Run: 9.8 miles in 1:16:57 min. @ 7:00 a.m.

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 16°F, 74% Humidity, Wind: From WSW @ 8 mph; feels like 5°F.
Scheduled Workout: 70-minute run,
including 5:00–6:00 TUT (about 8 miles total)
Course: Using my 7.5 LSD Run (loop, mixed flat & hills, roads) as a base, I extended the course over some additional familiar ground on the fly.
Elevation profile: Total climb--260 ft/79 m, Total elevation change--524 ft/160 m.
Pace: 7:51 min./per mile

I don’t know about you (wherever you are), but I for one am very, very tired of the C-O-L-D. I am so bored with the cold that I have seriously considered taking today off from running, but I have little choice as I don't want to have the self-perception of "quitting" or backing down. So... after taking my wife to work (if she drives herself she needs to walk about a quarter mile from the parking garage to the office) and before bringing my son home for the day, I will reluctantly slip outside, bundle up and go for my prescribed workout. *SIGH*

TUT(Total Uphill Time) : The total number of minutes you spend running semi-vigorously up inclines-- repeats up the same hill or total uphill time over a hilly loop.

This morning’s fresh addition to the runner's vocabulary sheet, is another great example of a strategy that one employs without recognizing it as a strategy.

The best comparison I can think of is from my teaching career. Often we'll attend "professional development opportunities" (translation: mandated training) and roughly ten minutes into the presentation my colleagues and I will look at one another and say in unison "I do that!" As far as TUTs are concerned I can confidently share that "I do those!" The challenge today was not in incorporating enough hills but in defining the miles I can cover within the 70 minute time. As you can tell from the info above, I failed in this regrad, but it's all good--I'd rather go farther, faster than shorter, slower... at least today.

Despite my whining, my run went very well and as the sun came from behind the clouds and I settled into a groove it turned into a wonderful run... so once gain I thumb my nose at the cold... NYAH-NYAH!

Breathe in, breathe out… YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!