Ethan Cannon

Approximately 7 minute mile pace in the valley with less hills.

7:04 pace, down in the valley this afternoon. Knee pain starting to return. Sigh. 

7:10 pace, Como classic...dark route? After 12.5 hours of travel, going out for a run in the cold at 8 pm felt great. And the stars were better than you'd think for being in the city. I'm glad I didn't let the sub-0 windchill stop me from continuing my streak of running outside. The fact that there was no snow on the ground helped a lot. 

It was a good day for running. I made a controversial decision to do a long run in the afternoon when it was 12 degrees rather than 0. I only did reservoir woods, mostly because of my knee I think. But I actually ran 6:09 pace which is really good for that route. My knee didn't hurt either, and it wasn't just the hard running masking it. On the way back, especially up the hill in the woods, my mask made me feel like I was suffocating a bit and I had to pull it down despite the cold. 

6:56 pace, farmers fields. 

6:48 pace, east river road. If I keep this schedule up, I'm looking forward to days when its gets lighter out at this time of day.

6:51 pace, East River flats. I estimated that at this time of year I am gaining just 30 seconds of additional sunlight each evening which is kind of sad. 

Finally a little warmer but the tradeoff was it was snowing. 7:10 pace on the way back from Como classic. 

7:09 pace in the snow to Boom Island, in the morning. I feel like I enjoyed my run a little bit more, like it wasn't so much of an afterthought (of course, it was also really warm out which helped). But everything else about going to work early points towards the benefits of doing that. 

Afternoon long run to west river and Minnehaha area. 6:05 pace with harder effort due to more snow on the ground than I had hoped for. Hard to believe I haven't run further than this since mid September. 

Well, the streak sort of ended. I very likely would have run outside had it been 50 degrees out. I also very likely would have run outside if I didn't feel under the weather as I did. The two combined had me go indoors. 

6:52 pace, Como classic snow route. 

East river road

6:57 pace, west river north

7:05 pace, Falcon Heights/Roseville. 

6:10 pace, east river road. It was 8 degrees and very sunny but also 13 mph wind. After going to work this morning, I was debating whether I should run inside or not. I'm very glad I went outside. Especially with some really cold weather coming, I am proud of myself. 

Treadmill day

It was like 5 degrees so I could have gone outside today but went on the treadmill instead. 

7:05 pace, Como classic. Good to be outside again. 

6:55 pace, farmers fields. It was 10 degrees but I ran at 2:45 today so the sun was very bright and warm. When the wind was at my back, it felt uncannily comfortable. 

Didn't realize how short that run was. 7:11 pace on Como night route. It was just getting dark when I left, but MN in the winter can be pretty cool. It was fun to walk out a little bit on the lake. This time it was cloudy so it made for this kind of natural lighting. 

6:20 pace to lake Johanna. That course is already slower than some of my usual LRs, but the dusting of snow we've had for a few days now (no complaints! Could be much worse) has made it slower still. I was lucky to see a super cool sunrise. I also saw some cars on lake Johanna which surprised me and which tempted me to run across the lake but I decided against it. 

Not interested in measuring my complex route around Falcon Heights. I ran, then met up with family at swim lessons, then ran home. Afterwards I had a headache. I think there's a chance that it came from not rehydrating immediately after the bulk of my run. 

6:56 pace, east river. 

6:56 pace. The pro was that despite getting out later than I wanted, it stayed pretty light, and I got to see a great sunset. I also liked the route I did of a loop around Como lake and going back a different way. The only downside was that there was a lot of traffic and the air especially on Como ave felt yucky. 

Apparently 6:38 pace to Boom Island in shorts and a t shirt. I did do 4x30 seconds hard on the way back (its been way too long since I ran fast at all, and I felt it), but ran similar pace overall both ways.

Just under 7 minute pace, I ran in the morning and did the same Como lake loop as a few days ago but went the other direction since I knew it would get lighter by the latter half. 

I took advantage of the dry ground today since next week is supposed to snow more. 6:00 pace on the way out on WRR. Honestly it felt harder than that. That's a little dissapointing. I came back slower because I kind of chilled after doing an easy workout of 5x1 min on, 1 off. That hurt my knee though. I can't get fast without working out. 

Ran around Falcon Heights again today (Farmers fields loop essentially) due to swim lessons. It is nice that it's getting lighter outside. We had an inch of snow this morning but thankfully this run was very doable. 

6:45 pace, east river road. 

6:53 pace, Como classic. 

About 7 minute pace. I ran north to the Diag to avoid going east-west as much as possible given the nearly 20 mph winds at 15 degrees. It was sunny so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. My wife went after I came up so props to her. 

6:56 pace, east river flats. There's a big snow expected tomorrow so this could be my last time in a while on this route. 

