Oh dear goodness, what a run.
It was cold. Like 20 degrees cold. And I went out way way way too fast. And starting fast makes the rest of the run uncomfortable! I should know better by now right?
And another plug for technology: I love my Garmin. Love it! Its going on 4 years, and the battery doesn’t hold the same charge as before. Meaning, it typically craps out during anything more than 4 hours (marathon, Copper Triangle) – despite my best power-saving moves. But what I love is the data. Oh, lots of data! And yesterday morning I set it to auto-lap at each mile.
Such motivation for me to see my 38:23 4.38 mile run broken down mile by mile. I can see where I hauled ass (mile 1 = 8:42/mi pace). I can see where I started to lose it (mile 3 = 9:19/mi pace). And I can see where I just wanted the whole thing to be over (mile 4.38 = 9:05/mi pace).
I’m happy that I raced last weekend. It was the catalyst to get my spring training/racing mentality going. And seeing my race photos also motivated me to tighten up my diet (yeesh, I am chunky!). I’ve started logging my food on Calorie Count (w/ free iPhone app) and logging my exercise on Daily Mile. I’m trying to follow (at least 90%) of the time the Paleo diet. I still put 1/2 and 1/2 in my coffee. I’ll drink a glass (or three) of red wine. I’ll put a little bit of cheese on my salad. Outside of those exceptions, I’m sticking to it pretty well.
I also just set up my spring race calendar. Here’s what’s happening::
* 3/25 RMRR MTS1 10 Mile
* 4/1 RMRR TS#4 4 Mile
* 4/15 RMRR MTS2 10 Mile
* 4/29 Cherry Creek Sneak 10 Mile
* 5/6 RMRR TS#5 5 Mile
* 5/20 Colfax 1/2 Marathon
* 5/28 Bolder Boulder 10k
I’m also looking at doing an Olympic distance triathlon. And maybe, maybe a 1/2 Ironman distance tri towards the end of summer or early fall. I gotta get my butt in the pool.
I still need to plug weekday training into my calendar. Even though I know I won’t follow a training plan exactly, I still need to have some sort of structure to follow. Fortunately, I have a flexible schedule at work. And there is a pool and lots of space to run near work and Miles’s day care. I really have no excuse to get at least an hour of running or swimming in after dropping Miles off and before going to work. No excuse.
So, that’s the plan for the spring. We’ll see how it goes!

Good luck on everything! I’ve always thought about trying to run for exercise, but our neighborhood is hilly and all the sidewalks are cracked, with tree roots popping out, and I’m absolutely positive I would trip and fall flat on my face. It sounds like a bad excuse for not trying but we won’t get into the amount of bicycle accidents I’ve had going about two miles an hour on a flat road :). I have friends who are currently on Paleo and they LOVE it!