Long Run on the Treadmill

19 miles on the treadmill. It's snowing, windy, and cold outside. I had the treadmill going at 7 mph, so with my walking warm-up and cool-down I was on the thing for about three hours. I can't do this every weekend. Next week is a 15-miler, and I sure hope the weather is better. Five weeks from tomorrow is the marathon. Suppose I should register for it. The girls are going to run the 5k portion. I just told them they need to run on the treadmill today too, and Daughter #1 said she doesn't like running on it. Ha! No pity from me on that one.

Fartleks on the Treadmill

Which isn't as smelly as it sounds. Kind of cool and drizzly this afternoon, which means a treadmill session. Ran 5.5 miles in all at 7 mph during non-fartlek times and 9 mph during my 1-2-3-2-1 fartleks. Tomorrow will be a day off before a big run on Saturday. Which might also be on the treadmill, darn it.

Just Couldn't Resist

It might not have been smart to run for a third day in a row, but I just couldn't resist. The temperature was in the mid-60's and the breeze was barely stirring. Days like this have been scarce. I threw caution to the wind and ran 5.5 miles, taking it nice and easy. No music again today. Just sunshine and beautiful weather. Just like hitting a nice drive off the 18th tee box, this is the type of thing that keeps you coming back for more.

Good Day, Good Run

The temperature was near 60 this afternoon, so of course I hurried home and ran out the door. Did the Target run (5 miles), including 20 minutes of tempo running. No music today, just the great outdoors. Which in this case was all the traffic along Flintlock. Sigh.

MIssed Another Long Run

I noticed today that I've missed two long runs this time around on the ol' training plan, including the 18-miler I was supposed to run this past weekend. After Thursday's mediocre run, working twenty hours combined on Saturday and Sunday, and the continued cold or whatever it is I have, a run of any kind just didn't seem prudent.

Today I was going to run to Target and back since the weather seemed decent enough, but the wife and daughter forgot the daughter was supposed to babysit, thus delaying the start of my run by about 25 minutes. By the time I was headed out to run, the breeze felt colder and I decided I didn't want to be cold. I've had too many runs where I felt chilled the rest of the day after a run. I ran 5 miles on the treadmill with a 5% incline. After the past week I needed an easy run that wasn't too taxing on my immune system and my ability to resist cold. Some days I do act smarter. Not many, but a few.

Ugh

Feeling kind of worn down after a busy week (yeah, these three-day weeks are killers) and I think being around sick kids and co-workers is starting to get to me. Plus I have to work Saturday and Sunday, so not much relief in sight.

Anyway, ran 5.5 miles and did 5x800 intervals. I was supposed to do six intervals, but was just getting too worn out. I could have done that last one but given how I felt I thought getting to five was a good accomplishment. It was cold and a little bit of a breeze coming out of the west, and that didn't help a whole lot.

Glad I Went

It was a little breezy today and I seriously thought about running on the treadmill, but the sunshine on the drive home convinced me to do my running out of doors. I ran 5.5 miles with 20 minutes of tempo running. I tried to time it so I was going with the wind as much as possible. Today was a Van Halen day, and that works out very well for tempo running. Nothing like a nice driving beat to get me going.

Car Shopping

The wife and I spent the day car shopping, and I was in the wind enough to know I didn't want to run outside. So we bought a replacement mini-van, and when we came home I ran 5 miles on the treadmill. I'm still enjoying the MLB Network, and today was a recap of the '93 season. Good stuff.

A Little More Than a Half

Today was the first day since I was sick a few weeks back where I felt like I had a long run that I felt good about. The weather was cold, about 39 degrees with a slight breeze, but the sun was shining and that breeze was a lot easier to deal with than a strong wind. All through the 14 miles I felt good. The last 3/4 of a mile I upped the tempo a little bit to finish really strong.

Today's run was a little more than a half-marathon, and it's also a little more than halfway through my 16 weeks of training for the race in April. If I feel this good on race day I'll be a happy runner.

Another Decent Day

A little cool at the start, but after I warmed up I was okay. I ran 6.25 miles with 6-4-3-2-1 fartleks the last 4 miles or so. On a day like today I certainly can't complain. I think we're due for rain tomorrow so we'll see what Saturday brings for my long run.

Wow

What a gorgeous day, especially for early February. Little to no breeze, temperature in the sixties, and sunshine - I'm not in Missouri any more, am I? I left work a little late because of a suspicious letter we had to investigate right as I was walking out the door, so along with starting later than intended I had to cut my run a little short in order for the wife to make her Bible study on time. In spite of that, I ran 5 miles and included a 22-minute tempo run. I could tell I ran it pretty fast because I wanted to die at the end. Probably not the best tempo I've ever done, but hopefully effective.

It struck me the other day that probably the only people who read this log are my brother and the occasional OPM background investigator. So to you, OPM guy or gal looking into my activities and habits in order to get me that secret clearance, I say: how come you never leave any comments?

Alamogordo Run

Well, I got up early on Saturday and ran before the funeral. I guess I was just too excited to run someplace warm. And the weather was absolutely perfect. I ran 14.5 miles, which I wasn't sure I could do given the altitude. But that proved to be a phantom fear. As I ran on South Scenic Drive and turned around at Ocotillo, I was above the city and all the lights. It was so peaceful and quiet. When the sun came up across the Tularosa Basin, shining orange on the Organ Mountains, I remembered why I love the desert scenery so much.

I ran past three of the houses I lived in when I was younger (Catalina, Desert Eve, and Harvard for Jeremy, who wouldn't remember the first two of those). My route took me all the way down Tenth Street, past Grace Methodist Church where we used to attend Christmas Eve candlelight services with my grandparents, and by Sierra Elementary, where the playgrounds look a lot smaller than I remember.

