Every Run is a Great Run!

Did a little bit of everything today. Even though my right achilles is feeling much better I wanted to still take it easy for another day so I did some cross-training (bike/weights), then got 3 miles on the treadmill. I was dumb and had forgotten my long/warm tights but Kim was kind enough to bring them in for me around noon. Better yet she hadn't got her run in yet so we went out together and got in a great out-and-back 5-miler, mostly on Kuhni Road. I say "mostly" because the first and last 1/2 mile of the run we were on snow-covered sidewalks and would have been better off with snowshoes or skis! But Kim was really in the zone today and ran most every mile I think in the 9:30-10:00 range and still was doing pretty well with the conversation. I think this was her fastest 5-miler yet so I'm excited to see what  she can do at Painters!

Did what has recently become the weekly 1/2 marathon pace tempo run at noon on Kuhni Road. Backed off the distance a bit this week and did 6 miles. Didn't have to do the whole thing alone this time as Darin C joined me for about 4 of the 6 miles.

This run felt harder than it should have for some reason. I was able to hit the pace I wanted but it felt as hard or even harder than last weeks 8-miler. Oh well I guess that's just how it goes some days.

On the bright side my right achilles didn't bother at any point of the run and afterward as I went to ice it I realized after a minute I was actually icing the wrong leg! So I guess if the pain is decreased to the point I can't remember which achilles has the problem it must be just about recovered. This makes me happy.

Ave pace 6:40. Splits were 6:39, 6:43, 6:36, 6:40, 6:42, 6:38.

Dull 8 miles on the treadmill. Darn winter storms keep making things difficult. At least I had my good buddies Paul and Nate on either side of me at the gym at work. Thing is for whatever reason when running by someone on the treadmill it just doesn't generate the conversation like running on the roads so we didn't do much chatting. Guess part of it was that there was a movie going. I'd seen bits and pieces of the movie they were showing about a dozen times over the last couple of years at the gym so it wasn't helping the boredom factor at all. I can't remember the name of it but it's a Western with Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan. Blah.

Did the first AM run I've done for quite a while. Although it was plenty cold, lucky for me the SF winds were being kind and since I was dressed for anything I was relatively comfortable. Kim had considered going with me but with having done a fairly grueling 11-miler yesterday and then not sleeping well at all last night it was wise for her to try to get a little extra rest prior to the busyThursday work schedule. Didn't see a single other runner which is pretty rare for SF.

I broke in some new mid-distance racing flats (Adidas adizero RC) for the first time today. They felt great I'm excited to try them out down at Painters.

Late AM did a bit of treadmill and crosstraining worth 3.5 miles.

Noon long run mostly on Kuhni road including 7 mile tempo in the middle at marathon pace (around 7s). Originally thought of doing 8 miles at MP but I couldn't seem to get in the groove today. Also the wind picked up on the way back making the last couple fast miles kind of miserable.  Ended up freezing my fanny off my the end of the run. The ll-miler I did last week at around the same pace felt much nicer than the 7-miler today. Oh well I guess you take the bad with good.

Ave pace 6:57 for the MP miles.

Morning run in the fog with the SF running crew. At least the wind wasn't blowing and temps weren't too bad for January. This is was Kim's first time out running with this group and she was nervous about being able to keep up since most everyone runs a little faster pace than she usually does. However I thought she did great and kept up very well with the group including Kay, Carolyn, Kelly, Steve and Neldon. Since my legs were kind of hammered from the faster long run yesterday I held back and ran with this group for a little over halfway when Kim went back up heartbreak hill to head home. I then ran with Hal Amos and John Allan (JohnA on the blog) the rest of the way. We could never quite catch up to the other fellow speedster bloggers that were there today including Josse, Amber and Ali.