Going Long (again) in 2024

Easy run; 8:41 pace.  The temperature took a decidedly colder turn over night - down to -12C/10F, with a stiff North wind, which I had in my face for miles one and six.  At my back for miles three and four.

Supposed to get warm again tomorrow, and there are freezing rain warnings in effect over the entire region.  Might be a treadmill run tomorrow if it gets as bad as predicted.

Well, that was an interesting run.  An easy one, with a pace of 8:47.  That Colorado Low they have been predicting arrived.  Sure is making a mess of things in Ontario.

I looked at the radar and it didn't look pretty, but whatever freezing rain had already fallen didn't look so bad on the ground, so I decided to take it outside, thinking that I could turn around at any point if it got bad and finish on the treadmill.

The first mile was fine, but then the next 4 were into that East wind.  The ground was covered with ice, but it was really course (not smooth) and so not slippery for running.  I figured it would work well, since I'd have the wind at my back for the second half.

Well, at mile 3, it got really bad with freezing rain/ice pellets, and it didn't let up for the rest of the run.  But I thought I could tough it out into the wind for just the 2 more miles.  That was rough - the ice pellets really stung on the face and I had to look down so as not to get them in my eyes.

As predicted, the five miles home were great.  The ice pellets hitting the trees sounded like glass shards hitting them, and the road really piled up with the falling ice - kind of the consistency of wet icing sugar and a few inches deep by the time I got home.  Visibility was low and it got quite dark, but I made it home safe and had a good run.  I'm glad to have been able to take it outside, cause I'm pretty sure my speed/hill work on Wednesday will have to be on the treadmill.

Easy run; 8:53 pace.  It's an ice rink out there.  Seriously - I could have strapped on my skates and skated down my street.  Had to really shorten my stride and pick my spots carefully,  Just glad I didn't fall.  Probably should have used the treadmill.

Hit the treadmill for my hard workout today.  Hills.  There is a nearby hill which is 1km long with about an 80 foot rise where I had intended to do these workouts.  It matches the Newton Hills pretty closely.  However, it's virtually impassable now with all the ice and snow.  I'll get a much better workout inside.

So, I jacked up the back of my treadmill, effectively giving me hills both up and down.  I ran three repeats uphill and two repeats downhill, each of 1000 m, for a total speed section of 3 miles.

I ran the uphills at a pace of 7:15, and the downhills at a pace of 5:45.  Those were tricky, and I had to really watch my balance.  400m recoveries between each repeat.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!  51 today.  Got to thinking of how runners know each other's ages, or at least within 5 year increments - normally women are more shy than men about that, but for runners it doesn't seem to matter much.  Then I got to wondering if some people lie about their ages on their race applications.  Then I got to thinking:  hey, nobody has every actually verified my age at any race I've run.  Do some people lie about their age in order to get an easier qualifying time for Boston???  Strange, what goes through my head when all the blood is rushing to my legs.

My first marathon pace (Tempo) workout for Boston - will be a regular Friday feature from now on.  Six miles at 7:40 pace.  I'm hoping to run Boston around 7:45.  On the treadmill, because there's no way I can keep a consistent pace on the roads right now - they're a mess.

The only glitch was I had to stop twice to re-set the treadmill on the blocks.  Both times, the machine got wobbly as it teetered close to the edge.  I'll have to figure out some way to keep it from slipping.  Otherwise, the pace felt good.  I do hope to get a lot of these workouts done outdoors so I can get a good feel for the pace, but it's nice to have the treadmill when it's needed.

Added bonus:  I was able to run both up and down hill, to get ready for the Boston course.  I ran 2 minutes up and 2 minutes down throughout.

Recovery run; 9:05 pace.  Snowing pretty hard, and a stiff east wind, so the first half was tougher than the second half.  And lots of snow to move through all the way.

Got a good upper body workout yesterday.  Helped a couple of parishioners cut and move trees on their newly acquired property.  Nice to give the old chain saw a workout; hoping I don't feel the results over the next few days - so far, so good.