Monthly Archives: November 2013

Freeze or Boil?

06mi, treadmill

Start time: 11/26/2013, 5:45am
Location: Silver Spring WSC
Distance: 6 miles
Average pace: 9:15min/mile
Total Miles For November: 42 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 684 miles
Current Shoes: 278 miles

Freeze or boil is the eternal question of winter running for me. Today was promising not only cold temperatures but freezing rain/sleet, so I decided to (ugh) run on a treadmill at my gym. Except of course, instead of freezing, there I end up boiling. Ended up having to blow dry my face to try and stop from sweating even after a long shower. (Charming, I know.) I always feel like if I could just open a window or two while on the treadmill, the problem would be solved…

Hotel Treadmill

04mi, travel, treadmill

Start time: 11/23/2013, 8:30am
Location: Richmond Hilton Garden Inn
Distance: 4 miles
Average pace: 8:58min/mile
Total Miles For November: 36 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 678 miles
Current Shoes: 272 miles

Between work and grad school and a lack of company, running has been few and far between this month it seems. But I managed to knock out a few miles on the (ugh) hotel treadmill.

Post-Cold

02mi, 04mi, gym, treadmill

Start time: 11/16/2013, 8:00am
Location: WSC Silver Spring
Distance: 2 miles
Average pace: 9:15min/mile
Total Miles For November: 28 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 670 miles
Current Shoes: 264 miles

Start time: 11/18/2013, 4:30pm
Location: Sligo Creek Park
Distance: 4 miles
Average pace: 9:56min/mile
Total Miles For November: 32 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 674 miles
Current Shoes: 268 miles

Well, after running the Veteran’s Day 10K with a cold, I definitely paid for it. A week of being fairly sick, bleah. Finally was starting to feel up to a little running by the weekend, so on Saturday I went to the gym and after using the rowing machine for half an hour, ran 2 miles on the treadmill with no real problems.

Got abandoned this morning, but used that to my advantage to run w/ Charlie after work in the gorgeous weather. A bit of huffing and puffing but overall not too bad.

Veteran’s Day 10K

06mi, 10k, race, sick

Start time: 11/10/2013, 8:00am
Location: Hains Point
Distance: 6.2 miles
Finishing Time: 55:24
Average pace: 8:55min/mile
Total Miles For November: 26 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 668 miles
Current Shoes: 262 miles

I ran the Veteran’s Day 10K this morning… with a bit of a chest cold. Hindsight being 20/20, not the smartest thing I’ve done. The weather was great, though, and the course is flat flat flat. I didn’t feel too bad during the race, but considering I was only about 4 seconds faster than my last 10K that was all-hills earlier this year, I think it was safe to say that I was feeling the results of the chest cold even before I finished.

(Since then, I’ve been coughing a bunch. Yuck.)

Still, all things considered, not too bad. A little crowded at times, but nothing to complain about. Considerate runners, cool temperatures (I didn’t need the insulating layer after all, ah well), and I maintained a very steady pace until the last 1.2 miles where I was even able to pick up a tiny bit of speed. So I’m taking it as a victory. Yay! And hey, unlike the other time that I tried to run a race while sick, I actually finished this one. So there we go.

Cold and Mild

06mi

Start time: 11/4/2013, 5:46am
Location: National Mall
Distance: 6.3 miles
Average pace: 9:49min/mile
Total Miles For November: 14 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 656 miles
Current Shoes: 250 miles

Start time: 11/6/2013, 5:50am
Location: National Mall
Distance: 6.24 miles
Average pace: 10:12min/mile
Total Miles For November: 20 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 662 miles
Current Shoes: 256 miles

Monday: Very brisk morning with the full winter gear on. Nice run, overall, although Steve’s hip bothered him near the end, so boo on that.

Wednesday: Just me and Ben, and distinctly warmer. Back to shorts! 🙂

Gorgeous Morning

08mi

Start time: 11/2/2013, 8:00am
Location: National Mall, Georgetown
Distance: 8 miles
Average pace: 10:11min/mile
Total Miles For November: 8 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 650 miles
Current Shoes: 244 miles

Just me and Steve this morning, and since both of us had late-night plans we scheduled the run for 8am. A little more crowded than normal as a result, but with a beautiful 60 degree day, it was a great time to just catch up and give motivation where needed.