Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

Low 40s F, sunny, wind 5-10 mph.  Recovery run. 

Legs are a little sore, in a nice way. 

It's great to be back on "real" time instead of that odious, absurd, irritating, illogical (for my latitude), loathsome, despicable daylight savings time. Not that I am bitter.  

49F, breezy (5-15 mph) w/ pretty stratocumulus clouds.  Easy run. 20 min. strength.

Did you know there is a website for Cloud Appreciation Society?  What an incredible world. I stumbled across it while trying to find the name for these clouds that were out today. 

How to hate the time change, even though I prefer fall back to spring forward. It shouldn't be that difficult. Set each clock back one hour. However...  You see, we have this grandfather clock that stops chiming at night. (Very handy.)  When I set it back yesterday, the little bolt that holds the hands on must have fallen off, because it was still at 9:30 AM when it was mid-afternoon.  I found the bolt, found the problem, and moved the hands forward to the correct time.  (Insert smack on forehead here.)  Just because the hands weren't tracking due to a missing bolt doesn't mean the clock wasn't keeping time.  So as I moved the hands to their "proper" place I was actually setting the clock several hours forward.  At about 3 AM, the clock thought it was morning and... started chiming! 

Out of bed I go to turn off the chime, not really knowing why it is chiming in the middle of the night. Then I lay there trying to get back to sleep and wondering why why why...  Round 2.  Background: I gave Mr. Sno a very snazzy alarm clock for xmas a couple of years ago, thinking he would enjoy this cool high tech thing.  But he doesn't.  In fact, it is a completely non-intuitive piece of garbage and has given the poor man endless trouble, but I think he's too polite to throw it out the window.  You need PhD's in engineering and psychology to operate his clock.  Just as I was (finally) drifting back, Mr. Sno's clock starts up with its chime.  "No way." Time: 4:05 AM. Sure enough, the clock had sensed a lack of PhD in its operator and had reverted to Revenge Mode, going off at whatever time would be least convenient.  

By 4:45 I was still half awake and horribly tired.  I want a do-over.  But I'll have to wait until tonight.  I think I may go to bed on the old time and try again tomorrow.  

42F, a few high clouds, patchy fog, lots of moonlight.  General aerobic run, turned into unplanned speed work...   

I met up with some friends after about 5 miles of easy running. They were running up the Parkway and I went with them. (That's the Leg Builder Hill, only heading farther up, away from the direction I usually go on it. One could run over 3 miles total on that hill bottom to top.)

These women are all faster than I am, but I figured it would be a Good For You experience. By the time we were halfway up the hill, I was in total oxygen debt. They weren't even working hard, chatting away like they had all the oxygen they could possibly want.   >:(

We ran a mile like that (my VO2 mile) and then I saw the time, panicked a little, and had to hurry back towards home.  Calculating distances in my head, I became more and more concerned about the time.  That became a mile and a half at about tempo pace.  

Well, I was thinking of doing some speed work this week anyway. The Turkey Trot is a week from Saturday. I figured I had better remind my lungs what "fast" is supposed to feel like.  So I guess I can check that off. The rest of my week can just be nice easy miles.

Abs & pushups later. 

With 40-50 mph winds hitting the house all night, I made an executive decision at about 4 AM to switch this week's day off from Friday to today.  I'm still pretty sleepy, but I figure 9 hours of broken sleep is better than 7.  Did 20 minutes of strength work, mostly for morale. :)

Published on Friday by mistake at first... so thanks to those who left their comment on my Friday page.  What a mess... 

Low 50sF, mostly cloudy, wind increasing (0-15 mph) during run.  Easy run, w/ 1 mile at MP.  (2 other miles MP+20-30 seconds)  Last 2 miles on the TM.  10 min. abs & pushups. 

More unscheduled speed work as I met up with the running ladies again at mile 5. We didn't run the Parkway thank goodness, so with a bit less challenging terrain it was "only" marathon pace without the searing oxygen debt.  Some of these runners are from my club, including the leader of the group, and some are just other friends of hers.  Now that I'm on their email list I can find out where/when they are running and join them when I can.  But when I get back on my official training schedule I may not run with them very often; I can only take so much fast running per week. ;)

Audiobook recommendation: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, read by the author.  This is a fascinating study of how/why people success or fail to succeed apart from innate talent.  I absolutely loved this book and will probably listen to it again soon. It's a "can't put it down" kind of book, which is less common in nonfiction.  The chapter about plane crashes was downright shocking.  The book will change the way I view many things in life. The author's narration is very pleasant and clear; I'm glad they didn't bring in an actor to read it.  I have enjoyed all of Gladwell's books, but I think this one is my favorite.  

