so, the last month in running. here's where i'm at:
1. i was supposed to run a cold 10k the week after getting back to the tundra. unfortunately, there was this weather extravanganza of suck and ice and snow, and it took me five days to get home after christmas. YES LETS NOT DISCUSS THIS. so instead, i got back to edmonton like 26 hours before the race, and i decided that wasn't going to happen.
2. instead, though, i went to victoria BC a couple weeks back to visit old friends, and we ran a 10k on vancouver island instead. the island is really beautiful, and the run was lovely. it was sunny and like 8C, so really who is complaining in january? i COULD complain about the fact that my companion in the race gets no sleep because he has small children and hasn't been running much at all lately, and yet ran like a 48 minute 10k blast him... but i won't! because first, i ran about 52:30, which is a great time for me, especially since the allegedly flat course was obviously more rolling than flat. and because second, for reasons that are too complicated but involve the small children and other scheduling issues, we also had run nearly 10k the day before, so it was a slightly amped up and yet no one was a wreck the next day or anything.
3. my 15k bit of Around The Bay is in about 7 weeks! this is exciting. to prepare, i have been ... well, running enough but not long enough. there's been a fair bit of treadmill action lately, which makes me do speedwork but not tempo runs of 7-10 miles like i'm needing. i did run 90 minutes in the bleak freezing ice at one point a couple weeks ago, but i've mostly been maxing out at an hour on the roads, and that's not enough. resolution: tuesdays and wednesdays are potential outside run days, and unless it's terrifically unpleasant i will find a way to run at least 75 minutes outside one of those times. when you start early enough that you've got sun the whole time, and you bring BOTH pairs of fleece pants, totally doable.
3.5 i just checked the weather for this tuesday and wednesday... yeah, well, maybe wednesday.
4. but that speedwork? yeah, that's actually going well! the other day i ran a 25:30 5k on the treadmill, and it wasn't easy but i did it and without any of the adrenaline of race conditions, so this sub-25 is getting closer to reality, people.
5. summer running plans! ... i don't have any yet. i am slightly unsettled by that. but lots of things are up in the air about what happens between mid april and end of august, so i should just sit down with a calendar and all my devices and some wine and get everyone to agree to some dates and then i'll have space to plan in? however: i am starting to think a destination race is in the cards for me... yeah? anyone want to bid?
6. you know what i can't wait to do again? stairs! seriously. they are so EFFECTIVE, but right now due to ice they are NOT AN OPTION. one night i finished a run with some stair sprints on the way home, except it was just sprint three steps and then walk gingerly to the top or risk maiming. ughn.
and so we're up to speed i think. overall i'm doing a fairly good job of not hibernating and/or eating like a starved woodland creature despite the depths of the season, so i'm cautiously optimistic that it can be an excellent running year.
will try to make it back here soon... i should at least start posting long run updates, because i KNOW interesting stuff happens on them, but by the time i thaw out at home i forget... well, i guess maybe nothing interesting actually happens. but nevermind, i'll think of something.
