The sweet spot

It used to be that the difference between running too slow and too fast was pretty obvious, and the spread was about a minute per mile. Lately the sweet spot is really tightly confined. It's between about 9:20 and 9:40. What's up with that?

COLD

OK, cold for the Bay Area. Still. Muddy trail was frozen in places. Barely cracked the zipper on the windbreaker.

Not one other person on the trail tonight. Just the dog, the snow, an LED headlamp and This American Life on the iPod.

Beer o'clock soon.

Still running

Not spending much time on the world's least popular blog here though.

First time I've logged in in almost a month. Still getting used to how my regular computer tasks work on a Mac.

Ran tonight instead of bicycling because the weather was threatening. It is easier to cope with on foot than on a bike, given the terrain around here. It did rain, so it looked like the right choice was made. Plus the dog got to go along so he was happy.

First night ride of the season

Charged up the helmet mounted lamp. Didn't bring enough warm gear. Took it slow on the descents and said hello to all the deer on the sides of the road. Thought my fingers were cold until after the ride was over and it became obvious that my feet were the true leaders in coldness.

Still haven't uploaded the Forerunner data because the PC I normally used for that has a virus that is proving most resistant to killing. Bah.

Meh.

Not much going on lately. Have been working in some swims amongst the usual run and bike stuff. Trying to work out pretty much daily. I think overall I'll feel better, have more energy and be in a better mood, and be more relaxed when I want to relax.

Ran an extra mile tonight beyond what I planned, just to get full use out of a single episode of Car Talk. A surprisingly good run companion.

Finally over jet lag.

Took longer than I would have thought. Had a good run tonight at what felt like a normal match of pace and effort. Things have felt off for the last few weeks.

Pancakes for dinner was mighty fine after the run. Wooo.

Back from vacation

Did an epic amount of walking on the trip, but only got in two proper workouts. They felt good. Running just beats walking for feeling good afterward. Not sure why but it probably has to do with working up a good sweat.

And hey, now I can say I ran across an entire country in one go. Cuz the Isle of Man is technically a country unto itself.

Morning swim. Threat or menace?

Actually it went pretty well. Felt the same as any other. It was crowded though as they had 3 lanes blocked off for water aerobics.

Succeeded in getting in an effort that, it is hoped, will allow me to sleep on the 10 hr flight to London later today. Woo hoo. Not sure if I'll be posting from the UK and surrounding area, but will definitely be fitting some workouts into the trip.

Rain. Bah.

At about 4pm it was pretty obvious the Sunday night ride would be rained out. The pool closes at 4:30 on Sunday so that was out.

Will have to have a makeup workout tomorrow. The pool will probably be it. After taking a couple of weeks off while they closed it for maintenance, it was a bit rough getting back into it. It may be necessary to get one of those swim cadence beeper things, as I cannot resist the temptation to speed up whenever my stroke is a bit off, and that just makes it go farther off, and makes me tired faster.

WOJ shop ride. Thankfully a short one tonight.

Had a good grudge match climb to where Skyline meets Grizzly Peak. Usually around here on the climb to a given summit you are not in a position where you have enough gearing to be spinning a high cadence. This climb was flat enough though and it was high cadence for the win. Interesting that this let me tap into more heart rate. Garmin recorded 188, which is way above anything believable that has been tracked on the bike before.

Caffeine plus milk plus some sugar (cappuccino) about 30 minutes before the ride was a good fueling strategy.