I Probably Should Make My Blog Public again

Treadmill!

I have been a lazy blogger.

We got some snow, enough to make running outside in the dark too much of a hazard.

I shoveled for an hour and a half. Since we live by a field, the snow blows and settles in crazy patterns. The lawn was bare in some spots and 6 or 7 inches in other spots. Our driveway had drifts by the garage and at the bottom. The rest was easy to shovel. The end of the garage was the hardest to dig out.

Then when Chuck got home we had some family time. Finally I ran after the kids were in bed. It'll be treadmill for a few days, though I might go out to do a trail race on Saturday.

A treadmill run in the later evening. Now to decide if I'm going to drive an hour for a trail race tomorrow. I'm leaning toward yes, but it will depend on the temp tomorrow morning. If it's in the teens, I'm okay.

Miles 1: 9:14

Mile 2: 9:19

Mile 3: 9:15

Mile 4: 9:09

Mile 5: 12:24

Mile 6: 11:10

Mile 7: 11:17

Last .46: 10:03

You can clearly see where this race went so horribly wrong for me. The last time I did this race was 4 years ago. It was very cold back then, but not a lot of snow. This time, it wasn't terribly cold (in the 20s with a wind chill in the teens), but we just got about 8 inches of snow. I did NOT use screw shoes because I am not smart.

Mile 5 was slow partly because it contained a hill that you would be a fool to run up (if the entry about the last time I did this race is to be believed, it is about .2 long and winding, but I didn't look this time at my watch).

But mile 5 also began my undoing. No joke: I fell every time there was a downhill and on almost every uphill. The second or third time I fell and bent my thumbnail back so much that I think my nail may eventually fall off. I knew it hurt, but I didn't examine it until the race was over and I was at my car.

After that point, I stopped really caring about the race and just concentrated on the running part. I intentionally slid down a few hills. On about 5 occasions, I told a bunch of people to pass me because I didn't want to be that guy, you know the one who slows everyone down when the trail narrows. Unfortunately that included at least 2 women each time. I cared, but only in a remote and detached way.

My original goal was top ten women. Ha. I just barely made it in the top 25. I think I was 24 because they gave out the last t-shirt to a woman when I was still in the chute (prizes were to the top 25 women). I mean, I'll take the t-shirt and the medal, but don't feel good about most of what happened here. I'll update my time and place when they post results.

My miles for today include a mile warm up and a .55 cool down to make my mileage even. After my cool down I grabbed a snowball to ice my thumb on the way home.

Next time: screw shoes. I don't think they would have stopped every fall, but they would have given me more security and thus I would have been riskier and faster on the hills in the last half of the race.

Treadmill with the last quarter mile at 7 min pace. The cure for running soreness is more running. I was sore most of the day, but feel normal now. I think my neighbors might have some trouble leaving the house tomorrow. That's their mailbox in a giant mound of drifted snow.

5 a.m. miles on the first(and hopefully last) snow day of the year. I did a ladder sort of workout to pass the time, with a 6 minute warmup, then 6 minutes at 6.6, 5 minutes at 6.7 and so on and so forth, up to 1 minute at 7.2 and then back down until I was finished. Nothing exciting or too taxing.

I finally read The Book Thief. Finished last night when the plow woke me up. My eyes leaked a bit at the ending, but it was a good read.

I am in the habit of finishing fast on the treadmill for no other reason than I just want to be done.

Felt sluggish tonight. 2 miles is a waste of a shower, so I solved that problem by just not showering. I might regret that, but not much. Now I'm watching Illinois being destroyed by Wisconsin. Sad. A shower might be a better use of my time.

An interrupted 5 treadmill miles. Laundry and kid stuff got in the way, so it took me a while to get it all in. Raining today. Yeah, rain and 40 degrees 4 days after one of the coldest days in decades. There is no more snow on the ground.

There was a great melt today, but still piles of snow from the plows. I could only get out of my neighborhood going south because the north end of our street was flooded over. So I had to run up and down some of the neighborhood streets, which was fine.

Pace was good, just under 8:30 (8:29 to be exact) for the whole run. My last mile was 7:52. The 40 degree temps felt pretty nice. Wind was strong going west,which did not feel pretty nice during mile 5, since that whole mile was into the wind. However, it was a good run and felt great to be outside.

