Wednesday afternoon
Top St & .3 mi micro-run
34 F / 1.1 C
18 F / -8 C windchill
Did everything at about 2/3 max weight, to make sure I didn't overtax my left shoulder. I finally got through my whole shoulders-n-lats routine for the first time in several weeks.
Thursday afternoon
6.25 mi / 10 km
29 F /-1.6 C
20 F / -6.7 C windchill
It took nearly two hours to get through an appointment with the optometrist lady and glasses dude, so I didn't start running until 5pm. I drove up to the fairgrounds again. Most of the sidewalks in my neighborhood are clear now, but there are still some lazy folks whose walks are covered with slush, and a lot of big puddles where walks are uneven or have settled below ground level, so I thought it best just to do my back-n-forth route up at the top of the fairgrounds, to make sure I could do the whole thing bare. It was colder than Tuesday's run, but this had the happy effect of preventing the thawing run-off, so the asphalt was bone-dry. Also, the section that had the slush on Tuesday had completely cleared after yesterday's above-freezing temps, so instead of running a half mile back and forth, I could run nearly a mile before turning around--basically the breadth of the fairgrounds--which reduced the tedium quite a bit.
I kept to my program of staying within the 5-7 mile range for the weekday runs, and always at least 1-2 miles less than my last max run on the weekend, aided by the fact that I was running late and needed to get home to help my wife with dinner and the kids. The temps were colder than on Tuesday's run, but because there was no moisture, just the occasional small patch of ice, my feet didn't numb up as much. I surprised myself when I came home and saw my pace had improved by almost a minute over Tuesday's run. I guess the numbness does slow one down quite a bit.
Basically I've knocked off three minutes per mile since my calf cramp, and am getting closer to the 9 mm pace I had going for me mid-January before the never-ending virus reappeared. If I were measuring my heart rate, I would say the improvement came from measuring my heart rate, but I know that it's mostly a result of running more consistently, continuously, and farther these last several weeks. I'm hopeful I'll see continual improvement over March too, before reviving my tempo runs and intervals. I'm going to hold off on that stuff until I have another whole month of problem-free running behind me (knock on wood
), and just focus on adding another mile or two to my max run. It would be nice to finally break the 10-mile barrier this month.
The week's total mileage is at 21 miles. This is the first time I've topped 20 mpw in many months. I had an Inversion IPA to celebrate. Now that my mileage is back up, I've been sleeping well again and seem to be losing weight again too. Thank you ye running gods.
@HBS: what happened last August?
@HBS, Dutchie & Scedastic: I think it's so great that you guys get to run with your kids. I can hardly wait for that day to arrive for me.
Got the ok to run three times a week with 2 days of light bike in between.