I had an unexpected weekend at home this weekend while my husband took off for Duluth with my girls. My son's home games that were postponed due to the nasty blizzard last weekend, were rescheduled at the last minute for this afternoon.....the windchill or realfeel is -57 degrees today which is of course MUCH safer for the teams traveling here than the blizzard.....I went outside this morning to grab a shovel quickly and my wet hair froze into instant icicles. I sounded like a set of windchimes when I ran back in the house. My son thought this was cool and because I'm such a good mother I proceeded to do it 2 more times. Fortunately I don't have neighbors to see me running up and down my sidewalk in Ugg boots and a robe freezing my hair into windchimes to make my son smile...
Now, I've run in nasty temps and I actually love winter running but when the windchill dips to numbers that are actually Minnesota swimwuit temps if you drop the minus sign, it is just not worth it for me to be outside. I have no desire to be that tough. Proves nothing to me. SO, as much as I don't love the treadmill, I am married to the thing until I see a lovely 0 or higher for a temp:)
Yesterday I took to the treadmill for my longest run since my marathon last October. 14 miles which was to be simply an easy run as ALL of my runs are right now and a step up from last weekend's 12. I've come off a week of fighting a bug of sorts. It didn't hit me as hard as it hit my husband but I was overly fatigued and very low on energy most of the week. Found myself sleeping EARLY and still feeling rough during the day. I really struggled on a couple of my runs but I didn't feel like I was "sick" enough to want to skip them altogether right now. I did have to cut a couple short. Times like this are when I would really just like to just be "garminless" outside and run by feel......The hard part about running on a treadmill is you HAVE to set a pace to start. This leads to an annoyance when the pace you set feels tougher than you want it to which messes with the ability to enjoy any part of the run......
ANYWAY, I set out to run my 14 miles yesterday feeling MUCH better physically. I situated my water boy in front of the TV (again because I'm a good mother) and started running. I ended up starting at an 8:27 pace which is where my legs seemed to want to go in mile one. I really just wanted to get the 14 done, whatever the pace. Treadmills are SO monotonous and I have a most impossible time running a steady pace for anything longer than .4 miles......14 miles were not sounding overly enjoyable. I managed to run along gradually picking up the pace a little bit in the first 6 miles. (48:56 at 6 mile) I was beginning to feel really good which sometimes happens when you run slow-ha! I decided at this point that I would maybe try 2X10 minutes a little faster....like 7:30 pace to break things up. I started right at the 6 mile mark at 7:30/8.0 and was surprised at how good I felt here. Just kept going and told myself I would do 2X15 minutes instead and then changed it to 2X20 minutes and when it was all said and done, I ended up running 8 miles straight across at 7:30 for 14/1:48:49/7:46 pace:) Now, this is surely no amazing run but it did not feel hard and it did a great deal for my confidence yesterday to know that #1-I can run 14 miles and #2-I'm not that slow:) I won't add #3-there was no wind and I was on a treadmill at simply 1%.
7 more this morning at 7:53.
Now, all this treadmill running has allowed me to get some running clothes that generally stay buried, some use! I save my "going out" running clothes for the gym and my "mom" shorts for my home treadmill-ha! I never match at home and I wear whatever I can find. I sometimes look at something in the "stay home" pile and think, "these are cute, why don't I wear those to the gym". Then I run in them at home and remember why....
So-just a random Sunday update. Feeling really optimistic about the weeks to come! Excited to watch my boy play hockey this afternoon!!! Peace:)
10 comments:
This is awesome Jenn! 7:30 is pretty close to your old MP, and to be able to run 8 of them at this pace at the end of your longest run in a while, AND feeling good, AND on the TM, is MORE than encouraing. It is supper. Gosh, it took me many months to feel comfortable running 7:30s....jealous of how quickly you get back to fast running after a break:)
Laughing at the pic of the shorts! Story of my life in the summer, no matter what shorts I wear! Good thing that by the end of the run the shorts are wet all over, ha!
