We rejoin our hero as he shivers in the cold of this week. Mother Nature followed up last week’s snow with some warmth that quickly went cold as the week went on. It also got rainy. Very rainy. To top it off, evening events, meetings, and new shoes happened… and some were undone, and Strava segment records were attempted and failed.
Monday: 8 miles. The weather wasn’t too bad – it was up to nearly 50 when I started running, although it went down over the day. Ran 8 miles in the park and the subdivision next to it. I ran easy – in fact, if I had run 7, I would have ended with a 9:02/mile pace, but the last mile was an 8:05 lap that came out of nowhere, which pulled my pace down to 8:54. Maybe it was because the rain started on me. The last 0.04 miles being at a claimed 6:43 pace helped there too. 8.04 in 1:11:30 (8:54/mile pace).
Tuesday: 5 x Hill. The morning weather was rainy with a warning of mixed precipitation. I elected to run in the afternoon, and when I was getting my second cup of coffee I realized I made the right decision – I heard ice pellets hitting the door of my house. The hill paces were 7:05, 7:28, 7:54, 7:51, and 8:08. I continued the last one up the hill to attempt to get a CR for the hill in Strava, but it was to no avail – not only did I not get a segment PR, but I’d have to get A LOT faster to beat four others that I happened to see while I was out there… and those four others have the top spots on that segment. Regardless, it was great to see other runners out there… even if they were running 1.5 min/mile faster than me!
This was my first and last try with New Balance 1080 v9s. The heel cup is made out of a slippery material and after the low five miles, I had a hot spot on both heels. Pity, since the rest of the shoes feel great. These are getting returned to Amazon and I’ll visit Fleet Feet in Oakley to see about getting something that feels just as good without the idiocy in the heel cup… which might be the 1080 v10s, which I wasn’t aware were out until I heard it on The Morning Shakeout Podcast. Overall, 5.14 in 43:23 (8:26/mile pace).
Wednesday: 4 mile recovery. I didn’t push this at all. I went to run in the park, and after finding a few ice spots from puddles leftover from the past days of rain, I decided to go into the subdivision. There were fortunately no ice patches on the sidewalks. 4.31 miles in 38:16 (8:53/mile pace).
Thursday: 8 miles at M pace. This was a rainy and chilly morning. Ran in the park and neighboring subdivision after form drills and finishing with some strengthening exercises. I didn’t hit my goal pace during the 8 miles- I wanted to be between 7:33 – 7:53, I was at 8:01. Overall, 10 miles in 1:22:21 (8:14/mile pace).
Friday: 16 miles. VERY cold morning. There were some lazy snowflakes, but dry with a few ice patches. Ran in my new Asics Gel Nimbus shoes, which now have some mud on them from me running off the path to go around ice patches. My water bottle cap froze, so I started walking a few seconds on every other mile to open the bottle and get a drink. Lemon-lime Gatorade Slushy does taste good, but it’s likely more refreshing on a hot day than a cold one! Overall, 16.05 miles in 2:22:08 (8:51/mile pace).
Saturday: 3 miles. Woke up to 14° temps and promptly went back to bed, knowing that it was going into the 40s later. I ended up running in the afternoon and just stayed in the subdivision. Wore my other pair of new shoes, which were nice. 3.37 miles in 28:03 (8:20/mile pace).
Overall, just under 47 miles this week. Two weeks until my season-opening race, the Bockfest 5k. Next week has more running with an interval workout and an easier Thursday. 🍻