Every Run is a Great Run!

Woke up a little earlier than normal and decided to get 4 in before the 6 with Kim and be done for the day. A little colder than last week but still much nicer than at Thanksgiving time. Temps around 32 but with the SF canyon winds back in full force. Saw 2 or 3 shooting stars while I was solo and then about that many more with Kim. Nice morning and feels good to get er done for the day.

8:56/147

I love this photo of Provo firemen looking at the picture of Christ recovered from the aftermath of the tabernacle fire.

Early AM: Got lucky again with the weather for Kim's speed workout at the track. Almost 40 degrees, pretty rare for December, although it was pretty windy. Ran 6 x 800m at a little faster than Kim's 5K pace (my MP). We did a similar workout a few weeks ago but did 7 reps at 5K pace or a little slower. I figured 3:30-3:45 was a good range to shoot for and that turned out to be good, with Kim being closer to the 3:30 side for every rep and just sneaking under 3:30 for the last one. Good job Kim! Check out her blog for exact numbers. Six miles total.

8:43/154

Late AM: 4 more miles at work. Just ignored the watch, no HR monitor. Felt good.

8:05

Didn't get out until about 2pm due to work meetings and the roads being entirely soupy and sloppy in the morning with the storm. Weather and roads were actually pretty nice by this time (35 degrees) but I'm not used to running this late in the day and with too much food in my belly. Must have eaten too much for my early lunch and felt a little nauseous by the end. Ran a couple miles with Kim then ran my hill workout. Legs actually felt really good but the sour gut feeling wasn't so enjoyable. Pushed the pace a little at the end just so I could be done.

8:09/159 max 178

Early AM: 5 miles easy on a cold, crisp, clear morning. 18 degrees with a bit of canyon wind. Maybe our days of above freezing AM runs are done for a while. But not too bad if you're dressed right for it. Think I've finally figured out how to dress properly for the cold without going overboard. Just gotta remember it's OK to be a little uncomfortable the first mile in order to enjoy comfort the rest of the miles.

8:39/150

Late AM: 5 more miles on Kuhni Rd at work. For a little experiment and to amuse myself I attemped to do this run at the same effort level and ave HR as the morning run. Curious what the pace difference would be with it being later in the day, warmer, less wind, etc. The verdict: looks like I buy about 30+s/mile faster with the later run.

8:07/150 probably about 10 degrees warmer than this morning.

Got up early, looked outside to see canyon winds in force, checked temps and saw low teens w/ wind chill around 0 degrees. Talked Kim into playing our run-later-in-the-day card. Of course later in the day I almost always wish I got it done earlier and I was having trouble getting motivated since the sun didn't want to come out. But finally around 11am I headed over to the gym then out to Kuhni Rd for a 5 miler, nearly identical to yesterday. Never did see the sun but it actually turned out being a real nice run, my legs feel pretty fresh this week and I was dressed just about right for the mid 20 temps.

8:04/152

So sad to see the Provo Tabernacle on fire.

One of those days when you're questioning your sanity and glad to have done and in the books. Kim and I both had things going on this morning so we went out at 5 with Kay to find ourselves in windy, blizzardy snowy conditions! Luckily the roads were runnable and not terribly slippery. It actually was kind of nice and peaceful when the wind was at your back, but in your face with snow pelting you in the eyes wasn't quite as fun.

Parted ways with Kay around 7 miles and with Kim just shy of 10 miles and finished the rest solo. The only other runners I saw were the Amos brothers and Hal didn't actually run but talked himself into going later in the day, but as usual he was so kind enough to put out the water/gatorade at Osbornes.

Didn't even attempt to hit any pace today, just happy to finish without any slips or falls. I think the conditions probably add about a minute/mile to pace. Felt more like 20 miles than 15.

9:25/147