Novice or Expert? Eh, I run

Moderate run today. wanted to run hard but my asthma (which seems to be worse when i actually take my inhaler--note to self. see allergist when i go back to slc for the winter break) was bugging me a bit. so i stopped and stretched a second and meant to run slower, but i still ran a pretty decent pace. not as hard as i would have liked but much harder than i intended (does that make sense). anyway, it was lovely weather. (warm before the storm? my roommate just told me it's supposed to snow tomorrow afternoon). all in all, i'm happy.

Ran a few hard miles in the morning.  Not afraid of 6:07 (not for a few miles anyway), so it was a good morning. Then, a few miles easy and an easy run in the afternoon.

i like intervals, but i have a history of stress fractures in my shins...so i run them in the pool. also, it's nice to get a good hard run in without the pounding.

will run a bit more now. 

i ran a bit more. now i'm tired. good thing i have a lovely chicken salad to re-energize me. 

easy day. morning run...6.5, afternoon 9.5.  i don't particularly like running in the dark alone (scary things about, ya know), but school was such that I  had to start in the dark this morning and finish in the dark this afternoon. but don't worry. i didn't die.

my legs were TIRED today. tired like they haven't been in a long time...like i lifted wieghts recently (ha ha) or ran a lot of miles (strange that it would affect me now. i always run lots of miles)...so i started easy on a warm up and without realizing it started running hard/fast. i really wanted to stop because it wasn't time to start running fast (still just barely into my run), but i knew that if i slowed down, i chanced my not wanting to work hard at all. 

 part way through the run i realized i needed to gauge how far i could run. i needed to be back to go to my sister's house and didn't start at my normal beginning place so i really didn't know how far i'd gone (hard to know on a canal road. later i mapped it out on mapmyrun.com). i checked my watch and thought about how much time i'd need to get back to my car from where the canal road intersected a main thoroughfare, then tried to divide the remaining time in half. i don't think so well when i'm working hard physically. the first, second, and maybe even third time i calculated it didn't seem right. i don't know what i was thinking, but logic was not it. i'm much more creative when running than logic (what does that say about the sport...hmmmm. may prove something about the rest of the world thinking runners are nuts--i.e. illogical).

 ok, back to the run. once i'd decided on the time i'd turn around, i was a bit dis-heartened. i was tired tired still but trying to run hard. i decided to extend my cooldown about a half mile so i could stop working that much sooner, but on my way  back up the canal road the more determined part of me (perhaps less logical when feeling the leg burn) decided to can the extra cool down and i pushed harder in that last half mile. felt good.

all in all, good day. may try for a few mroe easy miles to stretch my legs and run out that burn. (run to recover...ah, the logic of it all).

i woke up at 8:15. i was supposed to meet the boys at the river trail at 7:50. Oops. missed a chilly run (and good company). so...i ran later after it warmed up since i knew i'd be running alone anyway. good easy run. loved it.

probably shouldn't have run monday (writing this on tues). probably shouldn't have worn heels to church sunday. probably shouldn't have done the elliptical in my basement the day before.

 just an easy 8. drove up to couer d' alene (what does that mean?)with a friend for his 2 hr meeting (yeah for having a month off work. i love teaching).

my achilles is angry again. 

if anyone needs me for the next while, i'll be in the pool. 

pool running and other cross training for me. more intervals. 3x 2 laps hard, 3 laps hard, 4 laps hard (with recovery in between). took a bit more than 95 minutes. 

smells like teen spirit?   no no. i smell like chlorine.

pool running. about 1:45. laps are around the dive tank...not the regular lap swim laps.

1 lap easy, 1 lap hard, 1 lap medium

1 lap  (sprint, jog, sprint jog), 1 lap hard, 1 lap  (sprint, jog, sprint jog)

 6 laps moderate

2x 1 lap sprint/jog alternates, 1 lap hard, 1 lap sprint/jog alt.

6 laps moderate. 

will do some other cross training later. 

 10 min elliptical, 20 min bike (then i had to take my roommate home)

20 min swim. 

easy running this morning in the pool (1:50). well, a few "harder" laps and a few laps of hard/easy but mostly easy.

other easy early this afternoon. will probably swim later too.  

pool running (time 1:50).

intervals (laps not equiv. to pool lengths)

warm up 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1.5, 1, .5, 4xhard/easy switch off. cool down. (each lap also had easy recovery running after).

i like the 3 lap lengths the best. and then six (because i switch directions after three laps. so it's just like three laps twice--obviously. amazing how something like switching directions or breaking it mentally into 2x3 with no rest helps me mentally stay with the workout). 

more easy stuff to follow soon. 

