Here we go again...

Honestly, I don't mind the cold at all. I don't even particularly mind snow. But we're running out of places to put it! This stuff is going to stick around for awhile because this weekend will be bitterly cold. My only beef with that is that it's cutting down my running routes to just one because the trail is pretty much done until Spring, the hill loop from hell near my house has no shoulders on the road anyway so it's even more dangerous now, and the lake route is the same thing. So I have one route in OS with 2 variations: the 6.33 miles one and the 8.10 mile one.

Today I was going to do the 6.33 mile one at lunch but I just didn't get out there. With the storm coming my sinuses are outrageously bad. I feel so, so lousy the day before a storm. My ears are clogged, my jaw hurts, my cheeks hurt, my TEETH hurt, I feel dizzy, and I get weird numbness in my hands. I used to think I was having a heart attack or stroke when these things would happen but my best friend gets the same weird stuff and we've both had all the tests in the world to show we're otherwise healthy. Still, it doesn't make it any more tolerable to know it's just sinuses.

After work I got on the treadmill, my only other alternative to the OS routes. I wasn't thrilled about it because the storm means I'll definitely be on it tomorrow and probably Saturday, too. But a run is a run. I did speedwork again and amped up my intervals a little more this time. At the end my intervals were 7.1 mph/6.1 mph, 7.2/6.2, and 7.3/6.3. My recovery pace at 6.3 mph is a 9:16 minute mile. This is exactly why I've been doing this kind of workout once a week, not to work on the top speed so much. Let's face it, I'll never be running an 8-minute mile for more than 2 minutes at a time. But it is conceivable to run a 9:16-minute mile. My overall pace for the 6.12 miles was 9:48/mile, including the walking warm-up and cool-down. I'll take it. Especially how I was really suffering at the end with my sinuses. I didn't realize how NOT fun it is to run on a treadmill with my ears clogged. My equilibrium was shot and it made me feel unsteady. It's every runner's nightmare to take a digger on the treadmill and have the belt rip up their face or something while they're on the ground.

My calves were a little sore from CF last night but I'm finding that my legs are doing pretty well and not interfering with running. That was my concern about going into a program like CF with all the squats. I'll feel a little sore the next day but I'm not hobbling around anymore like I was in the beginning. Does that mean I'm becoming more fit? I hope so!

Now that I'm thinking of it, I really do hope it snows tomorrow. I'd like to sleep in a little and work at home.