Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured

Long run that felt great!

1:40:01 / 11.31 miles / avg pace 8:50

Monday's run on Wednesday - 45 min easy run.   

It is wind season in Texas which means for the next several months the wind blows....most days the forecast shows 10-25 mph winds - FUN!  I headed out into the wind and then finished with the wind to my back today.    

45 min / 5.13 miles / avg pace 8:46

I pushed the track work from yesterday to today so I could run in daylight.   

Plan:  20 min warm up
         8-12x400 w/ 200 recovery
         3x200 strides w/ 200 recovery
         20 min cool down

It is windy again today, 13-15 mph and I knew it would affect the workout, however one of the areas I am working on is not wimping out when the weather is less than perfect.   

20 min warm up to the middle school track - up hill and into the wind...it was hard

I ended up with 8 - 400's and was no where near the vo2 max pace from the pace calculator - that is not a surprise.   I kept repeating to myself every step is helping me get better - over and over again.    This ended up being a good baseline start and hopefully I will progress over the remaining 12 weeks of marathon training.   

splits:  1:43, 1:44, 1:48, 1:48, 1:47, 1:48, 1:46, 1:47

Then it was time to push through the 200's and it was just get it done.   The wind was picking up and it was like running in chest high water.

splits: 48, 49, 48

I ended up have to walk a few seconds of every recovery after the 5th 400.

Walked a lap with my friend Jenny who met me there so we could catch up  and then the 20 min home - yay for mostly downhill and wind to my back.

70 min running / 8:46 miles / avg pace 8:17

On an interesting note, I switched back to Garmin after using the apple watch for the past several months.   My previous Garmin died and I just finally replaced it and I am amazed at how much more information is available.  I had used the 405 and it was an antique.    I had no idea it tracked cadence and was pleasantly surprised I averaged 184 steps per min - I have always wondered but been to lazy to count. 

45 min easy run in wind and a little rain.    5.15 miles / avg pace 8:44.   

My legs were tired but I had to work on keeping the pace easy, so that is a good sign.

Plan 12-16 miles

The Texas weather has been less than kind this week and last night was no exception.   I planned on meeting my friend at her gym to use her guest pass and run on the treadmill.   I showed up and waited in the parking lot for 30 min and finally left.   The weather was much better than I had expected and there was only wind to contend with today - and some misting rain off and on.   So, I drove back home, changed clothes and headed out.   My friend ended up calling me and apologizing early on for missing her alarm and we ended up running just over a mile together.  Lots of dodging puddles, trying to stay out of mud and as dry as possible.  By about the half-way point my shoes/feet were soaked.  Overall I felt really good the entire run and like most runs, I pick up at the end - like a horse headed to the barn.  

Splits:  9:14, 8:37, 8:47, 9:38 (mile with friend and a pit stop), 8:42, 8:32, 8:41, 8:36, 8:26 (pit stop & gu), 8:21, 8:28, 8:18, 8:05, 7:53

2:00:18 ( just missed the 2 hr mark!!) / 14 miles / 8:36 avg pace

This week has been a big mental growth week.  For the first time since leaving SLC 6 years ago, I have run in inclement weather / mostly wind and not used it as an excuse.