NRFTW

Time: 44:38
Distance: 10.37 km

W/u: 11:20 for 2.15 km
W/o: 90 sec hard, 60 easy for 5km total
C/d: 16:18 for 3.21 km

I showed up for the No Rest for the Wicked weekly 5k looking to put in a nice little workout. I have completed 60 seconds on, 60 seconds off before over the course. This week I wanted to extend the hard section by 30 seconds and see how the body responded. For it now being spring, this weather sure doesn't feel like it. There were snow flurries throughout tonight's gathering, but the wind wasn't really a factor.

I didn't get much of a warm up before starting out with the group from the corner of the Hawthorne Hotel. Here is how it went down...

Splits:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	17:00.3	5.01	3:24
1	1:30.0	0.47	3:11
2	1:00.0	0.24	4:10
3	1:30.0	0.50	3:02
4	1:00.0	0.25	4:00
5	1:30.0	0.47	3:10
6	1:00.0	0.26	3:51
7	1:30.0	0.48	3:08
8	1:00.0	0.25	4:00
9	1:30.0	0.48	3:08
10	1:00.0	0.25	3:56
11	1:30.0	0.47	3:10
12	1:00.0	0.26	3:55
13	1:30.0	0.48	3:07
14	:30.3	0.15	3:18

I never felt great, but I pressed on making the effort hard. My legs were fairly tired and I didn't have much pop running up the hills. Regardless, I was pleased with doing something more than just running completely relaxed tonight. Looking at the splits, I probably should have backed off on the rest effort and would have run harder on the fast sections.

Snow Day

Time: none
Distance: none

The weatherman was right and it snowed enough to make running outside not worth it. It was also crazy windy and I had no interest in braving the weather. Oh well. I have to tell myself that taking a day off now and being a wimp is worth it to not be injured later this spring.

Snow Run in Rochester

Time: 42:41
Distance: 10.05 km
Pace: 4:15/km
Map

It snowed a little last night and I didn't want to risk running too much on partially paved streets. I only ventured out for a little over 40 minutes to get in my morning 10 km. I thought that I would run again in the evening with the Fleet Feet training group, but reconsidered when it would mean driving back towards MA in cold, wet clothes.

The run this morning basically repeated what I did yesterday simply because I knew the route. I slipped a little on the snow, but didn't notice anything alarming with regards to my achilles. I've really liked running in the new Flow Trail as it provides enough grip for the snow, has a waterproof guard near the toes and doesn't feel like most clunky trail shoes. Karhu might be onto something here.

Coldest Run Ever?

Time: 68:55
Distance: 16.90 km
Pace: 4:05/km
Map

I've had my fair share of cold runs this winter and braved quite a few while in college at Brown. There were even days back when this blog started in Oklahoma when the temps reached below freezing and the wind whipped across the plains. However, I can't ever remember starting a run when the thermometer read 6. Now I know there are much colder places in the US and on the planet than 6 degrees and understand runners head out the door when it's below zero, but until today I had never had actually had the pleasure.

I left Salem this morning early so that I could arrive in Albany for a footwear showing around 9:30 AM. I had hoped to run with the footwear buyer, but he wasn't running until later in the afternoon. I then ventured on through Utica and arrived in Syracuse to meet with the local store. I had about 90 minutes before a planned staff run that almost didn't happen due to the snow and cold weather. I opted to lace up my shoes and head out for about an hour before the staff run and just see if I could boost the weekly total.

From the store, I headed off in the direction of the Erie Canal Trail hoping the snow was packed down enough to run along. It wasn't. I slipped and fought my way through 100 meters of the surface only to pop back out on the road. I then found the remainder of my run on neighborhood streets and side roads of East Syracuse. Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic and the wind was remarkably calm. I ended up feeling surprisingly good on most of the run despite forming a sweet ice beard.

Ran today on a street called Summer Haven. It was nothing like June twitter.com/JoKinRuns/stat…
— Jordan Kinley (@JoKinRuns) January 24, 2013

I ended back at the store with a full 16 km on the legs and was ready to chat with staff and run again.

Snowy Run in Beverly

Time: 54:39
Distance: 13.03 km
Pace: 4:12/km
Map

I dropped Meagan off at the airport early this morning as she's headed out to Salt Lake City for Outdoor Retailer. I drove back to our offices in Beverly and ran an easy 13 km around the snowy streets with a pair of trail shoes. I remember feeling really cold at points of the run, but ended up getting into a rhythm despite my face having a difficult time adjusting.

Snowy Morning Run

Time: 30:47
Distance: 6.41 km
Pace: 4:46/km
Map

It snowed last night and Meagan was overly zealous to run too far this morning. It's a good thing we got the workout in last night and didn't have to deal with the conditions today. We ended up just putting in 4 miles around town. It was fun making tracks where people had not walked their dogs yet. It's also nice getting out before seeing all the yellow snow.

