Another Week Full of Good Runs

Here are my training miles, totaling 68.5 for the week. Again this week, for Tuesday's intervals I did 6 x 100 stride-outs followed by 6 x 800's with 200 recoveries. And once again, it was a very cold and dark, with no one around. This time there was the bonus of a fresh snow cover on the track to slow down my turn-over and conceal the lane lines. My 800 times were about where I wanted them to be (2:57, 3:00, 3:00, 3:00, 3:03, 2:53), but it took more effort than those numbers indicate. For the tempo run on Thursday, I followed the same hilly route as I ran last Thursday. Down into the valley, along the canal tow path, then up Rockside Road and up Brecksville Road. That's 2.5 miles of steep uphill grade.

Saturday was fun. We ran the Turkey Trail (that's what Steve G. called it), going southwest from Lock 29. There was about six inches of snow covering the ground, hiding the stumps, branches, rocks, etc. We had a few runners stumble and tumble. Luckily, and I mean that, I managed to stay upright for the entire run. I felt good enough to add a little kick at the end and run the last mile in 6:30. An image of our route is shown below. For anyone interested, I post the satellite images and stats for the Lock 29 runs on the SERC website every week.
The temperature on Sunday when I left the house was 10 degrees F. Despite that, it was a gorgeous morning. I watched the orange sun rise in a cloudless blue sky over the snow-covered landscape. It was a beautiful scene. I ran the first hour alone, then joined the SERC group for another 12 miles. When I got home, Sue made a stack of sour milk pancakes which I topped with maple syrup (real maple syrup, not the corn syrup imitation maple Mrs. Butterwothless stuff.) After that, I watched West Ham take all three points from Sunderland, then switched to the Browns v. Houston American-style football game. As most hardened Browns fans, I expect a loss until the game starts, then for reasons I cannot explain, I begin to believe we can win. Of course, that seldom happens, but that's the mysterious paradox of Browns fandom.