I do feel, though, that I need to continue to mix things up. My core streak has started off well and I have no doubts that will only improve my running; my 100 push-ups effort is also continuing — last night I did a total of 80 push-ups with a redo of week 3, day 2. When I look at what I’m doing, though, something is still missing. I’ve felt like that for a long time.

I have a fairly cheap mountain bike that I bought about 4 years ago that has very few miles on it. It sits in a storage building gaining new cobwebs every day. When I see it, I wipe off the seat, check the tires and say the same thing – “I need to start riding my bike again.”

For those of you who haven’t followed me for years, you probably don’t know about my tail bone injury from summer 2008. That injury pretty much ended my biking outside.

When I joined a gym in 2009, I did some spinning on the various bikes in there, but my tail bone didn’t feel right for a long time.

That feeling of pain when sitting lingered with me for a long time. I know that’s only an excuse now, but I wanted to provide some context as to why I haven’t been on a bike in a while.

Today I took an important step to getting back on the bike — I purchased a bike helmet. It’s actually the first one I’ve ever owned.

Now that I’ve made that $20 investment, it’s time to take the next step to hopping on the bike and seeing what happens …

Image: Sura Nualpradid / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

While most everyone is loving these warmer temperatures this winter, I hate it. Just as flowers aren’t supposed to bloom in January, the number of runs in short-sleeve shirts in January aren’t supposed to outnumber the number of runs in a long-sleeve shirt.

A familiar scene from winter 2010. Definitely not this year.

Little did some of you know, but years ago – like when I was 10 years old – I wanted to be a meteorologist. I was so obsessed about the weather that one of my mom’s friends had a hook-up with WDBJ7, one of our local news stations, who got me a private tour of the weather studio. An afternoon with just me and their meteorologists.

Over the years my career goals went from weather to wanting to be an accountant to eventually leading to the low-paying profession of journalism for the first 7 years of my career.

Through it all, though, my love for the weather never died. Watching Weather on the 8’s on the Weather Channel was something I did ALL THE TIME.

These days I get obsessed with comparing forecasts between the Weather Channel, Accuweather, WxRisk, and my local weather stations, among other sources. That obsession is much worse in the winter because I love snow.

Problem is, this winter has been one of the lamest winters of all time. At least it feels that way after two decent snowy winters in a row. So … why is it so warm?

Many news stories on TV and online do a poor job of explaining this. They tie it to climate change and global warming, which only spreads unnecessary fear and unnecessary office talk.

Simply put, we have been in a bizarre weather pattern for a few years – just as the jet stream had an unusual dip south a couple of winters ago, thus bringing crazy snow storms and cold weather extremely south, this winter the jet stream is extremely north, thus allowing warm air and even Gulf moisture into the southeast.

The lack of snow everywhere contributes to some of the warmer air – when snow covers the ground, the sunlight is reflected back into space keeping temperatures lower; no snow means the ground is absorbing the suns rays, making things warmer.

There are definitely other factors to this — La Niña is one, but even the best meteorologists suggest that this year’s La Niña isn’t a “normal” one. I won’t even begin to try and explain that.

While some people may ask what happened to winter, keep in mind that way back in October the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted a drier and warmer winter than usual.

If you’re really wondering where winter went this year, look at Alaska with its record-breaking cold and record snows. Maybe, just maybe, some of us snow lovers will get some of that this month.

• My first-ever January race. A trail race is more of an experience than an actual race, but the bloodshed led to some good lessons learned.
• Most miles ever in January. I’m disappointed with 81.5 miles, but in comparing what I did two years ago when I was on my way to a PR in the Shamrock Half, I have more mileage — both in quantity and quality.
• My long run is back to double digits already with a 10-miler this past weekend.
• 478 push-ups.

All in all, I am in a good place heading in February. Next month is sure to be full of more miles and additional speed work as I narrow down a goal for Shamrock. I’m also eager to start my core streak.

It’s all about focusing …

In yesterday’s randomness post, I mentioned that I was thinking about doing a “core streak” in February. Well, here it is in official terms: I’m doing a core streak in February. I’ll label it on Twitter as #corestreak. If I can do a run streak, I can do a core streak.

The guidelines — NOT RULES — are simple. Do an exercise each day that engages the core. This can be: sit-ups, planks, push-ups, things on this website, or anything in a Google search of core workouts. This can be of any number of sets or reps or intensity.

My main goal is to set a routine of core work from this point forward. Sure I’ve done a variety of core over the years, but I’ve always lacked consistency. A core streak can only help.

• January has felt like an up and down month, but in looking back at my previous Januaries since I started blogging, this may be the best first month of a year that I’ve had since January 2004 when I started running. That includes a trail race, a nice double digit long run under a 9-minute mile pace and, after tomorrow, more than 80 miles for the month.
• I’m thinking about doing an “core streak” in February — an exercise every day than engages the core. I’ll think of some guidelines in the next couple of days, but I think it would a great addition to what already seems to be working for me in the past few weeks.
• Speaking of what’s working, the 100 push-ups challenge is back in full force. I struggled a bit last night, but I’ve stayed solidly in column 2 and have seen an increase of 10 with my max test in this short time. This time around, I have realized one of major problems with not ever completing this or getting beyond 4 weeks — my goal has never been to do 100 consecutive push-ups. That defeats the whole purpose. My goal, this time, is to do that.
• I’m not ready to talk about weight gain/loss, but I have lost a very little bit each week this month. In looking back at various times I’ve written about weight, I tend to say the same thing. I just know I want to lose a few pounds and hit the Shamrock Half Marathon with weight not being at the forefront of my mind. I know that I’ll weigh less than 2 years ago when I set my PR, and getting another few pounds off me will be me an additional confidence boost.
• I haven’t talked much about my goals for Shamrock, but I will soon. I need a speed test or two to figure out if my “A” goal in my mind right now is realistic. Only 7 weeks to go!
• Scott and I announced some great #runchat news last week — we are speaking at Fitbloggin’ 12. FitBloggin’s mission is “To bring together the community of health-conscious bloggers for education, networking and friendship.” You can read a little more HERE about us being at Fitbloggin’. We’ll have more details in the coming months.

