Chad's Runs

Woke up for a 5am run, noticed the wicked wind and went back to sleep.

Felt good this morning so I put in 6 instead of 5.  Average pace 8:27.  29 degrees and dark.  It was breezy too so I was a bit chilled for the first mile or so but warmed up nicely after that.  I had to shed my gloves at mile 3.  The cold is intimidating but never as bad as it seems once you get out.

It was warm this morning, 43 degrees.  15 degrees warmer than Wednesday.  Weird.  8:27 average in my heavy shoes so that's good.  Projected snow on the ground tomorrow so that sucks.

6 miles at 5am.  32 degrees.  There was a north wind that made things a little chilly this morning but it was still pleasant.  There was even a few snow flakes, hardly enough to mention but they were there.  Average pace was 8:26.

I'm a pansy.  I watched the weather Monday night and got scared of the cold and decided to skip the run Tuesday morning.  It turns out that it wasn't as cold as it was supposed to be and I should have got up and run.  Well, I decided to get up Wednesday morning and check the temp.  This time it was cold, 19 degrees.  I went back to bed.  Wednesday night it was already 23 degrees when I went to bed so I skipped this morning as well.  I'm a little scared of 20 degree weather but I bet it I would hardly notice the cold after a mile or so.  I'm a chicken.

So, it was so nice today I left work early to get in a run.  I've felt really good on my recent runs and because I'm a pansy I've been getting plenty of rest between runs.  So I decided to run 7.  I haven't run that long very often this year but I felt really good.  I had my fast shoes on and put down a 8:09 average.  Cool.

I knew Ogden filled up fast but a week?  Crazy.  I missed it.  No biggie.  I was debating between Ogden and Utah Valley.  I guess the decision was made for me so I signed up.  I hope to run some long runs with some of you that are running Ogden.  I think that will get me some extra miles early that I always seem to be lacking in my marathon training. 

No miles of the weekend.  This got to stop.  I hate getting up early on Fridays and Saturdays, but if I don't I never seem to find the time to get out.  Crap.

Super slow this morning.  I don't know what the deal was.  It was warm this morning with a bright moon and great running conditions and I didn't feel tired or anything.  I was just slow.  Average pace 9:20.

Had the alarm set for an early run but just didn't want to do it and went back to sleep.  It was such a nice day that I went home a little early to fit in a run in the after noon.  I didn't feel sluggish like yesterday and ran at 8:21 average pace.  I haven't been running enough so I'm going to take tomorrow off intentionally.  I'll be back on Thursday.  I've got to put in more miles so I'm ready for Utah Valley in June.

7 miles after work during a beautiful sunset.  Pink stretched across the entire sky from east to west.  Another good average pace of 8:15.  I started out faster but ran out of gas a little for the last two miles.  It'll come.  I'm thinking of 10 on Saturday but I'm not sure I'm up to braving the snow.  Is anyone going to run in the storm and want company on Saturday?

The wether reports were intimidating and I was a little scared about this run last night.  I woke up this morning to calm weather, damp roads and 33 degrees.  Perfect.  So, 10 miles on the JRP, 9:04, negative splits, relaxing.  My knee feels fine but my lower legs feel a little tight.  I need to pay attention, stretch, and not crank up the miles for a few weeks or I'll get shin splints.  30 miles this week is more than I thought I should run when planning it last week but I felt so good I just went with it.

I ran at about 4:45 in the evening and it seemed pretty warm out so I wore shorts and short sleeves.  It turned out to be a little cold for that but wasn't that bad.  My Garmin hic-upped again.  I think my average pace was around 8:12 to 8:14.  These afternoon runs are much more enjoyable than the 5am runs I was running.  It remains to be seen if I can get all the hours worked I would like.

I know its a little girly but I'm enjoying running through all these awesome sunsets.  I should bring a camera and post some pictures.  As for the run, the legs were a little tired after yesterday's run.  I don't have much endurance for runs on consecutive days.  The average pace was 8:38.  I'll add a 5th run per week in a month or so; that should help.  I want to add some long run miles first.  I've missed a bunch of fun group runs because I haven't been up to long distances.

Oh yeah, anyone running any Thanksgiving runs?  It sounds fun although I might not have time.  All of my relatives have other plans so we skipped a big day in the kitchen in favor of a reservation at Marie Calendars.  We were a little late getting a reservation so our time is 12:15, and with getting the kids ready and a 30-40 minutes drive to get there I don't think I'll have time.  So, never mind.

HOT DANG.  I had no idea I had this in me.  I was shooting for 24:30 and was going to be disappointed if I didn't make 25.  But breaking 23 minutes?  Awesome.  My watch hic-upped again so I can't really give splits.  I do know that the first was 7:08.  I don't know that I've ever run a mile that fast.  I started off a bit too fast and slowed down a little from there.  And how about that weather?  Absolutely perfect!  I haven't run a 5k since I was 17 or 18 so I had really no idea how I would do but I couldn't be happier.  

 I also met another Chad blogger.  That guy is dang fast and broke 18:00.  So congrats to him.

Lots of fun on a run with some great folk.  I know I'm going to forget some people but here goes.  RAD and QP put this together, two for one kind of thing.  allie, Kelli, and Smooth.  OK, now for the people I met for the first time.  Eric, his wife Catherine, Amy, Wendy, and Annette.

We ran the 5 or so miles south to inlet park then back.  I had promised my wife I'd be back by 11:30.  My house is about 300 yards from the trail so I stopped there and walked in the door at almost exactly 11:30.  My car was still parked up at the start so I showered, changed, and got a ride from my wife back to the start to pick up my car.  Again perfect timing because RAD and QP had a big spread of various goodies.  I brought my 4-year-old Paige with me and she joined in with the treats.  I think she had 4 cups of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream.

OK, that was the highlights.  Now for the boring parts, the run.  My distance ended up at exactly 8 miles.  (8 miles ending at exactly 11:30?  Weird.)  I felt a little sluggish for only 8 miles.  I was recovering from the Turkey Trot so that is to be expected.  I've been feeling the start of some shin splints so I'm taking Saturday off.  I'll stretch it out and be back at it on Monday.  Don't worry Rachael, I'm not injured.  This is just preventative maintenance and it feels the same now as it did at the end of last week.  The 30 miles I ran last week was a big jump.  I wanted to run 32 miles this week but I'm not disappointed with the 27.  I'm feeling good and I want it to stay that way.  Dang, this paragraph makes it sound worse than it is.

7 mile progressive run.  I decided to do it while running mile 3.  I wanted to run one between 8:10 and 8:20, miles 4 and 5 were to be between 8:00 and 8:10, and miles 6 and 7 were to be between 7:50 and 8:00.  It worked out well.  Mile 6 goes under main street and I fell behind a little on the way of the hill and had to hustle to get 7:59.  I ran 7 a little faster than I needed at 7:48.  Overall pace was 8:09.  I don't know when it will happen but I want to average 7:30 so I can run 8 miles in one hour.  Just a goal I pulled out of the air and seems like it will be an accomplishment when I get there.

Rough run.  Yesterday's run must have taken a lot more out of me than I thought.  I ran hard but I didn't think I ran this hard.  Anyway, today's average pace was about 10:30.  I knew soon after I started that I wasn't going to run the 7 I had planned.  I decided to shoot for 6 but even that was too much and I took a shortcut home.  I hope runs like this build endurance because otherwise, what a waste.