Too damned cold to run

RUN 7 miles in 62-ish mins, treadmilled 3x1 mile descending pace. Bonus half mile.
SWIM 2400y in 55 mins, 2x800 swim, then pull.

Last night one by one my Thursday running group dropped out of today's run. I was right there with them, -15F wind chill?! No way, Jose.

As much as I hate treadmilling, it still beats not running at all. Besides, this gave me a chance to do the speed workout as dictated by the plan. And a chance to run in shorts and a t-shirt and be warm. I pulled inspiration from my marathon training goals -- imagined the road, the hills, how it might feel, and more.

I changed the plan which was more of a track workout to a 3x1 mile set at descending paces. I didn't pick the goal paces until I stepped on the belt, where I decided 8:30, 8:15, and 8:00. Do-able. Until I went to select those paces and found the treadmill didn't calculate to those numbers. So I did 8:27, 8:13, and 7:53. I got a laugh out of this, because in reality that's only 3 seconds, 2 seconds, and 8 seconds different from my goals. Yet I still felt like I'd "won" something by doing "faster".

I finished the planned workout and realized I had another mile to go, since I wanted to run at least the Thursday distance of 6.6 miles. So right after the last interval I decided to pull a coach's trick and force one more interval out of me -- a half mile at a faster pace. One click under 7:53 was 7:47! Whoop! And to be honest, it didn't feel any different than the previous pace. But the difference of say 13 seconds per mile adds up to 5.6 minutes in a marathon. Hmm...that's not much different. Well anyway...

Off to the pool! Didn't need so much time in the shower since I was already warmed up, but I stood there awhile anyway soaking in the heat. I was happy to realize as I sat on the deck talking to D that the date was 1-23. Taking a cue from yesterday, I didn't have any doubt or dread going into the 2x800's. My goal was steady and no fade. No time goal for this, but that's something I need to start doing.

Overall this was a fun numbers day because it revolved around a lot of 8's. :) 3x8m/m miles, 2x800 swim, 800m bonus run...all on 1-23!

It was later this afternoon that I realized that my Wednesday problems stemmed from a Blerch infestation, and unfortunately I didn't have this in my head until after these workouts. The run worked out OK, but the swim maybe could have been improved by setting better goals.

So tomorrow's to-do list is to work on my Anti-Blerch Tracking Sheets.