Roxborough

You thought I was going to write 'Pottruck' eh? Beautiful day today, and I wanted to take an off day from running (#7 of '07, but who's counting?) so I pedaled up the river path past Manayunk again. It's really a shame: you have to go so far to get to the interesting parts and with only an hour or so, you spend most of the time coming and going. Still, nice to get a spin in and did a few nice hills (/a wall)...

Evening 5

An identical, bookend workout to close out the day: 5mi, 35:xx, .3mi cooldown.

Morning 5

Nice, easy 5mi run to start the day with: 35:2x, .3mi cooldown.

Oh. And my identity has been stolen--someone %#!@ed with my checking account (took out a little money, then put it back--a test?--then today a large withdrawal). Freaking fantastic.

Mixing it up

5mi @ Pottruck, but with a different formula: faster-than-usual 2mi warmup (13:4x), then 3x1600s at ~6:20 average pace. Not really enough reps to make a serious workout, but wanted to do something different.

Pottruck

Getting my money's worth from my gym membership this winter... 8.5mi in 61min. This is what counts as a long run these days--it's just hard for me to do longer than an hour staring at a wall of TVs, and I've gone soft and don't like running when it's this cold out. I will have to build up to 13-15 again before BSR if I'm going to race well; my only consolations are that my weekly mileage is still up around 40, and it's feeling easy. So hopefully I'm keeping a 'base' of some kind to train against.

Pottruck

yet again. 4.4mi in 30min, 20min bike intervals.

Pottruck 8

8mi in 56:02. First 30min were slow (7:24 pace) so last 26 were fast. 5min jogging to cool down.

Pottruck

Legs still very stiff (from lifting?) so I took another easy day: ran 4mi in 27:2x, then biked the big hill for 20min.

US Grant

Winter's over bitches. Did a sunset run up to US Grant statue and back around the Art Museum and down 22nd. You know those days when your legs just have boundless energy and you feel like you could run forever? Today: not one of those days. Mine felt like lead, and every stride was an effort. It got a little better after the first few miles, but I was glad to do a shorter run.

Pottruck again

So I could have run outside today, but I got scared off by the rain forecast. Then my iPod died. Should have run outside. 8.5mi in 60min, though it was on the easy treadmill, so I'm not sure I believe it. Then a three-element leg lift circuit.

Pottruck

Back to the gym. Last day of real winter, so I hope to be back out on the trail soon (though the next few days call for rain). 10km in 44:xx, then biked 20min, then lifted upper body. I was surprisingly sore after yesterday's run. Weird.

Years ago, during a phase in which hot dogs formed a significant part of my diet, Xtie suggested that I try 'The Good Dog'. We took them on a camping trip and, yeah, compared to the real thing (Hebrew National, with plenty of mustard and kraut, naturally) they tasted like rubber. So either I've been quasi-veggie for long enough now, or this stuff is different, but 'The Good Ground'--basically nicely T'd TVP--is awesome! Captain No Fun approves. Made a big pot of mushroom/zuke/broccoli/kidney bean chilli tonight (and cornbread: ain't nothin' wrong with that!) with Good Ground and it was well... good! I kind of feel like dropping the quasi-qualifier from the above and going 100% pesco-veggie. I realized the other day that the only meat I ever eat is the occasional pollo (and that, mostly, from what I rescued from Lola's freezer last November and carted down to Philly; I'm working my way through it very slowly).

BaltiLoop

Yesterday: didn't run, just slept.

Today: spent the first part of the day reading and putting off a run, but didn't want two DNRs in a row. As I expected, once I got out it felt great. Ran up to Dru Hill, intending to do the hilly road in the back, but the reservoir track was all icy. So I turned around and ran down to Mount Vernon instead, then on to the Inner Harbor, then Fells Point, then back up Broadway past JHU's hospital, and back to Bolton Hill via Mount Vernon. Didn't measure time or distance, but probably something around 7mi?

Pottruck

Ran a 5k (20:3x) then biked for 15min. Going on ~3hrs sleep, so just happy to get anything in.

Pottruck, Vintage Vélo

Another day at the gym, another 10k. 44min-ish?

After I biked through slush up to Powelton Village to collect this vélo fragment:

Going to build it up, perhaps for the girl who likes orange.

Pottruck

The track boys invaded the gym today for their workouts. Something about running next to dudes doing 10mph for their warmup and 11-12mph for the rest makes one want to run fast. So today was a little faster and shorter than I intended: 5mi in just under 34:00, then biked 'Kilimanjaro'® for 20min. Kind of in a rut with this workout (35ish run, 20ish bike) but not fretting too much. Nothing important on the horizon, and there will be a long spring for hard training.

