Wind at my back

Arriving at the finish line of today's long run

The wind blew all last night and into the morning - thus prompting a route change for today's run. I had thought I'd be running today's 20-miler north and east from Boulder to Longmont. What with the wind blowing big from the north and west - and the being fed up with running into the wind - I plotted a new course that would take me a scant mile northeast then 19 miles due east, i.e., with the wind at my back. Ahhhh....

A new map, that showed a straight line east along Baseline Road, was handed to Kendall with instructions to meet me in 4 hours or slightly less at County Road 19. (Baseline, by the way, was so-named because it runs along the 40th parallel which also was the line of demarcation between the Nebraska and Kansas territories in 1854.)

Now back to the run and the high- and low-lights:

• the wind was at my back!
• the route involved all roads, and increasing traffic on the east-most miles where I had expected less traffic
• some small town life and lots of farmland
• the wind was at my back and I was running in shorts!
• there is a lot of uphill involved in getting out of Boulder country (word of the day: "undulating")
• despite mapping out a one-road run (after leaving my neighborhood) I managed to get onto a different road 16 miles into the run. Fortunately, Kendall had just seen me, had pulled to the side of the road to take some pics, and noticed that I veered right at the "Y" rather than left (since left said 168th rather than Baseline and right said nothing and most all traffic went right). All that crewing experience from the run to Michigan paid off big time today. The route deviation put me on a road parallel to Baseline (I didn't even know I was off Baseline until after the run), and gave me a bonus .5 miles.
  
• the wind was at my back and I was running in shorts AND I was clocking a steady diet of 11 minute miles!

All in all, a solid 20.5-miler to put into the log which, coincidentally, gave me an even 200 miles for the year.

Let's see...which shall I choose

My first run today was in high winds and monstrous gusts (up to 104 mph reported this morning). Needless to say, I cut the run short to exercise class. After class, the winds were much milder and the run much more enjoyable.

Once home, I had the pleasure of cleaning house - one of my least favorite activities on this planet - but I had put it off way too long. As I was scrubbing the kitchen floor I was thinking:

Scrub floors or run in 100 mph winds?
Scrub floors or run in a blizzard?
Scrub floors or run in subzero temperatures?

Guess which one I picked every time?!

Picture from December 2010 - again running rather than cleaning...

Mid week and windy!

15 miles today.

First seven with Amie. Swift!
Last six: Headwind. Oof!


Taz update!

After the run, Taz happily greeted me -
delaying the need for a shower
since he licked a lot of the sweat away.

Left: Taz when we first adopted him.
Right: Taz one month later (yesterday)
Personality shift:
Then: oh dear oh dear what's next?
Now: oh boy! oh boy! what's next?!

Nothing that basketball and an ice bath can't make better!

Paul, spring break 2009, humoring his mom with a game of basketball

The start of this morning's run: 8 degrees, ice/snow-glazed streets. The running so crappy that 20 minutes into the run, spent dodging ice and traffic, I said screw it and walked the rest of the way to the Rec Center where my exercise class was to be held. I got there early since I didn't do my full run and as I approached the door was wondering what the heck I was going to do to kill the time before class (assuming all the aerobic equipment would be in use). Opened the door and said "Aha! Basketball!"

I checked in, got a basketball, and spent the 30 minutes before class running/dribbling a circuit around the court, shooting at each of the 6 baskets until my shot dropped then running/dribbling to the next basket. Great fun and a most effective mood enhancer. All the gloom from the traffic-dodging icy run had disappeared and I was in fine fettle for the exercise class.

After class, I shot a few hoops with a friend then headed out for part 2 of the run. As per yesterday's post, I had hill drills scheduled for today. The temps had risen substantially and the ice had melted from the unshaded bits of the asphalt roads so the going was much easier. However, since I had so many frigging layers of clothes on due to the early single digit temps, I felt like an overdressed hippopotamus trying to high-knee, skip and bound up the quarter-mile of hill. After the second rep I decided to bag the hill drills and just run hills. So up and down I went sticking to the west-bound (steep) hills since those were the most ice-free surfaces, and managed to zig zag my way to 7+ miles of hill running. Not bad.

Once home, I did what I should have started doing many miles ago: got in an ice bath. It was the most effective sore/tired leg therapy I used when preparing for my Michigan run and I was long overdue in this training cycle. It was tough getting in, but I sure had some happy legs when I got out!

Volunteer day and pondering the week

Mister Kendall, Creekside Elementary Librarian

Being Martin Luther King day, I spent a large chunk of the day volunteering - first at Audio Information Network of Colorado (where I volunteer every Monday morning), then at Kendall's library at Creekside Elementary shelving and rearranging books. With no kids at school today, we could just turn up the tunes and rock on with the literature. Very pleasant. (But dirty - spend a few hours shelving library books then look at your hands. Yikes!)

