Same Time, Same Channel

Ladder intervals. 2 miles easy, 1 min., 2 min., 3 min., 2 min., 1 min., 2 min., 3 min. @ 3K-10K pace w/equal duration active recoveries, 2 miles easy. Average pace: 9:16.

Weather: 43°F, 47% humidity, wind 9 W. There is still a good amount of snow on the ground, but the roads are clear. Most of the sidewalks are still covered with snow, and so I had to run on the shoulder of the road, which was narrower than I liked in just a few places.

This was one of the mornings where I got up and had a hard time getting out the door and wondered who I was kidding thinking that I could get out and run. But I did get out the door. Sometimes just getting started is the hardest part. My legs felt pretty sluggish the first 2 miles, and then I had to start the intervals. The first 3 intervals were uphill, and I took the first one a little too fast. By the time I finished those intervals the sluggishness was gone and I was feeling better. The next two intervals were slightly downhill, and the last two intervals were slightly uphill. The McMillan calculator puts my 3K-10K pace based on my Canyonlands Half Marathon time at 7:17 to 7:55. My pace on the intervals: 7:16, 8:17, 7:51, 7:32, 7:29, 7:48, 7:38. So my first interval was too fast, my second interval was too slow, and the rest were in the correct range.

Easy run. Average pace: 9:31.

Weather: 44°F, 58% humidity, wind 4 SW.

I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning. But I did finally manage to pull myself up and get out the door. I started my run at 5:58.

It got quite warm yesterday and a lot of the snow melted. The sidewalks were almost all clear this morning. I did encounter a couple of shady spots where the water from the melting snow had frozen a little and it was a little slick, but other than that, it was fine. Another warm day today should get rid of the rest of the snow except for the big piles created by snow plows.

I recently bought the book Once a Runner by John L. Parker, Jr., which is finally back in print. I finished reading it last Sunday. If any of my regular commenters would like to borrow it, send me a PM with your mailing address and I'll send it to you.

I'm looking forward to a 4-mile easy run tomorrow.

Easy run. Average pace: 9:47.

Weather: 49°F, 43% humidity, wind 4 ESE, but I have to say that it felt a lot windier than that. Perhaps the wind was different between where I ran and the weather station that this data came from.

We're supposed to have warm days today and tomorrow, and then the colder air and the rain comes.

I slept in until 6:00 this morning because there was no seminar today. All the high school kids except the juniors don't have to be to school until 11:00 because the juniors are taking the ACT this morning. Thing 1 is a junior, so he's taking the test right now. I hope he does well. I think he will.

Progression Run. 3 miles easy, 6 miles accelerating from MP + 20 sec./mile to MP. I added a half mile cool-down at the end because I still had that far to go to get home.

Weather: 52°F, 30% humidity, wind 12 mph SW.

I got up a little earlier this morning than I have in a while. I started the run at 5:38 am and it was still dark, but got light not too much later.

I was feeling a little sluggish today and struggled on the uphills (of which there were plenty) a little more than I would have liked. Perhaps it was because of the wind. It was noticeably harder when I was going into the wind. Splits were 10:24, 10:04, 9:49, 9:00, 8:50, 8:48, 8:35, 8:31, 8:14, with the last half mile at 9:01.

I'm in talent show mode the next few days. We're all going to the talent show at the high school tonight where Thing 1 is playing the string bass. He's playing a piece that my husband wrote called "The Ill-Tempered Bass." Then tomorrow I'm going over to the elementary school twice during the day - in the morning for the lower grades' talent show where Thing 4 is playing the piano, and in the afternoon for the upper grades' talent show where Thing 3 is playing the cello. Thing 2 does not play a musical instrument. His talents lie elsewhere.

Easy run + 10 x 10 sec. hill sprints. Average pace: 9:56.

Weather: 57°F, 24% humidity, wind 14 mph SSW.

My legs were a little sluggish again today. I've felt a little sluggish all week. Perhaps it's the after-effect of the hard 20 mile run I did on the track last Saturday. I've been thinking that I like the faster-paced long runs better than the easy-pace long runs because they get over sooner, but I suppose they wear me out more too. I've got an easy-pace really long run tomorrow, so we'll see how I feel after that.

It was quite windy this morning. Fortunately I was not heading into the wind for very much of the time, but it really slowed me down when I was. Splits on the 6 miles before the hill sprints were 10:13, 9:44, 9:52, 9:53, 9:41, 9:21. I messed up timing the last couple of hill sprints. I accidentally hit the stop/start button instead of the lap button and then I got all confused about whether it was going or not and couldn't get back on track with the watch within the two remaining hill sprints. I did run them, just didn't time them. In any case, my paces for the 8 hill sprints that I did manage to time were 7:14, 7:06, 7:15, 7:13, 7:04, 6:50, 7:17, 7:25.

I'm slow posting today because I after my run I had to get my daughter to school early (and had to iron a dress for her to wear) and then stayed at the school for her talent show. She did very well. I've got to go back this afternoon for my son's talent show.

Long run. Average pace: 9:28.

Weather: 40°F, 85% humidity, wind 7 E. With just overcast and colder than it should be this time of year the whole time.

Another Saturday morning spent slogging it out on the Highline Canal Trail. For the first time since I started running this trail last Fall, there was actually a significant amount of water in the canal.

The Ogden Marathon is supposed to have fruit at some of the aid stations and I've never eaten fruit on a run before, so I decided to try it today. When I run this trail I normally go south 2.5 miles, then back to the start, then north half of the remaining distance and back. Today I went south 2.5 miles and back to the start, then north 3.5 miles and then back to the start. At that point I went to my car and had a banana. Then I did south 2.5 miles and back and north 3 miles and back again. The banana didn't seem to cause me any trouble.

I ran a so-called "easy" pace, but running that distance is never easy. My splits were pretty consistent, ranging between 9:25 and 9:40 for the most part. I tried to pick it up for a fast finish on the last mile and ran that mile in 8:49.

I've got a MP 18 mile run next Saturday, and then its tapering time.

This is my new highest mileage week ever and will likely stand for quite some time. I'm not sure I want to subject myself to marathon training again for a while.