Fighting the Cold

It has been pretty cold up here the past month so my training hasn't gone as well as planned, but I am getting in a few runs whenever the weather lets me. Last week, I go 19 miles in so I was very pleased with that. A couple weeks ago, Emily and I registered for the Manatoba Marathon in June. I am thinking very hard about Earth Day Half Marathon in April and maybe even the TC Medtronic Marathon in October. Still not sure on the full yet. I am really struggling to get outside with the wind chill at -20 or lower. I am hoping February will bring moderate weather to get going again. Running club is going well though. I hope to see more and more come out as we push on each Saturday morning.

2011 Week 1 of Training

While it was pretty cold out this week, I was able to get out for two runs.

The first run was on Thursday and the second on Saturday. Both runs the temp was about zero Fahrenheit but there was no wind. After last week when it was windy all week, this was a nice break. On Thursday, I got Elsa to sleep at about 9:00, then headed out. I got my first use of the headlamp my mother-in-law got me for Christmas. She got it from LL Bean and I really like it. It feels less bulky than my old Petzl, which I misplaced somewhere in my house. The LL Bean lamp works really well, except I was playing with a little during the run and found out that I definitely don't like the blinking light option that I can choose. I only had it blinking for a few steps and it drove me crazy. But the normal setting gives great light and will helpful in night runs. My 5 milers felt good almost through the entire run. The cooldown walk down my block felt good to breath in the cold air.

I also got out on Saturday afternoon for a 6.5 miler. Again the temp was a degree or two above zero and the frigid air felt good on my lungs. I think I am inside too much as most people around here are don't like the cold air but I thought it was intoxicating. It really excited me to be out on my run. I averaged a decent 7:43 pace throughout the run. It will be a few months of laying groundwork and hopefully can get closer to 7:00 pace at race times.

2011

Its been awhile since I've blogged. In 2011, I am going to try to post a little more. I guess thats one of my goals for the year. Some other goals that I have set is to run at least 2 "A" races. I consider "A" races and a race that I plan to train specifically for that event and try to PR. Right now, I am planning on running my first "A" race in June in Winnipeg as part of the Manitoba Marthon weekend. I am also hoping to get into the TC 10 mile in the fall. If I don't get selected in the lottery, I might run the full marathon or find another "A" race to compete. I also want to enter several "B" races. I consider "B" races as spur of the moment races that come up in training for "A" races. I have a couple in mind that I might sign up for to get ready for the Manitoba Half. I am kind of going back and forth on the Earth Day Half in St Cloud, but will probably do it because it is fairly cheap and I have free lodging at my in-laws in St Cloud. We'll see what else I can find to do. Another running goal for this year is to log 1,000 miles. I tried that last year but came up short. This year I am hoping to do better.