When not reading or shelving, I was cogitating on my week's running schedule. Good lord Mildred what have I gotten myself into?! This is the third week in my four week cycle where the first three weeks of the cycle build up, then the fourth week backs off a bit. Here's what is on the schedule for the week (gulp):

• Monday (today), 8-9 easy miles running to/fro AINC
• Tuesday, 7 miles including hill drills (high knees, skip, bound x3 each) followed by exercise class followed by 2 mile easy run back home
• Wednesday, 15 mile run
• Thursday, 6 miles rolling hills followed by exercise class followed by 2 mile easy run home
• Friday, 5 easy miles
• Saturday, 20 miles
• Sunday, 10 miles

It's possible I'll move Saturday's workout to Friday and Sunday's to Saturday and run short/easy on Sunday in order to better coordinate a run with my usual Saturday running gang. Regardless, the 15-mile mid-week run + back-to-back 20-miler/10-miler has me nervous. But I figure it'll show me if I have what it takes to get ready for my March 20th 60k!

The Cows Are Back!

Winter is definitely pointing toward spring in Boulder now; the cows have returned to the South Boulder Creek Trail! Between the cattle sighting, the quiet morning, and the warm-enough-to-not-have-to-wear-tights weather, the run was fleet-footed and smile-filled. An excellent outing to cap my 66.5 mile week!

Falling in love again

Farm gate and sunflower silo near Hygiene, Colorado

What a day for a run! 18 miles was on the agenda and, in the end, 18.8 was achieved. Being a bit bored with the usual terrain, I mapped out a route that took me from home out past the Boulder Reservoir, north on bits of the Boulder Backroads Marathon course, then further north yet to the wee town of Hygiene.

Highlights: almost balmy temperatures, headwind only over a couple of the miles, rolling dirt roads, hardly any traffic, tumbleweed country, views of foothills and plains, glimpses of snow-covered peaks, and running alongside cattle, horses, sheep, llamas, and buffalo! And for the grand finale - a pickup by Kendall and Hedwig (the motorhome we got for the run to Michigan) followed by a scrumptious lunch at Hygiene's one cafe'.

A run that reminded me of why I love love love running!

Whoosh

Windy day today.
First, wind in the face.
Then, wind pushing me from behind woohoo!
Next, wind pushing me cross-ways watch-out-I'm-blowing-off-the-road.
And finally, wind from the rear right quadrant until Kendall cruised along and offered a ride.
Another run done.

Mish Mash

A mish mash run of hither and thither today:

• Home to the library to return a couple of books. As I danced my way along the ice-covered streets in the frigid temps of early morning, one book in each hand as I slip slided along, I got to thinking, maybe returning books on this run wasn't the most brilliant idea I'd ever had. Ah well, made it there in one piece, dropped the books in the slot, then
• Zig zagged my way to the Rec Center for exercise class - turning onto whatever street I saw that had been sanded, discovering a fair amount of false advertising along the way. Oh sure, sand the upper half of the street then leave us peds to our own devices as we hit the slick lower halves of said streets.
• Got a good working out of glutes, shoulders, tris, and abs at exercise class then layered up for another outing.
• Left the Rec Center with Amie and another zig zag run looking for sanded surfaces that would end us up back at the library after 35 minutes of running. Once again, running with a buddy went quickly; having 20 more degrees and softening ice helped as well.
  

• From the library, I called the family and asked if they might be in the mood to walk toward me with Taz dog for a rendezvous in the park. They thought that was a fine idea and my day's running ended with a bunch of running in circles with the puppy in the fenced-in ball field in our neighborhood park. Taz dog sure loves to run...full tilt when off the leash and, thankfully, at a lovely trot right by my side when on leash.
  

Ooofdah!

Some folks today might have been pondering on whether to add a bit of chocolate to their morning coffee, or whether to bump the thermostat up to 70, or, perhaps, whether to wear calf-high rather than ankle-high boots. The ponderings my brain occupied itself with took a slightly different twist. For example:

• I wonder if my snot will freeze before or after it hits my neck warmer.
• How long will this cliff shot blok take to thaw in my mouth?
• What will happen once my shoes fill all the way with snow?

And, of course, the usual question when I set out on an unmapped run: which way should I turn now to get the full 2.5 hours in? Today's route selection considerations also included: which way avoids roads & traffic (and, consequently, avoids running on ice in traffic) as well as, once I turn back west how to I keep from going east (and into the wind) again?

Yep, it was another snowy run in Boulder. And it happened to fall on my mid-week longish run day. Fortunately, as I was pulling out all the layers I was going to wear, I got a text from Amie who was heading out and wondering if I'd like to meet up with her. The company sure did make the first hour go faster and easier. After parting ways with Amie, I turned east and, thus, away from home and the temptation to end the run early. Since east was right into a frigid wind, I did a bit of zigzagging until I got onto the Bobolink and South Boulder Creek trails. Trail running today meant breaking trail through several inches of new snow - but it also meant no worries about cars. Well worth it. Not only were there no cars, but very few people period: no cyclists and only three other runners. Quiet, frosty ...a quintessential Rocky Mountain January run. (And perfect prep for a 60k run that might very well be on a day just like today!)