Winter Is Here

Workout: 8 miles w/4 mi at 15k/lactate threshold/tempo pace.
Distance: 8.0 mi.
Time: 55:57.3 - 6:59 ppm.
Splits: 7:20.4, 7:27.6, 6:24.4, 6:30.7, 6:23.5, 6:03.4, 7:45.6, 8:01.1.
Chart
Map

As expected, winter has finally arrived here in Charlotte. Our season basically lasts from January 1-March 15. Anything before or after that is wildly inconsistent. I started this workout around 2:45pm - and it was 35 degrees with fairly strong winds. Yikes! At least the sun was out. I got a chance to try on a heavy-duty dry-fit shirt I got for Christmas, and wore that along with long shorts, gloves, and a hat. I didn't wear shoes, though.

Just kidding about the lack of shoes. I started from the Dowd and ran the first two miles at a comfortable pace before taking off down the greenway. I alluded in a previous post to a change in stride, and while I'd like to get to that in more detail in its own post, I can basically describe it as shorter, ground-hugging strides that make me feel like I'm simply gliding across the pavement. This results in both quicker steps and a lesser pounding, although the faster stride movements can lead to some tightness near the end of the run.

It takes a bit of concentration to run this way at higher speeds, but it works. Anytime I felt like slowing down today, I just started thinking about my form, about keeping my legs down and hugging the ground, and I would find myself moving a good bit faster every time. As you can see above I didn't quite run negative splits but I did nail down a 6:03 in the last mile - not bad for the end of a short tempo. I'll take it.

Man, it was cold, though. In lieu of the usual post-run Gatorade I warmed down inside the Y and retreated to Dilworth Coffee for a warm cup of goodness. I'll have to get used to this crap, I guess.

Exploration Day

Distance: 15.64 mi.
Time: 02:01:13 - 7:45 ppm.
Running Buddy

This would be another great time to check out the map on Running Buddy, if only to grasp the fact that I ran all over the place this morning (zoom in for added effect!). I grew up near Plaza-Midwood and for some reason decided I wanted to run through my old church and the old neighborhood. Starting near the intersection of Park and Seneca, I chose what I thought would be the quickest route there and took off.

I felt very tight at first and stopped to re-lace my shoes several times before getting comfortable. It is these minor comfort issues that originally led to me to stray from Nike; now, however, you had better believe I am willing to put up with it. After today's run I have put over 134 miles on the Air Pegasus and they are just now starting to show a very slight amount of wear. There are a few tread marks on the upper-midsole that have faded ever slightly. The insole looks as though a foot has never touched them. Other than some colorful McAlpine dirt, these shoes don't look much different than they did the day I pulled them off the shelf at Dick's.

Yet I digress... I ran down Selwyn, passed the Sunday churchgoers on Providence, and through the Eastover neighborhood behind my apartment, stopping for water on three separate occasions. From here I meandered towards Plaza-Midwood on Pecan Avenue...and realized I would not be touring the old 'hood. I was over 6 miles in and had 14 scheduled so I needed to abort the mission. Instead, I ran down Central and into town, touring through First and Fourth Wards and heading out by Frazier Park. I seem to remember knocking Frazier Park at one point, but while small, it's actually kind of cool. There is a small asphalt path that goes around a soccer field and I made a mental note that it would be a good place to do a shorter workout (not that I have any of those on the schedule anytime soon).

I was running around the stadium downtown when I made an error in judgment trying to figure out how far I was from where I started. A much-needed water stop at the Dowd and some stretching helped me recharge my batteries after about 11.4 miles. I had indeed underestimated my distance from "home" and therefore ending up running well over 15 miles. But I felt good, and I have run shorter than planned on almost every other long run, so I was fine with it.

"Active recovery" is an oxymoron, right? I spent the rest of the day eating, napping, lounging at the pool with friends, and updating this blog.

Booty Loop and Greenway Attempt

Today, I decided I wanted to run the Booty Loop and the Little Sugar Creek Greenway. I started off down Queens Road at a leisurely pace. A Cadillac had pulled out in front of me, forcing me to stop and dodge it, a few moments earlier, and at the next intersection I found myself literally jumping out of the way of this exact same Cadillac. As you can imagine, I did not appreciate this, and I then did something I don't ever recommend anyone doing: I closed-fist smacked the back of the car, and when the astonished driver turned around to glare at me, I let him know exactly what was going to happen to him if he pulled out in front of me again. I am not proud of my actions, and I am certainly not bragging about this; however, I would like to use this incident to show that things are starting to get back to normal - I'm running, thinking about how I can get faster, and trying to save the world one bad driver at a time. I had been in some sort of personal funk for the last four months, and I'm rapidly snapping out of it with every mile on the pavement. I don't know what it is with me and running, but it just makes me a different person. It's like a drug or something. Maybe one of these days I'll figure out how to put it into words. Or maybe I just needed to let out some aggression? Ha.

Anyway, I didn't think about the fact that the previous night's rain would keep me off the greenway - as it was flooded - but I managed to get in a solid six miles. After the run, I downed a Gatorade and a protein shake and realized I needed some new shoes as soon as possible.

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