M'kay

Recovery run in 1:02:23 at 8:54/mi avg pace.  Felt a bit sore and tired but after a couple of miles got into the groove and felt pretty good.  Dog encounter at 3 miles paused the run briefly but quickly resumed.  Considering last evening was a late night at an Xmas party, pretty decent run.

7 mile Easy run in 55:45 (7:57 pace) followed by 8x100m Striders w/ 100m rest in :17, :18, :17, :17, :20, :18, :17, :17.  Cold weather made for an early aggressive pace to warm up, but effort not too bad.  Striders felt smooth and form felt right, but late striders effort increased a bit.  Reverted to running in Trance 7s w/ stock insoles until they're retired, no foot pain during run.  Some afterwards, but nothing more than pre-run, and it feels like it's finally fading.

Late run today, extending after dark in 1:46:42 (8:12/mi avg pace).  Couldn't see watch in 2nd half, so entirely effort based at that point.  A bit slower than normal when dark, since didn't have a light and was a bit tentative on footing.
After, core exercises and stretching.

Recovery run in 1:02:10 (8:53/mi avg).  Nice and easy, nothing special.  HR monitor went a bit nuts halfway into the run, so I ignored it and kept the easy pace until it regained it's sensors.  Finished up with some leg strengthening exercises and stretching.

Annual physical this morning showed no matter how much exercise I do, my cholestrol will always be marginal.  Otherwise, all is good.

2 miles Easy in 16:21 (8:10/mi, avg HR 148) warmup.
8 miles Steady State (4 uphill, 4 downhill) in 55:08 (6:53/mi, avg HR 174) with splits: 7:09, 7:10, 7:16, 7:17, 6:33, 6:23, 6:39, 6:38.
2 miles Easy in 15:47 (7:53/mi, avg HR 157) cooldown.

Brief snowstorm from mile 1 to 2 in Steady State, followed by clouds, then sun, then clouds again. SS felt good and easier than last week (despite the hills and the extra mile, a good sign). One of those runs that inspires confidence that your fitness is improving!

Went to the Chiropractor today for the first time in ~ 15 years.  Came home with another appointment, some exercises, and some explanations as to why parts of my back are stiff and I seem to have continual issues with my left side. 

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 107 miles.

7 miles Recovery in 1:02:19 (8:54/mi, avg HR 137).

Run felt very easy and light. A bit stiff and sore from my Chiro visits initially, but worked itself out in about a mile and got that feeling that my fitness has suddenly improved just like yesterday. HR easy to maintain under the recovery threshold, and pace felt very very easy today, even on the uphills. Unfortunately, two more dog encounters, so today I got fed up with trying to work with my neighbor and finally called Animal Control. Of course, it's a recording and by the time they call back, I'll probably be feeling guilty for turning them in, but I have tried working with them for more than 6 months now and no luck.

Speaking of Chiro, my initial visit was yesterday. Xray's revealed that I can bend to the right fairly well, but bending to the left, my spine is all messed up. Some vertebrate aren't bending at all (between them I mean), and overall my spine is being pulled and twisted to the right. The doc gave me some exercises to perform in a 3-to-1 ratio to help correct the muscle imbalance that's causing this, in addition to an adjustment. I went back this AM for a second adjustment before my run, and boy was I stiff and sore and needed it!

I also had this test that measures the electro-muscle activity on either side of the spine, at points starting at your neck and descending to the base of the spine. This nifty test spit out a computer image that shows my muscle activity around most vertebrate as red (bad), indicating a bunch of imbalances (muscles working too hard to stay aligned), in addition to the spine being pulled to one side or another depending on which part of the back it's on. Now, I'm a bit of a skeptic about most of this stuff, but I've had good results from a chiro in my past, and this particular one appears to believe in not only adjustments but getting the patient to correct muscle issues as well, and so far so good. We shall see how this goes, I suppose.

Brooks Trance - 251 miles.

19 miles Long Run in 2:35:41 (8:11/mi, avg HR 152).

When I woke up to the wind howling, I knew I was in for a tough run.  Needed to get it done relatively early so I could make an eye doctor appointment at lunchtime.  Swirling winds greeted me in the beginning 6 miles.  Those were joined by the rain-front that moved through, with the rain changing to sleet and hail at different points.  Had to make a quick stop at 8 mile point to call my insurance company (5 minutes) which I realized would be closed by the time I got done since they were on east coast time.  Got back to it and slogged through the wretched conditions.  Towards the end of the run, started feeling like I was running out of gas, likely because I hadn't eaten anything since the evening prior and I was probably approaching the wall.  Good mental test today, aside from the physical benefits.  Soaked thru and a bit chilled by the end.

Brooks Adrenaline (Blue) - 352 miles.