3 more easy later 

i'm stuffy.

feeling much better though still coughing some. 

roughly 2 hours. intervals with a 40 min tempo in the middle.

will run a little more later 

nice and easy. ran 6.5 on the dry ground (ok. well wet and sometimes snowy ground, but it wasn't in the pool).

then 8 in the pool anda little more later.

the thing is that my new shoes, which i like, are not made for the winter. mostly mesh. very cold for the first few miles. i was tempted to put on more socks, which would then make the shoes not fit well. but eventually my feet did warm up.

 i was going to run 8 but i could feel a shadow of something in the side of my achilles. so i hit the pool and gym later.  

tom, i know, i know. too many intervals. but i'm still in the pool! i haven't evolved into a full-time land runner again (though I am partially running on land again). i guess you could call me a frog. Anywho, i don't often have the mental capacity to run hard for miles and miles at a time. intervals are just easier for me to handle mentally. i don't know why i can run hard for so long on land but not in the water but that's the truth...so, i run intervals. they were at tempo not sprinting pace today.

 few more easy miles (outside! it's chilly!)

easy miles. achilles feels good (not all on land, but some). i have a cold rash from either running outside today or walking the dog this morning (it was 6 degrees. i only went about 3 blocks. i hadn't known it was that cold.)

ran in the pool by my parents' house. blah. so warm...but that's better than running in blizzard-like winds. there was water aerobics going on while i was running. cute old ladies. and a few old men slowly swim laps and do pull ups off the diving platforms in the deep end (mostly in water so they're easier). they're all so cute and happy in the mornings.

i was actually able to focus well enough to run a decent pace for a long time (no intervals!). i'll do my land running later, but probably in the gym. i got a cold-burn yesterday in logan. 

Well, i was gonna be a wuss but the wind subsided enough and i ran outside (layered as could be). wasn't that bad. especially running with the wind; against it, my eyelashes sprouted white, clumpy mascara. 

i meant to run twice as much today. but THERE WAS POWDER!!! I skied all morning and ran errands whilst digesting my lunch then cranked out about 6 at a pace that surprised me. then i went to the gym for more but only managed a couple by the time i decided i was too tired to care any more.

 sweet powder today (for the amount of snow Alta got). up to my knees in most areas where i skied and some spots past my knees. i had one interesting run...we skied in the trees most of the day because viibility was low and the powder there wasn't carved up.  and...the pillow of powder i was going to take was a small tree. i endo-ed. good thing my landing was soft.

Admittedly they weren't the hardest of hard miles but i was pooped (note to self. eat more protein than i did yesterday. or just eat more than i did yesterday...) got up the morning and ran in the pool, dodging old ladies who were willy-nilly with their water aerobics today because their instructor's garage door wouldn't open. they're so cute. i was then going to run from the gym but had left my contacts at home (purposely run without them when in the pool 'cause then i can't see time slow to a near stand-still).

by the time i slapped my contacts in and threw on my dad's old yellow hoodie, it was snowing. i followed my little sis out (she was a good mile or more out by the time i left). we were the only two nutty enough to run on the canal road. just her tracks and mine for a while at least. this made the running a little sloggish and tough, battling the wind (burrrrrrr!) and the few inches of snow (worse in the drifts). we were smart though, against the wind first and then with the wind for most of the rest of the run (except that the wind changed directions just a little and the snow bit my face for a few miles). but, it was a nice run. i actually like running in the snow. 

8 more miles with the old ladies.

7 more alone tonight. one of the life guards recognized me from logan.

they were medium-ish (still too easy). i was going to ski today so i got up early to run before hand but then i decided it wasn't worth the money to ski for just 3 hours (too much to do today). 

anywho, so i was at the gym running in the pool while the high schoolers had swim practice. i've never been so wet running.  (i think. maybe in a good rain storm) 

I love running but I am now about to enter into more rest than I've had (in terms of rest from running) in a very long time. It's time to play. 

Going skiing (downhill) and then to a cabin (5 miel x country ski in) tomorrow. hope to find time to run tomorrow and sat night after returning from the cabin. Then i'm going to mexico. Driving to Mexico. I hope to be able to squeeze a few miles in with all the fun i'm going to be having.