Monday January 18th

Speed Workout

3.1 Miles

ET 27:08

Ave Pace 8:45

What a pretty evening for a quick run before going to a meeting at church. Temperature was in the low forty's. No sun but it was late enough that it would have been setting anyway. I really felt "the need for speed" tonight after last weeks runs all in the 10:30 range.

I am excited about coaching a half marathon group of 15 runners and helping them prepare to reach their goal of finishing the Go St. Louis Half Marathon next April. I'll have to talk to them to see what their goal time will be but I am guessing in the 2 hr 10 min area. Just about perfect for my plan of running a decent half in the spring then kicking butt next fall.

I was talking to some of my fellow coaches Saturday and found out that if you run the half marathon on Sat and the full on Sunday at Disney in Orlando you end up with multiple medals, one for Sally, one for Tommy and one for Grampy!!! It's beginning to sound like a plan.

Two Saturday's ago I substitute coached a marathon training group on a 12 miles run. The path was about 50 % snow covered with a wind chill of about 5-10 below. The snow cover was loose because of the cold and that was actually more of a challenge than staying warm. Proper clothes, enough layers, some toe warmers and hand warmers and it was toasty warm! We didn't worry about our pace or splits, that simply didn't matter in those challenging conditions. The group really gelled as a team that day, staying close together and watching our for one another. We carried our fluids under our top layer to keep it from freezing so every mile we slowed to a walk in order to get a good drink without falling.

Last Saturday I subbed again. It was a "fall back" week of 8 miles on a wonderful course through the Missouri River bottom land and along the Katy Trail. Temp had moderated and was in the 30's at the start but it was foggy and the dampness made us feel the cold at the start more than the sub-zero weather. Great run with a killer hill at the end.

I'll post the rest of my running history tomorrow.

RunGrampyRun