3 Calls To RUN WITH ME

First, a quick workout update: I’m pretty much back to 100% after 4 horrible days. The last 2 days have been MUCH better. So this morning, the plan was to run 8 miles. I strapped on my YakTrax and headed out into the very pleasant 31 degree morning.

After 2 blocks, I was done. When I was home sick a few days ago, it hit 40 degrees. All the packed snow (which is fine to run on with YakTrax) had melted, and then it refroze as ice. YakTrax can’t magically make running on ice easy. It SUCKED. The whole run looked like this:

So I turned around, got home, grabbed some different clothes, and headed to the Y to do the run on a suckmill. It’s been about 2 years since I’ve had to step foot on a suckmill, and I wasn’t looking forward to it. Here’s how it went down:

- 0-3 miles: 8.4 mph
- At 3 miles: up to 8.6 mph
- Halfway (4.0 miles) at 28:30
- At 5 miles: up to 8.8 mph
- At 6 miles: up to 9.0 mph
- At 7.15 miles: up to 9.2 mph
- Around 7.5 miles: up to 9.7 mph

Total: 8.0 miles in 55:20 (6:55/mile pace)
Negative split by 1:20.
Sweaty as f*ck.

Yeah, I forgot to wear a “technical” shirt. I just wore my normal grey cotton shirt that I usually wear when I lift weights at the Y. But it doesn’t work as well when I’m covered in sweat. Here I am collapsed next to the suckmill just as I finished:

And here I am 2 minutes later in the locker room (notice the sweat):

AND in that photo above, you can also see the “vein of approval” bulging out of my forehead (which indicates a good workout).

If the sidewalks stay this icy, next week I’ll do my 9 miler at the Y. I'll shoot for a little faster pace than today (I’m pretty sure I can do that - it had been so long since I had been on a suckmill that I was unsure how fast I could go today).

WANNA GO FOR A RUN?!? Pick one below:

Run #1: Pharmie is going to be at the Metrodome for Dome Running on Tuesday evening (tomorrow), and I’m pretty sure I’ll join her. She said she'll be “extra slow” because she hasn't done speed-work there in a while. I think I’ll do 1-lap intervals like I did 2 weeks ago (601 meters). I may back out if my heel gets sore from the run this morning, but I’d like to at least show up to do a few intervals. I’m thinking I’ll be there around 6 pm (Dome Running goes from 5 pm to 8 pm).

Update: There might not be any Dome Running this week - neither dates (30th or the 1st) are on the schedule. I might show up just to make sure, but it looks like the dome is closed!

Run #2: I’m going to try to break 5 minutes in the 1600 at another indoor track meet on New Years Day (Thursday Jan 1st) at 11:30 am. It’s on the Bethel University Campus, which is about 10 miles north of Minneapolis/St. Paul near the intersection of 35W and 694. I think they are planning on having the 1600 first, so I JUST MIGHT enter all of the events after that (you can do that for no added charge). This might change, but their website has the events in this order: 1600m, 200m, 800m, 1 Mile Judged Race Walk, 400m, 2000m C2 Row. I don’t think I’d do the race-walk and the row; I’d just do the running events.

This is a FUN EVENT! If you want to break out some mid-winter speed, come check it out! Being it's New Years Day, it doesn't start until 11:30 am. It’s cheap too: $16 pre registered, $25 at the door! I’ll be trying to take at least 8-tenths of a second off my 5:00.7 mile so I can go sub-5! Get more info here.

Run #3: I'm thinking about getting a group together on Saturday morning for a “Speed Saturday” workout on the stairs next to the JJ Hill House (near the Cathedral of St. Paul). There are about 150 steps and they are usually pretty well shoveled and salted. This morning, after my run at the Y, I stopped by the steps. Here’s the path covered in ice that leads down to the stairs:

And here are the stairs themselves (notice the man in the middle at the very bottom):

There’s more ice than I had hoped. So if anyone is interested, we’ll have to make sure to share the path and not be super concerned with how fast we do them - passing and meeting other people will be tricky, and we’ll have to share the non-icy areas. Borsch thinks he’ll be there. I’ll tentatively say 9 am this Saturday. And I’m also thinking about turning it into a Crossfit-inspired workout with pushups at the bottom of each lap. We’ll see. More to come on this later.

Have a good week, everyone!