Short Interval Friday!

Friday, November 20, 2015 · Mike Davis

Good morning! Grab your mug and pull up a chair. Friday’s I like to hit what I call “quick intervals” where I just chat briefly on whatever is out there. So hopefully you have your coffee ready to go! Friday’s may be the greatest day of the week. While it is not the start of the weekend, in your minds we start the weekend and have great anticipation of the two free days ahead! I am definitely there! Tomorrow in Portsmouth there will be the Jingle Bell 5K which benefits arthritis. I remember this race being the first 10K I had ever run and has since been reduced to a 5K. I know the event struggled for a time and I hope that is no longer the case. For me it was always a great post-Seacoast Half race. Of course next week is Thanksgiving and that means you couldn’t throw a turkey without hitting a Thanksgiving Day turkey trot. Dover, Portsmouth, Rochester, Manchester and on and on goes the list of New Hampshire towns that will be hosting a Turkey Trot or some race with a Thanksgiving Day theme. I have never run a Thanksgiving Day race as I have always wanted to run a distance greater than a 5K that morning. Knowing that I would be taking about 3 times my normal calories, running only a 5K does not seem nearly enough. In the future I may go ahead and find a fun Thanksgiving Day race and run it. Seems like it might be a lot of fun and then go eat the same amount of turkey and stuffing! Tomorrow morning at the NFLR Center will be a great opportunity to keep your running going. We run multiple distances (between 30 and 60 minutes) at an easy pace. This is a part of our NFLR winter running group that meets every Wednesday night Saturday morning. Great way to keep those feet moving through the winter and enjoy a great group. 8:30am tomorrow and then 6pm from the 7th Settlement on Wednesday. The fee for the entire winter is only $80.00 but, you can drop in for $5.00 on Saturdays. This week started off slowly for me as far as my running but, picked up Wednesday when I did some repeats and then followed it up last night with an easy 70 minute run. The repeats on Wednesday were both challenging and a lot of fun. The track was on was not a typical 400 meter distance but more like 800 meters I think. I can’t say that I liked that because it caused me to utilize my Garmin more than I like. Last night I didn’t let the rain detour me as I just thoughtlessly got myself ready and before I knew it was out running. I have to not be as thoughtless about some things as I felt a little pain around my nipples and when I got back my white shirt had red in two spots. Showering was not so enjoyable, ouch! Between the rain and humidity any distance beyond 40 minutes requires me to use a little protection. It is really cool to be out running and have a fighter aircraft go flying over your head. Saturday when Kathy and I were doing our long one we both agreed it was motivating to see them take off over our head. Last night it was dark and a lot of cloud cover so I could only hear them. Pretty cool either way. Also at 5pm they play taps and then the National Anthem over loud speakers. The protocol is that all cars and pedestrians stop and face the sound of the music. This is done at every active duty base and a great tradition. I do not mind the interruption to my running and it is even nice to get a short breather. Time to get to work! Hope you have a fantastic Friday and an even better weekend! Come on out to the NFLR Center and run with some great people! God Bless! Mike