Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

Stayed up until midnight last night, for the first time in quite a while. Stacy and I both got really slap-happy around 10:30PM, which is sad, but that's what happens when you go to bed by 9:30PM every night. Slept in until 7:45AM, and had all sorts of weird dreams. Puttered around during the morning, and finally got out for a run around 1PM. It had snowed overnight, and was snowing lightly all morning, but it was pretty warm out, right around the freezing mark. That is 40 degrees warmer than what I am used to these days, and quite welcome. I tried wearing tights with nothing over them for the first time (my only Resolution), and I found it strangely wonderful.

I stole Cody's idea, and wore my NB 790 trail shoes, hoping they would get better traction in the snow. Plus they are very light and fun to wear. I got these shoes in 2007 and have only worn them a couple time, and I had forgotten how much I liked them. Now I found a good use for them: winter snow running. They do indeed work really well on packed or thin snow on the roads. I tried going on the canal trail, but it was in terrible shape, footing-wise, so I went back to the roads.

Ran down Hillside Dr to Summit Dr., then thought it might be fun to do laps in the cemetery. Most of the cemetery loop was pretty good running, but some of it was pretty rough, so I went back to the roads, wander to the west side of Smithfield, and then finally back up to my house for 8 miles. Did some strides/fartlek in the middle, and also worked the hills pretty good, especially at the end. It was a fun run. Averaged 6:18/mile.

I tried a new route today, on the county roads northwest of Smithfield. Crossed Main St., and then took 300 N out of town. 300 N to 1600 W, up to 6600N. I planned to go further north, but the road was not plowed very well from there. So I turned back east and meandered around until about 6.5 miles, then I turned around and came back the same way. Roads were mostly in decent shape. Snowy for some stretches, but most sections were fine, if not a bit sloppy. The great thing about this route is the lack of traffic. Think I saw one or two cars the whole time. Plus it's very peaceful out there, nice and rural. Combined with the warm weather, it was a nice, relaxing run. On the way back, I added on some distance by going up Summit Dr., and then back home. Ended up with 14.25 miles, averaging 6:45/mile.

Did a bit of a tempo today, up Smithfield Canyon and back. Averaged 6:20-6:30 on the uphill miles, and about 5:30/mile on the downhill miles. 5:59/mile average for the whole run. Wicked cold this morning.

Did a semi-loop from Summit Dr to Upper Canyon Rd down Canyon Rd and back up on 600 S. Did some strides in the middle. Averaged 6:41/mile for the run. It was warmer out today than expected, and I overdressed. Yesterday I underdressed. Once I get the wireless thermometer I ordered from Amazon, I will be complete.

Ran from work today. It was very warm out (like, upper 30s), and I got all hot and sweaty. It was disgusting. It is supposed to be back down to single digits tomorrow morning, and I am looking forward to the reprieve. 

Ran the Providence Hill Loop, and did some speed play (aka - fartlek) in the middle of it. Kept to the literal sense of the term, and did not stick to any specific time or pace, just ran hard for a few minutes then easy, then hard again. Kept it, you know, "playful". Did some uphill and some downhill for variety during the speed play sessions.

Ended up averaging 6:22/mile for 9.5 miles, so not a bad workout.

Back to single digits this morning, but I dressed appropriately thanks to my new wireless indoor/outdoor thermoter ($15, amazon.com). So I knew the temperature before I even got out of bed. I'm quite excited about this toy, obviously. My other toy, the garmin, ran out of batteries midway through my run, so I didn't get a time or pace. I ran a semi-loop out to Hyde Park and North Logan. It turned out to be about 7.75 miles according to gmap. Took it easy for the most part, and enjoy the crisp air and the nice views of the Wellsvilles (first non-smoggy or non-snowy day we've had in weeks, and visibility was excellent).

Worked at home today, which gave me the luxury of running in the sun. So I waited until 11AM, and by then it was a very pleasant +3 degrees outside. I ran the Big Smithfield Loop, averaged 6:33/mile for 8.25 miles. Did some strides in the middle.

Woke up with a sore throat and some congestion, so I'm not running today. Rest, and live to run another day.

I was well enough to work most of the day, but did not feel up to running.

Feeling a bit better, and glands are less swollen. Worked from home, but did not run. Will likely be ready tomorrow. The air quality does not make me inclined to push it.

Ran from work. Did the First Dam Run 10K route. Averaged 6:35/mile. It felt good to run again.

There was a light layer of snow this morning, but nothing my NB 790s couldn't cut through. Decently warm too, although I don't know that it was enough to clean the air out. I ran up Smithfield Canyon and back. Averaged 6:58/mile.

Very foggy this morning (although not too cold). I started out toward Hyde Park, but quickly realized that if I continued with that route, I would likely be killed due to the combination of Skyview-bound teenage drivers and the lack of a road shoulder. So I repented (lit. "turned around"), and ran Hillside to Summit, down to the Cemetery, where I did loops until it was time to go home. Not the most exciting, but much safer. Averaged 6:57/mile for the run.

Ran with Cody for 7.5 miles, and then added Jon to the mix for 8 more miles. Yucky day out.

