Hard Quality Efforts

January 13th (Monday): Another batch of chili for the week for dinners/lunches. 8++ miles (60:31) with Goup in the evening.

Mmmm.

January 14th (Tuesday): 7+ miles (46:35) in the evening. Standard day.

January 15th (Wednesday): Decided to take the day off. Listened to my body because the ankle felt like I rolled it. Moving the ankle laterally hurt a bit. Foam rolled and iced in the evening.

January 16th (Thursday): Out to hit up all the spots we usually run in 1 run. 11.7 miles (76:08) with the last 2 miles in 10:35. Solid run and ankle was good to go. Iced after as a precautionary action.

 Starting to do this routine a couple times a week.

January 17th (Friday): 8+ miles (53:52) after work. Up to Saratoga for the work holiday party (better late than never). Bowling and food. Rocked it for the 1st game and best score ever by like 40 or 50 pins. Bowled a 190. No big deal.

4 strikes in a row? Boom.

January 18th (Saturday): 8am wakeup. 9 miles (64:33) with Goup and Megan from our house. Received a text and a phone call that I did not have to come into work. Woohoo! Proceeded to sit on the couch for a couple hours. Checked out a couple places (houses) to move into in Latham. No dice. Chilled for the rest of the night.

January 19th (Sunday): Joe Benny Pancake Run in Albany at 8:30am. Some cornbread for breakfast. Double 7.5 mile loop. 15 miles (1:33:11). 1st loop: 49:32. 2nd loop: 43:39. Last 8 miles were: 6:30, 6:20, 6:07, 5:34, 5:31, 5:40, 5:48, 5:50. Worked some miles for fun.

USATF award ceremony at Fleet Feet. Carpooled with Renee. Free dinner. Played with the kids (Sydney and Addy) pretty much the whole time. Home to relax and head to bed at a decent hour. Brought home a catering dish of pasta. Ca-chang! 59 miles for the week with a day off.

Sweet Tooth

January 6th (Monday): Work. Chilled on the couch after work. Some cornbread. Out for a steady 9 miles (60:49) with Goup at 6:15pm.

January 7th (Tuesday): Work. 4+ miles on the treadmill. Crappy weather outside. Stopped at Planet Fitness in Clifton Park to cancel the membership. Grabbed a large handful of tootsie rolls as a last hooray. I felt like Jim Carrey from Liar Liar. Specifically at 10 seconds (grabbed it like the air freshener). Down to Albany for a solid strength training session with a couple of the team members.

 Pre-run snack. Organic chocolate pudding.

 Pre-workout fuel.

January 8th (Wednesday): Just another day at work. 8+ miles (54:23) with Goup in the evening. Temperatures were in the teens. Chili all week for dinners. Started reading my car manual (dad found it online) and came across the page below. My car automatically locks the door after a certain miles/hr. Once I park the car and turn it off, my door would be the only one that unlocked. Ughh! Boom! Found the solution in the manual!

Snowbeards.

 Reading my online manual for my car.

I like my milk extra cold. Tossed it in the freezer for 10 minutes before having chili for dinner.

January 9th (Thursday): Work. Right after work, we stopped at the local gym in the Hannaford's parking lot right by our complex and ended up signing up for a year (only $99 bucks). A mom and pop place that is pretty low key. The guy was super nice. Steve Torres.

Thought it was pretty cold out, but once we were out there. No issues. 10.5 miles (75:04) with Goup at 5:30pm. Solid run for a Thursday evening. Over to our new gym for a lifting session. Abs, some arms, and lots of squats/lower body.

January 10th (Friday): Easy day. Might Ducks: D2 was on television. So we ran after the movie was over. 5+ miles (43:14) with Goup. First mile was 8:26 and we didn't have an intention of picking it up. We didn't. Chilled on the couch the rest of the night.

January 11th (Saturday): Up to Saratoga in the morning for a run with Megan. A solid 10 miles (69:50) on the outskirts of Saratoga. Quiet roads. Back to the house to relax most of the day. Goup and I walked over to Hannaford's in the evening to pick up a Redbox movie and ice cream. Bowl of ice cream with Sarah's homemade caramel! Yum!

