 195 pounds in November 2009

Month           Miles       Avg Pace     Weight     Calories Burned 

Nov 09         21.8           16:02            194.0       1,980   treadmill
Dec 09          48.5           16:01           181.6        6,504  treadmill
Jan 10          48.9            14:56           170.2        5,728  treadmill
Feb 10         42.6            13:30           164.8        6,370  all outside
Mar 10        48.7            11:40            161.0        6,059
Apr 10        64.5             11:16            161.0        8,751
May 10       80.8             11:43            155.0      13,642
Jun 10         97.2             11:31            158.0      11,449
Jul 10          97.3             10:59            162.4      10,923
Aug 10        47.1             11:03            158.6        5,578  tendon injuries
Sep 10        70.6             11:11            160.0        8,348
Oct 10        85.2             11:29            160.0       10,369  changed form to a forefoot strike

Total miles ran in my first year:  753.2
Total calories burned:  95,701

This year, I have ran many races which I will summarize in a Year-in-Review post at the end of the year.

Wordless Wednesday

Long Run in Pictures

The temperature:  25 degrees  .. required two layers of running attire today.

View when I stepped out my door

Mornings are so beautiful!

Wow.

Behold, my new running path ... uh, I mean the city's bike path.

Isn't it beautiful?

Currently, this is where the bike path ends.  Eventually, it will go another 12 miles.

One of the many lakes in our area.  The water was so still.  Do you see the clouds in the water's reflection?

The local river

The Courthouse

Our downtown

9 miles
1:50:08
12:20 pace

Wordless Wednesday - Newest Members of the family

Betsy and Willy