20 Minute Tempo Run

Ahhh the last run of February. I did 4.9 miles in about 38 minutes - including a 20 minute tempo run that covered approx. 2.8 miles ~ 7:15 min/mile. It was the first time I ran hard in a few months and it hurt. The weather was great. My knee was still a little sore, and my lower back was killing me during the tempo part - hopefully I can fix that over the next few weeks.

Miserable Windy Run

Not a great run today. The wind was up over 20 mph of the water and the day was cold enough so that it felt kinda nasty out there. Nevertheless, I managed my 5.2 mile loop in 42:42 (~8:05 pace). In addition to the wind, my legs felt tight after yesterday's strength session. My knee felt a little sore following the run, but I haven't noticed anything else yet. Wednesday should be nicer and maybe I'll actually get 3 runs in this week.

Second of Three Runs

I did another 5.2 miles today - this time paced again by the new Dave. Without his pacing on Monday I ran the route in 43:30, today was 40:30 - much faster, sub 8:00s. I'm pretty much bagging the "swim in the morning idea" - just ain't happening.

Working Through the Winter

So the wife and kido's are gone, so I'm going to rebound this week with some more consistent workouts. I started yesterday with my 3rd redo of the 3rd week of 200 situps. I did the 21/27/21/21/30 - although I think it's this workout, not the pushups that's killing my lower back. So, I pushed-off the pushup to an alternate day. I'm doing that now: 14/18/14/14/20. Not sure if I'll make it through. ugh.

Today I made it out for a 43+ minute 5+ miler. Pretty slow stuff - but my goal this week is to pile-up a bit more mileage: 5 mile/day Monday/Wed./Fri. In addition - I'd like to try and hit the pool Tuesday and Thursday morning.

I've been pretty consistent this year - except for last week (due to work) - so hopefully after this week - I'll be ready to get crakin this spring.

Update: only got 18 on the last set of pushups - think I may be maxed out here...

Easy Run

Today I did 4.8 miles with the fast Dave. We did the normal route, but only the Avery loop - no Jupiter. I think we covered it pretty fast: 36:14 - probably ~7:40s. Again -faster than I would have normally went.

I've continued to do the 100/200 pushup/situp thing - but I'm restarting week 3 because I missed the last day and wanted to start early this week and spread it out more. I'm doing this mainly because my back has been suffering through some of these strength training workouts and I wanted a few days inbetween for recovery. I think I'm going to do week 3 workouts Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday - then only do 2 of the week four workouts next week: Tuesday/Thursday - then try Sunday/Wed/Sat week four the following week - that way I always get 3 days rest instead of 2. Hopefully the back will respond.

Brutal Hills Today

Today I took my newbie running Dave on the Lestertown road route - which actually heads north past EB, onto military highway - but then East alongside the sub-base on Lestertown road. This road sucks - brutal hill about 2.5 miles into the run that just killed me. I was driving the struggle bus for the rest of the run, which ended up at 52:50 for 6.25 miles (~8:30 min/mile pace). It's really not the lenght on this run, it's the hills that kill. I'll be felling this one for awhile.

6 More Weeks!

Pictures courtesy of the Nittany Line.

So, I made it out today for a good snowy winter run. I'm still loving this winter thing. We were suppose to get hammered by snow, but as the storm tracked east - the predictions of snowfall decreased to a few inches. My new Dave running friend, and Minnesota native, had absolutely no problem going out in the snow - and as expected it was really pretty nice out there. We did the normal route with both loops in ~42 minutes. That's probably about an 8:00 min/mile pace for the 5.3 mile circuit.

Winter is one of those things that you're just better off learning to love. Need proof? From the Nittany Line: Punxsutawney Phil "emerged" (read: was dragged from a deep sleep) from his hole and saw his shadow which somehow translates into 6 more weeks of winter. Considering this winter has been A) freakin' cold as Hell and B) started early, it's a safe bet to say that we are in a weather pattern that will carry this horrible winter on for a long time.

Horrible? Only if you enjoy running in sweeltering heat and installing window units. I've learned to love winter. So thanks Phil! I'll take the 6 weeks and put off Spring chores, watch college hoops and drink some more winter brews!

And be careful driving on those roads.