It seems that i’ve been absent from both blogging and tweeting the past two weeks or so, but things are just crazy busy right now. Despite being busy, I was still able to knock out a decent week of training, and still feel ready for more. My 22 miler yesterday was in almost perfect conditions, except for the rather gusty wind. The temps were about 60* for a start with bright sunshine. It is so much easier to get out early and run these days with the sun now coming up before 6am … I guess i’m thankful that the weather turned for the better though because all week it was VERY unseasonable .. I mean it was downright freezing! My hope it that its all behind us now..

The most memorable part of my run on Saturday was the realization of how fast trains actually move. There is one part of the course I was running that took me over a series of railroad tracks. I crossed them at the exact moment when the train signal started to go off and I can see the train the distance … I seriously picked up my pace. It was not more than 30 seconds later, the train was crossing the road already. I always thought that the train signals give much more notice than they do when a train is coming, but I found out otherwise …

So I broke down and bought myself a new Garmin Forerunner 301 running watch today .. my old late model Garmin was starting to act up on me finally and I found a pretty good deal on a newer model. Its not the best Garmin watch out available these days, but it meets my needs. My hope is the added features it has that my old one didn’t will help me train a little smarter. I hadn’t been able to use a heart-rate monitor with it since I lost the chest strap when I moved back in 2008 .. this one will let me connect to the computer, track calories and all kinds of other things, so I can’t wait for it to get here this week.

As for today, I’m working with the old motto of “quality of quantity” .. I always get so worked up on running a lot of miless each week, but I forget that I need to make sure i’m getting quality in my training instead of just doing mile (like speed, hills, etc). Instead of heading out for 12 miles of just rolling hills, I did my killer hill course right around my house. I’ve found that living where I do now offers me the ability to run some serious hills if I go one direction, rolling hills if I go another, and almost flat if I go the other. I’m never at a loss for a good course. Regardless, it almost kicked my butt on the way up, but the downhills were nice at the end .. I also mixed up my speed work this past Thursday by just changing the way I do it. I got so into a normal routine, that it just didn’t challenge me anymore, but this week? I’ve been challenged, seriously challenged..

Lastly, I’ve decided to take up yet another hobby to fill up the remainder of my busy days … golf. I used to play years ago, but gave it up because I sucked at it. I spent my afternoon trying to get my swing back by practicing over at the park with practice balls … I can actually feel the effect in my ab muscles though, who would’ve thought, a new form of cross-training, right?

Hopefully i’ll get a chance to write more this week, but we’ll see …