Let's see if I can do this....   I am about to move this entry into Thursday, where it belonged -- so I hope I don't mess up the system here. (Lights throughout Snoqualmie go dark ala Pink Panther movie...) 

Okie dokie! Now it really is Friday. I'm here, and I went running.  It was chilly and windy with a few sprinkles.  About 4 miles solo, then a little farther with SnoFlake.  Did some strength work afterwards.  Today's motto: no "slow" is too slow.  

Low 40s, with all kinds of weather during my run:  light rain, heavy rain, hail, wind, calm, and even a bit of blue sky at one point.

Objective: endurance run, club run, and 1.75 miles on the Leg Builder Hill.

Had a great run today. I was dressed well for the changing weather conditions, which didn't bother me until a really big increase in rain & wind just as I was climbing the L.B.  Total car wash. At first I was feeling pretty macho and singing along with my tunes at full blast. But then my feet got wet and the inevitable self-pity over came me for a while.  I hate wet feet. 

The BEST part of the run was doing a few miles with Jefferey and his friend.  Jeff, it was lots of fun to run with you guys and thanks so much for sticking with my slow pace!!  Jeff has relatives in North Bend so we even got an extra water stop.  

42F, light rain, ending after 4 miles.  Recovery run.  Tired, slow, but relaxed run. 

Edit:  I forgot to go back to my habit of weekly summary, which I planned to do this week.  So here is the Monday to Sunday report:

total 50.2 miles

Mon 4.31

Tue 8.33 w/ 1 mi V02 & 2 mi T

Weds off

Thur 9.78 w/ 1 mi MP

Fri 5.47

Sat 20.15

Sun 5.55 easy

48F, pt cloudy, very windy (average 21 mph, gusts to 35).   Nice sunrise.  General-aerobic run, moderate pace. 20 min. strength.

We are having one of the wind storms for which this neighborhood is famous.  I tried to run my east-bound routes on the more sheltered streets and had a great time getting pushed by the wind going west.  North and south were unpredictable swirls and gusts.  I can't seem to get all my hair to stay under my cap, and my eyes watered a lot, but other than that I had a lot of fun. 

43F, cloudy, w/ rain last mile.  Easy run. 

I felt quite sluggish this morning, so it was a real shock to see the Garmin read 7.69 miles. "That can't be right."  Sure enough, two of my mile splits were under 4 minutes. Right.

The watch I originally bought broke at the buckle last winter, so it was replaced.  I'm not sure how many new watches one warranty will cover.  The second watch is less than a year old, however. I guess I will stop by REI and inquire today.   

We dined out with friends last night and something did not agree with me.  Very little sleep and a war zone in my guts.   As much as I dislike afternoon runs I'm hoping I can put in a few miles before dinner tonight if I'm feeling better.   :(

Hello Time-Travelers!   Here is my Friday run; see Friday's log for the Thursday run.  I know it's only November, but I'm planning my New Years resolutions: #1, Know which day of the week it is...

37F, raining, wind 10-20 mph.  20 min. core & upper body.  Today was scheduled as a day off before I was forced to take Wednesday off. I'm running a 5K tomorrow morning (Saturday, not Friday - see paragraph 1) and I just wanted enough of a run to get the blood flowing and burn a few calories.  It feels really chilly out. 

35F, mostly clear, light breeze.  General-aerobic run. 

Chilly morning!  Measured my distance with the gps function on my iPhone. I won't have the replacement Garmin until next week.  

Thanks for all the good wishes yesterday when I felt ill.  It was definitely food, since I'm 100% today.   In a hurry this morning....   cheers!

Let's cut to the chase...

Yesterday afternoon, we had a completely unexpected snowstorm for about an hour.  To my horror (and I'm sure to Sean's as well - he's our race director), a bit of snow still lay on the lawns early this morning, and the roads were a sheet of ice.  Temperature at 6:30 AM, 33F.  (At the gun, high 30sF.)

It was too icy to safely walk the course at 8:00 AM, let alone run, and the kids' race was to start at 9. The road was literally covered with black ice. Sean chose to delay all races by 30 minutes to allow Mr. Sunshine to do his job. (Thank you, Sean!!!) 

Eventually the morning warmed up and off we went. The first 2 miles were filled with thoughts that went something like this: "I hate this. Why do I do this? I am miserable. I can't breathe." Yes, I had warmed up. And yes, I always feel that way in a 5K.  Really, I don't know how you guys who do 5Ks all the time can stand it. 

It was tempting to think, "I just need to be in better shape."  But that won't hold water.  No matter what shape I am in, if I am trying to run the fastest pace I can keep up for 3 miles, I will always feel this way.  And so, finally, acceptance and peace.... and just 1 mile to go.  In this final mile we encountered the only ice left on the course, on a wooden bridge going through some shaded woods. Just a little slow down there. 