I like winter running as well, but I would also stick to the TM in temps like you are having. Laughing at your hair story...and picturing you doing it all over for Max.
Bahahahahah - loving the shorts. Some would say that's a badge of honor and flaunt that baby (that'd be me) but then I look around at weight lifting class and notice every single person is wearing black (except me) and I know they're all laughing at my sweat soaked crotch. I guess I'd better get on board with gym attire etiquette. Great job on the run though, girlie - you are getting cranking those miles and the speed is coming back to you. Base building sucks the big one; I want to take a fork and poke my eyeballs out most days, but it does have a purpose and you're being paid the rewards of being patient. You just always always always inspire me and one day maybe I'll get my speed back like you. Well, not LIKE you because your marathon pace is faster than my fastest half marathon pace, but I'd love to get out of the super suckville pace.
-57 below is like crazy...is that even possible to get that cold???? I think I'd run to the mailbox and not only have frozen wind chime hair but I'd never make it back because I'd be frozen solid, stuck to the mailbox until spring arrived. That's just nuts. I probably shouldn't mention that it's 51 degrees in Denver right now. Okay, I won't.
Alrighty girl, just hopped over to check on you and see what was up. rarely blog anymore...but I may actually get something out today. We'll see how much time I can waste between now and bedtime. In the meantime, congrats to your amazing kiddos and keep rocking that treadmill!!
xo
Lovely sweat stains! And is your car a Nissan? I - well not I - but my Ipod was found - in the house!
Thanks AM. Maybe just a good day as 7:24 for only 1 mile felt like death a few days ago. I'll ride the good days though and thankful for this one:) I seem to remember wringing my shorts out after a run and hanging them over your deck so yes, they are certainly wet all over in the summer!!!
Ha ha Jill! Yes, I reserve black and black only for the gym!! I keep checking to see if you blogged something but no...no you didn't ha!!
Andrea-not a Nissan but I once had a Nissan and it was my favorite car ever!!
1. It was 65 F here today and I had my heat on.
2. That's a tough treadmill run and a really strong one! To finish with 8 solid 7:30's says something about your strength.
It is crazy cold here in southern MN - I cannot imagine what you are experiencing way up there!!!! Tomorrow will definitely be a TM day for me!!!
Your 14 miles sounded awesome!! And thanks for the laugh - I know that sweat pattern. Unfortunately, I realized too late how well it would show on hot pink shorts! Yep, black is the way to go!
gosh, I need a better way to find when you post since I don't always get on my blog to look at my blog post. I would have missed this one. And missed out on hearing this funny story about you and your ice hair. Ha! I got some great visuals.
I knew you'd be back to your old paces so much sooner than soon. ;) Not surprised at all. Big things to come for you Jenn. And those shorts! Ah, those shorts. ;) Love it!
Can you tell I'm commenting AFTER a long run and close to bedtime? I know, lame comment...but I e-mailed too. :) xo
When my shorts look like that, it's not from sweat... Just sayin'
So, NO great surprise that you can hold that fast a pace already. :)After each of your vacations, i have always been impressed at how soon you are back to your super speedy self!
Did that hurt your head? I can't imagine -57! Do you blow bubbles that freeze when it's like that?
Glad to see your post. I am a little behind recently due to some family stuff.
Great running! It comes back fast, so I'm not really surprised, but I know how it feels to struggle one day and feel a tiny bit scared that maybe it won't come back. Glad to hear you're feeling good!
And it's pretty awesome that you'll share funny sweat stain pics! I'm always wondering if I'm the only one who sweats like that! I think all my shorts are black though, so you can't really tell...
You can learn more about healthy lifestyle and how to exercise at cardiochick . Another helpful resource is airbnbguru where you can find info about travel. Also, great post about water bottles and socks for those who want to be prepared for outdoor activities.
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