Hamilton Woods

Time: 75:14
Distance: 14.17 km
Pace: 5:21/km
Map

I drove up to Hamilton this morning to meet up with the Karhu and Craft GM and his buddy. They have been meeting most Saturday's for runs in the Hamilton Woods and trails. It was my intention to arrive about 30-45 minutes early so that I could get in some distance on the roads beforehand, but I actually was able to sleep until 7:00 this morning. I only had about 15 minutes to log 3-4km before linking up with the guys.

We headed off across the park where Gabe's Run is held and ventured into the trails. It was a little difficult to maintain footing on the icy and snowy trails, but I managed to stay bipedal. The pace was gentle but it didn't seem too slow given the terrain. The conversation was good and covered an array of topics including shows like Portlandia and Homeland, the running biz, local restaurants and skiing. It would be useful coming back more times and learning the trails better for this spring and summer.

Marblehead Mash

Time: 37:37
Distance: 8.60km
Pace: 4:15/km
Map

This morning I went to see Anne Gilbride and had work done on my hamstring. It's definitely feeling a bit better just not 100 percent yet. The discomfort is shifting around a bit which I think is a good thing. Right now I feel it really high up near the insertion point. I've stayed on top of my strengthening, massaging and some stretching.

I slipped out around lunch time and got in a short run before heading to the office. The loop took me to the trail that was partially snowed over and muddy. My stride is still not normal, but it's close. Really close. I don't think my hamstring is altering anything, but I sense a little tightness just as my right leg is about to make contact with the ground. The pulling back motion activates my upper right hamstring, but it doesn't hurt when I land, toe off, do high knees or butt kicks. Just when running normal on the snap down motion.

Dirty South

Time: none
Distance: none

A night after having some good time at Duckworth's with Compton, Matt, Jenna, Meagan, Simmons and a special someone, I awoke still needing to pack for my trip to New Orleans. I would be attending the Fleet Feet Winter Conference on behalf of Orthaheel Sandals. I got up with plenty of time to pack, shower and navigate the morning traffic to the airport.

Wait a minute. What's that white stuff?

Wow, the weatherdudes were right, it snowed. A quick check of my flight told me that I had been rebooked for a 12:50 departure and would be flying through Detroit. Detroit! Now that's efficient.

This would give me time to run if I wanted to aggravate my achilles slipping at toe off or I could pass on exercise and take the water paired with coffee. I watched the news on the morning commute and checked Delta.com every so often.

Short story long, I made it to New Orleans after having to sprint through the Detroit airport. The flight from Charlotte left late and according to my rebooking I would only have 30 minutes in the upper Midwest if everything went perfect. I landed at like 3:17 for a 3:30 departure. Yikes!

I don't know if you've ever been to the Detroit airport but it was designed by a schmuck. He took all creativity out of building a huge megaplex and decided a single hallway would be most efficient. My arrival gate was A10 and I had to get to A49 which was, no joke, over a half mile away. I ran and ran and ran. Good thing I'm kinda fit and now healthy because I made my flight and found my seat at the very back of the plane. Last row next to the bathrooms. Coincidentally, I was in the nose bleeds back with the GM of Craft/Karhu (Meagan's boss).

Once in New Orleans I cabbed it to the hotel, set up our booth space and had a great dinner on Magazine St. with my boss. We watched the FBS National Championship Game drinking local pints and chatting with the locals. Usually I'm in a foul mood when I don't get to run, but today was busy enough to keep me focused on other things. Plus that trek through the airport would count in Billy Shue's Athleticore.com log.

Nearly Melted

Time: 56:21
Distance: 8.56 miles
Pace: 6:35
Map

The snow is nearly gone. It sucks what they did to all those Myrtle Beach Marathoners. I went back out for some miles and found the streets to have pretty good footing. I happened to good as well. I think after running 4:35 pace on the intervals yesterday, running mid-6:00 pace felt really easy. The body is holding up well and I had a nice relaxing recovery run that was a bit faster than usual.

Slow on Snow

Time: 44:40
Distance: 5.34 miles
Pace: 8:21
Map

The streets of Charlotte are once again covered in snow. Actually, it's not that bad. The cars, trees and grass are all covered, but the roads are relatively fine. That being said, parts of today's run were slippery. I needed a true recovery run after the shape cutting session and that's what I got this morning.

Cutting Shapes in the Snow

Time: ~64:22 (actual run time)
Distance: ~10.85 miles (actual run distance)

W/u: 23:14 for 3.11 miles
W/o: 25 x 400 in 66-69 w/ 1 min recovery
C/d: 12:10 for 1.51 miles

Let's get things rolling. I promised to update this bad boy and didn't. Usually I update starting with the oldest run first, but not tonight. I'm going to hit things from the most recent to oldest. Not sure if you will want to read all of the runs, but here it goes.

This afternoon I drove my new Jetta VW Sportwagon TDI, (yup, new owner of a family friendly vehicle, more on that yesterday which comes later) to Providence Day School. I had an important workout to complete before the snow started. Thoughts on this workout were good, but it's a long one that requires a lot of focus.

