A breath of fresh air

The temperature was 54 degrees when Will and I met Jade for our run.  The three miles passed quickly as Jade and I caught up on the past two weeks.  I said good-bye to Jade and Will went on a walk with his dad.  Lars and Will splashed puddle while I ran another three miles.  The run felt good and I loved the weather.

My goal for the next three weeks is 30 miles per week.

While I was getting ready for my run, Will climbed up into the stroller.  He was ready to go and not happy when I had him stand back up to put another layer of clothes on: gloves, coat, and hat.  After throwing on a couple blankets, we headed out into the freezing rain.  It wasn't that bad.  I only wished for a helmet once to protect my head and face from the icy tooth picks.  The freezing rain turned into snow.  Will managed to pull off his gloves during mile 4.  And then I stepped in a puddle!

All in all I enjoyed my run and I decided I don't mind 25 degrees.

Will and I ran with Jade today.  Jade had a tough run.  She had a couple side cramps that wouldn't go away.  But, we still finished and I enjoyed the company.

I ran by myself in the snow.  The snowflakes were more like rain drops, so they didn't float gracefully to the ground.  They meant business and so did I.  I was out to complete my first tempo run since the beginning of November.  I knew I'd run as hard as I could, but I didn't know how fast or slow that would be.  Here are my quarters.

2:00--I was pleasantly surprised.  Because the course was flat, I felt I could do faster quarters.  So, I tried to pick up the pace slightly.

1:53--Excited again.

1:54--Started to feel fatigued.

2:00--Kept pushing it.  Felt great about the 7:47 mile.

2:00--Getting very tired.

1:57--This quarter felt the hardest.

1:47--Turned around and had a tail wind!  No wonder the last three quarters were so tough.

1:46--Went as hard as I could.  What a finish!

After the first mile, I thought, "How cool would it be to get 15:30?"  But I quickly dismissed the thought and went back to focusing on keeping my pace.  And I beat 15:30!  I ran the two miles in 15:17, in thirty degrees, in snow, in January!  The second mile was 7:30!

I am grateful for marked trails.  I am grateful for the people that plow marked trails.  I am grateful for 30 degree weather.  I am grateful for running.

I ran with music today.  It was different.  I've decided that I prefer running without music.  I ran by myself.  The temperature was 26 degrees and the wind chill was 18.  So a little colder, but not bad.

Today's run felt great.  Temp 30/Wind chill 23--so not too bad.  In fact, I've had great weather this week.  Next week looks good until Friday when the high will be 17 degrees.  Hopefully, there won't be any wind.  I plan on running at least 30 miles next week.