Treadmill

Run: 3 miles at 6.5 miles per hour

Distance: 3.0 miles

Time: 27:45

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★ ★

Gut: ★ ★ ★ .5

Energy  ★ ★ ★ ★ .5

Mind:  ★ ★ ★ ★ .5

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ ★

Soundtrack: The Crystal Method Radio, Pandora

    Yes people, Spring is here! OK, it's not quite HERE, but you can feel that it's coming. Now I learned my lesson from San Antonio, and cold is still cold. It was 22 oF this morning, so any plans of running outside I quickly packed away. But, to put things into perspective, it was about 2 oF in the mornings a week ago, and any time you go up twenty degrees, you can feel the change. Think of going from 50 degrees in the afternoon to 70 degrees. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

     You may think that this has been a little over stated, but I'm telling you, people are different around here. I went to get my mail last night after work, and 1) it was still bright out (hello time change!), and 2) I didn't have a coat on, and it was fine. Well, it was probably 36 degrees, but I was comfortably talking with my neighbor about how exciting it is to see some grass again. It's even on the news. Everyone is excited.

     So last night I contemplated running on the roads this morning, but I knew it was going to be too chilly. Also, there is still a good amount of snow on the sides of the road. I came across one fella running over the weekend. He very smartly had on a bright neon yellow coat, but he was literally in the middle of the lane that my car was in. He couldn't help it from the snow banks. This backed up traffic, and you could just tell that he wasn't enjoying the run. How can you?!?

     But it's coming. You can feel it. I think we get up to 48 oF today, and 50s tomorrow with some rain, and these roads are going to start clearing up. I'm signing up for some 5Ks, and I'm going to get my training manual out to get back on track for a half marathon coming up. It's time to start running again!

Distance

Run: 6 miles of easy hilly distance

Distance: 6.3 miles

Time: 58:19

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★ ★

Gut: ★ ★ ★ ★

Energy  ★ ★ ★ .5

Mind:  ★ ★ ★ .5

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ .5

Soundtrack: Godsmack, 1000hp, Good Times, Bad Times

     Whew momma, I just got this run in before the snow started falling! And it is totally coming down now. No doubt we'll have some accumulation by the end of this afternoon. There was a call for snow as of yesterday, and you could see in the sky that it was on it's way at some point. It's funny how impending snow is like impending rain, but a little less menacing. Kinda like running in the snow is a little better off than running in rain - at least for this R.O.B.

     All in all a good run. A bit chilly, but with the right gear, once I got started it was warm enough. It's interesting in that when I run I prefer to keep my hands in a loose fist, but usually with my thumbs out. For the first two miles, my thumbs were a little too cold in this position, and I had to tuck them into my fists. This was just awkward enough that I couldn't help but pay attention to it for the two miles. Then as my gloved hands got warmed up, it didn't matter as much where my thumbs were. All in all, a very weird small detail, but when you've got an hour alone with yourself, it's interesting what you end up paying attention to.

     So I'm happy to be back to 6 miles runs. Legs feel good - ankle still annoying, but no more so. I'm not entirely sure what kind of distance I'm looking at for 2015 races, but 6 - 8 miles on the weekends is going to be a good base for either 5K's or 10k's, whatever it may be. For now, I'm just happy to have gotten in one more road run before the flakes started to fall. I may be shoveling before the end of this day!

Distance

Run: 3 miles at a jog pace

Distance: 3.1 miles

Time: 28:15

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★

Gut: ★ ★★ ★

Energy:  ★ ★★ ★

Mind:  ★ ★ ★ .5

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ .5 

Soundtrack: Breaking Benjamin, Dear Agony 

     On the way back from rounding in the hospital, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful it was outside today. After the Thanksgiving snow and a few days of cold temperatures, today was a lovely 53 degrees. As I pulled into the driveway, I realized that I wasn't a very good Running Obstetrician if I wasn't running. I made up my mind right there and then to get in a few miles on the road.

     So this left ankle tendonitis this has been a drag. It hurts decently good at times, and despite taking some serious downtime, it is still there. A good friend of mine implied a while back that there are just some pains that you have to run through, and there is no sense in whining about it. These pains would NOT include a pulled hamstring or serious joint / tendon pain that stops you from being able to run. I don't recommend running through these!

     My ankle pain, however, seems fairly unchanged despite my recent treadmill activities, so I decided to put the "no pain, no gain" mentality to the test. Now key here (which took me a long time to learn), you have to go at this SLOWLY and SMARTLY. Therefore, despite the fact that I would have loved to have spent a whole hour running in this soon to be absent beautiful weather, I only put in three miles and at a fairly slow pace.

     That being said, it was a great pay off. The run was very nice, and my ankle pain was no worse than my usual walking around. The melting snow was a nice sight to see (soon to return for good!). And there was a cute Christmas tree sale going on at the local fire department. All in all a good run, and the ankle feels no worse for the wear. I don't see any PR paces or distances on the horizon, but at least I'm back on the road, and I snuck in a really good one today. Take that ankle!