Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

More snot than sweat, but I'm back in business!  My first 2 miles were full of walking and worrying ("am I being an idiot?"), but after the warm up I was able to maintain a respectable jog, walking occasionally only to use the tissues.   The weather website said it was in the high 30's, but I saw plenty of icy patches in the shade.  Wind was up around 15 mph w/ hold-on-to-your-hat gusts of about 30.  Throat feels ok, legs feel ok. I just hope I haven't lost a lot of fitness this week. 

Objective: easy

Conditions at 5:30 AM: 32F, occasionally breezy, fog, very icy on roads, less on sidewalks.

15 min. strength work

I felt stronger today.  :D  I was surprised to see how much lighter it was during the last 10-15 minutes of my run, since I haven't been out in the early morning for a week.   The equinox is like a slowly approaching car on a highway: it seems like it will never get here, and then whooosh! --it passes by at top speed. Spring will be here before we know it.  There is a variety of ornamental cherry that blooms around here in February and I saw one this morning. Makes a person want to go out and buy primroses!

I think Winter was not pleased to see me out there this morning, and coated the road with ice in his rage.  It seemed to get even icier during the run.  But not being able to run for nearly a week made me twice as eager to be out there, so any little victory for Winter has backfired on him.  bwahahaha

Objective: moderate effort

Conditions at 5:15 AM: 38F, dry, calm, cloudy

Every day I feel a bit stronger, but my pace -- oh! Pathetic. Horrible. Dismal.  I'm not even going to tell you the number.  I was pushing my cadence and trying to run in that notch just above "easy" but the Garmin still mocked me.  Sigh.

I'll share something that is still just cracking me up.  I was already a bit late this morning because I decided to take a couple of minutes to relace my new shoes. When I finally did get out the door I encountered another delay.  About a half block from home I heard a familiar "meow?" coming from the bushes. One of my cats, the only one who goes outside, was in there "checking his p-mail" as we say.  Knowing he would follow me just long enough to be lost, I had to take him home and put him inside.  "Come on, honey! Come on!" And there he was, trotting by my side as we ran back home. (He is very dog like in this way.)  I was just thinking how funny it would look if anyone saw us: A Lady And Her Cat Go Jogging.  Right on cue, a car came up the street slowing down to watch the spectacle. 

2nd time writing this entry - the first disappeared!  Gr! Why does that happen???

Objective: easy, hard, easy, hard, etc. : form drills, cadence drills,  butt kick drills

Conditions: 36F, partly cloudy, crescent moon

15 min. strength work after run.

In almost exactly the same amount of time as yesterday's run, I covered a full  mile more today!  (Hence the estimated 1 mile MP.)  Those drills really turn up the gas.  I go for a block or two concentrating on one or two aspects of form, such as arm swing, hip pivot, cadence, heel lift, etc.  Then I switch to another aspect for the next block or two.

It was a fun workout, with all the freedom to push as long as I wanted to, rotating through the drills, and then go easy for a while until I felt restless again.  My personality is well suited to that kind of freedom.  I hope it doesn't doom me, in terms of my marathon goals. That shiny key to the track is still sitting unused...

Objective: slow & easy

Conditions at 4:50 AM: 36F, light wind (10 mph), starry skies w/ rising crescent moon

15 min strength work

I am pleasantly sore this morning, and unpleasantly sluggish -- but that's to be expected.  I finished knitting these mittens I've worked on for so long. I kept setting them aside to work on other projects, so although they weren't very hard they took over a year to make.  They were nice and cozy on my run, and especially since I always get a little cold when I run slowly.   Ta-da!

Objective: Tempo run.  3 mi easy & slow, 2 mi LT pace, remaining slow.   Splits: 12:02 - 11:19 - 14:00 (trouble w/ watch, walked for a couple of minutes while trying to fix)- 8:54 - 8:30 - 11:07 - 11:24  Tempo miles were mostly flat but some hills.

Conditions at 5:15 AM:  30F w/ pockets of warmer and cooler air about, clear & starry

My Garmin has filed for divorce.  The metal (or is it?) buckle broke this morning and I had to carry the little traitor in my hand.  Not fun.  Then towards the end of mile 3, it suddenly went berserk (beeping, switching screens, light not working) and stole a couple of minutes of my running time while I walked along trying to get it back on track.  I would have just ignored it but I had to do my tempo run.  It settled down, but the buckle is irreparable, snapped right off.  I don't know if I need to send it back to Garmin for replacement, or if I can just go into REI and get it over with.  Fortunately I know exactly where the receipt is.

Well, about the workout: I am quite pleased. The tempo section was not completely flat, so those are really good splits for me.  I didn't think I could do it.  Last night I felt even more sore than I did yesterday morning (DOMS), and so very tired. I couldn't imagine doing a tempo run this morning, and I was beating myself up a bit for being so foolish to think I could follow a training plan that included two quality workouts during the weekdays "at my age."  But I took some Ibuprofen and got to bed early, and despite my Garmin's betrayal I did ok today.  I will still be rethinking my training plan. But maybe I always do; I'm a little restless that way.