Last Five Runs
6 miles | 5 miles | 5 miles | 5.5 miles | 5 miles all at similar pace (~6:45-7)
A quick note about these Last Several Runs that will accompany the top of each post: The distances will be rounded to the nearest half mile to keep things simple. For example, that 6 mile run was a 10k. On certain key training runs, I may keep the exact distance.
And so we’re a couple weeks into 2019. Winter is an interesting time of year for me in terms of running, because it sucks, but it’s usually pretty important for hitting my goals in a given year. The desire to get outside, run hard and be productive vs. the dread of having cold hands or being outside in general is a battle I go through mentally almost every year. Last year it was the need to start pouring in miles for an early spring marathon; this year, it’s about finding a way to stay relatively fast and in great shape for when daylight savings time is done and real running can begin.
Because let’s make no mistake about it–running in the winter is awful. The weather in Ohio ranges from unpleasant to frigid (although in fairness we did have a warm December this year), and that is only made worse by the nearly-permanent dim grey color the sky settles into through February. Seriously, when the sun is actually shining you get some of your best runs during the midwest winter, because it feels like you have something worth living for.
And none of that includes the most underrated awful part of winter running: you have to do laundry at least twice as often. To deal with the cold, you have to slap on multiple layers of long-sleeved clothing and pants, which then get sweaty and fill up a washing machine much faster than normal clothes. Add to this reality the fact that normal people don’t own as many pairs of running pants or tights and pullovers as they do shorts and shirts, and you have to do laundry more often than normal just to maintain clean clothing. Yes, running in the winter time is the worst.
Anyway, let’s get to the running. It’s likely that there won’t be much variance on the Last Several Runs at the top of these posts until the weather warms up slightly and the sun stays out for longer. Mostly 5-7 mile runs where I’m executing a 6:30 – 7:15 pace over the course of them. I try to add surges here and there for a couple minutes to keep speed on my mind, but it’s nothing really focused yet.
I’ve run 9 of the last 12 days, and 5 of the last 6, which means it was time for nice evening off. The increased workload had my legs tired yesterday while running. That’s a good sign, because it means I’m running enough to gain some fitness. But it also means I’ve got some work to do. 5 out of 6 days running should become the norm, with speed work and higher mileage mixed in by the time spring gets here.
Solid start, but a long way to go, especially with some colder, snowier weather coming to make running outside more challenging. Keep pushing!