An easy six, slower than yesterday. I fell in the first 1/2 mile. I was on the ground before I knew what happened, but I think I caught my foot on some uneven sidewalk. Scraped myself up a bit, but I was more embarrassed than anything else. It was nice out again.

This run just seemed extra tiring. Not sure why. I stopped at 4, then forced myself to do one more after some water. I think the house is just too, too hot. Maybe I'll try cracking a window next time. I'm sure my heating bill will love that.

One of my freshmen complimented me on my weave today. Cracked me up. I don't have a weave.

Treadmill miles with 4x400 at 7:30 pace thrown in to keep it interesting.

An easy 5 treadmill miles. My run was boring, so instead I confess that I replied all to an email from our chaplain when I really only meant to send it to him. The email went out to the whole staff. A little embarrassing because the email was personal in nature, but it could have been worse.

It was around 0 and the roads were slick. As soon as I had to slow my pace I considered running a mile or two outside and then finishing on the treadmill. After mile one, I kept convincing myself to go just one more. I ended up doing 6 outside and then 2 on the treadmill faster (but not too fast). I'm ready for spring. We are getting another little snowstorm right now.

This was the rare treadmill run that didn't feel dreadful. In fact, after I finished 5 and stopped the treadmill, I really wanted to get one more in. So that's what I did. Yay me.

Earlier in the day, it was sunny and almost 40. By the time I got out it was cloudy, but not too cold, maybe just above 30 or so. Still good. I avoided sidewalks since any residual snow was slushy and just ran streets and the bike path.

8 has been my go to longer distance each week. The only time I did more was when I ran the trail race, and I only did 9 that day. I have to start thinking about a training plan for my annual half marathon. It's not till April 26th, but I bet that'll be here before I know it. I have no solid goal, except to PR.

I went out for a run after school but before our open house, which started at 5:45. I forgot my face mask thing and it was frigid. I had to rig up my hood to cover my face. It was very windy when I started. Then the driving snow statrted. I decided to call it a day after 4.

Roads were terrible on the way home. Snow day tomorrow. This is the second snow day this week, the fourth this year. I don't particularly care for snow days. But someone's got to think of the children.

4 easy treadmill miles. I played a little with the pace throughout, but still kept it in the easy realm until right before I finished, when I just got impatient.

My butt cheeks are windburned from yesterday's run. Ha ha.

Just 3 slow miles in the p.m. after putting Charlotte to bed. Glad I got something in. Weather is supposed to be bad tomorrow, but I'm praying for an outside run.

No long run today. Fresh snow, unplowed streets, bitter wind. I decided to run indoors, but didn't get to it till after putting Charlotte to bed. I started slow and then worked my way to less slow. No pushing the pace for me today.

Though the air temp was above freezing, my opportunity to run came while Charlotte was napping and Chuck was out serving chicken at the Knights of Columbus. So...I opted for the treadmill. For whatever reason, my treadmill runs are always slower than outside runs. This was no exception. It didn't help that I stopped a few times (laundry, potty, water and chafing this time), but 7 miles is better than I usually do.

I foresee another snow day this week. They're saying tomorrow or Tuesday, maybe both. I'd rather be in school. Is that blasphemy?

I think I had a breakthrough in my treadmill running. I do not know what was the difference today. The time? (I ran in the afternoon because of the annoying snow day we had today). My breathing? (I remembered to take my inhaler BEFORE starting my run for once). My pre-run fuel? (I've been eating garbage lately, but have been making better choices in the recent days). Better hydration? (I doubt that one, because I didn't drink nearly enough water in the morning). Who knows!

I didn't run fast or anything, but I did run all 8 miles without finding some excuse to pause. I did a little speed interspersed throughout the run, but just randomly when a song came on that spurred me to speed. Even those bursts of speed weren't really fast, though.

Whoops. Forgot to post.

I was supposed to go to a basketball game, but instead I took a nap. The last few work days have been a little crazy. We got our seniors out of the building Wednesday to serve in the community, a new tradition we've been dreaming of for a while which finally was realized. I got to go with a group of kids to a multicultural center serving migrant families. It was a good day. But after my nap, I eked out 2 miles, which is better than the zero I was thinking about doing.

An easy treadmill run right after work but before driving to Springfield. Pushed the pace to around 8 mm after a little warmup so that I could get on the road.