Omelet with cheddar cheese.

Breyer's chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

January 12th (Sunday): 7:00am wakeup. Cornbread for breakfast. Down to Albany for a group long run. 15+ miles (1:44:36). The last 4-5 miles we picked it up. Last 5 miles: 6:10, 5:50, 5:53, 5:55, 5:54. Smooth and felt good to cruise. It was decided before the run started so it was a group effort. Solid run. Big pancake breakfast after at Paley's house. Chocolate chips in some the pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Forgot to capture the moment before we dug in. There will be plenty more of them so I'm not worried. 62 miles for the week and a solid week of work. Getting into a groove.

Another batch of chili made at night for the week. Dinner for the week!

New Year's Week

December 30th (Monday): Goup was heading out for a workout so I decided to join him. 5 x 1/2 mile hills. 3+ mile warmup (22:30). 2:57, 2:55, 2:59, 2:54, 2:59. Just shy of 2.5 mile cooldown (17:14). 11 miles on the day.

 Diesel omelet for dinner.

December 31st (Tuesday): Short day at work. Over to Keene NH for the New Years festivities. 4 miles (27:48) at 6pm. Super relaxing run and felt great to run in Keene. Beautiful night out. Showered up and out to Scores (old Railroad) for some dinner and drinks with friends. Danced it up for 4 hours total between 3 locations (Scores, McCues and Fowler). Fun night with close friends and bed by 2am.

 Angry Orchard and Fireball Whiskey (Angry Balls).

January 1st (Wednesday): Slept in and hydrated in the morning hours. Chilled and some breakfast in downtown Keene. Sausage, egg and cheese at Bagel Works. Over to Hammett's for a quality run with Big George, Hammett, Ferenc, and TPaq. 12 miles (85+) on the snow covered trails of Pisgah. Exhilarating run in the thick of nature.

January 2nd (Thursday): 5 miles on the treadmill. Sub 35. Last mile at 6 minute pace at 6% percent grade. Woohoo! Keep knocking away at the hill training even on the treadmill to gear up for June.

 Drive over the mountains in VT.

January 3rd (Friday): Another 5 miles on the treadmill due to the cold temperatures. 30:45 this time. Last 3 miles sub 16 for fun. 5:35, 5:15, sub 5 (effort). Last mile was .75 miles at 12 miles/hr at 2% grade (so technically 4:59 pace), but rocked my last .25 miles at 6% grade (technically at 3:51 effort). Boom! Chilled for the night.

 From the Jack Daniels book.

January 4th (Saturday): Slept in. Originally I had to go to work, but the tool was not ready. Yesss. It has to wait until Monday. Ran some errands and organized a couple runs for the week. Run at 3:30pm from my place with Paley, Pete, and Megan. 8 miles (57:58). Stayed in the rolling hills of the back neighborhoods. Solid run. Hit up the grocery store to buy ingredients for some veggie chili. Ended up heading up to Saratoga for the night. Left the slow cooker on low overnight.

 Honda hit 36,000 miles.

The slow cooking begins.

January 5th (Sunday): 7:30am wakeup. Over to Megan's house to met up with Paley and Pete. 12+ miles (82:xx). Solid run. Through 6 miles in 40:30 and negatively split the run slightly. Total of 57 miles for the week and the biggest mileage week since the marathon. Happy with the week with a bunch of solid runs.

Resembles my mom's grocery list when I was growing up.

Added the corn after 16 hours of slow cooking.

Homemade guacamole.

Chopped cilantro.

Cornbread. Almost forgot about it in the oven.

Final product. Sour cream and cheddar cheese added.

Christmas Week + Goose Eggs

December 23rd (Monday): Rain all day. Slept in like a champ. The Danbury Fair Mall for some last minute shopping for my sisters with Sarah, Erin, my Dad and Dom. Craziness, but we made it out alive. Day off. Purchased a diesel snow brush and all weather mats for my Honda.

December 24th (Tuesday): Christmas Eve. Easy 4.5 miles (34:15) with my dad and Sarah. Over to New Milford to have dinner with everyone.

