ITS NOT *THAT* BAD...

A great twelve miler in my hometown of Tualatin.

Last week wasn't my proudest week ever in terms of running. I ran five miles on Monday (the day after the Rivalry Clash) because I didn't want to put a hilly seven on my legs the day after a race. Took my normal day off on Tuesday and then on Wednesday planned to do seven at run group. Unfortunately I got stuck in traffic and missed run group. It was 38 degrees and very windy and my run group actually ended up scrapping the run and going drinking instead! So needless to say, I didn't run by myself when I did get home.

Thursday was bitterly cold as the "arctic blast" was still rolling in. We were actually supposed to get 4-6" of snow Thursday morning but none of that materialized. It was still very cold, windy, and wet though. I just couldn't get myself out there. I felt like such a failure I finally got my ass outside for three miles Friday night. I would have done more but I had a twelve miler coming up Saturday morning and I didn't want to wear myself out for that. All together I would still hit 20 miles on the week so I figured that was good enough.

That run on Saturday went really well! So did my run on Friday night. I'm beginning to adjust to the change in conditions. Dress appropriately and it's not all that bad! I actually kind of enjoy the cooler weather as long as it's not windy or wet. The run Saturday morning was great. It was 28 degrees when we started, which scared me, but I just dressed up with a beanie and light jacket and felt more than fine. The sun was out and it was actually a glorious run that I really enjoyed with company from Coach Jim's running group.

Every Saturday morning I'm available I'm going to try to run with Coach Jim again this winter. His group tends to kind of be an "off-season" Portland Marathon Clinic. There are a lot of the same people and pacers. A little less frills at his runs, but they are a great option when it is hard to get motivated to run in the winter. I started running with the 3:20 group and I think I'll stick with them. 3:30 was the fastest group last year, so hopefully this small step up will aid me in breaking through the 3:30 barrier. Coach Jim's long run speeds are VERY conservative so I will be fine (we still run above 9:00/mile).