Fitness Run

Distance: 2 miles
Time: 18:04
Pace: 9:02 min/mi

Comments: The cold snap next week will force me into a multi-day hiatus so I took advantage of the weather today to get an extra run in. Since I already hit my distance goal for the week, I decided to turn this one into a pseud-speed workout.

Basically, I took my regular course backwards. Which meant most of the incline was on the final two-thirds of a mile. So my first mile came in at 8:35 and the second mile at 9:26. About what I would expect. Overall, the nine minute average pace was about where I would expect as well.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 40:06
Pace: 10:00 min/mi

Comments: It got cold the past two days and the forecast calls for more of the same next week. So I have tried to plan my runs at the times where it is at least reasonably warm but that's a relative term.

So, while I avoided the most frigid temperatures today, the 40 degree start was not pleasant. The good news is that between the sun and the exertion, I was warm enough by about two-thirds of a mile in.

Overall, my pace has been dropping each and every run although I don't really feel a lot faster. I did make an effort today to finish the last half mile strong. It felt pretty good to open it up a bit.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 40:45
Pace: 10:11 min/mi

Comments: Given the pretty intense launch of this running regimen, I opted to take two days off and see how well my legs felt. Surprisingly, I really didn't have a lot of soreness over that span and no real issues on today's run either.

I got out the door reasonably early since there is a cold front coming in this afternoon and I want to get ahead of my running schedule for the week before it arrives. The run went well in that it wasn't overly notable negatively or positively. Just get out there and get the miles.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 42:04
Pace: 10:30 min/mi

Comments: Due to the rain yesterday and the ongoing battle with the sinus infection, I decided to nix the run. As a result, I came up two miles short on my weekly goal. The solution? Add two miles onto the next week.

So this morning I was up earlyish and put in a four miler. I felt much stronger in my legs but my conditioning is still abysmal. Still, progress is progress. The plan now is a couple days off and a pair of four milers at the end of the week.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 43:06
Pace: 10:45 min/mi

Comments: So, in an effort to make good on the first week of my effort to meet my resolution, I went back out this morning. I also figured I am about as sore as I am likely to get so I might as well get a run in. So I did.

And it was as uncomfortable and creaky as I expected. While the weather was about perfect, the hills on this loop are already proving to be vindictive assholes. I expected this to be a lot slower than yesterday but it turns out it wasn't excessively so.

If I knock out a two-miler at some point tomorrow, I'll be on track with ten miles for the week. I'm not keen on making three-in-a-row workouts the norm but I'll do it if it helps me get the routine started.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 41:21
Pace: 10:20 min/mi

Comments: New year. New goals. The work situation meant a lot of best intentions last year in terms of running went left unfulfilled. I'd like to get things back on track in 2018.

The tentative goal for this year is 500 miles, an annual amount I haven't reached in half a decade. That works out to about 42 miles each month or just more than nine miles a week. Doable.

Today was the first effort and my first run since October. The four miles went about as well as I could have hoped. There are a few hills and inclines on this course so I'm not over concerned about the woeful pace. All in all it felt rather good to be back out there.

Fitness Run

Distance: 2 miles
Time: 18:55
Pace: 9:26 min/mi

Comments: After a few days of soreness I decided to try again and went out WAY too fast. I was toast by the end of this effort. No coughing up blood, so that's nice.

Fitness Run

Distance: 2 miles
Time: 20:23
Pace: 10:11 min/mi

Comments: After months off the pavement, I decided to see if my legs had anything left. Answer: Very little. This was slow and unpleasant. Highlighted by coughing blood. Not good times.

New Gear: Garmin Forerunner 35

My aged and well-used Garmin running watches have all passed into the great beyond. A couple of them with my exasperated assistance. I've had a few of these that have been durable workhorses and I've had a couple that... weren't.

While I can track my running OK with my trusty Ironman digital watch, there is a lot of information the new fitness trackers can provide. My brief experiment with a Fitbit showed me that. So, if I can get my running routine back, I would like to explore more of that.  So I went looking at what was available.

Basically, I wanted a watch that was 1) cheap and 2) had GPS capability. Anything beyond that I would entertain but those were the deal killers. And a lot of the low-end fitness watches now fit that profile (although "cheap" is a relative term here). In the end, I decided to go with the Garmin Forerunner 35 for the simple reason a lot of my past running information is on their online system.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 42:28
Pace: 10:37 min/mi

Comments: Harvey got me. The temperature this morning was fine, the humidity was not. I knew walking out to start this run that it was going to suck. And so it came to pass.

I was miserable from the very first step but kept myself resigned to do it. At about 2.5 miles the urge to walk it in was almost overpowering. Somehow I was able to get through that and struggle the rest of the four miles. Forget pace, finishing was the victory today.