December 25th (Wednesday): Christmas day consisted of stockings, a huge breakfast (German pancakes and bacon), present exchanging, shower and ran around helping my mom set up for an early Christmas dinner. Day off.

Photobooth fun.

December 26th (Thursday): Early morning travel back to NY. Slow day at work. Exhausted. Home to nap for a few hours. Too tired to run. Day off.

December 27th (Friday): Work. Home to back up quickly before heading back down to Newtown for the baby shower weekend. 6 miles (39:04). Quality hilly progression run after a couple goose eggs.

December 28th (Saturday): 10 miles (69:56). Last mile with my dad. He was out running with Tucker. He turned around when he saw me. Ran the last bit hard with Tucker (she was galloping along) and my dad.

December 29th (Sunday): 17 miles (2+ hours) at 7:15am with my buddy Pat Dennen and some veterans on a dirt/pavement bike path a couple towns over. Solid run. Haven't run that long since the marathon. Boosted my motivation and ready to get back into the swing of things after a holiday week. 38 miles with 3 days off. Not bad.

 Tucker has the ability to get pretty comfortable.

 Notice the lip.

I spoiled her and let her stay on the cot with me every night.

All Times Of The Day

December 16th (Monday): 10 miles (71:55) at 6:30pm with Goup and Alex Paley in Clifton Park. 5-7 degrees out and my facial hair frosted over a bit because I am a mouth breather.

Frosted.

Reflective.

December 17th (Tuesday): Crappy roads from the afternoon snow covering. Didn't want to contend with the crazy drivers. Forced to pop on the treadmill for 5+ miles in the evening.

December 18th (Wednesday): 6 miles (42:25) on the easy side.

 The fresh kicks.

December 19th (Thursday): 2 hour nap after work. Woke up and decided to hit up Sweet Road for some hill repeats. 5 x 1/2 mile. Cold, but made it through the workout. 2:52, 2:53, 2:51, 2:51, 2:44. 9 miles on the day.

December 20th (Friday): 5am wakeup. 8 miles (53:22) with Ken Little at 5:30am. It's always a solid effort with Ken. Cruised right through the run. Traveled down to Newtown, CT for the Christmas holidays after work.

December 21st (Saturday): Woke up with some stiff pain in the achilles/ankle area. Decided to take the day off. Relaxed all day with the family. Foam rolled, sticked the calf, and iced multiple times throughout the day.

December 22nd (Sunday): 10 miles total (78:15) with the first couple miles with my dad in the morning hours. Solid run. Felt the stiffness, but much better than yesterday. Dinner at the house my grandparents rented in New Milford. Photo shoot with the cousins.

48 miles for the week with a day off. Happy with the week. Next week will be tough with the holidays. It's all good. Time spent with the family is worth taking a day off here and there.

Ornament of Dom, Erin and Baby Comolli.

Full 7 Days

December 9th (Monday): 7 miles (49:59) with a hammerfest for the last 1/4 mile for cuss and giggles. Made it out the door at 4:45pm.

 

Yogurt and cranberry juice to start to shake. Looks gross, but a great combo.

December 10th (Tuesday): 7.75 miles (52:51) with an overall progression run and a quick ending once again. Forgot my lunch on the dining room table so I was too disappointed to have an appetite at work. Skipped lunch. Down to Albany for lifting at 7:15pm.

Omelet with some salsa and cilantro.

December 11th (Wednesday): Burrito mix for lunch. 7+ miles (51:46) on my own in the snow and cold. Awesome run in the dark along the bike path. Turkey burger for dinner. Bed early to rest up the body.

 Turkey burger with spinach, ranch and sriracha sauce.

December 12th (Thursday): Helped with HAZMAT training with ERT all day. Easy day at work. Home to chill and wait for Sean Gavs to arrive for a 6pm run from our house. 7.75 miles (57:13) in the back neighborhoods and stayed off all the main roads.

Sunset walking out of work.

December 13th (Friday): 7+ miles (on the treadmill). Mount Washington training in the works. Started at 4% incline and ended the last few minutes at 10% incline. Rocked a 6 minute mile at 6% grade. According to McDaniels, that is roughly at 4:35ish effort. I was huffing and puffing a bit, but overall a quality run on the hamster wheel.

