Day 1285 -- Jogger's Progress

	Trip	YTD	Jan
Distance	8122.8	109.8	109.8
Time	55 days, 22 hrs, 59 min	19:33	19:33
Days	1285	19	19
States	25	2	2

with a scheduled day off, it is time to check on Jogger's Progress. I managed to get in the most days and the most miles since September. Still not a great month, but at least I'm going back up. And, having added Maine to the list, I have now visited half the states. When you consider that I won't run to Hawaii, I'm over half.

An eight mile "long run" this morning was not bad. While on the dreadmill, I watched the NFL Network, which was doing half-hour specials on all the Superbowls. They must have started last night, because this morning, they were up to SB XXXI, which the Packers won! So I got to relive that, which was great. Alas, directly following that was SB XXXII, which the Packers lost. I found myself rooting for them to win this time, but somehow, they didn't.

Days 1283 and 1284 -- East Wolfeboro

Day 1283 was Thursday, but I haven't had a chance to blog. Thursday night, the Littlest Little Jogger performed the National Anthem at a boys basketball game at the high school. Well, okay, it was the whole fourth grade that sang. But the Littlest was the best. I could have blogged, but I didn't. Yesterday, I didn't run, but didn't get to blog, because I went up to Madison for a meeting. Today, I've been grading most of the day, but I'm done for now.

Four miles on Thursday, and three today, to continue my easy week. I'm scheduled for only eight miles tomorrow. We'll see.

I'm not sure if this house for sale is in Wolfeboro or East Wolfboro. Oh, well, it's somewhere around here.

Day 1282 -- Ossipee

You've got to admit, this is a great photo to plop myself into. This is exactly what I looked like this morning. Except that this morning, instead of running on the open road on a beautiful New England autumn day, I flapped my arms and legs on the treaded dreadmill while looking out the window at a frigid Wisconsin winter.

The photo itself pops up in an interesting way on the Google search. Somebody on the forums at city-data.com posted, "Hey, I'm writing a novel and I would like it to take place in a heavily forested small town. Any suggestions?" Someone with the handle "GraniteStater" posted this and two other photos of Ossipee.

This is an easy week. The schedule actually says 4 Tuesday, 5 Wednesday, 4 Thursday. I wasn't really paying attention, so I ran 5 yesterday. So what to do today? The 5 that was on the schedule, or the 4 from yesterday? Decisions, decisions.

Frankly, when the alarm went off, the smart money was on 0. I don't know why, but I had trouble dragging myself out of bed. But eventually I did, and I ran 5 miles. Yea, me!

Do Nothing for Two Minutes

Good luck! I made it, but it wasn't easy.

Day 1281 -- Moultonborough

If you are trying to track my trek by carefully mapping the cities and towns that I post, you might be a bit confused. I've gotten a bit off track. West Ossipee, which I was in on Saturday, is actually further along the road than Chocorua, where I was on Sunday. And I think I just figured out that I'm still about seven miles short of Ossipee, which is only six or eight miles down the road from West Ossipee. So, I jumped off the road a little to visit Moultonborough.

This is the Old Country Store in Moultonborough. Why they don't have an "e" on Old, I don't know. They get a plug as a local attraction on the web site of the Berry Pond Motel, also in Moultonborough. If you're ever in the neighborhood, just drop in.

After a scheduled day off yesterday, I did a relatively easy five this morning.

Packers/Bears

The big story in Wisconsin this week, of course, is today's NFC Championship Game between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. If you've been paying attention to football at all, you know that this is the 182nd meeting between the two teams, that it's the NFL's oldest rivalry, that the two teams only met in the postseaon once, in 1941, etc.

Intellectually, I know that, win or lose, it's been a good season for the Packers. During the last half of the season, no one in Packerland was talking Super Bowl. They were just playing to make it to the playoffs. They had to win their last two games just to claim the last playoff spot. So, if they lose, it's really not that bad, right? Except....

It's the Bears. You never want to lose to the Bears. The Packers could go 2-14 on the season, and if the two wins are against the Bears, the season wasn't a total loss.

Also, all week long, many of the talking heads have been predicting the Packers to win. Even though the game is in Chicago, and the Bears have the better record. So now, if the Packers lose, those same talking heads turn around and say that the Packers choked, and they just didn't live up to the hype. I don't want to listen to that.

Finally, I just broke down and ordered a Ray Nitschke jersey from eBay. It will probably get here in time for the Super Bowl, and I'd love an excuse to wear it.

So, "Go Pack!" While I've been typing, the game has started, and the Pack is already up 7-0. So that's a good start.

