Running in December - 12/01 to 12/15

[skhill]

Friday was my long run-- well, not really all that long, just 9 mile. It was "freezing fog" at the time, and while the footing on the sidewalks was pretty solid, the streets were very slick. Every time I got to an intersection, I had to way slow down and step carefully. Exhausting...

Today, I wasn't planning on running. But my dog insisted at 5 am that we really, really had to get up right then. Since I was up, I ended up running anyway. We'd gotten less than an inch of snow overnight, but sidewalks and street were clear, and it was absolutely beautiful. Ran a relaxed 5 miles, and enjoyed the christmas lights downtown. But right after I got home, it started snowing again, and when I took the Pokey dog out for his walk an hour later, everything was covered-- streets, sidewalks, and all. First real snow of the year-- hooray!

[colby]

1) running on the treadmill with a DVD playing is less boring than running with headphones because I get visual stimulation as well

I have the same experience on the trainer - it makes a big difference.

[GLC1968]

I have the same experience on the trainer - it makes a big difference.

Good to know since our trainer just got moved down to the basement right next to the treadmill!

Did 4.5 miles with my husband today. He was really hurting from the get-go. I was really pulling out some of my best 'motivational coach' work to keep him going! He had to walk twice, so I stuck with him. I kept telling myself that it's about the miles, not the speed right now so it didn't matter. I felt really good though - could have done it much faster if I'd been alone (or gone much further).

[indigoiis]

Ran ten today and felt great. Everything clicked - I wasn't overdressed, nothing was uncomfortable, I took the hills easy and tried to enjoy it. 9:24 mm - running with DH these days has been confidence-building for me (I used to get so frustrated that he is faster than me, now I don't really care. He runs during the week without me and can go as fast as he likes. Long runs are at my pace!)

[7rider]

I repeated my Thanksgiving "speed work" workout with a friend of mine today.
5.17 miles -
1.3 miles to the local high school track to warmup
3 intervals - .5 mile run, .25 mile recovery
1.1 mile return (without the extra lap around the track).
It was kind of fitting that when I got home, my DH was on rollers in the basement, doing a Coach Troy Spinerval workout and I could hear Coach Troy yelling "c'mon...fast feet, fast feet" - to get them to spin faster. I was telling myself that during my work intervals..."FAST FEET, FAST FEET!" to try to get myself running faster and increase my cadence.

[kacie tri-ing]

So I did my last long run. 20 miles on the trails saturday. I felt fantastic. Seriously, I felt amazing. I am off to get massage, chiro, a few workouts, obsessively watching the weather, and tweaking my diet this week for the 50K on saturday!

[Susan Otcenas]

Limewave - Sub-8:00!! Awesome! I'd like to be you when I grow up. I think my fastest mile yet has been 8:30-ish. I *might* be able to run a sub-8 if I wasn't planning on running a second mile afterwards...

Kacie - Best of luck on the upcoming 50k! Sounds like you are well prepared. I'd like to be you too when I grow up.

After a VERY VERY windy and VERY cold 6.5hr bike ride on Saturday (and a night on the town afterwards), I totally bagged my Sunday trail run and slept in. And ate brunch. And was just generally lazy. In penance, I dragged my butt out for a 4.4 mile run in the rain at 6am this morning, but it wasn't pretty.

[Susan Otcenas]

Susan I want to be like you when i grow up... sounds like a perfect Sunday!
....It's coooooold, and I'm in the market for a good base layer, plus another pair of warm pants. suggestions are welcome!

Truth be told, Sunday is usually my rest day, but I've been wanting to turn it into a trail run day. I've beeen doing that with mixed success. I do alot of big rides on Saturdays, and on those weekends, I usually end up not doing much on Sunday.

I'm mostly wearing Smartwool baselayers this time of year. Both running and riding. Yes, you can sweat out a wool based layer just like you can a synthetic one, but I feel so much less clammy and cold in a wool base layer!

I tend to wear Sugoi MidZero tights and knickers for most of my runs in the wet and cold. Warm, very soft against the skin (good, because I chafe easily at the waist if I'm not careful) and available with lots of reflective bits on them. They wear like iron too. I've had several pairs in rotation for 3-5 years now. The reflectivity is flaking off at this point, but I can't seem to kill the tights!

Susan

[skhill]

BRRRRRR

My cats are way smarter than me-- this morning, they got up with me, had their breakfast, and immediately returned to bed. I'm not so smart-- I started out for my usual morning run, despite 18 F temps and a brisk wind and icy sidewalks. Stuck it out for 2 miles, and that was enough...

Our average low for this date here in KY is 31 F, about 12 degrees warmer than today's high. Crazy.

[GLC1968]

skhill - that IS cold. Brrr!

Kacie - best of luck this weekend!!

I did my first ever lunch time run today. 4.1 miles from my office. It should have been closer to a 4.25 mile run but I had to walk the first ~0.15 while I waited for my Garmin to pick up the satellites!

What I'm super pleased about is that an 'easy, I could run forever' pace for me is now an 11 min/mile as opposed to a 12 min/mile back in September. I think that my run description has now officially graduated from a 'plod' to a 'shuffle'. Someday, I'll be a 'jog' like the real runners!

[solobiker]

I got in about 6 miles after work today. My legs were a little tired from the first day of skat skiing that I did yesterday with DH. If my legs didn't get so darn tight I could run a lot longer. Sigh...oh well, I am just glad I can still go out and run.

[Jolt]

The usual local 5k fun run tonight...29 degrees with some wind. Time was 26:43; I think that might be my slowest yet--I blame the wind and the fact that I was running on two hours sleep . Also probably got thrown off a bit when I had to yell at a random guy who walked right AT me and another runner as we went by and was practically on top of us (and it's not like there wasn't plenty of room for him to not do that, so it was completely uncalled for and came across to me as threatening). Obviously he was a jerk, because after I told him he shouldn't have gotten so close he swore at me as I continued on my way. Not cool...why do some people have to be such creeps?

[limewave]

The stomach flu made its way through our house. Not quite 100%, but much, much better. Went for a bitter 2.5 mile run today.

Very snowy and icy. It was good to be outside

My grandmother also passed away. So we have visitation, funeral, family gatherings, etc. this week. I won't be able to run or bike much. Just trying to fit a little in here and there--it helps with the stress and dealing with the grief.

[Crankin]

Sorry about your grandmother, Limewave.
We haven't had any snow yet.
I ran on the TM yesterday. Had a bit of a headache when I got up, but did 30 minutes (about all I can stand) of walking hill intervals, interspersed with running intervals, and a couple of regular walking breaks. The running feels so much harder than the running i've done outside in the last 2 weeks. I think it's because I am not keeping track of my speed outside and I am just running slowly for the entire 3 miles or so. When I push the TM up to a 10 mm, I feel like, well, not so good. I wish I hadn't stopped running last summer, but it was killing my legs for riding. I've been stretching, especially the piriformis, after running, and it's made a world of difference. Duh.

[indigoiis]

Lime, I'm real sorry to hear your grandma passed away.

Crankin - treadmill running is always more fatiguing, because it seems so unreal and yet it hurts just as much as running outside. Bleh! Also it's a new moon so you're not alone in feeling headachey and generally low.

I ran 3.62 here at work at lunch time. It was wicked cold out. That made me run. It was an okay pace for a hilly/windy route - 9:42 mms.