Pottruck

Ran for 33min, then treadmill died. Weird. Finished up 5mi, then biked for 20.

Recovery Run

...or something. I actually felt great today, and would have gone longer except for time constraints and trying to get back into the rhythm of last fall (long Sunday, short Monday, kinda-long Tuesday, etc.) Ran this little 4.5mi loop (measured because I don't know distances from the gym) from Pottruck up around the PMA and back. Then did 20min on the stationary bike. Beautiful weather today; I didn't even wear a hat or gloves.

Super-Manayunk-Loop®

Another beautiful cold but not too cold day on the river. Ran the Loop, then continued on down to Ridge Ave, and then to Main St Manayunk. Nice easy pace, maybe 13-14mi all together?

Pottruck

In which I eliminate the faulty treadmill hypothesis (or there are two). Felt a little stiff when I woke up this morning, but by afternoon it was that perfect just-sore feeling. Hopped on the mill and did an easy warmup, then hit the pace arrow every few minutes to finish 4.42mi in 30min. Then lifted upper body.

Strawberry Mansion

It was a beautiful afternoon and---relatively speaking---warm. So I headed out from Pottruck for a run on the river. I didn't really know how far I wanted to go, but after I got up above Boathouse row, I saw a pack of rowers out for a training run up ahead (the river is frozen!) and decided to go until I caught them, which I did around Girard. Then it felt good so went up to US Grant, then Columbia, then Strawberry Mansion. Considered Loop'ing it, but remembered NY resolution #4 and 'art after 5' plans with CDeux so turned around there and huffed back to campus. It was great to be outside, and the blue sky and orange setting sun were reflecting off the frozen river making one feel surrounded by sky. Down with treadmills!

Down day

Squeezed in a quick run: 3mi, then 10min spindown. Definitely an easy day... looking forward to getting out on the river this weekend.

Pottruck

A quick 5mi: 33:2x! And the first 2mi were in 14:08, which means last 3mi were around 19:15? (I'm actually not really believing these numbers; I did feel great, and the display said I was running above 9.2mph-10.4mph, but I think either the speed or the incline of the 'mill must have been miscalibrated. I'm just not that fast.)

10k

Ran 10km (yeah, yeah, 6.2) in 44:20 at Pottruck. Same formula as always: slow, 20min warmup, then ramping up...

TreadLoop

Morning: 60min on the 'mill for 8.4mi. Started the first 40min at 8.1mph (so 7.24 pace I think?) then kicked it up in the last 1/3. Running "distance" (by which I mean anything more than 30min) indoors takes such patience. I always want to rachet it up too quickly.

Evening: 2.5mi on the 'mill, then leg lifting circuit.

Pottruck

Dammit I wish it weren't so cold out. CDeux made a big pot of penne arrabiata last night, and I filled up expecting to get out for the loop or more today. But I woke up cold and just went to Pottruck instead. Started with a slow warmup then did a fast 2mi to reach 5mi in an OK time (35:30 or something?), then full upper body circuit, then one more mile to cool down. This week doesn't look much better; the projected highs are 19, 22, 29, 29, and 32.

Biking!!

It's a freezing, but beautiful day. I thought a break from running might be in order, so I bundled up, pumped up the tyres on Shadowfax, and head out north of the city. Only went a little beyond Roxborough---my feet would not have lasted much longer---but at least got to climb a few little hills. A little over an hour, 23mi according to CatEye.

End of Week

So, in the end, I do get my comeuppance. The last few days of this week I've just felt lethargic. I brought cold weather gear to run outdoors today, but it started to pour when I left Van Pelt so I just did 3 on the 'mill and a 20min spindown at Pottruck. My mind is itching to do a long run---when was my last one?---but my head wants to sleep. Hoping for a window of sunshine this weekend.

Speedwork

2mi fairly quick warmup (< 7min pace), then 4x800 at 6:15 down to 6:00 pace. Need to do many more of these to reach my 5k goal and more than 4 reps (I think once I get comfortable running 6:30 pace for 4-5, pushing 6:15 for 3.1 will be reasonable). But today I was exhausted---was up at 5.30 to catch the train, and spent the day hacking on PADS @ Princeton (I hate NJTransit)--- and I haven't done any speedwork in a while, so I'm going to proclaim success. But next week, don't let me get away with fewer than 6.