Day 1280 -- Chocorua

The first Little Jogger would love this. Monkey Trunks High & Ropes Zipline Adventure Park "s New England's only high rope and zip line adventure park open to the general public. With four adrenalin filled courses there's something for everyone from age 3 to 100!" She loves that kind of stuff. I'd better not even show it to her, because she'll want to drive right out there and go for a zip.

I ran 10 miles this morning, finishing off a week where I actually ran every run, as scheduled. It was also my longest run since November 21. It felt pretty good. I was certainly tired at the end, but not exhausted.

Day 1279 -- West Ossipee

The Yankee Smokehouse, in West Ossipee, NH, may not be the best place to eat for a vegetarian. As you can see, I'm running away from it as fast as I can.

I took yesterday off, and still felt pretty sapped for a five miler today. With 10 on the schedule tomorrow, I'd better get some rest.

Day 1278 -- Center Conway

I'm not sure if this one counts. I stole it from the forums at Arboristsite.com. The guy who posted it is from Center Conway, NH, but he didn't really say where the picture was taken. Anyway, if you are interested, it is a photo of a pile of poplar wood from "the last job". Wherever that was.

I ran six miles both Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. I don't know how I got back-to-back six milers on the schedule, but they were there, and I ran them. So I was a bit tired this morning. But I only had four on the schedule today, and I made it. Tomorrow is a scheduled day off, and I need it.

Day 1277 -- Back to New Hampshire

I actually just ducked into Maine long enough to visit Stephen King. Now it's back to New Hampshire, and down to Massachusetts.

Classes don't start until next week. So I'm still on a pretty flexible schedule. I came home yesterday and took a nap. It wasn't much of a nap. I was in bed for maybe an hour, and I only dozed for less than half that, I'd guess. But then yesterday evening, I had trouble getting to sleep. So I stayed up and read for a while. When I went to bed, I turned off the alarm, so I slept in this morning. But, fortunately, I'm still on a pretty flexible schedule, so I just went to the gym late. But I'm going to have to start getting into a routine. I won't be able to do this next week.

Day 1276 -- Fryeburg

From Becky's Picassa Album, a picture of the Fryeburg Fair, in Fryeburg, ME. You have to look closely to spot the Jogger.

After a long run Friday, I was only due for a short run on Sunday. But I didn't even do that. I went with the boys up to the Wisconsin Dells, to visit the Kalahari Resorts Indoor Theme Park, with the Medium Little Jogger's 4H group. It was fun, but I got plenty of exercise, if not aerobic exercise. My favorite was the Laser Tag! I did OK, but never beat the Medium's friend Hurricane Andrew.

I could have run yesterday, but I didn't. It was Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, and the kids had the day off school. It snowed fairly consistently all day, and we just stayed in and cocooned.

So today, I got up and ran six miles at a relaxed pace. It was good. I managed the whole run with no breaks. Now I want to get back on schedule. We'll see.

Day 1275 -- Lovell

This isn't necessarily the best photo of Stephen King on-line, but it was the easiest to stick myself into. "Why Stephen King?" you ask. Because one of his three homes is right here in Lovell, Maine. Another is in Bangor. There are photos of that one on-line, but I thought that would be cheating. For that matter, this one is probably cheating, as we aren't on the coast, so it certainly wasn't taken around here.

I decided to go on my long run this morning. I'm going with the boys on a 4H adventure tomorrow morning, and won't have time for a long run. I made a good nine miles, with less difficulty than last week's eight. I just might be able to get into shape for a Pikermi, after all.

Day 1274 -- Maine

Maine. The Way Life Should Be. So those of you in the lesser 49 states can just suck it.

Until a few years ago, the slogan of my university was "What College Should Be", which also strikes me as a little conceited. It's also interesting because there was a private college in Iowa with the same slogan. So make up your minds. Which one is what college should really be?

I managed to get out to run today, and ran six miles in 60 minutes, which is about the top pace that I can run these days, at least over any distance. I sure wanted to quit after about four miles, but I didn't. Tomorrow is a scheduled day off.

Day 1273 -- Redstone

Technically, Paris Farmer's Union (Your Home, Farm, and Garden Center) has a North Conway address, but it's address is "Route 302 Redstone". I'm on route 302, and closer to Redstone than to North Conway, but I figure it's close enough.

I'm so glad that I have a training schedule. I started on January 3, meaning that this is my tenth day. I stuck to the schedule for five of them. Today wasn't one of the days when I stuck to the schedule, but it was sort of accidental. I thought I was to run four miles, and I did, but when I went to enter my mileage, I saw that I was to run six. Oh, well. Tomorrow I'm scheduled for four. So if I run six, it all evens out. And if I only run four, then I stuck to the schedule.

