Same Time, Same Channel

Easy run on the treadmill.

2 minute warm up, 32 min. @ 6.0, 20 min. @ 6.5, 5 minute cool down.

The weather was such that I could have bundled up and run outside this morning, but since I didn't have to get anyone besides myself off to school or work, I decided to just come into work early, run on the treadmill and shower here, and then come upstairs to my desk. We're down to one car right now because we took the rental car back and haven't bought a new car yet, so I had to have my husband drive me here early this morning.

My choir Christmas program went well at church yesterday. We had kind of a rough start on the first song (Carol of the Bells), but it got better after that and we finished strong. I got lots of nice comments from people. I'm looking forward to taking the next couple of weeks off from choir. I need a break.

I took the post-week-2 pushups test this morning and failed on the 21st pushup. If I had been able to complete that 21st pushup, I could have started week 3 in the middle column. So at this point, I can repeat week 2 a third time, or go ahead with week 2 in the first column. I think maybe I'll do the latter. I really don't want to do week 2 again.

Easy run. Average pace 10:11/mile.

Outside temp: 20°F, a few icy spots but otherwise clear ground - it's supposed to snow later today.

This was an uneventful run that I spent listening to Tess of the d'Urbervilles. I've got to finish it this week because it is from the library and is due soon. Poor Tess. It's a very tragic story. I've read it before more than once, so I know what's going to happen, though I don't remember all the detail.

I'm struggling to be excited about running lately. Maybe it's because there is so much else going on with Christmas and buying a new car and everything. I start my official marathon training next week, so I'm hoping that that will get me psyched about running again. Maybe I'm just tired of running in the cold all the time. But I have to admit that the cold doesn't really bother me any more most of the time. It's just a hassle getting all the layers of clothes on to go out and run in it. But while I'm out there it doesn't bother me much.

Maybe my problem is that I run more or less the same distance on more or less the same routes all the time. I'm going to start varying my weekday distances more when I start the marathon training, but I don't have time on weekday mornings to go someplace else to run. I pretty much have to leave from and return to my house and there are only so many directions I can run from my house.

Easy run. Average pace: 10:01/mile.

Outside temp: 20°F

The 4-6 inches of snow we were supposed to get turned into nothing. They claim that the clouds dried up over the mountains, and so we got no snow here in Denver. I would have liked to have a white Christmas, but still it's nice to run on dry ground.

I listened to Tess again because now that I've started it I've got to finish it. I've got about an hour and a half left. And then I checked out an audio book called Cold Sassy Tree because I had put a hold on it and it became available yesterday. So I'll listen to that after Tess, but then maybe I'll take Snoqualmie's advice and turn to running books. However, I'm limited on what I can get in terms of audio books by what is available on the library's website.

I decided to give week 2 of the pushups program a third attempt, and so I did day 1 again this morning. I'm okay with day 1. It's day 2 that I struggle with. My previous two times through week 2 I've had to do day 2 at least twice each time. But then I'm able to do day 3 with one try despite that it is harder than day 2. Go figure.

I have to work a half day today. I was going to take a vacation day, but I would have had to use a whole vacation day even though the work day is only a half day today. It's the same situation on New Year's Eve. I'm terribly late on account of my sleeping in and then doing a longish run this morning, but I'll just go for 4 hours and then come home. And I've got Christmas presents hidden at work that I need to wrap and bring home.

And we bought a new car yesterday. I get to drive it to work today. It's a gray Toyota Matrix.

Update: I finished Tess.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Easy late morning run after opening presents and eating more than I should have. Average pace: 10:13.

Outside temp: 40°F.

Wind speed: ESE 10.4 mph (avg.), ESE 20.7 mph (max).

It was quite windy and I was sometimes too warm and sometimes too cold, depending what direction I was going with relation to the wind, despite that I wore my new smartwool socks, pants, and top that I got for Christmas. The socks aren't as heavy as my older smartwool socks and I would have done better with the heavier ones, but the new ones will be good when the weather isn't quite as cold.

The game console that we got for one of my sons, which is supposed to play old NES and SNES games, doesn't work. I'm going to have to deal with customer support and maybe send it back (I bought it online) tomorrow. I feel bad for the kid, but he's having fun playing Animal Crossing for Wii, which we also got him. (We already had a Wii.)

I got Daniels' Running Formula, so I'll be reading that.

Easy run. Average pace: 10:00/mile.

Outside temp: 36°F. It felt slightly warmer than yesterday even though the temperature was slightly lower because wind was not a factor today.

I wore long pants, a long-sleeved t-shirt that was way too big for me, but was the only clean long-sleeved shirt I had today, gloves, and a headband to cover my ears. The gloves went off and on a few times.

I ran without headphones today, which I haven't done for a while, so that I could concentrate more on the running. Also, the headphones don't work well with the headband. It was a pretty nice run.

The ground was damp. I guess it rained earlier this morning. But it wasn't raining when I ran and there weren't puddles. We might get a little snow this evening, but I'll be surprised if we do, because none of the snow they have predicted for Denver lately has actually happened. I'm trying to decide where to run tomorrow. I'm planning to do 14. If the ground is very wet I'll stick to the roads rather than a trail because I don't want to run on a muddy trail. If the ground is dry, I'll probably go do the Highline Canal Trail again.

Long run. Average pace: 10:12/mile.

Outside temp: 19°F. Wind: 9.2 mph WSW.

I ran on the roads in Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree instead of running on the Highline Canal Trail. I just didn't feel like running on the trail today. The trail is actually kind of boring because the scenery doesn't change much. Running on the roads I can at least measure my progress by what intersections I've crossed. But the roads around here are very hilly so I had a lot of hill running today on my long run.

I was going to listen to Cold Sassy Tree while I ran, but I had lost my place in the audio files and gave up trying to find it before my run. So I ran without headphones.

I thought for the first 3 miles that I had overdressed, but that's because I was heading east, away from the wind. As soon as I turned south I started getting cold again. I had taken off my hoody and tied it around my waist after about 1/2 mile, and left it there for the whole run, but my hat and gloves went on and off several times during the run, as did my neck gaitor, but I had a problem with the neck gator. When I had it on it would get damp from my breath and then when I pulled it down it would freeze and so next time I pulled it up it would be all stiff, but my breath would thaw it out and soften it up.

Next week is 20 weeks out from the Ogden Marathon and I start my official marathon training schedule, which I got from Run Faster by Brad Hudson. This schedule has longer runs on Wednesdays and Thursdays than I've been doing. I'm going to have to get up really early to get in 10-12 miles on those days before going to work. It will be okay next week because of the holiday, but after that, kids are back at school and I'll have to be out running in the cold at 5 am. I wonder if I'll still have the will to run after I finish this marathon.