Novice or Expert? Eh, I run

I feel as though all I've been doing lately is complain but I all I want to do is run outside in the fresh air. Not in the pool, not on a treadmill and not around a small (and poorly designed) indoor track. My body craves the ease of running outside. It feels best out there, but as it is...it'd be like smoking. 

Yucky air! Couldn't really see the mountains on the far side of the valley yesterday.  Not supposed to storm til Thursday. May not clear up 'til Sunday.

 More this pm. 

so i had this plan. 1m warm up, 4m hard (6:27, :24,  21, :18) then 2m easy then 4 m hard (same paces but increase the elevation with each mile. I wanted to test my new asthma treatment against hills--already works with speed. and since it's nasty outside, this was my option).  anyway, i warmed up and did 6:27, :21, :18, :15) then did 2m easy and during my first hard mile of the second round my achilleges started burning worse. i'd felt it a little before but not much. so....i stopped. i could have pushed thorugh the workout but decided that in the long run, three more hard miles wouldn't be worth the risk of another injury. lately it seems i'm a walking injury--though not bad a bit perpetual. frustrating. sorry it's a bit depressing to read this. it's also depressing to write it too (blarg!) anywho--one of these days my achilles will recover fully and I will run run run.

good thing i'd been planning on only pool work tomorrow anyway (the treadmill seems to be hard on my body so i wanted to give it a break for a day).  

Utah officially has the worst air in the nation (according to the trib). and thus i was in the pool again. intervals (first time this week, tom. i'm cutting back). it was a good workout. there's another girl who sometimes runs in the dive tank w/ me and i like to see how many times i can lap her (to be fair, i wear a belt and she doesn't but i'm not just trying to keep my head out of water. anywho...). apparently i'm a competitive person (well, when it comes to running anyway) because trying to catcher again and again really got me running hard. great workout. even after she left i was able to push it pretty hard. hard enough that even w/ my new asthma meds i was able to give myself and attack from spriting for laps and one of the life guards came to ask if i was ok. i said yes and when i got out thanked her for her consideration of me. so jon, cody and joe...you're not the only ones who've been suprised by the sound of my lungs.

easy easy day. rain-snowish. maybe clear the air a little.

The air quality is going to change this weekend! Yellow tomorrow and GREEN on Sunday!

You know, the St. George Marathon (2008) was not a beautiful day, but today was a beautiful, gray, sodden day.  The difference perhaps may be that there was no particularly strong headwind (which may in fact be a miracle itself because sometimes South Jordan has a head wind every direction you run. I tell you Mary Poppins would only stay five minutes here).  

I think, though that the beautiful difference between today's somber palette was not the wind but perspective.  See, the views from any point in any of the major valleys in Utah have been limited, smoggy, smucky and down right frustrating. But today, ah today you can see. Well, I couldn't really during my run because my eyes ahve been reacting poorly to my contacts and i just didn't feel like running in my glasses, so it was a fuzzy vista, but even so, i could tell it was clearer. And the rain.  I ran in the rain! It pattered on my face and my hands and wetted my shirts. I had to run in soupy mud where there was construction and my spankin' white shoes are happily stained with mud. It was a good run. (despite the fact that it was a bit shorter than I wanted, but for a first real run back after my achilles bugged earlier this week, 8 miles isn't too shabby. and it didn't really bother me too much. a bit tight at the base of my calf but i'll try to work that out later).

 Will workout more later.