We had a little bit of snow this morning, not much but enough to make the road slick on some places. But it was fine mostly. It had stopped snowing right after I started my run, and temps were nice. Only a yellow air day today. I did a North Logan semi-loop, and tried to keep it pretty quick, but not quite tempo. Didn't look at my garmin until the end, just to keep it real. Averaged 6:24/mile for 9.5 miles.

Snowing today...but warm! 31.5 degrees to be exact. Seemed like a good day for the NB 790s, so I slipped them on and headed out. I did an out-and-back: Hillside to Summit, and then up Smithfield Canyon. Averaged about 6:40/mile going up Smithfield Canyon in the snow. I found out why it was so easy when I turned around: tailwind! Which was now a headwind. Had to squint for most of the way back down, but it wasn't too bad. Averaged about 5:55/mile on the downhill. But the worst was to come. I climbed back up Summit Dr, and then finally turned south onto Hillside Dr. And that was the nastiest headwind. Little pellet-like snow was bombarding my face, and the wind itself didn't feel that good. It brought back memories of last years' Striders Half Marathon. But it was only a mile-long stretch, and I made it. Ended up averaging 6:26/mile for 10 miles. The roads got progressively snowier during my run, but the 790s did great, with very minimal loss of traction compared to dry roads. Everyone should have a pair of these shoes.

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For the five people out there who care, I've updated my personal blog, here. I figure it's a good thing to do every 6 months or so.

Ran from work, did the North Logan Loop. Good running conditions today. Averaged 6:46/mile for the run. Did 6x100m strides in the middle of the run.

I ran in the late afternoon, and it was gorgeous out, sunny and relatively warm. I ran the Hyde Park - North Logan semi-loop, and did 5x4-minute fartlek with 2-minute recoveries. It was not my greatest workout, but I got through it. The route is pretty rolling, and it seemed like my recoveries were always on the downhills, and the intervals on the uphills (except for the first interval, which was all downhill). Bad timing, I guess. Averaged 5:15/mile, 5:45/mile, 5:37/mile, 5:48/mile, and 5:53/mile for the fartlek part of it. Averaged 6:22/mile for the entire run.

We head out to Michigan tomorrow. I frontloaded my week so that I only need 4 miles tomorrow, as I won't have much time to run.

Did a short loop in the dark before we headed to the airport. 4 miles, averaging about 7:30/mile. It was quite warm this morning, and windy. Front must be coming in.

Ran from Stacy's dad's house in Monroe, Michigan. It was a gray day, but relatively warm (upper 30s). Amazing how little snow there is out here, and also amazing how flat it is. I just did a simple out-and-back, since I have no idea where I am. Ran down Dunbar Rd about 7.5 miles, and then turned around and came back. Had a tailwind the whole way out...and predictably a headwind the whole way back, but it wasn't too bad. The road was pretty boring, but had a dirt shoulder to run on, so that was nice. Averaged 6:35/mile for 15 miles.

Still in Michigan. I ran the opposite direction on Dunbar St today, and then crossed over I-75 and found a little DNR boat launch area. Since the boat launch was basically closed for the winter, it turned out to be a good place to run, as there were no cars and shelter from the wind. After about a mile, I got to a parking lot and had to turn around. Did this little "loop" 3x, which gave me 10 miles for the run. Felt kind of heavy from eating crappy food during this trip, but oh well. Didn't do a tempo run, but still tried to keep the pace decent. Averaged 6:35/mile for the run.

Ran into Bolle Harbor. It was slightly less awful than the other runs I've done, with pristine views of beautiful Lake Eerie. Sigh. Pace was slow today, 7:17/mile average for the run. Windy again (it's windy every day here). Colder too.

Last run in michigan. Very cold and windy, bad wind chill. Same route as yesterday. 6:55/mile average pace. Flying home in a few hours!

Back in Smithfield, back to the fog. Did a bit of a tempo today. I ran Hillside to Summit and then up Smithifield Canyon. Felt better as the run went on. Splits were 6:32, 5:58, 5:59, 6:21, 6:43, 5:38, 5:35, 5:58, 6:22, 5:26. Average pace for the run was 6:03/mile.

Horrible, foggy again. I'm getting very depressed, can't remember the last time I saw direct sunlight. North Logan-Hyde Park out-and-back, sought high ground. Got up to 4900+ feet, but no difference. Averaged 6:39/mile for the run.

Run up Blacksmith Fork to escape the inversion. It worked for the most part. I met Cody at the park, and we run up the Canyon to Hardware Ranch. The first half of the run just flew by, despite going uphill. I think it was a result of getting direct sunlight, something I have not experienced for a couple months. Going down was actually the harder part. The first few miles going down were pretty good, but then fatigue started to set in (I think my week of travel plus increased mileage caught up with me), and also it turned out that the inversion had followed us up the canyon, and the smog and cold temperatures were a lot higher up than when we started the run. Combine that with a headwind, made the last 4-5 miles more grueling than they should be. But we made it, and it was still a good run. Averaged 6:52/mile for 16 miles.