February Runs

[indysteel]

Good luck, Oak!!!

[skhill]

Made up for yesterday's crappy run with a great one this morning. It was a comfy 30F, excellent running weather. So I went out and did 6.2 miles, in 52:10. Which is faster than my 10k PR. I'm wondering if I had a timer malfunction! But I've been working on speed, and felt like I was going fast, so who knows?

[indysteel]

That's awesome, skhill! I did some "speed work" yesterday on the treadmill. It's sort of embarrassing that my speed work equates with your slow run pace, but you gotta start somewhere, right? At least that's what I keep telling myself.

[skhill]

Indy, I took a look at my running log from last winter recently, and all my runs, long short and speedy, were about 30 sec/ mile slower than now. I've cleaned up my form, put on about 5 lbs, and started taking off 2 days per week from running (instead of 1 then). It's working! But I so wish races were run at 6 am on Tuesdays, as that seems to be when I'm fastest...

[skhill]

Looking at the weather forecast for the weekend, I knew a long run was going to be today or not at all. So I got up plenty early, and when I stepped outside with my dog, what did I find but a sleety drizzle. It stopped before I finished my coffee, and the weather map looked clear, so I headed out with fingers crossed. It was going well; I got lost in a neighborhood I don't know well, which is always interesting, and had the discipline to not try to catch and pass the runner about half a block in front of me at the 4 mile mark (but I really wanted to!). But at nearly 6 miles in, the sleety drizzle started again. If I'd been wearing a cap to keep it off my face and glasses it would have been no big deal, but I wasn't. And I was concerned that things might get worse. So I cut it short and headed for home. Ended up going 7.5 miles; logged it as a long run anyway as it was my intention and pace. And of course 10 minutes after I got home the sleet had stopped again.... Gotta love February in Kentucky! season of ice storms and sudden changes...

[OakLeaf]

I did what I wanted to today and feel pretty much okay, so I'm happy ... my slowest half marathon ever, but not by much. Mainly I just wanted my head back in the racing game ... as a close second, I wanted some confidence that my body could perform under a *little* bit of pressure.

Bonus: I beat Michael Waltrip at Daytona! It was funny, because I'm not a NASCAR fan and I wouldn't have known him from Adam, but the paper had made such a big deal about four of the drivers running the half, and Waltrip was part of a group I was pacing for about mile 2-5, so lots of people called out to him. He got ahead of me for a while, but after the turnaround I picked it up a little bit, while he obviously had to save something for work later in the day. I had fun, didn't aggravate any of my injuries, good day.

[Catrin]

Congrats Oak for doing this, having fun, AND not aggravating your injuries - yayyyyyy!

[indysteel]

Great job, Oak!

[Crankin]

Congrats, Oak!

[Anelia]

10k today on the stadium under 50 min

[skhill]

Got to run outside today for the first time this week! Every morning it's been too cold or windy or wet, so I've been spending time on the treadmill at the gym. Just 6 miles this morning as my legs felt dead-- really pushed it on the treadmill yesterday, doing 6 miles in just under 50 minutes!!!! so this was an easy recovery run.

Weather looks better for next week, thank God. There may be snow but at least there are no sub-20F mornings predicted...

[nuliajuk]

I wasn't going to start running again until March. The plan was to cross-country ski a lot, get some fitness in my legs from that, then make the transition gradually in early to mid March. Yesterday the car died on the way to the ski area, so I ended up going for a long highway drive to recharge the battery (after a nice man named Brian gave it a boost), and then run-walking for 30 minutes when I got home.
The skiing has given my legs a boost, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and I'm not sore today. Despite having to do the trail running thing over big drifts of snow on the pathway. Looks like classic-style nordic skiing is a great alternative to running in winter, providing you have the snow. (And do we ever have snow!)

[Anelia]

I did a technical training in orienteering, this is why I have so many stops: I had to look at the map and compass.
Next week I am going on a business trip and since it's not possible to take my bike, I'm going to take my running shoes.

[Anelia]

Today I didn't intend to run but my colleague asked me to keep him company. I decided to work on speed but OMG, I was about to die. It's very difficult to sprint 3 times 800 meters with 3 min easy between. The first sprint was fast but I was really tired and after that my sprints were slow and tired. Anyway, I didn't quit. Also I was in my crappy old running shoes and I hadn't had anything to eat in the morning. Today's sprints on Sports tracker
I biked in the afternoon about 1,5 hours.

[skhill]

Rain and wind outside this morning, so it was back to the treadmill. Just set that sucker at 8:30 pace and took off; maintained that pace for 4.25 miles and then cranked it up for the last .25 mile. Is it just me, or is it harder to maintain the same pace for a prolonged distance than average the same pace while varying it a little?

I've been noticing lately that I'm grabbing my long baggy shorts and shapeless men's tank top for trips to the treadmill. There are a couple dirty old men who use the gym at roughly the same time I get there, and the treadmills are now all on the row at the very front of the room. One of the guys comes off as flattering but annoying, the other as downright creepy. I try to grab a treadmill in front of the ellipticals when I can, because Mr Creepy sticks to the bikes, but that's also the warmer end of the room. I'm seriously thinking of switching to a different gym...