The course was very good.  I love the changes Sean made since the St. Paddy's run in March.  The race goes through my own home turf, all the streets and trails I know so well.  Very, very hilly, but a nice distribution of up and down, with at least 200 yards of down/flat at the start and a down hill finish.   

There was a very large field of runners this year. I kept seeing people I know, which is very unusual for me.  I had the pleasure of seeing a woman I used to work with, whom I have not seen for about 13 years!   A very close friend of mine has returned to running (yay!) and was there with her family.  The best thing was seeing all the Mt. Si Running Club runners, most of us standing out in our fluorescent green/yellow shirts.  I've never known so many runners in a race before.

I hoped to beat my St. Paddy's time of 26:02, so I am extremely happy with my race.  Although I ran today's course faster than the St. Paddy's last March, the competition today was steeper. But I still got a trophy! I LOVE THAT. It really does make the memory of suffering diminish every time I look at it. 

Post Script, Sunday morning:  Results are online, so the finish time is now correct. Average page was 8:07 -- on hills, that means that some of my running was sub 8!!! (insert happy dance)   I. Am. Thrilled!

42F, rain & wind.  Objective: recover from Fast, enjoy some Slow. 

I love Smartwool.  

All 12 of my fast twitch muscle fibers were sore and cranky today, but the faithful slow twitch majority wanted to go running.  I thought I might be able to get as many as 15 or 16 miles in today but it stopped being fun so I came home.

There are still lots of gorgeous fall colors out there, though most deciduous branches are now bare.  I saw a blue jay; we don't get too many of those.  

Monday to Sunday weekly summary

Total 39.07 miles (So low. Will try to bring it up again.)

8.1

6

off (not feeling well)

7.1

4.4 w/ 5K race

10.97

52F, rain, wind ~10 mph w/ gusts to 23. Objective: easy/recovery.  Legs are sore.

The streets were dry this morning and it was a balmy 52, but I saw the storm coming on the Doppler.  How fast was the storm coming, could I risk leaving off the jacket, would the jacket be too warm for this temperature, and could I get in 5 miles before the storm arrived? Too much for my brain at that hour.  Mile 2, the rain started coming down and I was not dressed for it.

I decided to just head back towards my house but keep running around the immediate neighborhood, so that when the fun-o-meter dropped to a certain level I would turn in.  I made it to about 4 miles and finished on the dreadmill.  

42F, heavy rain, windy in open spaces.  Objective: general-aerobic run.  GARMIN IS BACK!  :D   Core and pushups afterwards. 

I think I would be a perfect candidate for hypnosis.  Throughout the night I was awakened by the pouring rain, and I saw it out the window when I got up, but the Doppler showed the storm ending soon. Good enough for me! I dressed well for the downpour and spent the whole run cheerfully thinking, "it's going to end any minute now!"  I think it lightened up a bit in my last mile, and actually stopped about 15 minutes after I came in, totally soaked of course.  Mental attitude is an amazingly powerful force.  I had a great run.  

The fun-o-meter only dipped once at the beginning of the run: my shoes were still dry at that point and I stepped off the curb into a puddle of cold water. I know that puddle and usually avoid it successfully.  Gr. But as it turned out I was in full squish mode by the end of the second mile so it didn't matter.  

Too bad I didn't have time to stay outside long enough for the storm to end.  I really wanted some more miles but was out of time, so -- last 3 miles on the Dreadmill in VFFs. 

For my future reference and the benefit of anyone who might be interested, the perfect low 40s-and-pouring-rain outfit:  Smartwool socks, Sugoi thermal running tights, Smartwool top, Polartec mid-weight half zip top over the Smartwool, Cycling jacket, gortex cap, gloves, unmentionables. 

37F, rain for first 3 miles, then it stopped and the stars came out. Wind 4-8 mph w/ gusts to 17.  Easy run w/ form drills. 

Short on time. I'll have to catch up on everyone's blogs later. :) 

44F, raining, wind 10 mph w/ gusts to 25.  4 miles easy, 4 miles moderate (9:30-10:00 pace), 2 miles easy.  Had to finish on the dreadmill, so I ran last .75 barefoot. 

You know how the Eskimos supposedly have dozens of words for "snow."  I think I am developing dozens of words/phrases for rain drops.  Today was a combination of medium-light, sideways medium, annoyingly-soft shower head and dense straight-falling medium.  Oh, and I found a new puddle spot on Hoff Ave. Said a bad word. 

38F-40F, mostly dry w/ a few light showers, except for downpour at  about miles 15-17.  Objectives:  endurance, club run, & Leg Builder Hill (miles 12-14). 

Great run. Really beautiful morning by my standards. ;)  

40F, raining, with occasional icy pieces in it.  Objective: recovery run. 

