Run when you can - Run more later if you can

Day 406 - February 10, 2010

That was my mantra today. With the snow overnight, I got up early to shovel out and get ready for work. At 5:30 it was still snowing hard, but I shoveled the drive in about 40 minutes. That left me with a dilemma. There was just enough time to either crawl back into bed and catch a few Z's or change my clothes and head out for a 2 mile run.

Normally on Wednesdays we run as a group after work, but today's forecast was for some more snow followed by gusty winds of 30-50 MPH. My gut feeling was there was a good chance the running group would bail today and I didn't want to be running in the dark with those kinds of winds. So I changed my clothes and got my two miles in. I figured if the running group did go, I could run a short second run and bump my miles up where they should be for a Wednesday, and if they didn't, at least I had another day logged.

I arrived at work, grabbed a quick cup of coffee, turned on my computer and found out that while I was driving in, for the first time in at least five years, corporate decided to close the office. SCORE! I finished my coffee, chatted for a few minutes with the six other people who had managed to get into the office today, and then packed up and was home before lunch. That gave me plenty of time for a second run. It was great. Total mileage for the day was 6.2 - not bad for another snow day. Who says all this snow is bad.

As a bonus, today's mileage put me over 1600 miles for the running streak.

Five and half miles after dinner

Day 405 - February 9, 2009

What a difference a year makes. Last year on this date, it was 65 degrees and gorgeous. Tonight, I ran in the snow - again. If we get the accumulation that is forecast, we will break the all time record for snow accumulation for Central VA. Crazy. Granted, some areas of the country get this much snow in a single event, but 50+ inches is a lot for us.

Running in the snow hasn't been bad and hasn't affected my mileage, but I have been quite a bit slower on my runs. I also haven't done any tempo runs or fartleks on the icy roads. I still have time to get my speed up before the 10 miler, but I need to start soon. So if you don't see any posts about me doing some speed work, drop me a comment and hold me accountable!

Day 2 of the Snowpocalypse

Day 402 - February 6, 2010

Days like today are what make a running streak fun. Yes there is 15" of fresh snow on the ground, and no the roads haven't been plowed, but you still have to run. With a running streak, you find away. Today, I was fortunate that a few brave souls had been out on tractors and in their 4-wheel drive trucks and left me tire tracks to run in. Otherwise, it would have been a very tough run though 10+ inches of powder that has fallen since they gave up plowing last evening.

The traction wasn't too bad today - I only slipped twice when I hit patches of ice from last weekend's storm that were covered in fresh snow. Fortunately I was able to maintain my balance and not fall like yesterday.

The snow was sticking to everything and really made for some nice photos. I'm glad I took the camera with me today. Hope you enjoy a few of the views I had today.

Day 1 of the Snowpocalypse

Day 401 - February 5, 2010

Snow has been coming down steadily all day. The current estimates are 22-28" for this area. I decided to go as far as I could today because I might be stuck on the treadmill tomorrow. The roads were slushy and snow covered but for the most part not as bad as I expected. The down hills were a bit treacherous. I actually fell one time and slid about 20 feet down the road - it was a steep hill. I met up with a friend two miles into the run and we ran together for about 3 miles before I peeled off to head home. All in all I ran almost 6.5 miles @ 8 min/mile pace. not bad considering the footing. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

More snow

Day 398 - February 2, 2010

I am still in Virginia right? And people are still concerned about global warming? We are getting our 4th storm of the year right now and another major storm is forecast for this coming weekend. In a typical year we might get two snows all winter. I don't know how you cold weather guys do it.

Tonight's run was an eye stinger with snow constantly pinging my eyeballs. It was coming down hard enough to cover my tracks on the way back. Hopefully we will get less than the 4-8" they have predicted for tonight and it will have a chance to melt before we get another 1-2 feet this weekend.

On the bright side I ran 4+ miles tonight and only coughed for a few minutes after I finished. I think I'm finally shaking it.

Felt good tonight

Day 397 - February 1, 2010

I ran with a friend after work tonight and felt comfortable for most of the run. I still have a nagging dry cough when I finish, but today I felt closer to 100% than I have in nearly two weeks. I'm not making any bold predictions on how soon I'll be back to normal mileage - we have more snow forecast for tomorrow and apparently there is a chance of the storm of the century this weekend. Thank goodness the wife decided we needed to replace our dead treadmill.

But, I did sign up for the Charlottesville 10 miler yesterday. The Charlottesville Marathon is probably out since I've lost two long runs, but I think I will run the half. The $70 entry fee makes me want to make sure I'll be in top form before I plop down that much cash. I'll make a decision by the end of the month.

January ends - Running Streak enters 14th month

Day 396 - January 31, 2010

I'm not sad to see January come to an end. I did still manage to log 100 miles this month, but barely. That week of 1 mile survival runs while I slogged through my battle with the flu surely didn't help. But, I have 11 months to make up the 30 miles I'm behind.