Day 1272 -- Intervale

I picked a nice warm-looking picture of Riverside Inn Bed and Breakfast, because my run to day was cold. I slept in this morning, and decided to go for a run at noon. It was a whopping 26 degrees (F), and the roads are clear, so I decided to run outside. It was cold. I enjoyed it, but I was reminded of how much harder it is to actually run -- move your body over the ground -- than to flap your arms and legs on the treaded dreadmill. By the end of five miles, I was sucking wind pretty badly. It didn't help that I was coming off a long run yesterday. Anyway, I'm glad I did it.

Day 1271 -- Glen

Glen, NH, is home to Story Land. Looks like a good place to stop with the kids, but alas, they are closed for the season. I hope that by Memorial Day weekend, when they open again, I'll be well down the east coast. The photo of Dr. Bigglesworth's Loope Lab, by the way, is from marcn's Flikr stream.

I slept poorly again Friday night, and just didn't feel like running yesterday, so I didn't. I slept fine last night, and went ahead and slept in. I went over to the fitness center at noon. That was OK, because I could watch the football game. I started out fine, but in the third quarter, the game started to get away from the Chiefs, and my legs started to go away from me. I didn't feel very strong when I finished. I have a long way to go before I'm ready for a Pikermi.

Day 1270 -- White Mountain National Forest

I don't think I'm really in White Mountain National Forest right now. This part of the road is not in the park, but has park on both sides of it. The park is hard to miss; it's all over the north end of the state. According to the National Park Service, it has close to 800,000 acres, which is over 1200 square miles. According to Wikipedia, New Hampshire has a little over 9000 square miles. Meaning the National Forest is something like 13% of the area of the state. Well, that's not quite true, because a little of the National Forest slops over into Maine.

Gravity finally got me yesterday morning, and I slept in. Today was a scheduled day off, so I swapped, and did my easy five today. Now we'll see if I can get up again tomorrow. I didn't sleep well last night, so I'm pretty tired.

Day 1269 -- Livermore

Livermore, NH, home of, well, this intersection. I didn't find any really great photos from Livermore, but I did get this photo from Leapfish. Don't really know why this intersection is worth being on the Internet. Then again, if we took away all the pointless stuff on the Internet, it wouldn't leave that much. This blog, in particular, would be history.

I struggled to get out of bed again this morning, but get out of bed I did. It was an easy four miles. I don't really start pushing my pace for a few weeks. Right now, I'm just trying to build up some endurance.

Day 1268 -- Hart's Location

Three things about Hart's Location, NH:

1. It is the southern terminus of the Cohos Trail, according to Adam and Biana, from whom I stole this photo.
   
2. Is is the smallest town in New Hampshire and, every four years, is the first town in the country to cast its vote for the President.
   
3. It's a cool name.
   

The alarm went off this morning, and I turned it off and went back to bed. I figured that I could run later in the day. Or tomorrow. Or a week from Friday. But that didn't take, and pretty soon I dragged my butt out of bed and went to the fitness center for an "easy" five miles. I can say that I ran the whole five miles, and didn't actually die. That's about the best I can do.

Seventeen weeks until the Pikermi.

Day 1267 -- Twin Mountain

The map shows Twin Mountain and Caroll as separate towns, a couple of miles apart. This sign seems to indicate that Twin Mountain is part of the town of Carroll.

While you're in Twin Mountain, be sure to stop at Carroll Motel and Cottages, seen here in its winter glory. They are highly recommended by the Twin Mountain Snowmobile Club, who should know.


Today was the first run of 2011. Although it was Sunday, I didn't go for a long run. I'm still coming back from my long layoff. I got in about five and a half miles in 60 minutes, which was OK. And tomorrow, I start officially training for the Pikermi in Eau Claire. Of course, when I'm in training, Monday is an off day, so it will be kind of a slow start. But I'm looking forward to working my way back into shape.

Happy New Year, 2011!

Happy New Year to the thousands of fans of JogAmericaBlog.

So what are my goals for 2011? I plan to run the Pikermi in Eau Claire, of course (see countdown timer at left). I am also already signed up for the Madison Mini Marathon in August. I'm thinking that I won't plan to run any full marathons in 2011. Perhaps I'll sneak in another Pikermi or two.

I'd like to get my weight down a little, and get my speed up a little. I'm going to shoot for 250 running days, and 1750 miles. That will put me slightly ahead of 2010, but not quite as much as 2009, my highest year. And other than that, I'll just keep on running.