Training Dec. 20 - 26

Monday - 10

Tuesday - 9 with 6 times 2 min. on, off

Wednesday - 9

Thursday - 11

Friday - Christmas Eve in NJ - Coach Mercer presided over a track workout at my high school, where he now coaches XC and track. 3200 in 10:16 (5:08, 5:08), lap jog, 6 by 400 in 69 seconds with 200 meter jog for rest ... 9

Saturday - 9

Sunday - in Easton, PA - 9 ... no time for more

Total - 66

Training Dec. 13-19

"If people get drunk it is not my responsibility. They should drink responsibly." -- Haile Gebrselassie on his latest endorsement: Johnnie Walker.

Commercial

Monday - 10

Tuesday - 10

Wednesday - 9 - 30 minutes outside, 30 minutes on treadmill with progressive incline, leg weights

Thursday - 11

Friday - 6 (dog tired), stretching, some weights

Saturday - 10

Sunday - 17 - Took Rock Creek Parkway up the hill to Calvert Street then up a long hill on Cleveland Ave.; turned around at National Cathedral. Faster on the way back.

Total - 73

Comments: I finished my second course, Writing For Convergent Media, as part of my journalism master's degree at American University on Saturday. Working + Grad School has run me fairly ragged: The past two weeks are some of the first for me when I felt like I just didn't have the time to train, so I guess I'm just happy that I have been able to get anything in. Glad we get a bit of a winter break. Still not quite ready to lay out my upcoming training-slash-racing plans. I will say, however, that I am going to focus on speed this spring - chipping away at the slow 10k time I posted last week - and prepare for MCM this fall. My training cycle for MCM, however, will not be as long as others have been, as I have realized that long marathon-specific cycles are simply not working for me the way they work for other people. My MCM prep will be 12 weeks, including taper.

Training Dec. 6-12

Monday - 45 min., weights

Tuesday - 30 min., with 6 by 60-second accelerations

Wednesday - 60 min., with 5,4,3,2,1 on the Mall plus 2 reps on Capitol Hill

Thursday - 70 min. in Jupiter, Florida (wedding)

Friday - 60 min. in Florida

Saturday - no time or energy for it

Sunday - Jingle All the Way 10K - 33:36, 7th - about 10 miles for day

Training Nov. 29 - Dec. 5

Monday - 70 min.

Tuesday - 45 min. + weights

Wednesday - AM 20 min. easy, core, stretching. PM Back to track at BCC. Great group. 4 by 1600 in 5:08, 5:06, 5:04, 5:10 with 400 jog for rest. Felt comfortably on first three but current fitness level was exposed on the fourth rep. Wish I could have done 5 reps, but this is a fine start.

Thursday - 30 min. easy, 20 min. hard on bike, stretching

Friday - Hains Point tempo: 23 min. easy, 3.2 miles in 17:55 (5:41, 5:40, 5:39), 8 by 100 on grass, 17 min. easy

Saturday - 85 min. easy

Sunday - 90 min. ... Wish I could have joined the team today; had too much going on

Comments: After Chicago, as my legs and lower back started to feel better, I sketched out what I called "a moderate prep" -- training phase .5, basically -- for next Sunday's Jingle Bell 10K. Wednesday's workout revealed -- not that anything which occurred during it was unexpected -- that I'm not yet ready to run a good 10K, but that's OK. I will NOT go out too fast, compete and enjoy it. The purpose of this early phase of training was to establish a new routine, one that involved more time in the gym and more attention to smaller details.