Thanks to all for the well wishes while I recovered from the virus. Here's to a healthy February filled with good running.

I never would have thought

Day 355 - December 21, 2009

...The roads would be worse two days after the blizzard than they were the day it snowed. Man is it icy. I guess it is a good core workout trying to keep your balance. At least I didn't fall today.

I wish someone from Pennsylvania would come down here and teach these southerners how to plow. You do in fact have to drop the plow down to the road. Leaving two inches of snow on the road only makes it worse.

Today was harder than yesterday

Day 354 - December 20, 2009

No plows yet anywhere near here today, so that meant another snow covered road run today. Yesterday, the snow was deep, but fresh enough that traction really wasn't an issue. Today, with cabin fever setting in around the neighborhood, lots of people tried to get out and about. All that accomplished was the snow packed down and iced over. I was slipping and sliding all over the place. Fortunately I only fell once and luckily I even had an audience to witness it. I'm sure they thought I was crazy to be out running when they clearly were not enjoying shoveling their driveways.

Two feet of snow was a nice novelty, but I'm ready for some melting.

Running in snow

Day 353 - December 19, 2009

I mean deep snow. To get out to the road, I had to wade through knee deep snow. Fortunately, when I got up to the road, there were a few tire tracks from a few foolish brave souls who ventured out earlier in the day.


As long as I could stay in the tracks, the snow was only 4-6 inches deep. Enough to cover my running shoes, but not too bad. The trouble came when I would slip and step into the untouched snow and have snow over my knees.



The run wasn't too bad and I had no traffic to worry about. I took my time and slipped and slid for 3.3 miles. I saw a few people while I was running. Some shouted encouraging words about dedication and others called me names that I probably shouldn't type. One guy even stopped because he assumed my car was stuck somewhere. I thought that was a nice gesture even if he was less than impressed that I was out just for fun. Hopefully by tomorrow some plows will make it out this way, but I'm not holding my breath.

Today is going to be interesting

For those of you who may have seen a weather map, VA is getting pounded by snow (by VA standards anyway). Currently there are 15-20 inches of white powder on the ground and we are probably going to get another 6-12 inches today. Crazy.

For those of you who are used to snow, I should point out that VA has about 5 snow plows for the entire state. I'm not expecting clear roads for at least a couple of days. I have no idea how I'm going to run in snow this deep, but I'm going to give it a shot. For you northern runners, what do you do when you get this much snow?

Charlottesville Men's Four Miler

Day 339 - December 5, 2009

Well, it wasn't exactly ideal racing conditions this morning. The temperature was about 38 and it was pouring rain. But, I had to run anyway right?

I ran a little over mile to warm up and my rain gear did a pretty good job of keeping me dry, but for the race I wanted to lose the baggy pants and jacket. It wasn't too bad at the start, but it was raining pretty hard. I inched up to about 10 rows from the start and was surprised when the gun went off that I didn't find myself wishing I had started closer to the front. I tried to hold back a little at the start, but hit the half mile split exactly on the 6:15 pace I was hoping to finish the race in. I guess that is better than being 20 seconds ahead of pace.

At the half mile point I started working my way up through the pack and reached the first mile mark in 5:58. Much quicker than I expected, bu I was feeling good.

And then the snow started.

I finished the race in the snow/rain mix by hitting the half way mark in 12:10 and the third mile in 18:25. The last mile was a struggle to maintain my pace, but I held on for a 6:20 last mile and final time of 24:45. After catching my breath I walked back onto the course and cheered on many friends who ran either their first or fastest 4 milers today. I have to say it got pretty cold waiting for them to finish.

The race organizers did a great job with the race and made the smart call to cancel the awards ceremony. I have no idea what my overall place was, but I assume it was a top 30 performance. The results should be online in the next day or so and I'll post an update. But, my unofficial 24:45 was 15 seconds faster than my goal time of 25 minutes. I thought I'd get to use the weather as an excuse - now I've ruined any chance of using it in the future. If I can run a good race today, I can't really anticipate worse weather for a race.

UPDATE: Official results put me in 23 place overall in 24:45. That was good enough for third place in my age group - Nice!

Winter tries to return

It's hard to believe that it was 80 degrees last week. This morning we awoke to a ground covering of snow. By the time I got out out run mid morning, most of the snow had melted and it was just a mix of rain and snow coming down. After being so tired yesterday, I decided to take it easy again today, just in case I decide to run the 8K tomorrow. Right now I'd say the probability is low since the forecast is for sleet in the morning - yuck.

