It ain't Chinese algebra!

Strange thing happened to me this morning.  I got dressed and ready to go running, then stood behind my door and stared outside for nearly 30 minutes, debating on whether I should run or not.  I didn't really want to run, but rather felt compelled, like I was being forced to do it.  Usually when I'm forced into something, I resist, so there I stood for what seemed like ages, not sure what was going on.  Not sure if it was the cold, the scheduled work-out, or just running in general, but I wasn't having any of it today.  Until my wife opened the door.....  pushed me out..... and locked the door.  I guess that was her way of being supportive and knowing that deep down, I really did want to run.

I bagged the speed workout and ran hills instead.  It seemed like much more fun and about the same benefit.  I ran up, down, around, and through "the cove."  Many, many hills, but I loved it.  It's just what I needed.  I measured some of the routes I ran and the average increase was 160 ft in 1/2 mile.  Not too bad, or so I think...

Pace is irrelevant on such a course, but I'll put it anyway: 6:52 min/mile

Speedstar-I really need to trash these shoes, but I love 'em and can't seem to stop wearing them.

No problems with today's tempo run. I felt pretty good and survived the cold. My feet felt like solid bricks after just 1 mile, but seemed to "thaw out" by mile 4. I ran north past the armory, so the route was flat most of the time. Started with 1 mile easy, 5 mile tempo, then 1 mile easy to finish. My time was 2 seconds faster than on December 19th (also a 5 mile tempo on a similar course) and today was much colder. On the 19th I had to finish with a 5:01 last mile for a decent time, but today I was much more "even" in my splits, so I was happy with that (goal was 5:30):

• 5:24
• 5:28
• 5:26
• 5:30 (slight uphill)
  
• 5:20 (slight downhill)
  

Total Tempo Time: 27:09

Pace: 5:26

Sinster (13)

Today was ROUGH!!!  One of my worst runs in months.  I like to think that I can generally handle unpleasant conditions.  I'll run in single digit temps, snow, rain, ice, etc.  I don't love it, but I survive.  I guess today I learned the one thing that gets to me though--wind.  It was horrible this morning.  Weather channel said the wind was blowing @ 28 mph with gusts up to 39 mph.  It was coming from the south, so I tried to run east to west and avoid it head-on, but it wasn't happening.  As usual with my long runs, I wanted to hit around 6 min/mile, or even 5:50 after the last 2 weeks, but I didn't even come close.  I did 1 mile easy, then started my garmin.  Course was to the canyon trail, south past old hospital, through Jill's old neighborhood and the motel frontage road.  Splits were:

• 6:46-Slight wind
• 6:47-Increased wind and uphill
• 7:21-Wind directly to my front, all uphill (at one point, garmin says 9:15 pace) :(
  
• 7:10-Wind straight on, all uphill
  
• 7:04-Wind off and on as I go through a neighborhood
  
• 7:29-Road now flat, but wind seems to pick up
• 7:36-DOWNHILL and I slow down even more.  What a joke.  Gusts were easily 35+ right about now.

At this point, I've ran 7 miles in 50:10 (7:10 min/mile) and feel trashed.  So I decide to turn around and run home:

• 5:41-Uphill the entire mile and it feels like I'm running DOWN an escalator!
• 5:44-Flat road, wind to my back
  
• 6:16-Wind off and on through neighborhood
• 5:47-Flat, wind off and on
• 6:21-Downhill-ish, but the wind picks up and nearly knocks me over multiple times
• 5:37-Finally flat and wind at my side
• 5:28-Same as above.

So my second 7 splits were all over the place, but my average was 5:51 per mile, so when it's all said and done, I'm okay with that.  I was happy that, after 13 miles, I was able to finish with 2 quick miles.  Overall though, it was just brutal today.  I was frustrated at how slow I was going even though I thought my effort felt as high as ever.  Whatever.....  I guess that's just the way it goes living in a windy city.  It makes me appreciate the runs in 10 mph winds!

Red (63)

An easy 4 miles after the dentist and before work. Winds were 25+ mph again this morning, so I stayed inside and ran on the treadmill. First 3 miles were at 5% incline, last mile was at 7%.

Sinster (17)