No one at Westerberg is going to let you play their reindeer games

I started the day just dead in my bed. You know that feeling when you mentally wake up but you haven't moved yet and know you're screwed? If I was sore last night from yoga I was even more sore this a.m. (Never mind the psychotic dream I had about missing the start of my triathlon then getting caught in an oil spill eventually being poison-darted by a native.) I started with a few finger twitches and eventually brought the rest of me to life. I loooove being sore like that.

Today is my track/speed workout day so I called my coach for advice on where to run. Would the track be clear? Should I go to the treadmill? How does one do quality speedwork on a machine? We decided I should run to the track, check the conditions, then run to my gym if necessary. They're all close together.

Got to the track and this is what I found.................

One side clear:


And the other side snowy.


I determined this was the best I was going to get so started my drills. After getting warmed up I moved into the real stuff. I was to do two 100s as strides (start fast, then gradually build up to faster at the end). Wait 30 seconds and go into a 1200 interval @ 5:20, rest 2 minutes, do a 400 @ 1:30, rest 3 minutes, do another 1200 @ same pace, then another 400 @ same pace. Here's how it turned out:

100s = 0:13, 0:14
1200s = 5:29, 5:24
400s = 1:29, 1:29

Argh....I was really pissed that I didn't hit the 5:20s on the 1200s. I know I know I know that the conditions hampered this. I was completely slipping on that back half, but STILL. I hate not hitting my goals. The 400s were designed (and correct me if I'm wrong Shawn) to throw a little lactic acid into the mix. The 400 pace equates to 6:30/mile and the 12:00 pace is 7:08/mile, so obviously the 400s were a lot quicker. I felt it, but I also felt great. I felt relaxed and good, so this is an improvement for me on my track workouts. (I am already thinking about February when this is all over with, how much I am going to miss the track workouts!) Afterward I took some pics (below) then trotted home. I was not as exhausted as last week but I felt worked out. It was a really good session.

Photos.....starting line:


My weathered training plan:


Nike owns Portland:


So that is it for Portland for 10 days. I'm all packed up and hopefully leaving tomorrow to travel to Michigan for the holidays. I have tons of cold weather running gear packed as the high will not go above the 20s while I'm there. Awesome! There's a ginormous storm hitting Chicago right now that is supposed to last for 12 hours. When Chicago predicts an Arctic Blast they are not fucking around - the shit's going to be off the heeeourzy. I guarantee you that I will end up getting stuck somewhere and lose my luggage. At least I have friends there and can take the blue line downtown if I'm trapped!

I'll be online while I'm out, probably more than I am now, so will post my adventures in mid-Michigan.