December 14th (Saturday): 7 miles (51:59) at 6:30am in 5 degree weather. Ugghh! A run with Renee and Jeff down the street on the bike path. Bundled up right and no issues staying warm. The chin and moustache froze over in the first couple miles. Back to the house to warm up and wait until 9am to head back down to the bike path for the Fleet Feet group run. 3 miles (28+) with a whole group of people. Breakfast at Leah's Cakery with the group. Cinnamon bun. Mmmm. So good. Chatted it up with some random people and back to the house to relax the rest of the day.

Started snowing in the late evening. Some television watching and whatnot. Bed at a decent hour.

Mushrooms, onions, spinach, hot mamas and ketchup. Boom.

December 15th (Sunday): 8:30am wakeup. Changed up to head down to UAlbany for the winter series. Waited for Goup to arrive and head down together. Roads weren't terrible and we made it just in time. I jogged over to the starting line and the crowd was off the line as I was about 5 feet from it. Shuffled in and made my way to the front. There was a choice of 3 mile and 15k. I opted for the 3 mile and finished up in 17:21. Some of the roads were clear, but overall a bit sloppy. Found Goup running the 15k and trotted it out with him for the remainder of the distance. 10 miles on the day and 55 miles for the week.

Back up to Ballston Lake and witnessed a car accident right before our exit off of 87. Subaru Forrester totaled on the right side of the road and a Hyundai pushed off to the guardrail on the right. We stopped and made sure everyone was okay. The 80+ year old woman who was impacted by the side airbag was just fine. The cop asked if she wanted EMS to check her out. She responded with, "I think I'm okay. I am standing and talking." She cop then asked, "Are you sure? They are coming to check the on other woman (from the Subaru)." She then replied with, "Once you hit 80, you get pretty tough." Awesome. 

Back to the house to relax the rest of the day. Snow plows didn't get to our road until 2:30pm. I wasn't going anywhere so no big deal. Headed down to Clifton Park to pick up toilet paper, gum and a shovel to move the snow out from in front of the garage and the walkway. On the way back, stopped at Hannaford's for some grocery shopping.

Makeshit shovel.


"Shoveled" out spots for the wheels to head down to Clifton Park.


New shovel. Digging the color.
 



Rewarded my hour of shoveling with a monster omelet.

 

Pie won from the winter series. Apple.

 

A la mode.

 

24 Hours

December 2nd (Monday): Drove up to NY from CT. Straight to offsite training in Saratoga at 8:30am. Out to Chiptotle for lunch. Huge chicken burritos fully loaded. The girl had to give me a new tortilla because it was busting at the seams and ripped apart as she tried to roll it up.

Home to run a quicker 5 miles (34:38) in the daylight.

December 3rd (Tuesday): Another day of training. Five Guys for lunch. The advantage of food being expensed during training. Home to run 7 miles (NT) in the daylight again. An hour earlier makes such a huge difference.

Tupperware that I need to return to my mom and Sarah.

December 4th (Wednesday): Another full day of training. Project manager brought us out to lunch. One of my co-worker's sugguest Hattie's Chicken Shack. Decided on the fried chicken sandwich. Choice of a Junior (1 chicken thigh) or the Big Daddy (2 chicken thighs). Obviously, the Big Daddy. Topped with coleslaw and a side of sweet potato fries with raspberry jam dip. I would of taken a picture, but I was with co-workers.

7 miles (52:04) on my own. Chicken sitting heavy, but worth it.

December 5th (Thursday): Half a day of training. Ran some errands after in Saratoga. Hit up GNC and Target. Struck a deal with my protein powder. On sale for $50 bucks. Bought two 5 pound containers. The lady sold me on some vitamins. I think since I did that, she gave me the 2nd 5 pound container for half off. Boom.

5 miles (35:35) with Goup on a random warm evening at 5pm.

