More Difficult Conditions

Another day of running, more tough winter conditions. It was a 10 mile fartlek run and I made it through. No thanks to the wind though. Originally, they were calling for some accumulation of snow for this run, so I suppose things could've been worse.

It was another frustrating day because it was pretty warm (mid 30s), but very windy. The kind of weather that makes it difficult to know what to wear. These kind of days seem to be the norm now though. I went with the jacket as I usually do.

I started off easy, but it was against the strong wind, so it wasn't too easy. Parts of the Kelly Drive path were still covered with snow. I had to run off the path and into the deep snow as the plow came through too. He actually made the path worse by knocking more snow onto it. That made finding sections to run fast intervals difficult.

I made sure to get the first one in against a strong wind. I figured that would be a good early test. I did another 30 second interval at 5K-3K pace about every 6 or 7 minutes. I ran out past Falls Bridge and to the 4 mile point.

After turning around, I knocked out my fourth interval. I'm really taking a liking to these fartlek runs. It's much easier to focus on running between intervals. It breaks the 10 mile run apart and it doesn't seem as overwhelming of a task.

Most of the way back was calm. As usual, I hit a very windy spot around the SJP Boathouse. That's right where I decided to run my 6th interval. It was tough, and the hat I was wearing nearly blew off. That interval and the 7th one took a lot out of me. I had to slow a lot and recover. I actually took longer breaks (closer to 10 minutes) between the final few intervals.

After about 8.5 miles, I finished with my final interval. I did it around the parking lot next to Lloyd Hall. I then ran uphill to the Art Museum to recover. That was quite tough and made it difficult to finish.

My IT band held up pretty well again. I didn't feel it at all until about 8.5 miles. Since I've backed off my pace the last few weeks, it hasn't bothered me as much. The fact that I haven't run on many hills is probably another factor too.

This month has been very frustrating weather wise. My car has been buried in snow for well over a week now. I haven't been able to run anywhere other than Kelly Drive and West River Drive. I need to get out and run somewhere else before I go crazy. The problem is that even if I drove to Pennypack Park, I'm not sure how well maintained that path is after snow. I'd imagine that Forbidden Drive is a mess. It takes days to dry off as it is.

It would just be nice to get a day without killer wind too. I can't really tell how effective my training actually is because I'm running against a brutal headwind on the time. I'm certainly getting stronger and my endurance is improving, but my speed will have to improve. Hopefully, that'll come as it warms up and I shed clothes.

Tomorrow, is another 10 mile run. It's amazing how many double digit runs I have already put together in just the first 5 weeks of training. That'll be a big plus come marathon time. Tomorrow, I might try running through the east side of the park, as I did a few weeks ago. It may be tough because I have to run on the roads there, but at least most of the traffic is light. It is also hilly and a little bit challenging.

10 miles - 1:19:00 (7:54 pace)