I also completed the 2nd week of the push-up challenge this morning. I'm happy to say that I did 102 push-ups today, but it took me 7 sets. The program called for 5 sets of 16, 17, 14, 14, 20 with two minutes of rest between sets, and I did 16, 17, 14, 14, 21, 10, 10. Hopefully over the next 4 weeks I'll get that down to one set. This weekend I'll take the week 2 test to see how many I can crank out in a single set, then get ready for Week 3. I peeked ahead and noticed that it gets a lot tougher in week 3 - I hope I can keep pace.

Day 62 - Clear Roads again

The snow is pretty much gone despite the cold temperatures. I decided against the early morning run at 14F in favor of a later afternoon run at 32F. I ended up running a very hilly 5.4 miles and just managed to get back before dark. After all the slipping and sliding yesterday, my sore legs were glad to be back on more firm footing.

Warmer temperatures are coming this weekend - I can't wait.

Today's Run - 5.4 miles (0:42:43)
YTD - 234 miles (30:08:28)

And the snow came

Knowing I had another long day of work and family commitments today (Happy B-day Sarah), I decided to get up early and get my run in. Overnight it continued to snow, but the accumulation was really low here at the house (maybe 2 inches), but it was still snowing and blowing and sticking to everything.

For a while now, I've had the idea of taking a camera with me on a run and snapping photos along the way and what better day to try it than in the middle of a snow storm. As I started out, it was still snowing and the roads were covered. The snow was so fine that packed under foot, so traction wasn't too bad, but still slippery.

I decided I would stick with a favorite run that would take me through some wooded sections and avoid as much traffic as possible. The run starts out with a pretty steep hill, but as you can see, a few cars had already made it too the top. After making up the hill, I turned out to Swift Run Rd and then on down to the main road. As you can see in the photo on the left, the plows had not been out yet.

Fortunately, I only needed to be on the main road for a few hundred feet and then I turned down a "dirt" road. Of course, it was nearly pristine snow. There's just something cool about being the first set of tracks in fresh snow.

The wind started to come up and the blowing snow was really coming down. At times, visibility dropped to almost nothing, but would clear up within a few seconds.

Today's run was pretty fun, but I'll be sore from all the slipping and sliding. It is amazing how much that little extra slip affects your stride and stretches it out. Tomorrow should be back to normal as most of the snow melted this afternoon. The forecast is for chilly temperatures, but spring-like weather is on the way.

Running in the falling snow

Well, it was sort of snow, sort of rain, but it was mostly white and falling from the sky. I had no idea what my legs were going to be up for after the last three days, so I decided I would just run Random loops around the neighborhood until I was ready to quit. With the weather getting nasty, I didn't want to be 5 miles out and have to walk back, so this seemed like a good plan.

It turned out to be one of the best runs I've done in a long time. I ran pretty slow, so I never really got tired and I ran until it go dark. I ended up running just shy of 9 miles. I think I'm going to take this approach more often. I tend to lock into what route I'm going to do before I start out each day. A lot of times, that means I pick shorter routes because I don't feel great until I've been out and running for at least a couple of miles. If I had done that today, I would have run three or four and been done.

So, I'm off to a good start in March - hopefully the snow won't be too deep tomorrow and I can get another good run in.

Day 60
Distance - 8.9 miles (225 YTD)
Time - 1:12:44 (28:55:46 YTD)

Weird weather day

I mentioned in my last post that we had an ice storm coming and sure enough, we had over 1/2 inch of sleet and freezing rain. I was able to slide through a short run yesterday while the storm was in progress without too much difficulty because at that point it was all sleet and snow. But then the freezing rain came and put a 1/4 inch glaze on everything. So today I waited as long as I could for it to warm up and melt a little before heading out. At 4:30, I noticed the temperature had climbed above 35 but it was still raining - or so I thought. I decided that was going to be my last good opportunity to run before the refreeze. As I headed out the door, the sky looked as if it was clearing off and it was then that I realized the rain was actually melting ice falling off the wires and tree limbs. Ok, cool, it shouldn't be that bad of a run. And it wasn't except for the several patches of unmelted slush and ice. The wind was swirling and it was the most bizzare wind I've ever encountered. At times, it would blow out of the north and was quite chilly. Then it would switch directions and it was like standing downwind of a campfire. I would say the wind out of the south was easily 70 or 80 degrees. It felt like a summer breeze. As it would blow by, the ice on the trees would melt even faster and it was like a downpour. Then, the wind would switch back and it would get cool. I checked the temperature again when I got home and it had warmed to 41 degrees in 28 minutes. I'd expect that at sunrise, not as the sun was going down. Very, very weird.

running before the storm

With all the winter mess headed this way, I decided I needed to get a longer run in today. I was hesitant to do this run prior to today due to all the hills, but I took it slow and enjoyed the run.

I'm hoping the winter weather doesn't prevent me from getting to 100 miles this month. I needed 25 miles after Saturday and I've clicked off nine of those already, but icy roads could be a problem.