Checking the Tank

9 miles in a very cold wet rain... no complaints :) 

So the rain turned to ice. I got up early for my morning run and had to slow the pace quite a bit due to the ice. About 2 miles in it starts to snow and puts a dusting over the ice. So near mile 4 I bought the farm and hit my knee pretty good. Skinned it up, but good fortune that it is not hurt. Had to watch the stepping just to get back home and wrap up 5 miles. I wanted to run tonight, but it simply just did not work out. I am looking at the weather, hopefully I can get a break without ice tomorrow. 

Ran on the bike path close to my house. The ice is gone, but a little snow and a tad cold. I ran progressive splits until the last mile where I just slowed down to cool down. 8:58, 8:52, 8:50, 8:37, 8:15, 8:10, 7:34, 7:20, 8:30 Just a decent run, did not really push myself (did not want to fall again - no ice, but wet and snow can do it). 

9 Base miles today, a bit cold but the ice is gone! :) Lots of driving for work today, makes for a longer day. A little pain in my groin muscle today... hope that is not flaring up again. I mean its one thing to do core exercises to strengthen up the abs, but this bugs me... 

Ah what a morning. So I did not sleep the best, but thats is alright, got up a little after 5 to have my morning run. I read my chapter of Proverbs and start to get my running gear. I knew it was suppose to be cold and raining this morning, but that will not stop me. I noticed the rain was coming down and well... a little loud. It is then I realize it is ice coming down. I see the temp was colder than expected. Okay I wonder, can I make this run without falling? Eh one way to find out... then the boom. We have lighting. We have thunder. So yes, Ice, Rain, Below freezing, lightning and thunder... at 30 degrees. I think... Ok Lord, I am going back to bed. So I sleep for an hour and get ready for work. 

PM - Just some strides to loosen up and run tomorrow.  

Today was the first race of the year for me. Just a short 2 miler to get me focused and ready for spring. Last week I thought I was going to really push hard, but I decided yesterday to just run a solid pace for me and go with it. It snowed and iced like crazy yesterday am, but by the time today rolled around it was cleared off nicely so conditions were clear and about 30 so it felt fine. I also have that nagging groin muscle that keeps coming back to bother me. 

Not much of a race report to write up today, I was excited to race, but I figured out that I did not have much today. At least I thought. Mile 1 was pretty easy as I was testing my legs and they seemed fine, but I felt awfully slow. I do not know why, but I felt like I could not find my 'faster' gear. I did not even check my Garmin at mile 1 which was a mistake (explain later). There was a decent size group ahead of me which was a little discouraging because last years race results would have led me to believe I could hang in that top 5 area, so they were not elite. This year they were more than I knew. A few finished in under 10 minutes.

So since I felt like I was slower than expected I let up just a tad to make it a nice race, but not all out. Why this made sense, I am not sure. I know I did not want to pull something on the first race so maybe that was the mentality. I finished strong and was not depleted so that was good as I crossed at 12:44. So afterwards I checked my Garmin. Mile 1 was 6:04. I would have bet I was running 6:30 at best. If I had looked I know I am pretty stubborn and would have pushed awfully hard to hit anywhere in the 11's. What does this mean? Nothing I guess except I need to learn my pace by feel better, but honestly that is new territory for me (when going fast for me). So Mile 1 6:04, Mile 2 6:40

PM- slow run, legs not very responsive, but did not expect them to be. Maybe warm tomorrow!