As I reached the top of Indian Wells I was about out of gas. What a long, steep run that is. As I came back south on Scenic I had a couple of calf cramps. I was plenty hydrated and couldn't figure out why. Later on I realized it was probably due to sitting in a car for 13 hours the day before. Huh. They still feel tight today, but that's only because I added another 15 hours of car time yesterday.

Wish the visit to NM could have been for something more fun, but at least the run down memory lane was enjoyable. Well, that and enchiladas at Margo's.

A Nice Day at Last

Finally, a nice day. Ran 5x800 intervals for a total of 5 miles. I'm off to NM for a kamikaze weekend trip. I hope to run early Saturday, but I don't know if that will work out. We'll see.

Tempo on the Treadmill

My wife asked me tonight why I wasn't running outside today when the sun was shining and the temperature was just under freezing. I told her that I was tired of running in the cold wind, and that I just decided to run inside and be happy about it. That'll probably swing back the other way after a few treadmill sessions, but for today I was glad to run in a comfortable setting while watching the Caribbean World Series on TV.

I ran for 50 minutes, including 20 minutes at a pace of about 6:40/mile on the treadmill's display. I have no illusions I was running at that pace if translated to outside, but it was pretty fast. I also set the incline to 3.5%, and keep trying to up that in order to make the runs tougher. I went 6 miles on the machine, but as we've established before that probably equates to about 4 miles outside.

The Spirit Was Willing

The spirit was more than willing to go for a long run after being sick this week. And at least the temperature today was good. Actually, it was excellent. As usual, though, the good weather around here comes mixed with the bad, and we had a wind advisory. The wind was in the 25-30 mph range, with gusts going higher. The boy had his pinewood derby this morning, so I couldn't get out for my run until the wind had picked up nicely.

I was planning on going 12, but the sickness from a few days ago had a lingering effect. I managed to get 11 miles in, but that was with a few walks during portions of the run that were uphill and against the wind. I feel really drained right now, which I again attribute to the illness. I'm hoping for better results during the coming week.

Sick

Yesterday I was in Columbus, GA, on a business trip. I was so excited to run someplace warm that I got up at 5:30 ET (which was actually 4:30 KC time) and hit the streets 15 minutes later. The run was difficult, which seemed odd because the weather was nice, but I just didn't feel good. I went 4 miles, and going that far was a struggle.

When I got back to the hotel room, I ate some yogurt and took a bite of bagel, but it didn't taste too good. Twenty minutes later I was yakking in the bathroom. I thought it was due to something I'd eaten the day before, but nooooo. I ended up coming home early from the trip. Last night I went to bed at the hotel at 7 p.m. and got up this morning at 7 a.m. That right there should tell you I wasn't feeling good. I can't remember the last time I was sick. And feeling like that when you're far from home makes it even worse. I'm starting to feel human again, which gives me hope that I can do my long run this weekend.

The Wife Says I'm Insane

I was planning on running inside today, but when I got home and the dried-out leaves on the trees were barely stirring, I decided it was a good day to get out and run. Better than Friday, anyway. The temperature is 19 degrees, with a wind chill of 13. Guess I can't complain too much about that. I'm learning that what's cold is relative.

I ran 5.5 miles with an 18-minute tempo run. Running faster keeps me warmer, and that was definitely the case here. No music today, just a quick run in the fading winter light of the evening.

5 Inside

Twenty degrees outside, so I ran 5 miles on the treadmill today. I'm modifying my regular schedule since I'll be traveling this week. The Cardinals-Tigers 2006 World Series games are on MLB Network this weekend, so this was easily one of the best indoor running experiences I've ever had. Aah, what memories.

And I hate weather men. And women. The forecast for Saturday was for it to be worse than Friday, and we know how bad Friday was. Instead, yesterday would have been the best sub-freezing running day of the winter. The sun was out, the wind was calm, and even though the temperature was in the low 20's it was otherwise perfect. And of course I had gone out the day before. I was mad and thought about going out for a run anyway, but decided I'd spent too much energy on Friday. Stupid weathermen.

Global Warming has not yet made it to Missouri

Today was supposed to be a 14-miler. Actually, tomorrow was. But tomorrow's weather is predicted to be worse than today's, and since I didn't run yesterday on the wife's b-day, I decided to go for it. Yeah, that worked out for me.

The cold wind from the north was blowing a constant 20-mph, with gusts up to 30. The air temperature was about 30, but the wind chill dropped the actual temp into the teens. I ran two circuits of the neighborhood and realized that wasn't going to keep happening. So I stopped off at the house to change shoes (still breaking in the new pair) and went out for a route that was more lateral to the wind. Even so, I only lasted 3.5 more miles for a total of 8.5. I decided I'd had enough and that being out in the wind for almost two and a half hours was not a good plan. MY TEETH WERE COLD!!!

Since I'm on a business trip next week I'll probably run Sunday and Monday so that during my trip I only have to use the hotel treadmill once. And then we'll see what happens next Saturday.

Cold Nose

One aspect of running in the cold that I haven't addressed before is the cold nose effect. Makes me feel like a puppy, it does. Of course, the rest of me is cold, too, but the nose is what gets me. I am so ready for it to be warm!

Anyway, I ran 5.5 miles today in a relative tropical heat wave. The temperature was just about freezing when I set out, and the winds were very light for a change. I was supposed to include a 16-minute tempo run but I think it was 17 minutes due to a watch that is sometimes hard to read. Yesterday was my first Monday run during this go-round of the plan, so today marks the first time I've run two days in a row. I'm supposed to run my first intervals on Thursday, but that might not happen since it's the wife's birthday. And you know that takes precedence.