Same Time, Same Channel

Easy run with 3 hill sprints at the end. Average pace - 11:04

Hill sprints:

1 - 10.73 seconds @ 7:04/mile

2 - 10.86 seconds @ 7:04/mile

3 - 11.10 seconds @ 7:34/mile

I ran slowly today. I don't know if it was because I was tired or if it was because it was cold (34 degrees) or if it was because I was trying to listen to General Conference on my mp3 player.

I did the shred level 2 before my run.

This week is supposed to be a step back week, or whatever you call it. I'm going to do pretty much the same during the week that I did last week, but I'll do a shorter run on Saturday.

Here's a weird thing. My husband's community orchestra and my oldest son's youth orchestra played a side-by-side concert at a local high school last night. About a half hour after the concert ended and we left, someone drove through the front door of the high school and down the hall. The school is now closed until they can repair the damage. We're waiting to find out if it was someone connected to the concert who did it. I hope not.

Saucony Omni 6: 125.69

Easy run. Average pace - 10:29. Outside temp - 32°F.

Just an average run today. Nothing special happened. I did get startled by a dog at one point that looked like it might jump the fence, but only its front paws made it over the fence, so it wasn't a big deal.

 I just remembered a thought I had during the run. It would be nice if I could put hot chocolate instead of water in my water bottle. But it wouldn't stay hot over the hour-long run in freezing weather. I'd have to insulate it somehow. Maybe it's not a good idea anyway, but it's like when I was a kid and wished that Sprite would come out of the drinking fountains at school.

Easy run. Average pace - 10:46.

Outside temp - 32°F. Clear skies.

I got up and did the shred level 2 with 5 lb. weights. I think I'll do level 2 one more week after this week and then move up to level 3 and do that for a while and then maybe start a different strength-training program. I've got a balance ball that I haven't used much. I might give it a go.

My legs felt heavy on the run this morning. I've just been tired all week. Maybe I'll sleep in on Saturday and then do my run after swimming lessons since it's not as hot as it was last time I tried a mid-day run. Of course I think it's supposed to be warmer on Saturday than it has been the last few days.

I realized this morning that I'm not going to have to drive my son to seminary at all next week because the kids have the week off from school (fall break). That's going to make it harder for me to get up on time in the morning. But not having to get kids off to school will also save me some time in the morning.

A few days ago someone left or dropped a mattress in a painted island in the middle of a road near my house. I noticed last night and again on my run this morning that someone stuck two political signs into the mattress. They're not for candidates. They're for ballot issues - one for school funding and one for library funding. It just gave me kind of a chuckle on my run this morning.

Saucony omni 6: 130.78

Tempo run - 2 miles easy, 4 miles tempo, 0.60 miles easy

Outside temp - 36°F, clear skies

Just for fun I actually put hot chocolate in my water bottle for my run this morning. It was lukewarm chocolate by midway through the run and cool chocolate by the end of the run. I don't think it really made a difference in my performance, but it was kind of silly and fun. I don't think, however, that I'll do it again. I didn't drink all of it. I dumped out what was left when I got home.

I decided to do a tempo run with a 2 mile warm up, which is hard to do on this particular route because the first 3 miles are up hill, so the first mile of the tempo portion is pretty hard. Once I got going in the tempo portion I gave it a pretty good effort and probably ran as fast as I could maintain over the distance.

Incidentally, the old mattress with the political signs stuck in it was gone. The mattress had been there for a couple of days. I guess the signs finally brought enough attention to it that someone got rid of it.

Since this was a tempo run, I'll include my splits.

1 - 11:00

2 - 11:15

3 - 9:48

4 - 8:53

5 - 8:08

6 - 7:53

0.60 - 10:24

Easy run. Average pace: 10:32.

Outside temp: 40°, clear skies.

I thought I would be tired from yesterday's tempo run, but I felt okay. I overslept by 10 minutes, but I managed to do my Wii Fit body test and the shred level 2 before taking Caleb to seminary. But I didn't have time to get my running clothes on until after I took him, so I got out for the run a little later than I would have liked. No big deal, though.

Since it was a little warmer, I went without the sweatshirt. We're supposed to have a warm weekend, and then more cold weather next week. It's actually supposed to be in the upper 70s tomorrow afternoon, so I think I'll go ahead and do tomorrow's run in the morning. I don't have to go terrifically early since I'm only going to do 6 miles since this is supposed to be an easy week.

Saucony Omni 6: 136

Easy/moderate run. Average pace - 10:03.

Outside temp: 43°

I ran in the morning but not as early as I have to do on weekdays. I was able to run without the head lamp and reflective vest. I tried a new route that I've never done before. I took the bike trail that goes along C-470 from Colorado Blvd. to Quebec St. and then came back along greenbelt trails. I've ridden my bike on the C-470 trail before, but had never run it. It is quite hilly. One of these days I'll do the portion west of Colorado Blvd., which is even hillier than the portion east of Colorado Blvd. that I did today.

I forgot that they are doing major road construction on Quebec St. until I saw a highway sign along C-470 suggesting alternate routes. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to get through the portion of Quebec St. that I needed to go through to get to thegreen belt. I figured if that happened, I would just turn around and go back on the C-470 trail. However, there was a paved pedestrian path separated from traffic by those cement traffic dividers through the construction zone. That was nice.

The only problem with this route is that there is a lot of traffic on Quebec Street and a lot of people pulling out from parking lots. There was one guy this morning that was looking beyond me down the street and just kept easing forward into the cross walk where I was. I wasn't sure at what point he was going to stop. He had his window open, so I hollered at him so that he would look and see that I was there.

I did a shorter run today because this is supposed to be an easy week. It's back to long runs on Saturday next week.