Good morning. I am just sitting here enjoying my coffee and once in a while looking up from the keyboard and watching the sky colors change with the sunrise. The sun may be out today for a change. How nice. It will make the 15 degrees feel much warmer.

It is hard to believe it's January 10 already. Pretty soon it will only be 4 weeks until vacation in Mexico's Riviera Maya area. Time really does just cruise along. Sometimes you want time to go fast and other times you want it to really slow down. It seems the older I get the more I want time to move slowly, more often. I don't want to reach 100 years old and wonder where did all the time go? What did I do with all that time? I want to look back and realize that I used the time I had very well. That I truely enjoyed my life, each and every day. I know there will be ups and downs along the way. But, you need to make the most out of your day no matter what happens. The only way I know how to do this is to stay in the moment. Live one second, one minute, one day at a time. Inhale life. Take it in. Hold it. Enjoy.

Yesterday I had a terrific 18+ miler. Another Alaskan Endurance run along Lake Michigan.
I made it interesting by taking pictures with my I Phone. I will try to add those pictures.
There were quite a few running friends today. It was good to see. I am very grateful and surprised at how well the City of Chicago maintains the lakefront path. After all the snow we just had there was hardly a trace on the path.

This is very much appreciated. The temperature was about 15 degrees and posed no problem at all. My new Sugoi mittens really worked great. My hands never got cold. Pretty amazing considering how thin the mittens are.

My run today was a negative split 18 miler. I wanted to take it easy the first nine miles, turn around, and pick up the pace on the way back. In these pictures I am approaching my turn around at the 9 mile mark.

My turn around spot was a half mile further. I achieved my negative split objective. Also, my last mile was the fastest mile of the day with a 7:55 mi pace. I had some gas left in the tank.

Split Time Distance Elevation Gain Elevation Loss Avg Speed Max Speed Calories
1 0:10:02 1 1,562 1,984 10:02 8:00 129
2 0:08:47 1 406 419 8:47 6:19 132
3 0:08:35 1 395 397 8:35 6:53 133
4 0:09:05 1 896 931 9:05 5:36 130
5 0:08:40 1 192 223 8:40 6:47 132
6 0:08:43 1 210 181 8:43 7:01 130
7 0:08:44 1 60 45 8:45 7:32 128
8 0:08:34 1 38 52 8:34 7:44 132
9 0:08:38 1 54 51 8:38 7:44 130
10 0:08:12 1 117 63 8:12 7:31 132
11 0:08:10 1 62 64 8:11 7:20 132
12 0:08:12 1 84 75 8:12 7:47 132
13 0:08:25 1 139 135 8:25 7:48 131
14 0:08:14 1 162 184 8:14 7:13 132
15 0:08:23 1 428 521 8:23 5:25 134
16 0:08:27 1 304 327 8:27 7:07 132
17 0:08:13 1 359 341 8:14 6:30 131
18 0:07:55 1 156 136 7:55 6:53 132
19 0:01:52 0.21 23 51 8:52 7:00 29
Summary 2:36:02 18.21 5,646 6,182 8:34 5:25 2,393





Edited by Silentrunner 1/10/2010 8:31 AM

-----
" Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own, sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction."