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.

Great Week

Any time I get to log 20+ miles, I think its a good week. Last week, I got 21 miles in with a 4 mile run on Tuesday, a 4 mile run on Wednesday plus 1 mile of 1 minute intervals, a 9 mile run on Saturday with RRR-GF, and 3miles on Sunday as a start to my triathlon training.

For my first triathlon training, I rode my bike 10 miles, then followed it with at 3.5 mile run. I did pretty well (I think) thought the workout. At first, I thought I was riding into the wind on my way out. After 5 miles I turned around and realized I wasn't riding into the wind. The wind wasn't too strong though so it wasn't much tougher riding back. I got home, hopped off my bike and started running. My legs felt like jelly, but I was running pretty fast. It took me a mile to get my legs under me, but that ok as my legs were flying when I didn't quite have control. It was a lot of fun though. I was wearing my triathlon shorts I got so I got a few weird looks, but I didn't mind. It should be fun to keep training towards this triathlon.

Trying new things

Within the last two days, I received emails about 2 events that are completely different than anything I've done before.

The first was about an adventure race held at a local state park about 30 miles from my house. The event basically says bring a bike, a helmet, a compass, and a marker and we'll tell you the rest of the details once you get here. You race in teams of 2 or 3 so I am going to check with a few people on Saturday to see if they would be interested.

The second was a 12 person race from Winona, MN to Minneapolis. Each person runs 3 legs of this 193 mile run. The legs vary in length but you get breaks between legs. Again, it would be fun to get RRR GF friends to go down and compete in this race. Hopefully I can get enough people to give it a try.

Trying to Get Back at It.

Its been awhile since I've had a chance to sit down and blog. Running has been hit and miss for the last couple months with Elsa in my life. I enjoying being a dad a great deal. Sometimes spending time with Elsa takes priority over running. I am still trying to get a few runs in each week, but I don't think I am going to set any PRs this year as training isn't consistent. I am usually pretty good on the weekend, but am still struggling to get up early in the morning to run.

I have signed up for a couple races this year. I am going to run the Sour Grapes Half Marathon and the Granitman Triathlon. This will be my first triathlon so I am going to have to do a lot of swimming practice to get ready for that. My wife went back to work so we are getting up earlier in the morning too. Hopefully this will get me going when I can run in the morning.

Feeling Great at Eight Below

It was eight below tonight. There was no wind though, so it was a good night to get out. I felt great on my 5.85 mile run. I started the first two miles averaging 7:33 per mile. I slowed a bit the next two miles at 7:49 average per mile; my last 1.85 miles was strong as I kept the pace and averaged 7:48 per mile average. It was a nice feeling when I got done to see I was averaging below 8:00 miles again. I am hoping to get in 3 or 4 runs a week in. If I can keep this pace up, I think I can hit some PRs this spring and summer. I uploaded a couple pictures I took after my run. The picture above shows my breath. Unfortunately I closed my eyes on all the pictures where I had the flash on. The picture below shows me with the flash off, eyes open.