dusting of snow

Don't pay any attention to the weather forecasts here in middle Tennessee, because the weather folks can' t ever seem to get it right in regards to snowfall. Awoke this morning to slight dusting of snow on the grass and deck. Roadways were clear. Perfect weather for a run in the snow, the greeway should be clear and light dusting of snow on everything else.

Jumped in the car and drove the 4 miles to the trailhead. But, not before passing a car that had jumped the guardrail and was stuck on it. Guess they didn't realize the bridges were ice covered and it's not a good idea to brake when you make that realization. DUH. The greenway was clear except the for the bridges which were snow covered with a whopping quarter inch of snow. Biggie deal right? Still, the entire hour or so I was out running I could hear the sirens coming and going, wrecks all over town. Jeez. I don't know which is worse the city for not salting the overpasses or at least throwing down some sand. The cops know where all of the slick spots are located. On the way home, the same bridge where I saw the first accident, now had a 3 car rear end collision on one end of the bridge and another 2 cars on the other end.

Come on people. I know its not hard to drive on ice. Sad thing is getting caught up in an accident because of some other idiot. That was probably the case with 5 of the cars in the one accident. One person going to fast, and taking out everyone else. Or even worse the person that feels the need to drive at 5 miles per hour because they're so freaked out. These people just need to stay home. On days like today the ice is usually gone by 9 am or so, once the sun starts shining on it.

Hard to get to excited by such a little snow fall. Not even enough for the kids to play in, but the dogs did enjoy running around in it. Sad that it also causes a portion of the interstate to be closed down and a gajillion wrecks. Hopefully, no one was hurt. Don't know whose more to blame, the crazy drivers, the state, city, police, sheriff's or state troopers.

End of the year

December already and before you know it the year is going to be over. Time to reflect on 2009 and set some goals for 2010. Don't guess I really made a list of goals for 2009, like I did in 2008. Least not that I put down in writing. Biggest achievement in 2009 was the 3:05 marathon PR at the Flying Pig Marathon. Also, set a PR in the half marathon of 1:27.

Still haven't been able to race the RC Cola Moon Pie race to my potential. One of these days I want to run a sub 3:00 marathon, that'll probably have to happen before I hit 50. It sure isn't getting any easier. Convinced that high mileage is the key to faster races. Million dollar question is how much mileage is to much or what other factors do I need to monitor to stay injury free. I had a pretty good streak of no injuries up until this fall.

So, just need to slowly build the base back up. Should be ready to start some kind of training cycle for either a fast 5k or maybe marathon for the April/May time frame. Ideally, the marathon training cycle I used for the Pig would work with some 5k type of training mixed in, if that's the direction I chose or a marathon. Decisions, decisions.



The 4th annual Dirks' Fat Ass 50k is on for January 1. As in the prior years, this is a unofficial race. No t-shirt, no entry fees, no marked course, no course monitors. Just a bunch of like minded runners out for 50k for the hardy or maybe one loop for 10 miles or 2 loops for 20 miles or whatever distance suits your fancy for the first day of the new year. I'll have water, gatorade, and some kind of warm, salty food.