SRRC run -- Sun. February 24

Small crew this week as Ivan's busy, Mark (I think) and several other Swifties are doing the ten miler in U-town, and it was a *very* cold start to the day. Still, it warmed up with no wind and lovely sunshine; 6 people all together, two for four miles, and four of us for a 7 miler or so (I was not ready for a full 9 miles with Andy and Coach J). Taylor the BHS freshman joined us, so we set off slowly -- just right for gentling my older bones back into the rhythm of it. Quite comfortable, nines and then sub nines: we did the usual start, then instead of Enfield went left on 9 along to 202, up to the VFW and back down to Dana Wds, looped in there then back on GeoHannum and the usual route back to the start from there. Final data:

Time: 1:05:06
Distance: 7.48 miles
Speed: 6.9 mph -- which isn't even endurance pace; call it "convalescence pace"?

Comment: Very pleasant way to get back into running, sort of. I'm not sure I'll be able to go out again this week, but if I can I should be able to pick up quite smoothly, I'd guess. Another whole week of not running, OTOH, would lead me to reconsider the spring break plans for a 30K. . .

Backpost -- Sun. February 17 solo

Two days after the last run I came down with the cold that everyone's been having; several lousy days followed. Felt a bit better on Saturday; no Snowstorm, but thought I'd make the SRRC run. Then in the morning felt lousy again so skipped it (saw Mark and others running as we family drove through town), and then went out for a solo run in the afternoon. Headed down the rail trail, first bit only, then up Springfield to town center and down Jabish to 9, turning right there and back home, thus:

Time: 42:53
Distance: 5.65
Speed: 7.9 mph

Comment: Felt comfortable going round, only one fast (sub-seven) mile, but definitely a bit shaky at the end. Low on reserves with the cold. Still, glad to have gotten out, at least.

SRRC run -- Sun. February 10

Snowing gustily on a just above freezing day. I chose shorts to have less to get wet, and trail shoes for the snow on the roads and sidewalks. Just Andy and Coach J and me for the longer run; I mentioned I'd not been out all week, so I wasnt sure about pace, and we set off, doing the reverse Enfield. I felt surprisingly comfortable, and we rolled along, gently on the uphills, but with me still working on my short pace fast feet idea, so it looked quickish -- especially I guess on the downhils. Here's the first five laps: 7:47, 8:14, 7:01, 8:02, 7:04. Remember, Andy likes 7:30 (or better), and ignores hills, so he was fine; Coach J has said he's happy with 7:45 or slower if we're feeling like it. But at 5 miles (entering Hamilton) he figured this was getting to be a race, and he took off. I knew it was too early for me to work on a fast finish (last one or maybe two miles, I'm used to), and I saw that the pace was way more than I could keep up. I think he was probably doing 6:00; I followed hard for a bit then, faded, thus: 6:16, 6:26, 7:40 -- and finished up a bit faster, with the last part-mile at about 6:25 pace. Andy had just tagged on at the higher pace, no problem, I guess. Here's the total figures:

Time: 1:03:36
Distance: 8.77 miles
Speed: 8.3 mph -- which is officially my stamina pace, but this run had all paces used; tres weird.

Comment: ouch.

two mile runs w/ R -- Feb. 4, Feb. 9

For a couple of reasons it fell to me this week to get out there with the 坊や, both days (Monday and Saturday) being times I couldn't run myself, and both being snowy/snowing (but not too cold). First one was a circuit of most of the cul-de-sacs here, second one included all of them; first one he was good for the distance, second one he showed some fade. But he's game for repeats, so in time he'll get used to it. Maybe move up to 3K on the track, and then 5K in summer? If we stick with it.

Time: 12:10 and 16:34
Distance: 1.24 and 1.58
Speed: 6.1 and 5.7

SRRC run -- Sun. February 3

Another pleasant outing, with Ivan and four others (including Bill W.) starting on the 9 miler. Andy and the two Bills took off, so it was three of us, and coach had already run 9. We did the standard Enfield, gently; warm enough so I was in shorts, but w/ hat and gloves. Followed the regular path all the way, so back through the high school; ended up with just under nine:

Time: 1:12:19
Distance: 8.94 miles
Speed: 7.4 mph

Comments: a very gentle pace, on a lovely hint-of-spring day. A bit sore from yesterday, but nothing particular, and the mix of solid uphills and gentle downs was perfect.

Also, a tip re eating for the 30K race I'm planning--try out eating during a long run in non-race conditions first; also, if I get hungry at 1:30, eat at about 15 mins, and again at 1:30. Yoghurt, if it works for me. We'll see. . .

Snowstorm 10K - Sat. February 2

Three late nights in a row, but managed to be in bed by 1 a.m. and ready to go at 8:40. Arrived in good time at the park, checked in, then headed out for a warmup run (seeing Ivan arrive too). Very mild (38+) and damp, but still tricky patches of ice here and there. I was in road shoes, so had to be especially careful. Here's the warmup:

1.78 miles @ 13:19 = 8 mph

Good crowd, and I sighted on Elvin (sort of); SteveO back, and Bill R doing the usual chat too--quite a social gathering. Groundhog Day run, in fact. Went through the crowd early (SteveO said he was in poor shape and that I should be battling Frank R again) and then tried to keep Elvin in sight--but at the end of the first mile he was disappearing and I found I'd been very slow (6:51; way off pace). So then pushed a bit, and managed a 5:46, and clock was 19:50 or so when GPS measured 3.1; looked like a good chance to beat 40 mins. Plugged on, saying hi to Joe F too, and then one guy who passed me as we headed back into the park. Kept pushing and ended up catching a HSer who had a stomach complaint (suggested he took smaller strides, to recover), then just before we reached the big downhill caught another guy, normally faster, who'd had a spill. Turned out to be a *very* long 10k (6.62 on my gps), and though I did a 5:45 and had a fast ending, couldn't beat the course clock:

Time: 41:00
Distance: 10K (6.62 miles. . .)
Speed: 9.7 mph

Comments: felt like a PB over the first miles (Ivan said the same) but that was not to be. Still, came in 9th and it felt like a good outing. Had a numb-leg looming as we did the loop in the park before heading out the main entrance, but smaller steps and dumbluck kept it at bay, it seems. Not gone, but not too much of a problem in the end.

Campus laps -- Tue. January 29

First week of classes makes for little running time, but I took gear in and set out for 2-3 laps on a cold evening. Clockwise, as usual, and first lap was okay--several other runners going the other way, so it felt quite social. Starting the second lap I could sense numbness coming on, but kept going to the end, then it just got too bad. I was planning to run back to the car, for almost 5 miles, but stopped dead at Hampshire. Waited a minute or two, then recovered a bit and decided to do a couple of sprint loops at the footpath up from the carpark (second set of numbers). Here's the whole thing:

Time: 32:10
------3:55
Distance: 4.65
--------0.54
Speed: 8.7 mph
------8.2 mph

Comment: didn't quite make it to "speed" pace (should be 8.9) for the laps, and the sprints include recovery distance, so average is slower. But until I get over the numb-leg I'm a bit stuck, it seems.