2/22/10

Today's run: 4 miles

Week total to date: 6 miles

Month total to date: 14 miles

Lent total to date: 14 miles

It was All-Star toque day. :D Last year, when helping out with the local university's men's hockey team, I got it as a gift. I've started wearing it on days when I need that extra oomph--how can you not want to kick ass when you're wearing an NHL All-Star toque?

Also, for some reason, 4 miles just feels like a significant run for me. I can't explain it, but I always feel a little extra "heck yes!" after I finish a 4 miler.

We have a winter storm watch out for tomorrow night going in to Wednesday. I've been spoiled for the last few days with sun and relatively warm temps. I'm gonna probably do another 4 mile run tomorrow to bank a little mileage in case I can't get out on Wednesday or Thursday.

2/19/10--an exploration with timing.

Time goes, you say? Ah no!
Alas, Time stays, we go.
~Henry Austin Dobson

Today's run: 2 miles

Week total to date: 8 miles

Month total to date: 8 miles

Lent total to date: 8 miles

Today, I decided to do a time trial to see where I was at. Looking back, I should have gone to NMU and used the track or something, but I used my usual 2 mile out-and-back instead. The issues: 1. a significant hill at the very beginning/end of the route; 2. 4 total street crossings, and a mouth-breathing cretin local population who wouldn't know what a crosswalk was if it was beat in to them. But, rants aside--the clock is the clock, and after the 2 miles, the clock read 20:55. Now, I'm not sure which angle to take when looking at this. On one hand, I can see the Lindsey who ran in the Big North Conference finals her senior year pointing and laughing at this. On the other hand, this re-incarnation of Lindsey-as-a-runner is in her infancy, and hasn't been doing this long. So, shame? Pride? Indifference? Perhaps, I'll look at this as a starting point. I'll log some more miles, and in a week or two I'll do it again and see if I can't shave some time off.

2/18/10

Today's run: 3 miles

Week total to date: 6 miles

Month total to date: 6 miles

Lent total to date: 6 miles

When people ask me why I like to run, I think about days like today. Days when the sun is out, when there's just a slight breeze, and I feel awesome. That's why. Today was just a great run, no questions asked.

I've been slacking

Yes, it's true. I've been big time slacking. The only minor excuse I have was this cold/flu-like bug I came down with last week that kept me on the sidelines, but I was slacking before that, even. I'm ashamed, really. I'm better than this.

But, I'm going to look forward, not dwell on the past few weeks and what I haven't done.

Today's run: 3 miles

Week total to date: 3 miles

Month total to date: 3 miles

It felt good, all things considered. Usually the first run back after a longer time off or after sickness (and especially after BOTH) is craptacular in a lot of ways. Not today. My legs felt pretty good, my breathing was a little rough given the remnants of the cold that are hanging around but it was nothing too bad. My only complaint was a side stitch I got at about 1.25 miles, but it went away after the 2 mile mark.

I've also started a new challenge for myself--something to kind of get me primed and going before I start a half-marathon training program. It's Lent, and while I'm not particularly religious, I usually give something up or give myself a challenge to take on during the period. My challenge this year: run a total of 120 miles. I did the math--Lent is technically 46 days (the Sundays are not counted in the Western Christian Lent period)(Source), so it comes out to 2.6 miles per day. Giving myself at least one day off a week (I've gotta be realistic--days off are important and thinking I'll run every day would just be foolish), I'm gonna look at it as 3 miles per day. Obviously, I'm going to be working up toward longer runs, so it's not going to be 3 miler after 3 miler after 3 miler. I think I'd lose my mind if I did that. No.

I promise to keep up on this more.

Run 1/20/10

Today's run: 2 miles
Week total to date: 8 miles
Month total to date: 16.1 miles

My original plan for today was to try 4, but when I woke up this morning, my legs did not feel good. I figured my best bet was to do something short and easy just to get myself out and moving. It was a bit rough for the first 1/4 mile or so, but once I loosened up I felt a lot better. Also, they cleaned up the trail quite a bit, and the sun was out, so if nothing else that helped the environment and my mood.

Run-1/19/10

Today's run: 3 miles
Week total to date: 6 miles
Month total to date: 14.1 miles

We got about 2 inches of fluffy snow overnight on top of the icy spots, so that made the trail pretty iffy this morning. Overall, I felt kind of sluggish today, and it was hard to get in to a good pace. It wasn't a bad run, but I've certainly had better.