Artichoke's Running Blog (Ken Spence)

5 miles at 5:00 a.m. on treadmill in 44:28.  Snowy and icy roads this morning.  Probably the same thing tomorrow.

Another treadmill day.  5 miles in 42:43, about 8:33 pace overall.  Using 2 ot 3% incline for first half and then 1% for second half to simulate my standard route which is uphill going out and downhill coming back.  I still set the incline at 1% coming back as a minimum for air or wind resistance.  Ribs are improving each day, but are a bit sore after running.  Probably on the treadmill for at least two more days.  I'm going to get bored of that really fast.

5 miles in 43:00 on the treadmill.  3 days in a row.  Maybe one more, the roads are still a bit icy here in a lot of places.  Hope the roads are better by Friday and for my long run on Saturday.

Another boring 5 on the treadmill this morning.  43:24.  Took it a little easier, incline between .5 and 3.0 maximum.  Got to get back to the streets tomorrow for sure.  The ice is generally gone.  Just need to be careful.

5 miles on the roads again finally.  Not much ice left, just in spots.  I was totally sick of the treadmill.  Slow running, ran with Liz for a mile or so.  Easy running, maybe 9:50 pace.  10 to 12 miles tomorrow.

12 miler today at 9:00 a.m., in 1:44:50 or 8:43 pace overall.  8  miles with Tina.  Nice sunny day today.  I can't believe we only saw one other runner.  Maybe they all got out earlier than us.  Got up early and had breakfast at 7:00 a.m., so needed a couple of hours to digest and wait for it to warm up a bit.  37 miles each of the last two weeks.  Ribs are feeling about 50% better.  I think it will take another 3 or 4 weeks.  Feels kind of like a light side stitch for the entire run right now, so it's tolerable.  I can't believe I did 20 miles total this week on the treadmill.  Yesterday I received my confirmation card from the Canyonlands Half-marathon in Moab on March 21st.  Bib number 19.  It will be good to get away for that weekend and do the run and hike some in the afternoon with my son, Mark.  Planning on doing Delicate Arch or Corona Arch.  He'll go mountain biking on the slick rock and Porcupine rim while I do the race.  It's been a great father and son activity every year for the last few years.  I'm looking forward to it.