Same Time, Same Channel

Treshold run. 2 min. easy, 15 min @ 1/2 MP, 2 min. easy, 15 min @ 1/2 MP, 2+ miles easy. Average pace: 9:18.

Weather: 32°F, 92% humidity, wind 8 SSW, SNOWING.

If ever there was a day that I should have work yaktrax, this was it. However, when I looked out the window first thing this morning and decided what to wear, it didn't look that bad. But conditions rapidly deteriorated, mostly while I was out there running. It was snowing lightly when I got up this morning, snowed quite heavily for a good chunk of my run, and then had pretty much stopped snowing by the time I finished my run. So lucky me, I was out there for the worst of it. There was one big stretch shortly after I started the 2+ mile cooldown that was just a big puddle of slush. My feet got soaked through. In fact, my whole self was soaked through by the time I got home.

I was pretty sluggish at the start and average pace on the first two miles was 10:35. I had hoped to get the 1/2 MP sections around 8:00, but I just couldn't do it in these conditions and with my tired legs from last Saturday's long run. My pace on the first one was 8:24 and the second one was 8:23. So at least I was consistent.

When will spring every come? Where is the sun? I just want to be warm. And dry. (I should come back and look at this in a couple of months when I'm complaining that it's too hot.)

Moderate run. Average pace: 8:55.

Weather: 41°F, 79% humidity, WIND 22 mph SSW. Warmer and drier than yesterday, but WINDY!

This was really two runs. I got a phone call just past 3 miles into my run was informed that my oldest son needed a ride to the high school because he had to take his electric bass and amp. This was the first I had heard about it. I guess he talked to my husband last night and my husband was going to take him, but then Thom must have forgotten because he drove the younger high school boy to seminary (the oldest doesn't go to seminary) and then left for work. I was planning on doing two different 6 mile loops anyway, so I stopped at home after the first loop and drove him to school and then ran the second loop.

The two loops overlap each other partially, but the first one goes primarily east from my house, while the second one goes primary south. The first half of the second loop was brutal because I was cold from having stopped to drive the boy to school, it was mostly uphill, and it was into a 22-23 mile wind. I was very glad when I got to the intersection where I turn and head back towards home. Splits were 9:08, 9:00, 9:11, 8:47, 8:44, 8:53, 8:56, 9:09, 9:01, 9:00, 8:32, 8:41. Without exception, the slower miles were more uphill and the faster miles were more downhill.

Easy run + 8 x 10 sec. hill sprints. Average pace: 9:54.

Weather: 46°F, 48% humidity, wind 7.5 S.

It was nice weather for a run, though slightly windy. I'm having a hard time trusting the weather and I was slightly overdressed.

I started out feeling pretty tired, but felt better after a while. This is a frequent experience for me. Splits on the 5 miles easy were 10:17, 9:58, 9:35, 9:17, 9:32. I tried to push it on the hill sprints, with varying degrees of success, and walked back down the hill between hill sprints. Paces for the hill sprints were 6:59, 7:33, 7:58, 6:32, 7:08, 7:41, 6:48, 6:45.

I saw the Barbie doll out walking again. It's this woman that I frequently see walking whenever I run through the green belt that is just south of my neighborhood. The hill where I do hill sprints leads from my street down into the green belt and so I saw her today when I was doing the hill sprints. She was decked out in her poofy hair, make-up, and velour track suit as usual. I wonder if she sees me and thinks, "There's that dorky looking runner with no fashion sense again."

Marathon Pace run. 1 mile easy, 8 miles @ MP, 1 mile easy. Average pace: 8:47.

Weather: 44°F, 64% humidity, wind 11 NNE.

Fairly pleasant weather for running, though it was slightly windy. I saw more runners and walkers out this morning than I usually do, though no Barbie doll today. Maybe I was out too early for her. I was out a little later yesterday.

I don't think I was too guilty of Garmin Gazing, but I did do quite a bit of Garmin Glancing in order to stay on the right pace. My splits were 10:06, 8:49, 8:40, 8:36, 8:41, 8:31, 8:20, 8:32, 8:24, 9:11. I would call this a moderate effort. It was fairly tough at first, particularly on miles 2 and 3 which are mostly up hill, but it got easier later on. Will that pace feel easier to me in the marathon when I'm more rested than I am right now?

Easy run. Average pace: 9:50.

Weather: 39°F, 87% humidity, wind 6 NNE, cloudy and gray.

I did my run later than usual this morning. I got up at 5:45, put on my flip-flops and glasses and drove my son to seminar. Then I came back home and put on some clothes and went back to the school to meet with the same son's World History teacher. The meeting was supposed to be at 6:30. I cooled my heels at that school until 7:00 and the teacher never showed up. So then I came home and got  breakfast for the two younger kids and then went on my run.

I took the pace really slow and easy this morning. However, I did pick up the pace for a little while during the 4th mile in order for my cadence to match the beat of the song Curious, by the Barenaked Ladies, which was playing on my mp3 player.

Hard Long Run. 18 miles @ marathon pace + 20-30 sec./mile (that's the description from my training plan). Average pace: 8:48.

Weather: 42°F, 81% humidity, no wind.

Another Saturday morning spent on the Highline Canal Trail. I ran the first mile with a friend of mine and her neighbor. They're training for a half marathon in June. I believe it's the first half marathon for both of them. I think they're using a Runner's World training plan or something. They were doing 8 miles today. They kept up a pretty good pace on the first mile, but I left them after the first mile because I was supposed to be doing a slightly faster specific-pace run.

I'm thinking (hoping) that my marathon pace might be around 8:30, but that might be overly optimistic. In any case, I targeted my pace for today's run between 8:50 and 9:00. For some reason I find running on that dirt trail to be harder than running on rounds. The same pace always feels harder to me when I'm on that trail. I decided to do a fast finish on the last mile. That's not specified in my training plan, but it's something that I know that Greg McMillan has his runners do, so I decided to give it a try. My splits were 9:15, 8:53, 8:52, 8:48, 8:49, 8:50, 8:53, 8:46, 8:50, 8:46, 8:49, 8:47, 8:59, 8:48, 8:45, 8:52, 8:48, 7:54. I stopped at my car after the 13th mile and ate not quite half of an orange. I didn't have any tummy trouble running after that so I guess I'm okay with oranges.

I saw a softball game, a lacrosse game, a soccer game, and some people playing tennis while I was running. The southern part of the trail goes around a big park and recreation center. These play fields were all empty during the winter when I was running, but now there are people out there every Saturday. There were a lot of people on the trail today to.

I suppose I have now made it through the toughest part of my training schedule and now it's time to taper. I'm actually half-way through the so-called "sharpening" period on my training plan. Two weeks until Ogden!

P.S. I ran an extra 0.04 on the end because I knew that would get me to a whole number on my total miles for the week.