faster with age

     I ran 8 miles this morning. The road that goes up past the reservoir looked mostly free of snow so I went that direction. Once I got over the first hill though it was a lot more snow covered and quite slick in places. My glute was still slightly sore. I just felt a bit of a burn after the first 1/2 mile and it didn't feel any worse at the end so hopefully no harm done. It was 26 deg which is warm for this time of year but it didn't feel very warm with the stiff north wind that was blowing.Kept the pace slow at 8:51 AP. Hopefully I can get the mileage back up a bit this week.

Ran another easy 8 miles this morning. My butt felt about the same which I guess is good as long as it doesn't feel worse. The temp was 0 this morning and very windy. I didn't get out until a little later when it was clear up to 3 deg but still very windy. I dressed like I do for 15 below zero running. I was going into the wind going out and only ran about 9:30 pace. About a minute faster pace coming back with the wind. 8:58 AP

It was -6 deg this morning but it felt much nicer than yesterday mornings run. There was some wind but nothing like yesterday. My son's science teacher has a weather station and is the official weather stat keeper for Preston. Yesterday he told the class that it was -34 degrees with the wind chill. It always seems to be 4 to 6 deg colder where we live [a ways out of town] according to our car thermometer when we drive to and from town. I don't think I have run when it felt any colder than it did yesterday morning. I went 8 miles again this morning up by the reservoir. Still running some on snow and ice up there. My butt cheek pain seems to be a little better each day. Keeping the pace nice and slow until the pain is completely gone. 8:34 AP

     About 1 1/2 miles into yesterdays run I got a sharp twinge in my left knee that hit all with one step. I kept running about 50 yards and it didn't go away. I stopped and did a couple of deep knee squats and it felt better. I continued running and it pretty much went away. After my run it got a little sore and I took some ibuprofen. By evening time last night it felt better and I went and played basketball. Afterward it was sore again and even more sore this morning. It seems to be a problem that I had, and was diagnosed as Plica Syndrome by an orthopedic specialist, just before the St George Marathon 2 years ago. I decided to take today completely off. Hopefully I can nip this in the bud since last time it took a couple of months to clear it up. Of course that was after I ran the marathon with it.

     My knee felt good last night and this morning so I decided to give it another shot. The temp was at 30 deg and sunny. I went with the shorts this morning and it was a nice run. A drastic change from -34 deg [wind chill] four days ago. I ran up to the reservoir and it was just cold enough to keep the mud frozen. Still running on a little snow and ice also. I ran 8 miles averaging about 8:10 pace the first half and around 7:40 pace the second half. My knee didn't give me any problems and the burn in my butt/upper hamstring was less noticeable than earlier in the week. ave pace for 8 miles was 7:54

     I headed out just after noon today with the temp in the upper 30s. I went in shorts for the second day in a row although there was no sun and it was a bit windy. About a mile in it got much more windy and started to snow. I was wondering if I was going to regret not dressing warmer but it wasn't too bad. I went 15 miles averaging 8:19 for the first half and 7:33 coming back. 7:56 AP overall for 15 miles.