1:00 a.m. – Turn 30. Check.
5:00 a.m. – Roll out of bed. Check.
6:15 a.m. – Hit the trails for a 15 miler. Check.
7:12 a.m. – Watch the sun come up while running. Check.
9:00 a.m. – Go to work all day. Che…hey, wait a minute…who made this checklist anyway?

This morning’s run was great. The past few days my morning run has been in the single digits, starting around 3 or 4 degrees fahrenheit. Today, it was calm and warm, with temperatures in the high 20s.

As the sun started coming up, I could see the clouds moving along at a good clip overhead, and about 20 or 30 minutes later the breeze did pick up enough that I needed to put my gloves back on, but I had a good 90 minutes of my run with the gloves in my pocket. Not too shabby for a mid-January trail run in Maine.

I saw quite a bit of wildlife today, including a few ducks, some squirrels, and a mouse that was trapped in a snowmobile rut and couldn’t find a way out (I got a picture of the mouse with my cell phone.) I also got some good sunrise shots, since there was enough cloud cover that the sun didn’t fry the lens on my cell phone.

I included those photos at the end of the video after the numbers for the day.

I almost managed to run exactly 15 with my various out and backs on the trails that I took to minimize my time on the roads. I ran just over a mile and a half on the road at the beginning and end of the run, and I was at 14.9 miles when I got back to my car, so I didn’t have to run too far past it in order to get my 15 miles for the day.

That frees up my evening so that I don’t need to run tonight, which is good as I’m planning on going out with some friends and family to watch the Portland Pirates (our local hockey team) whallop on Worcester. I haven’t made it to a game yet this season so it should be fun.

These past few days have felt a lot like pre-season in college, with a few notable differences. In mid-February, we’d head down to Florida and run 10 miles every morning and 5 every afternoon, with one day per week reserved for a morning 15 miler with the rest of the day off.

For the challenge, I’ve been running 5 or 6 miles combined with 8 milers, with a 15 miler this morning. The temperatures are a bit lower than I’d find in Daytona this time of year, and (other than Tuesday and Thursday evening) I’ve mostly been running alone instead of with my buddies, but it kinda feels the same.

Of course, then I have to go to work all day which is way different than preseason, where I’d goof off and/or nap all day. That’s definitely different.

Thanks to Diane Bell for today’s donation!

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 15 Miles (119 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 15.01 Miles Today (127.7 Miles Total)
Duration: 2:12:44 (22:04:03 Total)
Net Weight Change: +½ Pound (+2 Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $20 ($350 Total)