Thor's Running Journal

The roads are cleared now. Still patches of ice so got to stay alert, but no traffic to speak of at 2am. And it is easy to spot the reflections of the slippery parts. I wasn't hauling so less. Concerned. I fell hard twice in my many many miles. It scary and hurts but is a balanced risk I guess.

Nothing mixes things up like the first snow of the season. After the intensity of winter training earlier this year, I am versed in running in the snow and cold and navigating the terrible ground conditions. But there is a big difference between running in the snow when training and a day like today when there is no milage or pace goals. It would have been a frustrating day indeed if my aim was to hit 5k or 10k paces. A workout like that would have been abandoned before it began.  It won't be fun in March, but it was a little fun today.  This morning I served as trail blazer. Apart from some deer prints the snow was undisturbed. I changed that. I know by tomorrow there will be a patchwork of shoveled and unshoveled sidewalks, but this morning I could keep a rhythm, not a fast rhythm, but steady.  A few people got up earlier to shovel their driveways. A hand full of snow plows did the same with the roads and parking lots. Otherwise it felt still and quiet. Peaceful and ins...

 My legs did not feel nice at the start of my run today. The race yesterday took more out of me than I think I realized. But slow going I OK. There's no rush. Pace is just a word. Anyway I know the first mile is always a bit jaunty after a hard run the day before. I stayed on my feet and took my time getting limbered up. Fired up a podcast about a new document that came out of the Vatican and put one foot in front of the other. The cold felt tolerable until I made the turn for home. Heading west the full. Force of the cold chill smacked. È in the face. I'm glad to have a beard, but would have liked to have a little more face covering. Ah well, there's no way around the discomfort. Just through it. And then when there was the turn off on the Olson path I decided to go one more mile. I figured at this point I might as well. At home obviously the family was still asleep. I cleaned up and made a place for myself to lay down in the sofa. I've master the formula for falling b...

I ran a pb in the 5k today at the gobble gallop. I felt smooth and in control throughout the race, but glad to have it over when I finally crossed the finish line. A cross country race with uneven footing and roots and rocks and a hill thrown in every now and again is much different than being on the road where there is predictability and rhythm. A nice change of pace to be sure. I'm not sure I liked it more or less, but I certainly felt different. I came off the line  fast, but settled into a pace quickly and didn't over do it. I picked off a few people in the first mile and worked on grinding out the. Second behind someone else. It's easier to be a chase than the chased. Navigating tight turns and people walking there dogs made for a unique experience too. I need to be patient and let up just enough to make sure I could pass cleanly and confidentiality. At the end knowing I wouldn't catch the runner in front of me and there was a gap behind me I felt like just letting...

. Maybe I can sleep past 6am. Today was the second time this week my body slept past 6am. When I looked at the clock I sorta couldn't believe it.  I ran 1 mile.  I wanted to make sure I got back in time to wake Sonya up. For school  I could have gone another mile or so, but it was also raining and cold and windy and dark and I am racing a Gobbler Gallop tomorrow.  In fact if I hadn't started this run streak I would have dialed in But out the door I went and 8 minutes later I walked back in the house; wet, but satisfied I overcame the excuses and managed to talk myself into taking the slightly harder path.

 I woke from a dream and realized the clock said 6:15 and not 5:15.  It is the first time in recent memory where I slept past 6:00am and I only woke up because my wife's alarm buzzed and my kids alarm went off. Otherwise who knows.  If I were in marathon training mode I never would have gotten my milage in today, but as things stand, I could get out the door in less than 15 minutes and make it back to shower and take a kid to school.  There is so much more hustle and bustle on the streets when it is Monday at 6:30am rather than 3 or 4am. Much more stressful with all the traffic. The white headlights and the red tail lights. I felt the rush to get home so I went in the predictable 3 mile loop. I could have squeezed one more mile in, but I didn't need to force the issue.  Here is one of those instances where it would have been easier to stay in bed, but I told myself I have a streak and need to reach 2000 miles by the end of the year.  Sometimes it is the sma...