Holiday running & lazing

I know I should have blogged this weekend but at least I kept track for a Holiday update.

December 24,

After the last minute shopping and in a mad dash to get out of helping wrap pressents, I hit the workout room and ran off a fairly easy 5 miler before Santa showed up and hogged the treadmill.

It was actually quite enjoyable (well for a treadmill run)

5 miles 10:13 pace
5% grade 4.5 speed.

December 25,

Once the long Christmas day was over with and all the guests had finally mosied on home, I decided to run a quicky with my son. I threw on my head lamp and we cranked out a fairly fast (considering the ice hazard) 2.5 mile run. It felt great to get out of the house and do something other than eat!

2.5 miles @ 7:50 pace
icy road conditions

December 27,

My son was still home so we planned a long run today instead of tomorrow. The thought was about 8 miles or so, maybe 10 if things felt good. Somehow, it seemed we just couldn't get out the door early in the morning as planned and it was close to noon by the time we hit the road.

I usually am pretty good about figuring the layers needed for outdoor runs, but this day I failed miserably. It seems I was cold to the core and felt I needed many layers. I found out in a very short time that I was overdressed.

The temp was around 25 and should have an easy one to gauge. At the start I still felt a bit cold so I didn't bother to shed any layers. What a mistake, by the end of mile one I was feeling pretty hot and ready to discard some clothes.

In mile two I hit a fairly big hill and my energy level just dropped. I felt like I was carrying 40 extra pounds and nothing in my body felt right. Ever have a run like that? The stride felt wrong, my form was off, I was hot, I felt weak and my whole body screamed for me to stop running. I couldn't seem to catch my breath, the air felt damp and heavy.

I labored until the end of mile three hoping I would overcome this difficulty but it just didn't come. I stopped to shed a couple layers and my son continued with out me. He ran a loop and We caught back up a mile later. I felt a tiny bit better, definately cooler but still not right.

I pushed another mile and a half then finally gave up on the run. It seemed there was no way I was going to settle in. It was just plain not my day for running I guess. I racked my brain for an excuse or reason for my failure. It is not often that I don't finish my planned run.

I walked the half mile back to my house feeling discouraged and beaten. I took my usual hot shower but still did not feel better about my run.

4.6 miles 9:05 pace
heart rate monitor went wacko and read 224 for the whole run. It did not fluxuate at all. It showed up as 133% of maximum HR.

December 28,

I woke up early and decided to try for my long run again. I was not sure how I would feel but felt I couldn't let the weekend go by with out at least trying.
I headed out for the 8 mile loop which has a good mix of hills and difficulty.

The first thing I notice during the first mile is that I felt pretty good. My heart rate was averaging 134 and peaked at 148. I decided I would try to keep it in those zones through out and see how things went.

Mile two had three hills which didn't seem to affect me at all and actually I managed a 25 second speedup by mile three. Things were feeling pretty darn good and by mile four I was settled in well and comfortable.

By mile five my heart rate had escalated to 155 average and 159 peak. I was running faster and stronger. Mile six would be the tell tale as it was a full mile of uphill.
Again I felt great and had no problem maintaning pace on the hill.

I don't know what was wrong yesterday but I sure was over it today. I finished mile eight with a decent kick and then walked a good cooldown. My day felt great! I almost forgot about yesterday completely.

8 miles @ 9:18 pace
av HR 145 max @ 164
Just a great run