A clydesdale no more!

Another run in a blizzard. Of course it seems to snow the hardest while I am out running. It completely stopped as my run ended. Running 3 outside loops and 3 inside loops around the neighborhood gives me 9 miles and leaves 1/4 mile to walk and cool down. I'm going to have to come up with ways to keep things interesting during the laps. Other than a little hamstring pain, I feel pretty good physically. My goal for the week is to try to get to bed early so I will be well rested for Striders and UVM.

Finished the month with 329.7 miles which is a record month by far.  I have never gone over 300 miles (previous high was 285).  Yesterday was the only day of the month that I did not run.  There was not a lot of speed work but hopefully the miles will be good for me. 

Total Time: 1:07:20 ( 7:29/mile)

Warmed up with 3 easy miles then ran 3 miles at tempo pace (6:30/mile).  Finished with 3 more easy miles.  My left hamstring was more sore today than it has been for awhile.  I considered not doing the tempo miles but after the warm up it seemed to loosen up and felt alright.  The tempo miles were a little more work than I expected but I'm not too concerned.

Total Time: 1:07:35 (7:31/mile) 

I sure hope the weather clears up this weekend for the race.  Another morning run in the rain/snow.  I get to venture beyond the neighborhood loop on Wednesdays and it was a nice change of scenery.  I think that in the summer I am going to start running in the mountains on Wednesdays.  Got a little later start than I planned so I had to cut the run 1.5 miles short so I would be home in time for the kids.  Felt a little yucky at the start of the run (due to last night's dinner) but felt much better once I warmed up.  My left hamstring is still bothering me but feels better than it did yesterday.

Nothing exciting, just miles.  Considered just running 6 because I didn't feel great when I started.  After the first lap, I felt a lot better and decided to complete the run as planned.  There is a 50% chance of showers on Saturday.  Could be an interesting race.

Short and easy run. I was feeling peppy and the first 2 laps were at a decent clip. Decided to back off the pace for the last 2 laps. Ran the last 1/2 miles at 1/2 marathon pace just to get a feel for it and it didn't feel good. My legs felt a little heavy and it aggravated my hamstring.

Total Time: 51:28 (7:21/mile)

I just realized I have no idea how to get to the bus pickup for Striders.  Anybody willing to offer advice?  I think that Eden is just north of Pineview.  I plan on coming over Trappers Loop then heading east of Pineview.  If I continue to follow that road around the reservoir will I be able to the buses easily?

As I was leaving for the race I had the feeling that I was forgetting something.  Thought that as long as I had shoes, shorts and singlet I was fine.  As I pulled up to the bus pickup I realized that it was my watch that I forgot.  Oh well, what are you going to do.  I also realized that I didn't have a bag for the clothing drop.  I rummaged through my car and found my daughter's Hannah Montana back pack so at least I had something to put my clothes in (I'm sure I looked real cool).  I ran 1/2 mile before getting on the bus just to see how my legs felt.  After being dropped off at the starting line I ran 2 more miles with Cody, Jon, Logan and Clyde.  Met a lot of other bloggers at the start (Clay, Kim, Tom, Jossee).  I knew Tom and I were planning on running a similar pace so I was hoping to stay close to him so I could get mile splits.  First mile was in 6:00 and second mile was 6:13 (I think).  At this point my hamstring started to flare up and Tom started to pull away.  He was gaining about 2 seconds per mile on me.  After mile 5, Tom had a 14 second lead on me but I was starting to make up a little ground on him.  I think that I caught up to him somewhere around mile 7.  He said we were averaging 6:14/mile at that point.  This is also where the course gets ugly.  The downhill turned into rolling hills and we now had a pretty good headwind.  The headwind continued from here to the end of the race and was a real factor.  It also seemed to get colder at this point.  I wished that I would have kept the long sleeve shirt on.  My hamstring was getting worse and the taylor's bunion on my right foot was really bothering me.  I considered just backing off the pace and coasting in but decided to just keep plugging along until the end.  I was caught in no-mans land for the last half of the race which made the wind that much more difficult.  Ended up finishing in 1:24:10 (or something close to that).  Not too far off of a PR but considering the course and conditions, it was a PR effort.  There were times that I felt I could have pushed harder but there were also times that I felt really spent.  I guess that means that it was a good effort.  It was cool to see the huge group of bloggers cooling down.  I opted not to join them since my leg and foot were causing me grief and I have a marathon next week.