Start time: 02/09/06, 6:00pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 10:40min/mile

Technically a few seconds slower per mile than Tuesday, but much more consistant; Julie peaked fast on Tuesday and the times slid (as happens when you haven’t run for three weeks) but Thursday was really on pace and good. Yay!

Start time: 02/11/06, 8:00am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 12 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 5:1
Average pace: 10:45min/mile

I ran with a bunch of my pace group from last training season (the first time in a while) and the results were… interesting. Some of them were running a 20-miler so several of us joined them partway into their run. Their pace was all over the place and I just tried to tag along as best I could. An… interesting morning.

Start time: 02/07/06, 6:00pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 10:36min/mile

The last time I ran with Julie was back on the 17th, so it was good to get back out with her three weeks later. A bit of chit-chat, a bit of both of us just thinking in silence… but good, good company. It’s nice to be back.

Start time: 02/05/06, 9:30am
Location: Rock Creek Park
Distance: 10.5 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 10:30min/mile???

I went running with Tod and Doug this morning; it was a cold, sort of blustery sort of day at times, but I couldn’t beat the company or the scenery of Rock Creek Park. The only real downside was that early on we ended up going through a flooded section of a running trail, which resulted in mud and water going into my shoes. Ugh. Even better, I’m pretty sure it was what caused the blister on the bottom of my foot that made the last miles a bit… less than pleasurable in places. Due to one or two stops we didn’t get an accurate time for our actual running, so the pace is a guess. We may very well have had a better pace going on, but better over than under for my records.

Start time: 02/02/06, 6:00pm
Location: Custis Trail
Distance: 3 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 9:52min/mile

Bleah. The Custis Trail is hard enough on a good day… and this was anything but one. I’d planned on running 4 or 5 miles, and after a mile and a half I was turning around. Between a stitch in my side almost instantly, my foot starting to hurt, feeling exhausted, and making a wrong turn briefly, enough was enough. Sometimes it’s important to know when to just call it quits. Ah well, next time will be better.

Start time: 01/30/06, 6:00pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 8:58min/mile

Well, after a week off due to being sick with a nasty cold, I headed back out onto the trail today. Part of me was saying, “Wait one more day, know you’re really better.” The other part was saying, “It’s in the 60s in January. It won’t be tomorrow. Go running.” Well, you know which part won.

The problem with having taking a week off and then being all on my lonesome was that I headed out of the gate fast. Way too fast. (Well, too fast for me.) I’d been originally thinking that I’d start with 4 miles, maybe push it up to 6 because I’d have a more pleasing total mileage for the month. Well… 8:33 was probably a bit fast for the first mile when you consider that was almost my pace for my last 5K. The next two leveled out somewhat (8:51, 9:06) and I coudl feel myself getting tired. I knew the fourth mile would have an extra walk break… but I wasn’t prepared for it hitting where it did. It seemed early, way too early along the trail for the mental math game I was playing. (And if it was going to come early, I almost would’ve rather it had been at the base of the hill, not just after I crested it. Hmph.) I just felt run over with a steamroller. Finally it ended, I ran the last bit in, muttering to myself, and looked at the watch: 9:23. Which was still slower, but not as slow as I’d convinced myself. (Especially when you compare it to the previous mile and know that this one had an extra minute of walking.)

Isn’t it fun, the games your mind plays with you?

Anyway, for my first time back out doing any sort of exercise in a week I’m not displeased. And for the month? 48 miles, an improvement over last January (42.45), which considering I didn’t have any double-digit runs and was sick for a week is a good amount indeed.

Start time: 01/22/06, 1:45pm
Location: Custis Trail and a bit of the W&OD Trail
Distance: 8 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 10:03min/mile

Tod and Bug were having their open house today, so while Bug and Lucy watched some Battlestar Galactica, Tod and I hoofed it up and down the Custis Trail. I’m not kidding about the up and down part, either. I already knew the first mile and a half of the Custis Trail was Hill City, but now I know… the next portion of the trail is just as crazy. Phew! We ran about 5.5 miles worth of Custis Trail (annoyingly, where Custis strikes the W&OD is about a quarter mile past Custis’s 0 mile marker) and supplemented with a bit of the W&OD, the latter of which was blessedly flat.

It was a great run, though. Really tiring, don’t get me wrong, but considering the amount of climbing we did (oh, how I hate going up hills and how they hate me) I think we did fantastic.

Although since Julie’s going to be out of town and I’ll run by myself on Tuesday, my original plan to jump onto the Custis Trail then is now sounding decidedly mad. Better think this through carefully; up and down after a long day at work? Maybe I’ll just run Tuesday morning on the Arlington Boulevard Trail.

(Oh, and as of this morning? 3.5 of the 5 pounds I wanted back off of me are gone. Half a pound until I’m at the top edge of my 3-pound range I was in before depressive eating started, a pound-and-a-half until I’m squarely in the middle of it again. Phew.)

Start time: 01/18/06, 6:45pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 9:05min/mile

It was indeed just me today, although I had to give serious thought to if I was even going to run. I forgot my iPodShuffle, and the only non-black-or-navy-colored clothes I had was a white hat, hardly a brilliant outfit for running at night. Oh yes, and I also was starting late and unlike other times hadn’t remembered to bring anything to eat beforehand. Oof.

Still, out I went. I hadn’t decided up until the last second if I was going to just run it, or if I’d stick with the 6:1 and see how that would do. I was really quite happy with the end results; the last mile slid a little bit (9:00, 8:54, 9:09, 9:18) but considering that fourth mile by the rules of math ended up with a second walk cycle, I’m not complaining. It’s always fun playing with a new ratio. I’ve got a 10K in March and while I know planet3rry is saying I should just run the entire thing all the way through, I still haven’t decided if I’d plug in a run:walk or not. If I could nail under a 9min/mile average for the St. Patrick’s Day 10K then I’d be delighted. (My last 10K, which was a PR, was a 9:22.) Shouldn’t be a problem, I hope.

Start time: 01/16/06, 6:45pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 10:29min/mile

We had a late start last night due to work, and I was feeling tired before we even began. I ran four miles with Julie, and she’s doing great at keeping the 10:30min/mile pace consistent. (10:29, 10:31, 10:24, 10:30.) Originally I was planning on knocking out two more miles by myself afterwards, but between the past weekend making me still a little tired, and also being more than a little hungry, I decided four was good enough for me and called it a night… especially since I’d spent most of the run talking with Julie about the weekend and explaining the long path of events. (Julie said she liked not having to say anything but understanding noises and phrases occasionally.)

A nice mental reset button, though. Wednesday I might be by myself for running, so I need to start thinking of what plan of attack I’m going for if that’s the case. Four “fast” miles? A slow build of five or six miles? Decisions, decisions.

Start time: 01/14/06, 7:00am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 9:33min/mile

It was a small group of people this morning; just me, Tod, and Dave for a 6-miler. I’d woken up around 2am for a massive thunderstorm rolling through the area and it took me a solid hour to fall back asleep, so I was a little worried on how I’d be doing. I was pretty happy with the end result, though; we did a run:walk this week and I felt really strong the whole way through, even picking up speed at the end. Since I’d set my eyes on the 9:30min/mile group as a potential training option for 2006 marathon season, it was nice to knock six out at “their” pace and ratio and feel like yeah, I can do this. Great run, great weather, great company. I can’t ask for much better than that.

(And as the music playing right now says, “You’re the greatest gift that I could ever wish for.” Well, yeah.)