running

Felt pretty easy running 9 min miles.

Legs still don't like the cold. But got it done.

Well that wasn't really the plan but given the freezing rain forecast for tomorrow it seemed best to get that out of the way today. Ran 6 on my own then 4 with a group of women. Under 9 min miles for miles 7-12. Couldn't hold it after that. Wierd side cramps. I think it was mainly the cold.

So windy today I wasnt sure I was gonna get this one done.  Headed down to a park surrounded by trees and it was a little better.  Doing 1 mile loops isn't so fun but got the run in.

Cold and snowy outside this morning so I was on the treadmill.  8 miles last 6 all under 8 min.  Was thinking about pace and wondering how much is in ones head.  It seems like I mostly run the pace I expect myself to be able to run.  Now maybe I am just so dead on accurate about my ability at this age that my expectations are on target, but maybe my expectations just limit my pace.  As I was running those 8 min miles it wasn't really that hard.  My hope is that I can run low 8's in an upcoming 5 miler.  Seems reasonable.  Maybe if my hope was to run closer to 7:30 then I would have turned up the pace on the treadmill and found that 7:30 wasn't as impossible as it sounds to my brain.

On the treadmill

On the treadmill. 6 miles 8 min miles

Back outside. Since I ran faster on the last few treadmill runs the pace today seemed easier. Muscles were really sore after. The cold bothers me more than most it seems.

8:15 average. Pretty easy. Just boring on treadmill.

Cold and slow.

Interesting run. It wasn't supposed to start raining until after 9. After it warned up. Around 6:30 it started misting and I figured it wouldn't do much more than that. About 6 miles in it started raining more I was thinking about taking a different loop closer to home in case I got soaked. Before I could even decide the road got icy. It was a matter of minutes. I headed back and did loops around the dirt path at the park until that also got too slippery. The last mile home was really something I couldn't even stand on the street or sidewalks. Had to stay in the grass the whole way where I could. Had to stop and shuffle across every driveway. It barely rained but just enough to ice everything in a matter of minutes. A bunch of huge accidents around here. Glad none of them involved me. My first flash freeze.

Missed the group so was on my own. A little over 8 at 8:55 pace. I feel like I need to be following a specific training plan. But winter weather is so unpredictable it's hard to adhere to specific runs and times. This is a little vague but my plan is to run long runs of 16's in January, 18's in February, and 20's in March alternating with 16's starting in February. That's as much as I have planned.

On the treadmill. Last 7 miles under 8 min pace. Feels pretty good. Running so far this winter has been ok. A little bit of juggling around snow and ice and a few skipped runs but overall consistent enough. Now we are starting to run into more weather that's not conducive to running outside at 5 am. This is what I worry about shooting for a May marathon. Still if I am honest with myself there are other things I can do to improve my chances of running a BQ. Eating less being the main one. Carrying 10 less pounds for four hours makes a big difference.

Pretty hard effort. 8:30's to 9:00's outside in the cold up and down hills. So much harder than treadmill.

Ran the first few on my own. A little slow because of scattered ice. Then I met up with the running group. I did 8 with them. Then finished up on my own. Run seemed a little easier than last 16 miler but still pretty wiped out at the end. 10 miles under 9 min pace.

Under 8 min per mile on the boring treadmill.  How many more days of winter?

Very cold for me. I wore every layer I could find. I was warm enough but don't want to do this on a regular basis. Run itself was pretty hard. It was ok when we were running 9 min miles but then the group dropped the pace to 8:30 on the hills and it started to hurt. More wiped out after the run than I want to be.

Too cold today.  Even with 2 layers on my legs they were still cold.  Was planning on going further but it didn't seem worth it.

Was really short on time today. Too bad because it was warmer than it's gonna be for a while.