Ethan Cannon

Same route as yesterday. Similar snow situation. 

East river road. About 7 minute pace. Unlike I remember, the Minneapolis side was actually much cleaner from the snow today.

Definitely made the right choice to run on Wheelock. Despite a little more snow last night, for the most part it wasn't an issue on that route for some reason. Season low 4 degrees on my run, and I had the wind coming at me on the way back but it wasn't an issue in terms of being cold (I was hardly cold at all) but rather just was annoying cuz it slows you down. 6:27 pace. 

Just under 7 minute pace. Felt pretty loose and good. 25 degrees feels a lot better than 5 degrees haha. 

6:52 pace overall. 6:42 on the way back, due to five strides I did. West river road. It was like 10 degrees but since I was dressed for it and the ice wasn't bad, it was really not difficult. 

Last run in this pair of shoes.

20 minutes in the middle of the run at 5:33 pace (3.66 miles). I was doing 3 on 1 off. Started out feeling great and slowly it felt harder. Wind and snow on the way back didn't help with that. Overall that was 4:30 of easy. 

It was a good sign about my perception of fatigue, the weather, etc. that I made this workout happen, humble as it was,

Apparently I was feeling fast on this 8 degree morning on transitway (6:46 pace). The busses were going really fast so I was a bit concerned but thankully the sidewalks were fine and you have them for most of the way.

Como classic, 6:55 pace despite snow that slowed me down on the forest trail. 

Longest run in quite a while I'd guess, and the furthest I've ever been on east river road. 6:01 pace. 5:54 on the way back with the wind at my back. I'll take it, given the snow that was on the road at times. Also for the first time I used GU after the halfway point and it was nice! Easy to open, and it honestly tasted delicious! Didn't cause any GI issues as expected and it may have helped me stay more physically in it. 

Little over 7 minute pace, felt tired from Saturday maybe. Did Como classic via Hendon because I thought the soft surface path would be melty. 

6:50 pace apparently on west river road.

December 14, 2022- a day that will live in infamy in the known world. It was barely warm enough that yesterday it only rained for the most part, but this morning the ground was covered with like an inch or more of slush. It was just a non starter and I finally admitted my defeat, retiring to the treadmill for the first time this year. Cold temperatures and snowfall hadn't shaken my resolve yet, but on a warm morning with slush, I finally succumbed. It was not a very fun run, what with it having to be inside, and it's hard to know how fast to go to match your normal effort, and the fact that I couldn't use the bathroom of course made my bladder shrink tremendously. BUT I'm grateful that I've been able to stay outside till today and that I am healthy enough to run at all. 

7:08 pace is surprisingly fast for the mess that I was running through today on my boom island route. To prepare for future treadmill sessions, I took my pulse twice during the middle of the run and got it at 120ish when measured IMMEDIATELY after stopping. I think I typically go far too slow on the treadmill with that in mind. 

7:11 pace trekking through the snow

It was a bit of a frustratingly slow run. When there is snow on the ground like that it's just hard to get up to pace. I only ran 6:45 pace. Had snow and wind coming at me on the way back. At least it was outside. 

7:03 pace on east river flats. I didn't think I was going to be able to do this route until spring. I'll let my pace speak for itself in terms of how difficult the snow made it to run.

6:48 pace on west river? Don't think I messed up the distance. It was 4 degrees and sunny, so when the wind is at your back it felt great and when it is in your face it hurt kind of bad. 

Ran on the treadmill for the 2nd time this year. It was -7 or so outside with not too much wind. The other reason was so I can do an impromptu workout. The workout was even more impromptu than I thought. I was planning on doing 4x5 min (essentially 1 mile) hard, with equal recovery. I did the first as a "warmup" in 5:35ish according to the treadmill. The second was in 5:10 or so. Then I thought really hard about what I was doing and how I don't trust treadmills. Earlier, I had taken my pulse and seen that on this treadmill. I was about 120 bpm going just under 7 minute pace today which lines up with reality. I thought to myself: since my perceived footspeed is clearly not a good indicator of how fast I am going on the treadmill, I am starting to use heart rate and the "talk test" as better measures. Another thing is: how HARD is the workout actually? In a real workout, it is a struggle to get to the end. Often times on the treadmill I am just twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the time to go down. At that point I realized I could probably just go three straight miles to end the workout, maxing out the treadmill at supposedly 5:00 pace. So I went ahead and did that. I think it was after that that I took my heart rate at about 150+. I also tested the neighboring treadmill and that pace felt similar. Anyway, if that was legitamate, I would be proud of myself for actually getting in a workout and actually doing well. However, I still wonder if at higher paces the accuracy is messed up. 

7:07 pace on coal mine road. Given the route and the circumstances, that's not bad.

6:58 pace. Down past the church and onto the trail

Ran down to the bike path and then south along it. 6:05 pace overall, probably about 5:47 pace on the path itself based on my splits. From the outset I just couldn't get into a rhythm. Overall it was probably in the top 25 percent of most painful long runs. My quads were so sore from the hills I have been running here in Medford that each step hurt, which makes it hard to get rolling. When it was really uncomfortable was near the end which is hard anyway to gain a couple hundred feet of elevation after running 17+ miles. I tried to take a GU while running and got it open but gave up on taking it while going sub-6 minute pace. Good news is my grey shorts worked well to contain it on the way out. It was so misty that my eyebrowns got water on them rather than ice like they do in MN.

7:03 pace. Down to Hoover area.

7:02 pace on a super beautiful rainy and warm Oregon day. Going past Aerial Heights and then winding my way down barely to get to the valley floor, that pace is almost hard to believe (that it's not slower). 

Apparently only 7:18 pace on a similar but even more tactically flat course than yesterday. Seems odd. 

Ran with Adam today. We started out going faster than I feel comfortable with, but apparently only ran 7:30ish pace overall which surprised me.

6:47 pace (surprisingly) past the church onto the bike path. Maybe extra surprising given how sick my daughter was which meant I had an awful sleep the night before.  

Ran (a different way) to the bike path and started my workout at the mile marker at the top of the hill. A painful 7:20 pace on the way back and chill 6:49 pace on the way there (4.68 miles each way). Did 10 miles hard. Was going to try for marathon pace (5:16) but that seemed a little daunting. Then I thought I should try to keep it under 5:30s, but that seemed uninspiring. A couple miles in, I considered the last time I did a 10 mile workout here (12/30/20). At the time I considered it an amazing workout, so I still remember each split. I decided to keep track of how I was doing and see how long I could go before getting "passed" by my 2-years-ago self (because that was a progressive run, I knew I would have the lead early on- e.g. first mile was 5:22 this time compared to 5:50 last time). This helped me stay focused and push hard. Splits: 5:22, 5:26, 5:23, 5:21, 5:24, 5:16, 5:19, 5:12, 5:14, 5:11. (Apparently there is 100 feet elevation gain on the way out though you can't really tell). According to my mental calculations, I was actually able to finish at (what I thought was) the exact same second as I did on that previous workout. Overall: 53:14 or 5:19 pace. One one hand, that was pleasantly surprising after how I felt the first couple miles. On the other hand, the olympic trials seem woefully out of reach after a performance like this. Once again I chickened out from taking my GU during the workout, but I did do it while actually running during my cool down. The ground was wet and a bit slippery due to the rain, but wind was not a major issue. 

Also- last run of 2022! 3168 miles is pretty much tied for 3rd highest year ever.