December 6th (Friday): Home later than normal from work. Goup and I changed up to head down to Fleet Feet Albany for the 24 Hour Run to try to help support a couple guys (Jim Sweeney and James O'Connor) try to break the American record for the most miles on a treadmill in 24 hours. 153.76 miles is the record, which is 6.4 miles/hour. Stopped at 5 Guys for dinner in Clifton Park to fuel up for the late night run. It was also a fundraiser for Fight Against Hunger. 20 bucks for 20 minutes on the treadmill. I signed up for 10:20pm-11:20pm. Awesome time and home by 1am.

Diesel.

James (left) 107 miles. Jim (right) 123 miles.

December 7th (Saturday): Slept in. Ended up heading into to work from 10am-1pm for some overtime. High priority tool needed attention. Relaxed on the couch and watched some television the rest of the day. Decided on a day off from running. Watched The Details on Netflix with Toby McGuire. Hilarious movie. Bed at a decent hour.

December 8th (Sunday): 5:30am wakeup. Huh? Down to the bike path with Goup to run with Renee at 6:30am. 7 miles (53:33) along cinder. Relaxed in the afternoon. Another 4 miles (treadmill) at 8pm to make it 44 miles for the week. Still working on the 7 days a week. Slow start back, but I'm in no rush. Picked up a couple pairs of Nike Lunarglides for the winter time.

End of November (Slattery's & MRR)

November 18th (Monday): 5.5 miles (40:37) in the evening.

November 19th (Tuesday): 5.5 miles total (33:25 + strides) with Goupil. Fleet Feet Albany for strength training. A solid 35-45 minutes of straight work.

November 20th (Wednesday): 7 miles (50:00). Last 2.55 miles in 16:01. Felt smooth to crank it up a bit at the end of the run.

November 21st (Thursday): 7+ miles (55:34). Easy night run. Legs sore from lifting.

November 22nd (Friday): Day off. Travel to Massachusetts to Sarah's house for the weekend.

November 23rd (Saturday): 5 miles (43+) with my dad in the afternoon. Parents came up for the weekend to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with Sarah and Bob. They were heading down to Louisiana to spend it with Bob's relatives.

 Such a good puppers.

Tucker will cuddle anywhere.

The nap after the run.

 
November 24th (Sunday): Slattery 5 miler. Last minute decision to "race" it as a bandit. Sarah wasn't running for time so I did a mini workout.

Nothing bed than home cooking. 

Week 2 consisted of single runs and a day off. 37 miles for the week. Headed down to Fleet Feet in Albany for some weight training. Lower body. Duplicated what I could at Sarah's. It's the extra nitty gritty stuff like strength training that will get me to that next level.

November 25th (Monday): 5.5 miles (treadmill). Broke in the new treadmill Goup acquired from NH. Sweetness.

Won the Hartford Marathon? Defend my title? Whatever.

November 26th (Tuesday): 3+ miles (25+) with Goup, Derrick, and Ken Little. Snowing out. 5 miles (NT) in the evening. First double in a while.

November 27th (Wednesday): Off. Out early from work and traveled home down to Connecticut. Ended up just chilling with the parents for the night.

November 28th (Thursday): Turkey day. Manchester Road Race with my parents. Paced my dad to 36:00 flat. The exact goal time for the race. Boom. Dad almost puked up his oatmeal right after he finished. That means he put it all out there. Proud of him.

A well deserved donut and brewski.

Hit the spot.

 
November 29th (Friday): Oops. Another day off. Slept in. Over to my Aunt Kathy's for turkey sandwiches and the movies. Frozen in 3D. I forgot how much singing is in Disney movies. Good flick though.

Snack on the way to my Aunt's for leftover turkey sandwiches.

November 30th (Saturday): Yard work in the afternoon. Made it over to Huntington with my dad for some trails and daylight at 3:30ish. 8 miles total (56:57). First 20+ minutes with my dad and finished up at our own pace for the remainder.

December 1st (Sunday): 9 miles (62:52) with Pat Dennen in Newtown. Breakfast and caught up on life for a couple hours at Bagel Delite. Stayed in Newtown for the night and left in the morning.

Week 3 had a couple days off, but it was worth it to spend more time with the family. Strength training is on Tuesdays and it was upper body. The part that I lack a bit. So I was sore until the weekend. Used the long weekend as recovery. Caught up with a local friend and paced my dad to his goal time for Manchester Road Race. Woohoo!