First run in the snow!

Luke & I headed up to Madison this past weekend.

He needed to go running to prepare for a race in a few weeks. So I took him on the route I did earlier this summer. We ran together for the first mile and then he took off and I tried to tell him how to run. I stopped a few miles up and just wanted to run a 10k.

Keep in mind that it snowed a few days before the weekend. Madison got a lot more than DeKalb did. And then it melted a bit and froze again on the sidewalks. The path however, was pretty clear. A few icy spots here and there.

I forgot to bring a jacket but luckily, I didn't need it! The air temp was 23 but the sun was out so that helped. My lined tights, another loose pair on top of them, my UnderArmour ColdGear turtleneck, another loose pullover on top of that and then a fleece cap & gloves. And I was warm with all that.

By the end of the run, my right achilles tendon was getting a bit sore because of my foot slippage. And of course my left foot went numb because I tied my shoelaces too tight I think.

As I was leaving the park & path on the way back, I glanced behind me and thought I saw Luke. The sidewalk was all one big hill so I tried kicking it into high gear to get enough distance between him & me and maybe I could beat him home!

I was making the final homestretch, looked behind me and couldn't see anyone behind me. Which was odd. So on the final road back to where I was staying, he caught up with me. But I found out that he wasn't the one behind me. He got in front of me and then took a different end when he saw the sledding hill across the street from the path.

I finished up the day with the 10k I wanted. Who knows how far Luke went but he said that he ran up the sledding hill. And peeps, this is not a small little hill. He said that there were a bit of trails at the top of the hill. I was really interested in checking out these trails.

So on Sunday, we decided to hit them up and just run a few miles. He led me this time and into the woods we went. It looked like a good place to do cross country skiing. We eventually found a map and sure enough, they had icons of the trails that determined if they were easy or medium or advanced.

I kept the GPS on but I didn't really care about my time on this one since looking at the maps took a lot of the time out since I keep forgetting to change the setting on my Garmin to pause the time when I stop running. We ran on down to the bottom of the ski hill and then Luke wanted to run back up the hill again. I told him I'd try but I wasn't guaranteeing anything!

I did manage to run up the hill but with one little pause in the middle. There was a time in which I'm sure my walk would have been faster than what I was going but I wanted to keep trying to push myself up that hill! I was sooooo tired after that try! Luke ended up rolling down the hill and then ran back up it again. yes, that's right, rolled down it. At first going head over feet and then I yelled at him to do a barrel roll. That was a mistake. He was dizzy for most of the day.

Then we went down another trail and it was so gorgeous! Tall pine trees with long trunks and then the snow on the trails. I sooo wish I would have brought my camera with me or at least a cell phone to snap a picture. It was so serene and pretty. But alas, I just give you this one picture from the run on Saturday.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1038 ft Location: Verona, WI Elev. Gain: -63 ft Date: 12/05/09 Up/Downhill: [+301/-364] Time: 08:52 AM Difficulty: 2.7 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 6.20 miles Time: 0:57:53 Speed: 6.4 mph Pace: 9' 20 /mi Calories: 658 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 32 -0' 48 7.0 +0.6 -88 ft 2 9' 35 +0' 15 6.3 -0.2 +20 ft 3 9' 27 +0' 07 6.3 -0.1 +17 ft 4 9' 33 +0' 13 6.3 -0.1 -30 ft 5 9' 31 +0' 11 6.3 -0.1 +33 ft 6 9' 48 +0' 28 6.1 -0.3 +40 ft end 7' 21 -1' 59 8.2 +1.7 -52 ft Versus average of 9' 20 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1087 ft Location: Verona, WI Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 12/06/09 Up/Downhill: [+259/-259] Time: 09:51 AM Difficulty: 2.8 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 30 F temp; 65% humidity 30 F heat index; winds Vrbl 3 Performance Distance: 2.12 miles Time: 0:26:19 Speed: 4.8 mph Pace: 12' 25 /mi Calories: 218 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 12' 10 -0' 15 4.9 +0.1 -62 ft 2 12' 59 +0' 34 4.6 -0.2 +56 ft end 9' 14 -3' 11 6.5 +1.7 -16 ft Versus average of 12' 25 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 6 miles, hills, Luke, Madison

Ballwin

Well, I didn't really have time to write yesterday after my run. I did a quick 3.1 miles around the neighbourhood of Ballwin. Again, it was hilly. Got my hill workout in for the week. Next time I have to map out a course though that way I don't have to remember where I came from and the roads I turned off of.

Anyway, here's my run on Thursday morning. I'll do another one tomorrow morning. Thinking about Creve Couer Memorial Lake. Or Forest Park. Still haven't ran there. And it's right across from my mother's hospital. But I doubt that I'll go there. No place to shower afterward and I plan on doing a double digit run! It's gonna be cold. Just like northern Illinois weather!

