Running Chick

I haven't been documenting all my run streak runs here because I'm just too lazy to keep up with that much blogging. Heck, I can barely manage to put them up on Instagram, but I my last few runs were pretty decent by my standards, so here we go.

Day 29 - Christmas Swag/Zoe's Birthday/Nighttime Run

This little monkey turned the Big O-N-E, so we had to celebrate by going for a run.

I was also testing out the new swag Josh Santa brought me for Christmas - Brooks Cascadia 7 shoes and a headlamp.

I wasn't really keeping an eye on my watch (hard to do with headlamp & holding a dog leash), so I mostly was just going by feel. I was kind of surprised when I saw the results, I usually drag on the uphill sections of this route. That last mile - I have no idea. That's the most uphill section of the route and it's usually a struggle. Tailwind?

Day 30 - Come Get Me Run

Josh was putting in a half day at work, so I took that opportunity to run down to my mom & dad's house and have him pick me up on the way home. I'm only sort of excited about my pace.  Aside from a small uphill in the first .5 mile, it's downhill the rest of the way. Factor in Zoe pulling me and we have an impressive time. Eh.

It was also fairly warm outside, so I was able to run in lighter gear.  The Oiselle Lux top that I got from Amy and Oiselle Lesley tights were just right for the temp. Josh picked up lunch on the way home. Rodeo, of course, in honor of our Team /var/run Friday lunch tradition.

Day 31 - One and Done

After spending half of the day shoveling off the roof, then the other half shoveling the snow that was on the roof, by body didn't want to be be doing anything other than sitting by the fire, downing Ibuprofen and drinking wine. But, gotta keep the streak alive, so one slow one on the treadmill was all I could muster. I was running easy for this one, my entire body was hurting.

Side note: I've been using the Brooks PureFlow 2s for my treadmill runs. For years I've been running in the most cushiony shoes I could find, and I really wanted to see if I could make the switch to a more minimalist shoe.  I've been keeping my runs in them pretty short (under 4 miles) and I did have some complains from my shins & quads when I first starting using them, but now they're my go-to treadmill. I've also been using them when we run on the track at the SDC, but I've found that my shins do quite a bit of complaining afterwards so I don't know how these shoes are going to pan out for non-treadmill running.

Day 32 - Frigid Five (point five)

This run was cold as hell.

But, what the hell is going on with my time?

My last three outside runs have been in under 10:00. What?

I figured Day 29's run was a fluke. Maybe I accidentally told my watch to use the foodpod instead of the GPS. Maybe I was just having a good day. I dunno. Day 30 was all downhill with some help from gravity & Zoe, so I pretty much wrote that one off.

Yesterday when we took off, I figured I'd be back to my usual mid-10:00 slog for this route. It's a a bit hilly for the first three miles then there's about a mile downhill before we hit another climb back to the house. The last time I ran this with Josh on Thanksgiving day, I had a hard time keeping my pace up. I even had to stop a couple of times to get my heart rate back down from the stratosphere (aka pukeville). I'd classify that run as hard. This time around I found I was fairly comfortable with my pace and my heart rate stayed in the high 160s to low 170s the entire time. My splits were all under 10:00, which is definitely not the norm for me. What, what?

There's a couple of factors that probably contribute to this speed drop. I lost a few pounds bringing me back down to my pre-marathon eat-all-the-things weight. I've been running EVERY FREAKING DAY FOR THE LAST 32 DAYS. And I've been throwing speedwork into my routine every week or so with intervals on the treadmill or track sessions with the Team /var/run crew. Do these things for a month straight and I'm bound to see some improvement, right? I think? Anybody?

In any event, I'll just keep doing the same things and see where it gets me. Since 2013 is coming to a close, it's time to pick my spring half marathon. I've decided not to do Journeys this year. I've done it five times already and I'm getting bored with it. I've got a couple of races in mind, but I haven't settled on anything yet. Soon.