I warmed up to the Boyce parking lot bathroom of McAlpine and then returned to the high school campus. The legs were feeling good at this point which I usually don't like. I, for some reason, have good workouts when the legs feel bad on the warm up and bad workouts when they feel good. It was chilly this afternoon and I was layered in some Craft gear when I hit the track to change into some flats.

I mentally broke the workout into 5 sections of 5 reps. Basically, I told myself to run a mile and then one extra 400m interval. That was step one, now just repeat 5 times.

Splits:
72.24, (61), 69.37, (60), 67.77, (59), 67.80, (59), 68.95, (60);
68.97, (59), 68.88, (59), 68.86, (69), 67.95, (60), 68.40, (61);
68.64, (59), 67.93, (59), 68.28, (61), 68.71, (60), 67.45, (61);
68.58, (60), 68.14, (60), 68.41, (60), 67.52, (60), 67.88, (60);
68.56, (60), 67.50, (61), 69.00, (60), 66.65, (60), 65.35 for 52:58 total time and roughly 7.5 miles. Average of 68.31.

Check out those first two splits. I thought this was going to be a bad one. After all, my legs felt good on the warm up. Luckily, I was able to dial in the splits that I needed to run by the third interval. I remained smooth and relaxed throughout. In fact, I think if I had someone working out with me, I could have averaged low 67s. The pace never felt all that quick and the rest seemed like an eternity compared to the 800 workout I ran last week.

I had to think that this workout wasn't going to be all that bad. I had 30 more seconds rest, was running half the distance and only had to run 3-4 seconds faster than what I was splitting through the 400 mark. I had the confidence need to run this workout strong and am pleased with the splits.

It started snowing around interval number 12. A light flurry began and it continued to get more serious as the workout progressed. It was fun to see the snow begin to accumulate on the grass while the track remained relatively snowless. That certainly isn't the case anymore by the looks of the parking lot outside.

The Mini covered in snow next to the TDI Sportwagon. Meagan wants to call him Felix.

Pointless Run in the Snow

Time: 128:27
Distance: 18.04 miles
Pace: 7:07
Map

I had my most miserable run of the year this morning when I thought it would be a good idea to run from the house out to McAlpine. The goal was to arrive just as the Queens team was starting their long run from Old Bell. I took most of the main roads out to the parking lot and didn't have the best experience. The roads were plowed just enough for a single car to pass, but that meant I had to jump in and out of the road to the shoulder of snow and ice. Driver's weren't acting too malicious this morning out on the thoroughfares.

It was almost exactly 8 miles from the door to Old Bell, I'll definitely keep this in mind in the coming weeks. However, those 8 miles were split at: 8:30, 7:30, 7:10, 6:51, 6:58, 7:06, 7:04, 6:16. Then I entered the park and it was a disaster. I had yet to experience bad footing on the day's run. McAlpine was awful. The snow wasn't soft enough to provide any cushioning and hard/beat up enough to make it feel like you were running in a riverbed. The next 10 miles were: 7:17, 7:09, 7:13, 7:24, 7:11, 7:08, 7:18, 7:03, 6:40, 6:22. The worst part was the fact that only 3 Queens athletes decided to show up this morning and 2 were females.

As you can see the splits were all over the place. The terrain basically dictated the pace and made every step a calculated placement. The only redeeming bit of fun on the run was my trusty iPhone that kept me company and provided some tunes to zone out. Late in the run I was joined by Benny and that made things a bit easier, but he was somehow ripping through the snow like it was a non-issue. I tried to pick it up to match his pace but that only made the run increasingly frustrating. The final two miles that clocked in under 7:00 minutes felt like they were sub-6:00 effort.

Multiple times I felt like calling it a day because I wasn't getting the true benefit of a long run. Yes, I was out there for over two hours, but nothing about the pace or effort felt natural. I know I'm going to be extra sore tomorrow due to all the little stabilizer muscles having to do extra work. I'm trying to find the positives to this run. I don't see any. Get me outta here.

Charlotte Sees Snow

Time: 46:26
Distance: 5.73 miles
Pace: 8:06
Map

I've had a pretty high volume week thus far and today I just wanted to relax. Meagan and I were greeted this morning with a few inches of snow. She thought it was fantastic, I thought it was going to work over my achilles. My days up in Providence taught me that running on uncleared, icy streets can be disastrous for training. The little bit of slipping at the end of each stride really adds up and causes extra stress to the achilles and calves. The marathon build up is going great so far and I don't want a little bit of snow to ruin things.

White stuff and ice make for a terrible running surface.

Ralphie's big sister?

Meagan and I ran to Run For Your Life and back for our route. We didn't expect there to be too much business, but evidently the snow didn't stop customers from needing shoes. The run turned into two, 20 minute runs as our break at the running store was at least 30 minutes. I needed a good day of recovery.