If you're surging and you know it, clap your hands!

Foot Locker XC Championships dramatic finish, USA Club Cross Championships, Berlin sold out :(, Paula raced in Monaco (course record!) as a tuneup, Honolulu Marathon, London Marathon, and Shalane wins in Miami.

Thursday, December 9th - 8 miles (2 up, 4 mile tempo (25:09) 2 down). Knee was killing me all day, so stretched it out thoroughly. Still was bugging me, but agreed to warm up with Crystal in her neighborhood in hopes that I could loosen up enough. Well, it worked and went at it. Made it through pretty easily (last mile was a little work), and felt very pleased with the workout. Her neighborhood is a mess of many turns, but we had perfect running weather (high 30's, but very still), and some Christmas lights to look at. 6:20, 6:12, 6:17, 6:16 were the splits.

Friday, December 10th - 5 miles. Out and back in the trail, didn't feel too hot. Took my Garmin into the shop to get the band fixed, and my Timex has been MIA for a week so no watch. Went by my Ipod time, which was 37-38 minutes if it was accurate. Grueling run for some reason.

Saturday, December 11th - 13 miles. Old Faithful after a long night out with Crystal and Megan. Just a terrible feeling run, and one of the few times where we were almost entirely silent. I think any distance would have been a struggle, quite honestly, and have been battling a minor cold which never helps. Could feel it every time we picked up the pace, so was singing this blog title to Crystal every single time which was a lot. 1:50:29 total. Sidney Street Cafe at night for dinner with Megan - delicious!

Sunday, December 12th - 6 miles. Waited till really late to get this one in, which was a mistake. Megan and I ran the first 3 miles together on the 270 loop, then looped around town to get in a few miles. Almost went further out, but encountered a pack of animals wandering out in a field, and decided not to chance it. Ran home, and almost pulled the trigger for a couple more, but just called it a night since it was well past 10 p.m. Quite honestly, it was a miracle that I even ran at all, so Megan gets all the props for running with me as I probably would have quit 10 minutes into it. 53:20 total. Wore my new Timex IM NYC Marathon watch - pretty cool, but a little bigger than I thought it would be. Bigger screen is nice though, but the indiglo sucks since I could barely see the time.

52 miles this week - not too shabby.

Christmas is next weekend - where has 2011 gone??? Big River group run tonight, then hill work tomorrow at Francis Park.