faster with age

     7 1/2 miles this morning. Very windy and cold.

     Ran 8 miles this morning. I started with around 8:15 pace for the first 2 miles. Then around 7:35 for the next 2. The next 4 miles I did a fartlek run with 4x1/4 mile then 2x1/2 mile with recoveries of equal distance between. I kept the faster parts just under 6 min pace and the recoveries averaged just under 7:40 pace for an overall pace of 6:47 for the 4 miles. Overall pace for 8 miles 7:20.

     Woke up to 3 or 4 inches of new snow this morning. I waited until late morning when the sun was shining. There was no wind so it was pretty nice. The roads were snow covered but starting to melt. Just shortly before turning around, it was like a switch had been flipped and a huge wind came up out of the west. After my turnaround my next 2 miles were directly into the wind. The sun was still shining but the wind had to be blowing 30 mph and was blowing snow up from the ground and into my face so I could hardly see. My last 2 miles were a crosswind which made it much better but still not fun. 

     Ran 12 miles this morning. I started out with pretty good weather. It had been raining earlier but had quit. For the second run in a row a stiff wind started to come up just before my turnaround point. Of course when I turned back I had a direct headwind. The route I had taken made it so that 5 out of my last 6 miles were into the wind. It seemed to get stronger with each mile [20 + MPH]. I started getting some rain added to it in the last mile. The 8 minute guy was quickly gaining on me all the way back and I barely held him off at the end and finished with 7:58 overall pace. There was a clap of thunder just as I was getting back to the house and then the rain really came down. I made it just in time.

     3 or 4 more inches of snow this morning. 10 easy at 8:50 AP.

     8 easy

     The snow has finally stopped and the sun has been shining the past couple of days. The temp has only been 19 and 23 deg the past two mornings but it has been warming up nicely during the day. I went 9 miles total this morning. I averaged 7:52 pace for the first 4 miles then did a fartlek run over the next 5 miles with 2 x 1/4 mi  then 4 x 1/2 miles all with recoveries of equal distance. Averaged 5:55 pace on the faster parts and 7:25 on the recoveries for an overall ave of 6:40 pace for the last 5 miles.

      7:13 overall ave pace for 9 miles.

     Another cold morning with a lot of wind. Easy 7 mile recovery run

     Nice 10 mile run. It was overcast but the temp was up around 50 deg without much wind.

     Went for a nice 12 mile run this morning up past the reservoir. The temps were nice and there wasn't any wind when I ran [it's very windy now]. The ice was completely gone as of last Saturday and the loons that show up every spring are back. I love hearing there calls on a quiet morning. I kept a comfortable pace for most of the run then ran the last 3 miles at around 7:10-7:15 which I counted as MP. 7:45 Overall pace.

     8 more easy miles.

     The past 4 mornings I have woken up with my right hip sore.  It has gone away once I start running but was much more sore yesterday morning. Once I got a couple of miles into yesterdays run it completely went away. It was just as sore this morning so I decided I wouldn't run and rode my mt bike instead. It has always been my left hip that has given me trouble in the past so this is a first. I went 20 miles on the bike. It was a nice morning.

     My hip was still sore this morning but quite a bit better than the last two mornings. I decided to take off at least one more day and maybe tomorrow depending on how it feels in the morning. I went for another bumpy 20 miles on the mountain bike.

     My hip pain was much lower this morning so I decided to try a short easy run. I felt very little pain during and after the run but the last 2 times I ran it felt fine until that evening when it started to hurt and then was quite painful by morning.I guess I'll have to wait and see how it goes this time. 5 miles @ 8:24 AP.

     I saw a huge golden eagle soaring right over me close this morning. We get a lot of bald eagles here in the winter. We even see them perched in the trees by our house some times but I don't see golden eagles very often.

     We made a day trip up to Craters of the Moon National Park today. I got out early and ran 5 miles before we left. My hip was a little sore when I got up again but seems to be a little better each day. It felt pretty good during the run and hopefully I will be able to get back to normal training next week. Crates of the Moon was fun but was covered with a lot more snow than we expected We had a good time anyway and got in some hiking.

     Ran 10 miles. Threw in some 30 to 60 second hill repeats at the halfway point. 7:55 ave pace overall.

     8 miles easy.

     8.5 slow. felt worn out.

     Went 8 miles total today in the wind and rain that was sometimes changing to a wet snow. I ran 4 miles easy then did 4 miles of fartlek running 4 min fast, 3 min slow averaging around 6:15 on the faster parts. 7:35 ave pace overall.

     My hip seems to be doing pretty good this week although it is still a little sore when I first get out of bed.

     Ran 8 1/2 miles this morning at an easy 8:38 pace. My hip pain is mostly gone. Yesterdays 2 1/2 miles at faster pace didn't seem to affect it at all.

     After spending most of the day out on the tractor, I finally got out for a run late in the day. I was planning to go for around 13 miles. I felt sluggish without a lot of energy when I got started and it seemed like one of those days when even 7 or 8 miles was going to be tough. I had a couple of my earlier miles where my pace was getting close to 9 min and I just didn't feel like running any faster. After 5 miles I noticed it wasn't feeling like such a chore and my pace had picked up some without trying. As the run went on I kept feeling better and by the last 4 miles [which were mostly in the dark] I averaged around 7:45 pace without consciously pushing harder. It actually felt easy compared to the early miles and I didn't feel ready to quit at the end. 8:15 AP.

     Ran 11 miles at 8:14 ave pace. Did some short pickups while running up 5 different hills along the way.

     8 easy miles. 8:33AP.

     Legs very heavy. ran 8 very slow miles.

     Ran a 4 mile warmup at 7:50 ave pace. Ran 5 x 1000 m with 400 m recovery.  3:49 ave for the 1000s followed by 1 mile cooldown. 7:21 overall ave pace for 9 miles. Felt much better than yesterday.

     7 mile recovery run.