Saucony Mirage

I will never judge a shoe by one run, but I really liked the way they felt. The lightness of the shoe was much nicer than I expected.

I got these shoes because I am a huge fan of trying something new without going too extreme. I am pretty sure I won’t get a pair of Vibram’s or anything less of a shoe than the Mirage any time soon. Notice that I’m not saying “never.”

If I can transition to this shoe quickly I will, but for now I’m not going to force the issue. I’ll have one or two runs a week in them before anything high mileage. That said, I would love to wear these awesomely green shoes for the Shamrock Half.

I also have another new product in my hands … or on my wrist – a Soleus GPS 1.0. It’s a long story about how I got this watch, but I want to thank Soleus for the opportunity to wear this.

Soleus came onto the scene recently with an affordable GPS option with a watch that is just that – a normal looking watch with GPS features. Unlike Garmin or other similar companies, you cannot download the data to a computer.

After a few runs with the watch, I like it a lot. The connection to a GPS is quick and the various screen options are nice. I do miss the data that my Garmin 205 provides, however, I never really started using those features until last year. I still don’t download my data often, but I do like looking at elevation profiles and maps on crazy runs.

I have done some comparison with the Garmin – the first run it was just .06 more on a 5.3 mile run; with a co-worker it was .15 more on a 3-mile run. I know that GPS watches read differently and aren’t 100% accurate, but I will continue to compare the two as I decide on which one I like better.

How I handle not having quick access to elevation or maps is yet to be seen. The question is, do I really need it? The quick answer is no. I did fine without it for years. Perhaps I’ll keep my Garmin for those crazier runs, although it seems ridiculous to leave it sitting around when I can easily sell it. My Garmin, though, is old and I don’t know how long it will last.

On the health side of things, I am finally feeling better. I’d say I’m about 90% now – still a little ways to go, but I’ll definitely be ready for 10 miles this weekend.

Last weekend, I wrote about not feeling well. My mileage fell short by a few miles and I had a long run that just didn’t feel right. It was nice to push it, but it left me feeling bad later in the day.

All last week I struggled with feeling good — lots of snot, headaches and everything else associated with a cold. That led to completely skipping a run, something I haven’t done in a while.

Then yesterday I felt pretty good again. My head was stopped up, but I felt like I could think clear. I went out for 8 miles and had a great run. While it was a bit cold, I enjoyed every second of it. The super snot rockets I got out made me feel even better.

Then yesterday afternoon I took a nap that made me feel crappy again. Same thing last night; then today it’s like I couldn’t even wake up. I decided to stay home from work because going to work every day last week obviously didn’t make me feel better.

Now that it’s afternoon, I once again don’t feel too bad. This up and down and up and down thing is annoying — I feel like the end is near and I know that taking today off running will only help.

Today is all about rest and fluids. I want to run tomorrow and I want to run 10 miles this weekend. I want to have a normal week of training and get my focus back on what I want to do for the Shamrock Half.

While I haven’t been in any running funk (although I have had a bad cold all week that’s now cutting into my running), I’ve had a bad case of writer’s block lately — my mind is full of thoughts that just don’t make sense when I try to put the words down. As a longtime writer and editor, both personally and professionally, there’s nothing worse than stuck thoughts.

So to take his idea, I’ll give you 10 things I love about running. I should do this more often; I encourage everyone to make a similar list sometime soon.

In no particular order, I love …

1. … watching the sunrise while the rest of the world is asleep.
2. … having my “me” time to sort out thoughts or come up with random ideas.
3. … tackling hills in my small hometown of Bedford, Va.
4. … saying “hi” to strangers even if they don’t speak back or even look at me.
5. … experiencing euphoria at the end of a race.
6. … getting lost on a trail.
7. … getting to know strangers on a group run.
8. … very random music on those rare music days.
9. … drinking a cold Magic Hat No. 9 to reward myself for a long run.
10. … new shoes.

Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Saucony Mirage

In these first couple of weeks of Shamrock Half training, and now Cleveland Marathon training, things haven’t started so well. While last week’s trail race was a ton of fun, the tumble I took really left me banged up and threw off my whole week. I still have scabs and bruises.

Instead of my first run coming Monday, it came Tuesday; I was planning to do my long run of 8 miles on Saturday, but I just didn’t feel up to it after I ran Thursday and Friday; I ended up just not feeling well at all Saturday, which led to waking up not feeling great Sunday; I actually debated on not running today, but after a nap I felt better and ended up doing a mid-afternoon run of 7 miles.

At the end of all this, I’m glad I pushed through it today. I’m disappointed in falling short of my planned distance today and for the week, but getting in an hour of running felt good. It was actually my first run of more than an hour in the winter in more than 2 years. Last year I didn’t run anything beyond 4 miles in the winter.

I won’t let some minor setbacks get me down, but I certainly hope I don’t have any other weird things come my way any time soon.