Day Nineteen

Miles: 5 3
Time: 25:18
Pace: 8:26
Splits: n/a

It was 29 degrees out today, and cloudy, and gusty, and it started snowing right when I was going to go run (though nothing has stuck yet). So I decided today would be a good day to try out the good old college treadmills! They actually have pretty nice equipment here, and the treadmills were nice.

However, I walked into the room with the treadmills/bikes/epliticals and holy fuck. It was about 72 degrees in there. No airflow. Bright lights. SAUNA-LIKE. I was dripping sweat after about half a mile. It was so hot that my calves were on the verge of cramping. I cut my 5 mile run down to 3 because I could not stand being in there any longer. It was horrible.

All in all, a very disheartening run. I have been reminded of how much I detest running on a treadmill. I am soaked with sweat, I smell horrible, and I feel like I accomplished basically nothing because I kept pausing the machine so I could stretch out my calves. Looks like I'm going to be (TRYING) to get outside for all my runs this winter!

It also sucks that I couldn't get myself through a 5 mile run (and thus making my week 26 instead of 28 miles) when next week, I have one 5 mile run, two 6 miles run and a 30 mile-week total. Uggggggh, winter!!!!

Day Thirteen

Miles: 3
Time: 23:13
Pace: 7:44
Splits: Don't know, Garmin flipped out

Good run, despite the rain. As soon as I got to the end of the street, it started pouring. And the rain was COLD as it is unseasonably warm, but yet chilly, at 50 degrees. And then I realized my Garmin was freaking out. Apparently, it reset to factory settings. So it was showing me my "virtual partner" stats... not my time/distance/pace. And then after 2 miles I realized that it wasn't popping up my mile splits. So I fixed that in my settings and set off... only to have my watch beep "Lap Error" to me every FOUR SECONDS for the rest of my run.

So I didn't have mile splits. And I was annoyed most of the run. I was soaking wet and freezing... but I still felt good. Both my shins were sore for about half a mile, then felt fine. It was a nice change. :) I am just glad I wasn't going more than 3 miles, or else I am SURE I'd have chafed.

I wanted to throw my Garmin at the ground by the time I got home, given it's strange behavior and constant beeping, but I didn't want to rip my legs off and give them a beating... so I think today's run was basically a success. :)

Day Six

Miles: 3
Time: 24:02
Pace: 8:00
Splits: 7:53, 8:12, 7:57

I woke up this morning, it was sunny. The sun woke me up, to be honest. However, when I went out to run half an hour later, it was cloudy. Weather, you are lame.

Pretty decent run. I picked a bad route and it was really start-stop. I had to wait for traffic about every 3-4 blocks. :( I didn't feel like I'd worked very hard by the end of my run. It was disappointing. Had some weird leg ouchies the first half mile or so, but they completely went away (except my ankle, but I stretched it out at a traffic light and now it feels fine). I don't think my knee is swollen today, so that's good. The 45 degree weather probably helped.

Now off to watch Glee, eat breakfast, take a shower, do homework and go to work. Busy day today! Excited for 8 miles with my dad tomorrow; I can tell that it's going to go way better than my 7 miler last Sunday!

Day Three

Miles: 4 3
Time: 23:49
Pace: 7:56
Splits: 7:53, 8:01, 7:53

I have a disease! It is called mobile leg pain. Saturday, it was my knee. Sunday, it was my knee/quad/hip. Today, it was my right calf/knee. Whaaaat is going on!? I cut my run short by a mile, but I don't feel like there's anything else I can do because my legs are just going to be sore somewhere else tomorrow. I think it's probably just because my legs are still recovering from the stresses I put them through during the last month of cross country, but it's really frustrating. I don't feel like I can actually do anything for them because they never hurt in the same place twice.

I was pretty happy with my pace though. I know it stayed so fast because I had to stop a few times because I was worried about my calf cramping, but it felt good to see a sub-8:00 pace on my watch the whole time.

Five miles tomorrow. I'm anxious to see how that goes/where my legs hurt next time.

Day 1

Miles: 3

Time: 25:01

Pace: 8:20

Splits: 7:58, 8:28, 8:33

First day back in a week, so my legs were a little out of it. The first mile I was super ready to go. My legs were excited to be hitting the road again, but by the second mile my legs were acting up and saying, "Wait! What are we doing? We don't remember this!" The side of my right calf felt really weird, a little like it did a week ago when I decided I need to take a week off to heal. So I iced it, as well as my left knee, because that knee is just weird and tempermental.

All in all, it was a good run. It is GORGEOUS outside. It is the 7th of November and it is over 60 degrees already. This is Eastern Iowa I'm talking about! This is crazy weather! Two weeks ago, I was bundled up awaiting snow! This was a nice change; I even had to run without a shirt on because I got hot. This is going to be an awesome weekend for running/being outside. Last one for months, I'm sure!

I'm really looking forward to my 7 miler with my dad tomorrow. Hopefully my legs behave themselves because today was way harder than it was meant to be.

Goal for before the marathon: Learn to go out at an EASY PACE and run MORE UNIFORM MILE TIMES.