Legs are a little sore.  I can't remember when was the last time I wore my "normal" trainers, before today.  The less I wear them, the more they feel like blocks of wood.  I think I may be better off retiring them altogether.  My feet have come to love the flexibility and lightness of my various racing shoes. The trainers seems to put all kinds architecture between me and the street. It was somewhat annoying.  

Edit: 

Almost forgot - weekly summary for Mon-Sun

TOTAL  58.24

Mon 5.38 

Tue 9.41

Wed 8.15

Thu 10.1

Fri off

Sat 20.14

Sun 5.06

42F, light rain.  General-aerobic run.  20 min. strength.

Great run, in spite of the Doppler Betrayal.  When I look at the Doppler image online, I can usually tell what's out there and what's coming, at least for the next hour.  I reinforce my personal weather forecast by comparing it with the hourly predictions on weather.com and wunderground.com.  Today I was so sure the light rain was coming to an end that I chose a fleece top and no jacket. Bad news, I got very wet. Good news, this particular fleece top is extremely warm and there was little or no wind. 

37F. Light showers. White stuff everywhere. Sticks on feet. Chairs that float through the air. 

47F. Clear, wind 10 mph. Easy run. 20 min. strength.

It's neither wet, very cold, nor terribly windy. I hardly know where I am.

I kept it easy today, since I'm pretty worn out from skiing yesterday. Fortunately, running uses such a different set of muscles.  

I did cross paths at one point with The Ladies Who Run Really Fast. I didn't want to be rude, and they all recognized me (or perhaps my headlamp), so I tried to join them.  Hahaha. That didn't work.  Fortunately I was thinking of stopping at the bathroom anyway, so I said my goodbyes and veered off after a couple of blocks.  

I'm looking forward to a stronger, longer run tomorrow. In daylight! 

45F, rain showers and patchy fog. General-aerobic run. 

There were LOTS of runners out today. I guess everyone wants to put a dent in the calories that will come later.  The neighborhood was full of cooking smells. Someone near Azalea Park is baking bread.   My legs felt extremely sluggish today, leftover from Tuesday I guess.  Have a very happy Thanksgiving!  

40F, cloudy, with a light misty rain during 1st and last 4 miles.  Endurance run, club run, and Leg Builder Hill. 

I ran around my own neighborhood for a while, then down the Parkway to the club run.  Old Snoqualmie and part of the Snoq. Valley Trail, then back up the hill and through Deer Park, then home.  

I was the only woman at our running club this week. At first, it looked like there was no one to run with at my pace, but I fell in step with this one guy, a man who is fairly new to the club.  He was going pretty slowly, but that seemed like a good idea for today.  We ran together for about 3.5 miles. During the last mile he was getting faster and faster, to the point where I was approaching my marathon pace to keep up with him. He always seemed to be a little ahead, so I was chatting with the back of his shoulder and trying to keep up.  At the end of the run he said, "great to run with you - I never would have gone that fast without you."  I was too shocked to make my snappy retort fast enough, but maybe I'll say something if he comes again. 

Tomorrow is the Seattle Marathon, and it looks like they might get dry weather this year. I am so very glad not to be running it, as always.   

I've spent the past 48 hours trying not to have a cold.  I think I'm winning.  :)

On Saturday night I suddenly had a very bad feeling in the back of the roof of my mouth and was sneezing like crazy.  So I launched Project Immune Strength (vitamins C & D, peppermint tea, and a protein snack - not in that order) and went to bed at 8 PM.  

I spent most of Sunday on the couch wrapped in wool, but not enjoying it as much as one thinks one would when one can't. (Did that make sense?) At night I produced an artificial (virus killing) fever by sitting in the 104F hot tub for 20 minutes.  

Things were looking good. I thought I might run this morning until Mr. Sno gave me a rare admonition (he normally stays pretty quiet about my health choices) to give it one more day.  Early to bed, hoping he was wrong, but at 5 this morning it did seem like a bad idea. Still had the weird post-nasal pain thing.  

Other than the general I-miss-running factor, what really ticks me off is that yesterday was mild, calm and dry weather. And today is mild, calm, dry weather.  Could this not happen to me when the gales are blowing?!?  No, that's not a request, Powers That Be.  Just saying.

Well, the main point of my long non-run blogging here is to say that this little routine of mine really works and if you start to get a cold I highly recommend it!  Although I've missed two runs and spent one day on the couch, I feel pretty good today and I have not had to carry a tissue box by my side at all.  You have to include the usual vitamin C, rest and fluids, but add to that 6,000-8,000 IU of vitamin D3 throughout the day, eat no sugar, drink peppermint, chamomile or ginger tea, and increase your protein. Stay very warm and humidify your room if possible.  C'est tout.  Dr. Sno hopes to be running again tomorrow.