Do I get points for running outside when there were no other options? I woke up to a smaller snowstorm than what I had expected, but still decided to run on the treadmill in the afternoon. Afternoon rolled around and I found out the cardio room has been closed all week. Also, I don't have access to the treadmills at school right now. So it was either the stairstepper or outside. Outside it is. I ran all around- dinkytown greenway, east river flats, east river road, stadium, transitway, St Paul campus- looking for places that weren't covered in snow. Turns out the university was more on top of its snowplowing game than the cities were. 6:45 pace. 

6:54 pace around falcon heights and finishing at swim lessons. It was the warmest day we'll have in a bit (13 degrees) but felt like a slog. 

6:46 pace overall. I did a total of five hard minutes of running on the way back over a couple of reps. It was probably exceptionally slow but boy did it feel good to get the heart rate up like that again!

Saw an old teammate while running so I ran with him today, making a loop by crossing the river. 

6:50 pace overall. I ran for 5 minutes hard in the fairgrounds and don'tt dare look at my pace during that. I'm sure it was quite slow. Did the Como loop. The days are getting lighter so I can get out later and still get home while the sun is up.  

Uh oh. I thought I didn't go far on this Roseville run. 7:12 pace. Not sure what that was all about.

Treadmill day. My knee doesn't seem to do well on the treadmill. It didn't snow a ton but I was hoping to get up to speed a bit rather than slog through the snow. I slowly went down to 6 flat pace (according to the treadmill, which we all know is highly accurate of course), then alternated miles at ~5:15 pace and ~6:05 pace for maybe six miles total.

6:48 pace. I felt like I needed to run in negative temps to call myself a true Minnesotan runner. The -3 felt fine on the way out to Como lake. Coming back to get to swim lessons, the wind hurt though and it made for a painful thawing experience. 

Apparently 6:46 pace. 2 degrees and sunny today but felt fine. Passed river flats to get to West river road. 

6:45 pace, east river road. 

Very loosely calculated 6:41 pace. I decided part way through the run to surprise my family at the library and nailed the directions to get there without having seen a map. On the way home, I did 3-2-2-1 of hard running with about equal rest. It was the right day for this because it was a lot warmer than it had been previously. Probably good that I got a nice scorched lungs feeling. 

6:52 pace on west river north. Today was the warmest we've had in a while, but I was kind of just slogging through it. I have a hard time believing my putzy workout yesterday did it to me but whatever. Today I got terrible news- the number 9 bridge (tbh I didn't know that was what it was called until I looked it up) will be closed the entire warm season. That does more to affect my commute than my running. But I ran on it today, It's really nice to have a pedestrian only bridge. Sad day. 

6:09 pace, resevoir woods and then around lake McCarron. That is faster than I thought it would be. I was tired, including becuase that morning I had already gone skiing. Knee hurt skiing and continued to not feel great during the run. 

6:58 pace, west river road north on a balmy morning. 

6:42 pace, Como classic rain route because I figured it would be muddy from the melted snow. Felt great outside. 

6:56 pace, east river flats because I could!

Another warm day made good conditions for a workout. Until now, I have specifically not looked to see my pace because I knew how slow it was. Now, with February closing out, I wanted to know my pace so we can start getting serious about fitness. Alas, I am starting from a pretty low level right now. Thankfully, my knee felt pretty solid today. I did 8-mile-8-mile with 90 seconds rest in 2:26, 5:00, 2:28, 4:57. It wasn't all out but boy it wasn't easy. Wind was pretty strong. Nice to be on the track!

6:56 pace, Falcon Heights / Roseville.

5:57 pace, Gateway to Browns creek trail. It was probably the coldest I've ever run on the trail (15 degrees to start) but was very sunny, and the trees always block the majority of the wind. I did 3x3 minutes on, with rest until the end of the mile, on the way back. Only a few ice patches, most was completely clear. It took a while to kind of clear my gut and get rolling. Recorded miles: 6:18, 6:10, 5:52, 6:01, 6:34 (not a mile), 5:47, 5:51, 5:45, 5:53, 5:59, 5:39, 6:30 (not a mile), 5:48, 6:11, 6:03, 6:05. My knee started hurting a bit at the very end. Considering how long I ran and how previous LRs have gone, I feel very good about that. 

6:53 pace, Como classic for my last swim lessons run. Felt slow to start out, then loosened up later. 

6:56 pace, I hit up east river flats again before the snow came. It was an overcast day outside but the air was also kind of bad. It's been not the best for a while now. I'm hoping things will get a lot cleaner with the spring air. This winter I've often felt a lump in my throat after running.

Apparently it has snowed nearly 10 inches since last night. But the busses were grounded this morning so I worked from home, and the last thing I wanted to do was run at the gym, where I would still be inside, at my apartment complex, plugged into a device. So I ran outside which was really enjoyable. Apparently it was 6:39 pace. I did about 10 minutes hard in 4 segments coming home. 