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 584 ft Location: Ballwin, MO Elev. Gain: -20 ft Date: 02/26/09 Up/Downhill: [+262/-282] Time: 07:45 AM Difficulty: 2.2 / 5.0   Weather: Fog/Mist   51 F temp; 86% humidity   51 F heat index; winds SE 6 Performance Distance: 3.10 miles Time: 0:31:07 Speed: 6.0 mph Pace: 10' 02 /mi Heart Rate: 154 bpm (Avg) Calories: 335 181 bpm (Peak) Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Heart Rate (bpm)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 19 -0' 43 6.4 +0.5 139 -89 ft 2 10' 15 +0' 13 5.8 -0.1 168 +30 ft 3 10' 25 +0' 23 5.8 -0.2 153 +29 ft end 9' 30 -0' 32 6.3 +0.3 163 +10 ft Versus average of 10' 02 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: Ballwin, hills

Hills, hills & more hills

Well, today's run was interesting. I'm in Ballwin and it's all up and down. It was like I was running on a rollercoaster. It was pretty harsh. I did have to walk up two hills. But in my defence, hills are not something that I have to contend with in flat, vastness of northern Illinois. :-) I was also scared of getting lost and not being able to find my way back home! I went running one way with knowing that I'll turn around and go back and when I got to that point again, I thought I should turn right to go home but wanted to keep on going so I turned left and that ended up being the way to get home! Whoops. I ended with 3.1 miles and I was happy with that. Hopefully my Achilles won't be hurting later on today! I was hoping BIM was gonna give it a higher difficulty rating but noooo, still a 2.6 out of 5. Grr, whatever, it was difficult for me!

Also, never has the 405 been so OFF in the route before. Look at the first part of my run, I was running on the sidewalk so I should be been NEAR the road but not behind people's houses. Look at the Garmin Connect version, switch it to Satellite and you'll see what I mean. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/1646217. Weird & strange.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 595 ft Location: Ballwin, MO Elev. Gain: -30 ft Date: 12/30/08 Up/Downhill: [+344/-374] Time: 12:17 PM Difficulty: 2.6 / 5.0 Weather: Fair and Breezy 61 F temp; 25% humidity 61 F heat index; winds SW 21 G 28 Performance Distance: 3.10 miles Time: 0:32:39 Speed: 5.7 mph Pace: 10' 32 /mi Calories: 338 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 12 -1' 20 6.5 +0.8 -101 ft 2 11' 11 +0' 39 5.4 -0.3 +43 ft 3 10' 47 +0' 15 5.6 -0.1 +16 ft end 10' 00 -0' 32 6.0 +0.3 +13 ft Versus average of 10' 32 min/mile

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Categories: Ballwin, hills

7 mile run

From my LJ blog...

I am from northern Illinois, not really known for the humidity but there can be some hanging around sometimes but luckily, this summer has been relatively quiet so I haven't had to deal with it too much. I am currently in the St. Louis 'burbs visting my boyfriend. I knew I needed to do a 7 mile run today as I'm in week 6 of my marathon training. Last week, I told my boyfriend to go to Queeny Park, about a 15 minute drive from his place and check out the paths in the park.

I got up at 6am, wanting to hit the road on my feet by 7:15a at the latest. I already knew it was going to be a humid day. 72% humidity last night at 10pm! Stupid boyfriend didn't wake up and get out of bed until 7:15a. He was going to be beside me on the bike. He drove me over to Queeny Park and I got on the road at 7:45a. Grrr. Off we went.

There are plenty of hills in that park. I only went walking in there once and there's one big hill near the AKC Dog Museum and it's a monster! I ran up one hill near the 2 mile mark and that wasn't too bad but it was also near the beginning of my run. Then luckily, I ran DOWN the monster hill. I put on the brakes big time. I ran past a lady in the skirt and I was also wearing a skirt, I said "Nice skirt!" with a smile on my face. She took offense to that, my boyfriend said, and she kept pulling it down. Geez...

Then it was sun time, I was out of the shaded forest. I was feeling bad, my run was going so slow by this time and I hadn't even reached the 5k mark yet! Got there in 32 minutes (though my Nike+ is a bit off but I'm sure it was over 30 minutes time anyway. My boyfriend was helping me by encourging me to get going and up and over these tiny hills and telling me where to go; I told him, you lead, I follow. I just didn't want to think about where to go at that point.

Around mile 6, I ran up the same hill that I ran up around mile 2. This time though, I was crying up. I wanted to walk so bad, my legs were heavy limbs that I just couldn't drag up the hill. I was literally crying and with my crying jag I couldn't breathe. It was HORRIBLE. My boyfriend talked me through it though and he was on his bike and I could hear that he was having a hard time talking to me and biking up it himself. Back down the monster hill. More brakes.

Finally, the end is in sight!

Since I knew my Nike+ is off a bit, I decided to go 7.2 miles. I told my boyfriend, .2 left to go. He said just aim for the light post. So I started trucking it. I made it! 1:16:33. Then I realised that on my 3.1 mile run on Thursday, I completed my normal 3.1 route before Nike+ said I did. So then I would have completed my 7 miles around 6.8 or so. So I stupidly ran FARTHER than I should have gone! Like I said, I wasn't thinking right by that time. I could hardly figure out what milage was left when I saw 6.69! I just couldn't do the math! :-)

Needless to say, we came back to boyfriends apartment complex and I jumped in the pool. HAHA! It was cold but oh so refreshing! I needed it for my ankles and my poor poor hamstrings and quads. I used to hate cold water baths but now I'm all about them! They make me not hurt the next day! Stupid hills.

So while it may have sucked and while I did have a total breakdown (which I feel more letdown on that then on the time of the 7 miles) on the last hill, I did manage to run 7 miles. This Saturday is running 12 miles. I'll be doing it alone. No boyfriend (to delay my start OR to help me through the rough times). And I'm still doing it in southern Illinois, just over by Carbondale this time. Hopefully, it'll cool off a bit by then.

Categories: 7 miles, Ballwin, Brent, hills, humidity