Same Time, Same Channel

General Aerobic run w/ 10 x 100 m strides.

4:45 am, 18°F, 75% humidity, wind 2 NW, very light snow falling with a thin but significant layer of snow on the ground.

I got an earlier than usual start this morning so that I could be done in time to drive my son to seminary. He's going to have to walk tomorrow and Thursday and so I thought I'd try to be nice and give him a ride today since my run was short enough that I could manage it with a little effort.

My legs felt like lead today. It's probably from my poor diet while traveling last week, my lack of adequate sleep last night, or both.

I wore the yaktrax this morning because of the snow. I was going to run the strides on the track, but then I realized that the snow on the track would be too deep because the track wouldn't have been plowed at all in the last 3 days. The sidewalks got plowed yesterday and probably the day before, and so they just had last night's accumulation of snow. So I ran the strides on the sidewalk on Cresthill Lane across from the middle school. Cresthill Lane runs very slightly uphill as it heads south and I ran the strides heading south. The wind was coming from the north and there wasn't really enough wind to help me on the strides, but just enough to make me cold when I turned around and headed back in between the strides. I was slow on the strides today. I guess I just didn't have it in me today. Hey, at least I tried. I did try to run the strides with good form, and I guess that's really the point of strides.

I ran a little over 6 miles before I started the strides, and then had about a mile and a half left to make a total of 9 miles after I had done the strides.

AP: 9:30. Splits for the first 6 miles: 9:27, 9:24, 9:46, 9:13, 9:29, 9:16. Pace on the strides: 7:24, 8:01, 8:04, 7:49, 7:52, 8:06, 8:07, 7:37, 7:59, 7:35. Splits after the strides: 9:51, 0:54 @ 9:37.

It's a new week so it's time for a new proprioceptive cue. This week's cue is Running on Water. Here's the summary from Brain Training for Runners by Matt Fitzgerald.

"Image you're running on water, and your goal is to not fall through the surface. To do this, you must overcome the squishiness of your running surface by applying maximum force to the water in minimum contact time, like a skipping stone. Try to make your feet skip across your running surface in a similar way: quickly, lightly, yet forcefully. This proprioceptive cue will teach you to stiffen your stride, minimize ground contact time, and begin the thrust phase earlier."

I tried to think about this cue while I was running today and I think I did okay at first, but then I got tired and didn't do such a great job towards the end of my run. I doubled back just a bit at the end of my run and I could see from my tracks in the snow that I wasn't doing a great job of picking up my feet. However, I saw my own tracks in the snow while I was doing the strides since I went back and forth, and I was doing better then.

Medium-long run.

4:50 am, 16°F, 50% humidity, wind 10 SSE.

This felt like the run that would never end. I got an early start, before any of my family was awake, and by the time I got home, 3 of them had left for the day and a 4th left a few minutes after I got home. Besides that this was a long run, I had to stop periodically for traffic lights, a pit stop, and phone calls.

I ran the County Line Road and MacArthur Ranch Road loops hooked together, so it was quite hilly, but what else is new. There was a good amount of melting yesterday, so the roads were mostly clear. The only significant stretch of snow and ice that I encountered was in the last mile on the green belt trail near my house.

Tuesdays will continue to be long and hard for the next several weeks. I'm looking forward to a recovery day tomorrow.

I tried to think about the Running on Water cue from time to time, but my mind wandered quite a bit.

AP: 9:03. Splits: 9:24, 9:13, 9:15, 9:22, 9:29, 9:01, 9:34, 8:44, 8:47, 8:30, 8:54, 8:56, 8:55, 8:37.

Recovery run + core conditioning.

5:20 am, 27°F, 41% humidity, wind 3 S.

I stayed up too late again last night. I've got to find a way to get to bed earlier. I'm sleepy right now.

I ran my recovery run just slightly faster than I have been because I got a late start and I was worried about time. I had to get home to drive the boy to seminary. The increase in speed over that distance amount to a savings of not quite 2 minutes, but 2 minutes makes a difference in my busy morning schedule.

I changed into the VFFs after 4 miles and ran the last 1.12 in them. I'm getting better at putting them on. I can do it a little quicker than I used to. I think I'll stick with the 1+ mile in them on Friday this week and then up the VFF mileage a little next week.

I tried to think about the "running on water" or, as I like to think of it "skipping stones" cue. This is kind of a vague cue. I just think of it as quick turnover. Since this one is kind of strange, I also tried to focus a bit on doing navel to spine at the same time.

AP: 9:59. Splits: 10:19, 10:09, 9:51, 9:53, 9:43, 0.12 @ 9:50.

Medium-long run.

5:16 am, 33°F, 58% humidity, winds calm.

I ran the route that takes me past my office. This route is mostly downhill for the first half and mostly uphill for the second half. I sometimes prefer that to the routes I do more often, which tend to be uphill for the first half and downhill for the second half.

This run was unremarkable (so then why am I remarking? you might ask). It wasn't really fast, but it wasn't too slow. I didn't feel great, but I didn't feel awful. I'm glad it's over.

AP: 9:11. Splits: 9:35, 9:16, 9:12, 9:17, 9:29, 9:09, 9:19, 9:19, 9:03, 8:43, 8:37.

Recovery run + core conditioning.

5:14 am, 19°F, 81% humidity, winds calm.

We got a spit of snow last night that stuck to the grass but not so much to the roads and sidewalks. However, it did make things slick in spots and there were a few places where I had to run over snow.

It felt good to run slowly today. I'm liking these recovery runs.

AP: 10:26. Splits: 10:32, 10:29, 10:13, 10:27, 10:26, 0.14 @ 10:30.

A fox ran along side me but off to my right a ways for a bit.

As is my Wednesday and Friday custom, I switched to the Vibram Five Fingers for the last mile and a bit. There's a snow-covered stretch of sidewalk in front of my house and my neighbor's house. I left barefoot-looking tracks in that snow at the end of the VFF part of my run today. I thought that was pretty cool. I wonder if anyone will notice. A lot of kids walk past there on their way to school.

I've got a busy day today. I've got to go downtown and video tape my  husband's top mariachi group performing at the state capitol for Arts Advocacy Day.

Long run.

7:34 am, 31-45°F, 18-12% humidity, wind calm/2 WSW.

I ran out to the 4.5 milepost on the Highline Canal Trail and back twice, the first time with Michelle and Michelle. They were planning to do 8 miles today, but I talked them into doing 9 so that I would be half done when they finished. I took a short break/pit stop in the rec center after finishing with them and going out for the second time.

About 50% of the trail is covered with snow and/or ice. On my second time out and back, some of the sections with just a little ice had turned muddy.

18 miles is never easy for me. I'm glad to be done. It was nice to have friends and conversation for the first half of the run. I listened to music for the second half.

AP: 9:42. Splits: 9:57, 9:45, 9:47, 9:59, 9:59, 10:28, 10:29, 10:16, 10:18, 9:29, 9:26, 9;37, 9:18, 9:09, 9:28, 9:16, 9:21, 8:40.