Sub 40 deg and feeling great!

Sub 40 deg and feeling great! (Sorry, this is a couple of months old, but the blog was down and then I lost it...)

I have been looking out the window at work at the nice hill that I used to run up and down when it was warm... hey wait! It is 40 deg! That is warm when you have as much insulation as I have! Yesterday it killed me to be working instead of out there while there was light... I can always work when it is dark- ya'know?

So, today, I went out for a run at 3:00, then stayed late at work to finish the day - not too many people around to see/smell me... It was 40 when I left and about 35 by the time I finished with the sun setting early behind a cloud bank. All I was wearing was my KSOs, Injinji socks, shorts, long sleeved tee, and a light hat. I stayed very warm and did not need the wind breaker I had tied around my waist.

The goal today, other than just getting out, was to see if my time interval training paid off. Would I finally break the 48 minute mark for 3 miles? Maybe even a sub 45 minute??? It could happen! Well I will take what I got... 47:35! Can you believe that??? Three miles under 16 minutes! (I timed each one individually of course) OK, so I am barely running, but remember that other than the intervals last Tuesday I had never gotten below 16 in almost 100 miles of running... sad but true. So, today is a big day... I broke through the barier. Now it is on to 15. If I can get down a little below 14 I can challenge my son to do the Denver Marathon with me and skip Portland next year!

There is one technical item I have not mentioned yet. One of the runners on the huarache group named Harry brought up his study of using your arms during running. Most people I see running are flailing there arms around so much that it hurts to watch! On the other extreme, I have been making as little motion with them as possible. Harry has been learning how to use them right and sharing that with the group. For now, let me mention one thing I am trying. As you may remember, I have a rough time running down hill! Seems odd, but it is true. I just loose the floating feeling and easily start to slap my feet down, or go to a heal strike. Harry said to study Ryan Hall as he runs on YouTube. Harry's coach mentioned that holding your arms a bit foreward would move your center of balance foreward enough to stop the pounding. That sure would beat my current method of stopping, running in place, leaning forward... you remember the drill. I worked on this during my intervals and again today on my 3 miler and it seemed to help a lot. Pretty cool for a guy who is...
Barely Running