Nick Long can chuckle at the idea of idea of taking a break from running during his Christmas vacation from being a two-sport athlete at the University of Georgia.

Long, a North Hall High graduate and distance runner for the Bulldogs, knows the importance of staying on schedule in this time period between the end of cross country season and the beginning of indoor track and field at Georgia.

“I’m most passionate about running during the winter,” said Long, a member of the Northeast Georgia Sports Hall of Fame’s Elite 10. “I love the cold weather.”

Not even Christmas can keep Long from maintaining his training schedule. Sticking with his day-by-day training schedule, Long woke on Christmas and went for a run of about 10 miles.

Then in the evening, after more time with the family, it was back to the grind with a shorter 4-5 mile run. Long has runs carefully divided to clock between 230-250 miles in the 3 1/2 weeks away from school.

“Serious running is about being on a regiment,” Long said. “You have to make a plan and stick with it.”

Each week during the holidays, Long has worked his way up from running 71 miles in the first week home to eventually maxing out at 82 miles the final week before reporting back to campus.

Making such a precise total is accomplished by doing two runs each day on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (a long morning run and shorter evening run), one long run of about 11 miles on Tuesday and Thursday, a run of 14-17 miles on Saturday and cross training work or swimming to stay loose on Sunday.

Bottom line: There is no such thing as a day off for Long, a three-time state champion in track and field for the Trojans in high school.

Of course, he does take time to spend with family while at home and understands the importance of enjoying the season and time at home.

According to Long, running is something that his family has wrapped itself around and they know why he puts so much time into his desire to become the best runner possible.

“I’m very close to my family and they are very supportive of what I’m doing,” Long said. “I love getting to come home to Gainesville because if it wasn’t for being from here in Gainesville and the people at North Hall High none of this would be possible.”

So far, this year at Georgia has been a success. One of his best runs during cross country season was a 25 minute, 15 second time in the 8K distance Oct. 2 at a meet at Notre Dame. And Long took second overall with a time of 26:00 at a meet he entered separate from his team at Berry College this fall.

As a team, the Bulldogs’ mens cross country team ran fourth at regionals (behind Alabama, Florida State and Auburn), and placed fifth as a team at conference on a 10K course.

“We barely missed a bid for nationals this season,” Long said. “We had a really close knit and team-oriented group on this team, which really helped.”

This spring, during outdoor track, Long will be taking part in the steeplechase, an event that requires runners to jump four hurdles along the track and over a pool of water on the other side.

“I feel like I can jump pretty well, so it should be a good match.”

Long will also be running the 1,600-meter during the indoor track season.

“The goal is to get back to school in better shape than ever before,” Long said. “I feel like I’m more fit mentally and physically this year.”