Apparently 6:39 pace in New Orleans. I enjoyed this more than my runs in Chicago which isn't saying much. Smelled lots of pot. I actually got lost once because there wasn't a street sign where I needed one. I asked a guy on a horse-drawn carriage where Dauphine street was and here very eagerly corrected my pronunciation to "Daw-pheen". Oh well. Definitely an interesting climate though. Some of the trees are what I've seen in pictures but never in real life, it was kind of cool. Also, the French culture and architecture is cool. 

About 6:03 pace to Audobon park and then the river parkway. It'll take a while to forget the smell of this city. Knee wasn't great today.

Apparently 6:46 pace. Very warm outside but it didn't bother me. I also felt fine despite having done my LR yesterday. Ran to the city park again. 

7:07 pace, loosely. It was a good day to take my kids on their first stroller run of the year. We went to Como park so they could play. It was really nice out, over 60 degrees. The worst part was the huge puddles everywhere from the snow. These wouldn't have bothered me too much, but the wheels going through them splashed up a ton of mud onto the stroller and stuff. Pushing the stroller felt hard today, either because I'm out of practice or because the kids have grown. 

6:39 pace on East River road. So I certainly wasn't going slow but I felt slow getting passed  by another runner for the second time in a week, when usually that happens once a year or so. I was quite surprised when it happened in New Orleans of all places. 

Workout today. It was nice and sunny out and not very windy. I think someone threw something at me from their car but other than that, a great day for a workout. I repeated a stadium workout I have previously done with 1k on, 1k float. I did the same route and as I recall, hit about the same times, which is a good sign. But I did check and the route is only 0.97 kilometers. 3:25, 3:02, 3:22, 3:00, 3:24, 2:59.

6:44 pace on a warm, windy day. Met up with my family who were on a walk at Como lake. 

7 flat pace, east river flats. I felt tired running this morning after having run last night. 

5:55 pace, ran to Lino Lakes. This was another very long point to point run, and I met my family at the end of it at our friends' house for brunch. Knee hurt a bit which was what I expected. It was interesting to see some new parts of the metro. I'm amazed how big that wide-open army area is in Arden Hills. 

6:52 pace, farmers fields. I was surprised that the trail was still muddy.

6:47 pace, Boom island. 

West river north. The mill ruins area was open again. 

Workout. 2 mile tempo, (nearly) full recovery, then 4 by 800 with equal recovery. Sure there was wind and some physical issues, but I felt tired. I'm out of shape and need to get back into it quickly. I'm grateful I can run hard at all. 10:27, 2:29, 2:26, 2:29, 2:24. The two mile was a little long and the 800s were half miles. 

6:55 pace on Como classic in the morning. 

Very approximately 6:14 pace. That varied a lot. I went out controlled on the way out. Right after my workout, my hands started hurting really bad. It was 18 degrees when I started but sunny, not very windy, and getting warmer. So given that I was going on a fast run, I thought I would be fine in my light gloves. Apparently not. By the time I warmed up my hands in fists, my knee wasn't feeling great and so I definitely coasted home from the far side of the University. The workout was 5-4-3-2-1 with rest equal to the next rep. I felt much smoother today compared to Thursday. It looks like I averaged 5:55 pace for those 25 minutes, 10 of which were easy. Hard to say what pace I was going on the hard parts. 

6:48 pace, east river flats. Knee was not feeling good today.

6:41 pace, farmers fields. Knee hurt again but maybe not as much as yesterday. I think I can say my easy day pace is a product of five things: A) fitness (which probably doesn't play a major role when I am generally in shape); B) fatigue (which again probably affects me on a relatively low percent of runs); C) time of day, where afternoons are faster than mornings; D) environmental factors such as rain and wind; D) weather, where warm weather leads to faster speeds. 

I wasn't going to work out today but I saw the track was empty and decided I'd rather work out this afternoon than tomorrow morning. I did a workout that I thought would do me good- 4x4x400, with 2 minutes between sets and ~20 second jog to the start line of lane 9 (or the finish line when I reversed direction) between reps. I ran (72, 74, 73, 73), (71, 72, 72, 72), (71, 71, 70, 71), and (69, 69, 69, 66). Lane 9 is so far out that you basically end at the inflection point of the track, so with the wind, it made it much easier to go one direction than another. Still slow times but this is what I need to do. Update: I compared this to what I did last year. I had more rest and did less reps this time but did run faster. 

6:48 pace, Como classic. Surprisingly fast and pain free the day after my workout. Being good about my exercises may have helped. 

East river flats with the jogging stroller. That was really really hard. Yikes.

