Here I go again!

A beautiful and cold morning in DC - 26 degrees - brrrrrrr. Met up with Tricia, Trick, and Greg R for a quick track workout, but not really. We just did a few laps around to warm up, and then we timed each other on a 400 meter sprint and an 800 meter sprint. I think I did 1:26 in the 400 meters and 3:37 on the 800 meters. I want to see if I improve in the next month or so. I heard about this Yasso workout to predict your marathon time: do 4 800-meter workouts with one lap to cool down in between, and average the times. If you average 3 minutes 30 seconds, it translates to a 3 hour 30 minutes marathon, if you average 4 minutes 10 seconds, you'll run a 4 hour 10 minute marathon, etc. We ran a total of 3 miles on the track, and then I ran home from there, after a quick stop at the Latin American store to pick up some dulce de leche to make ice cream - yummm! I felt pretty tired on the way - so tired that I went into the men's bathroom at the Lincoln Memorial. I didn't realize until I came out and saw the urinals (there was nobody there thank goodness!) and was soooooo embarrassed! This woman saw me and just kept laughing at me. Oh well... Didn't make it all the way home, didn't want to over-do it, so I got on the metro at Smithsonian for some 5 miles more. A good day overall. Shins hurt but not too bad. Did strengthening and stretching. 

Metroed to work (lazy and coldish...) A cloudy and flurry day in DC - 26 degrees. Cold, but no wind so not too bad. Met my fabulous friend Ashley for a lunchtime run, she's a bit slower than me so it'd be perfect for a recovery jog. We did a nice loop by the river/Lincoln Memorial/Kennedy Center. Shins hurt a little but not too bad. So happy.

Six unplanned miles on beautiful snowy DC... Here's the silly adventure: I wanted to go to Pentagon City to buy some yaktrax so I could run in the ice tomorrow. My plan was to go to spin class, then hop on the metro, get the yaktrax, and go home and maybe try them for a few miles. Then at the last minute my boss asked me to proofread something, so I wasn't able to make it to the spin class. So I decided maybe i could run to Pentagon City - the thing is that there is no good and nice way to get there from Georgetown. So I decided I'd run to Arlington Cemetery, and then metro to Pentagon City. Well, I forgot that the Arlington Cemetery stop closes earlier than others... it closes at 7 pm during weekdays. I looked at my cell phone when I got to the metro stop and it said 7:01, I kid you not. My shins were hurting so I knew it wasn't a good idea to keep running, but it was so nice out, and and and I am so stupid, so I kept on keeping on, and ran all the way around the Mt. Vernon trail through the airport through Crystal City and into Pentagon City and got my famous yaktrax. The whole thing would've taken me 30 minutes if I had just hopped on the metro at once, but nooooooooo, I wanted to run... My shins hurt pretty bad after the first mile, but the last 3 miles were a lot better. Did lots of strengthening and some stretching at home.

So icy and wet out there, how could I not run? I had to try my new yaktrax after all! And they were awesome! Ran from the office to the Rock Creek Parkway, cross the Memorial Bridge on the Mt. Vernon trail, and back to Georgetown via the Key bridge and the C&O canal, muddy and almost completely frozen over - saw some ducks walking and slipping on the ice, very funny! I thought they were supposed to travel South in the winter? silly ducks...

Shins didn't hurt too bad, but I probably shouldn't run tomorrow... sooooo hard not to run!!!!

Yeah, a mile is a mile, right? Stayed at work late and ran to the gym to meet up with my friend Bryon, who I haven't seen in a long time - funny thing, we were both sitting at our respective desks, him in downtown and me in Georgetown, thinking that we both really wanted to go out for a run but shouldn't, him for his injured calf, me for my shin splints (and I ran the last 4 days in a row)... so I suggested we meet up at the gym for some biking and catching up, and to keep each other from hurting ourselves from running injured! Too funny. Bryon is an ultrarunner, he's finished the Western States 100 miler twice (25th place both times, I believe) and many many other ultras, and he's currently training to complete the Marathon Des Sables, a super tough stage race in the Sahara. He just finished a snowshoe adventure from West Yellowstone to Mamoth Springs in 3 days. Amazing! It was great to catch up with him while I did some interval work on the bike. Stretched really well and did some of the shin strengthening exercises. My shin hurts a lot right now, even though I didn't run. Bummer. Not sure what to do tomorrow. Really wanted to run to work.

After work, attempted to go on a 6-mile run on the C&O canal, but it was too icy, so I did the bridges instead. A cold but crisp evening. Nice. Shins hurt but I could handle it ok...

Went to the gym with Will this morning, did 15 min on the bike, 15 min on the eliptical, 15 mins on the stairmaster and 15 minutes of arm workouts that he showed me so I get some tank top-worthy arms by this summer :)