January 2012 Running - Snow, stay away!

[skhill]

Saturday, I resorted to the treadmill; it was kinda cold for running outside, at least for me. 15F (but the horrible wind had died down) makes it tough! I was planning on going at least 6 miles, but maybe as much as 9, depending on my patience and how crowded the Y was. Ended up doing 6 at a long-run sort of pace, and just setting the treadmill at 6.4mph and just cruising along without changing pace felt a lot harder than my usual speeding up and slowing down.

But today, I braved the outside, as it has warmed up. 24F, hooray! There is an inch of fresh snow everywhere, so I slowed down a bit, and just enjoyed the beautiful morning. 4 miles, and the footing was pretty good except downtown.

[Selkie]

Sunrise run with DH in the cold (25 degrees, windchill in the teens). Last 1.5 miles were with a tailwind, which was perfect. First two miles or so, I could really feel the chill, but it was fine after I warmed up. The MUT runs alongside a creek, so the sound of the running water was soothing. Felt pretty good and went at a nice pace.

Plan to run at least 3.5 miles tomorrow (maybe 4).

I'm starting to semi-seriously consider a half-marathon next year to mark my 50th.

[7rider]

I'm starting to semi-seriously consider a half-marathon next year to mark my 50th.

I think that would be great!

Me....I'm such an idiot.

So it was cold and breezy yesterday, and like VBC, I'm just getting over a week-long head cold that knocked me for a loop. But training plan (semi-serious at this point, will ramp it up more in February) called for a 5-miler on Saturday (actually, just "weekend").

DH looked at the thermometer, reading in the mid-20's, and we watched the wind blowing through the trees out our back window. My motivation was flagging - if it ever existed at all. "Why don't you run on the treadmill?" he asked. Why indeed. I honestly find running by myself boring. If I'm going to be bored for an hour (I could do it SO much faster on the bike!), I may as well be bored in the comfort of my home on the 'mill, listening to some good tunes on Pandora. I laced up my new running shoes (lighter stability shoes, vs. my clunky motion controls I normally run in), and remembered the picture of my foot from last week's gait evaluation follow-up and how I could run with orthotics or not, based on Doug's recommendation. So, I put my SuperFeet inserts in the shoes (the black ones) that I had from bike shoes that I sold.

New SuperFeet inserts + 5.25 miles on the treadmill = painful feet. OUCH. My soles are killing me. I should have done a 2-mile run on them to start. Then a 3-miler. Not jump right in to +5. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Crap. Well, hopefully, they will be pain free by Monday when I plan to get in an easy 3 (without the inserts) for my day off.

[Selkie]

I hope your feet are feeling better, 7.

MLK Day run -- DH and I ran this morning, after my swim. It was cold (25 degrees) but the wind wasn't as brutal as Sunday. It was blowing in the opposite direction from yesterday (south vs northwest). My legs felt great. Because I had post-swim sinuses, I was a snot rocket factory!

[skhill]

Ouch, 7!

In honor of it being MLK day, I ran the length of my city's MLK Ave. Even the block there at the end that scares me; but at 6:30 am the dealers and prostitutes aren't out working. Came back on a parallel road that includes a bunch of landmarks of local black history-- the site of the slave auctions, several of our oldest historically black churches, and the old "colored" city high school. Even threw in a 1/4 mile on the school's track. All in all, about 4.5 miles.

[OakLeaf]

Owie, 7, hope your feet feel better!

skhill, that's a terrific idea for a run.

I did 17 today, and it felt basically okay after I finally managed to drag myself out.

DH and I did the motorcycle safety class again yesterday - I got a little dehydrated being out in the sun all day, plus one of the main things I'm trying to get past is a panic reaction in the really tight U-turns, so the class took a lot out of me both physically and mentally, and I didn't wake up until 8 a.m. today and still couldn't get moving for hours. But when I finally got myself to run, it was fine. 10:30 pace overall, tried to kick the last mile at marathon pace.


I'm a little bit off schedule - I'd like to try for a 5K PR at Daytona again this year on the 28th, but that means this is my last long run until after that. I guess I'll do between 12 and 14 next weekend, that should work out pretty much okay.

[7rider]

Thanks, all!

Feet are feeling better. Not perfect, but good enough for an easy (verrry easy, as it was after a similarly very easy 18.5 mile bike ride, and I'm in no shape to be doing bricks just yet) 5k this afternoon in my old motion controls. Was actually nice to be outside finally, getting some fresh air and listening to birds.

Spent the morning washing floors, as Miss Zoe Kitty decided that last night would be a good time to re-introduce her little mouth to our peace lily plant, and she threw up in four different spots. Grrrr. So we wiped up everything last night, but this morning the floors got washed. You would think sweeping the kitchen floor is the MOST interesting thing on the planet, the way the cats followed me around, staring.

[Crankin]

More experimenting with my foot. I had 15 minutes to warm up for a killer weights/core class, so I warmed on the TM for 5 and then did one minute intervals for the next 10 minutes, with a 2 minute cool down. The intervals were even ratios (1 minute run at 6 mph and 1 minute walk at 4.2 mph). My foot felt fine, and even better, I felt in control of my breathing at 6 mph. I kind of modeled this after a trainer workout I do on my bike.
My foot was fine after, during the class, which had a lot of balance and foot work (squats, lunges) It's a bit tender now, but I think, this is the way to go to increase my tolerance on the foot and also my tolerance for running (again).

[kacie tri-ing]

I am very much in the peak of my double IM training. I ran 29 miles on saturday. Not going to lie, that's exhausting! But I have to learn to drag myself on and push through it (so I rode a century sunday )

I have a marathon this weekend.

I am seriously out here in a new world of training!

[Selkie]

On Wednesday morning, I had a great run. Felt really relaxed and in a rhythm. I ended up going 4.2 miles, wanted to go longer but alas, not possible since I was at work.

It was 42 degrees with a strong, cold wind. Luckily, most of my route was protected from the worst of the gusts (woods).

Since they are predicting potential slippery conditions on Sunday when I usually do my long run, I might do a five-miler today. I don't want to have to do a long run on the treadmill......

[skhill]

Why oh why is it so difficult to dress just right for the cold? Keep thinking I should have this figured out by now. It was about 27F, wind chill in the upper teens, this morning. My legs and arms were just right, torso a bit warm, and head and hands way too warm with hat and mittens, way too cold without. And my toes were freezing. So it goes... But I got a pleasant surprise when I looked at the final numbers for the run-- just under 6 miles, at a 8:52/mile pace . It's been a while since I went that fast on an easy run!

Kat, that's a heck of a lot of racing. Like a month's worth, in just a weekend! talk about persistence...