Finishing up Week Three

It pretty much snowed all morning and afternoon here. It paused during the early evening but of course right before I stepped out to run, it started coming down again. It was kind of pretty for my run, though.

The park was one giant mass of snow -- maybe 5 or so inches deep -- so I bypassed it. Running in untouched snow that deep is nearly like running in sand. I ran on the sidewalks in the little neighborhood across the park from me. I made it through both 3 minute runs and I definitely feel they have improved; I did not want to die. However, I'm still going at a pretty slow pace during them. I suppose that's fine; I mean my goal is not to win any races, just to make it through the equivalent of a 5k.

However, I think the slow running is putting strain on my left knee, which hurts during and after my runs right now. Well, it's either that or I have bad form in the snow -- which is entirely possible; I know that when I walk through the snow, I tend to have hip, leg and foot issues because my caution makes me walk in a kind of stilted manner.

So, the question is whether to repeat this week or try to move on to week 4. Honestly, reading week 4 right now, I kind of want to try it. I think I'll attempt it on Monday; if I fail horribly, I'll go back to this week. I don't need to do this in 9 weeks, I just need to eventually do this.

I wore my new shoes and they were pretty excellent, and seemingly waterproof, which is a nice change. My left foot hurt a bit by the end, near the arch, but it seems that I'm doing something bad to my whole left side.

One more thing on week three -- I truly enjoy that Rockefeller Skank, aka the song they do a choreographed dance to at Prom in She's All That, is on the podcast.

Lake Effects

Today I ran for the second time while visiting my Mom upstate NY for Christmas break. I had considered doing W3 D2 yesterday, but that just did not happen. I did manage to make myself go first thing today, it was actually MORNING, a first for me. My Mom hadn't gone on a walk for a while, so she said that she'd accompany me, so that was good motivation to get my butt out the door.

The weather this morning was rainy, but the second I got next to the lake, I was being pelted by ice. The ground was slushy and snowy, so I was wondering if I should use my Mom's Yak Trax to protect my brand new running shoes (I got them for Christmas, and they are excellent, btw). As I'm getting ready, my Mom asks, "Honey, would you like to use my YAY Trax?" I immediately burst out laughing, because my Mom is famous for her language mishaps, and this might be one of my faves! So, when I recovered from my hysterics, we set out for our gloomy weather workout.

We'd worked out a route that went along the lake, which I was sure would be lovely... man, I did not think that through. The lakeside portion of the run was FREEZING. Not only was it icing there, instead of raining, but it was SO WINDY and cold. I'd never faced such a head wind before! I have to say though, that like Amanda, I had to reduce my pace to run, and although I had the same thought that I could be walking faster, I was able to do it! The last three minute run, I think that I got through 2:30. I felt bad I'd gypped myself out of the last run, that I made it up at the beginning of the cool down. I'm going to see how I get through that second three minute run before I decide whether or not to repeat the week. I would not be ashamed to do so, but I did better than on Wednesday, so who knows? I am proud that I got myself to get two workouts in while on vacation, so perhaps the third workout this week will show even more improvement. We'll see I guess!

I hope that you all had a Merry Christmas!

Week Two, Run Two was a Ridiculous, Annoying Romp in Melting Snow

I did this run on Thursday, but you know, Christmas happened and I had no time to write about it.

So I set off for my second run of the week on Christmas Eve, prior to church and family stuff. It had snowed a bunch, then there had been freezing rain on Wednesday, creating ice, and on Thursday it was just raining. Thus, a lot of crap was melting, the three or so inches of snow had a crust of melting ice on top, and everything was a soggy mess.

I walked over to the park and attempted to run there, but nothing was shoveled and everything was under three inches of snow. Yak Trax work wonderfully on ice, but what can they do about snow that is about as deep as your feet? Nothing much. I crossed the street and switched to sidewalks, most of which were shoveled, some of which had a layer of ice. Perfect for my Yak Trax (which totally feel fine on bare concrete, I will reiterate).

I got across the street, still on my warm-up walk, and realized one of my Yak Trax was missing. So I had to pause the podcast and retrace my steps; luckily I found it back in the park. At this point I was majorly annoyed and briefly considered quitting and doing this run on Friday (Christmas Day) instead. I'd stepped in a couple of puddles as well and had wet feet; the snow was annoying me, and I was cranky. But I opted to stick it out.

The run was okay. I tried to avoid traffic lights and thus ran in really dumb circles around a few blocks. The slush made my run a bit more cautious and affected my pace; speaking of which, in an effort to make it all the way through the second three-minute run, I slowed my pace considerably. I made it through, but I was annoyed because I could have probably walked faster (I'm a speed walker) than I was "running." Regardless, I did it. But, like Boulos, I am seriously considering re-doing week 3 tomorrow. I just don't know if I am up for the next step yet. I'll do my run later today and weigh my options.

I got new, excellent running shoes for Christmas btw! I'm trying to decide whether or not to wear them today. You see, we just got another four or so inches of snow and it's still snowing. Do I want to toss my new shoes into the snow like this immediately?