6:11 pace on a new combination of routes- first to Como park, then up to Resevoir woods. On the way back I did a three mile tempo at 5:13 pace. 

6:47 pace, east river flats. It was cool out but the air was clean which made running enjoyable. 

Update: I think this was on east river road. I'm not sure how I calculated that pace or messed that up but it is what it is. 

I decided to do Diagonal on a windy day. Don't have pace. 

Once again, I had planned to not work out today, but was proud of myself for doing so upon seeing that the ground was mostly wet, not icy, and that the wind tomorrow morning would be just as bad. It actually turned out that the wind was relatively mild. I was also proud of myself for sticking with exactly 1 minute of rest between each rep, despite difficulties. I ran 6 by k in 3:03, 3:04, 3:04, 3:03, 3:04, 3:01. Like I said, the wind wasn't too bad but it was very wet and slippery. 

6:51 pace, Como classic partially rain route. I could be wrong about that. Felt very groggy to start out with. 

6:47 pace, Boom island. I saw a much bigger flock of runners than I am used to seeing on a Friday morning. 

6:05 pace, East river. I did another 54321 workout on the way back. Wind was 10-15 mph blowing south so that made the way back a lot slower, I averaged 5:58s on the way out. Knee hurt again. 

6:45 pace, Como Classic. 

Wow, 6:31 pace on Farmers fields. That is either a record or close to one. It was a really nice early spring afternoon. I stopped to talk to my friend and his kids at Falcon Heights park. 

I did my 2 by campus loop again, with 3:30 rest. I ran 12:25 and 12:24 (a little over 5 minute pace). This was dissapointing as I ran faster last year on the second rep. The first rep, I had to stop several times. I also felt really smooth. the second rep, I didn't have to stop at all, but it didn't feel quite as easy. 

6:37 pace, east rice road. Knee didn't feel good. 

Early morning run north in Roseville. My knee hurt worse than it has in months. Very frustrating. 

On a positive note, I got really close to a bald eagle. That was cool. 

5:55 pace on the Gateway. My knee hurt and I had absolutely no pop in my legs for my mile on, mile off workout. But this is always a fun route to do. I was shocked to be passed by a small vehicle that was either unmanned or had a person inside of it completely covered. 

Mile splits: 6:30, 6:23, 6:08, 6:15, 6:10, 6:16, 5:44, 5:16, 5:58, 5:15, 6:08, 5:20, 5:59, 5:08.

6:41 pace, St Anthony parkway. Supposedly winds of close to 20 mph but it didn't feel that bad on the way out. The whole way home it was at my back. 

Supposedly I ran far and fast, although that could have been a miscalculation. This run was in Maple Grove after an appt. Tbh I probably would have enjoyed a run in Minneapolis better. I was mostly running right along a major commerical road. I kind of got Leesburg vibes in some areas where it felt like a parkway that was too busy with suburban traffic. I spent the last part of the run at Elm Creek park, and by total coincidence, found myself in the same area that I went skiing a couple of months ago. It looked a lot different now but a bit of snow was still left. 

I did a Michigan "junior" workout in the afternoon. The splits will tell you almost the whole story: 2:17, 2:24, 2:22 for the track 800s, and 5:08, 5:06, 5:03 for the miles around the athletic complex. Rest was a minimum of 40 seconds but I fought hard to keep it under 60 seconds. The wind was quite strong- apparently 13.9 mph average on the day, I would perceive it as a 4 out of 5. Also, I felt very tired. Last year when I did this, I remember getting chest pain from straining my cv system during a 4:38 opening mile. There was some of that too but mostly I was slowed down by leg fatigue. That is good news as it may mean my aerobic fitness is ok. Still though, this is the second workout in a row I've identified this feeling, so I'm not sure what is up. Do I just need to get more sleep? I have to say, workouts are hard but they also make you feel good afterward. However, some of that good feeling comes not purely because I did something hard, but because I did something hard and I did a good job of it. I hope as I grow older I can readjust my expectations so that I can still be excited about what will be a "good" workout for my situation, rather than be constantly dissapointed that I am running slower than in previous years. 

6:48 pace in the rain, Como classic. Felt tired.

Nice morning run after the rain yesterday. Spring is starting to spring. 6:54 average on Boom island after a slow start. 

6:17 pace, mostly chill at Resevoir woods. Ran roughly a half mile uphill and into the wind in 2:20 on the way back. 

6:38 pace, farmers fields. Beautiful afternoon. 

Nice warm overcast morning. Ran a campus loop, then did a little pre-race workout responsive to how I felt. I did 400, 800, 600 in 69, 2:18, 1:43, with up to 80 seconds rest. 

Another bad night of sleep. Darn it. West river road (from Franklin, although I suppose I could have taken the M bridge too)

8 miles on west river from the M bridge.