I Guess it Had to Happen Sometime

For the first time ever, I quit.  I've had many runs that have been bad, one's that I barely finished, but this was the first one I just plain quit.  I woke up Sunday a little sick, so I spent the day loading up on all my immune boosting supplements, hoping that when Monday came around, I'd be well enough for my long run.  It didn't work.  I decided to go out and run it anyway, after all, it was just a little cold...I could still run!  My training plan called for a 175 minute run (just under 3 hours) which at my current long run pace would somewhere around 10-11 miles (yep, I'm that slow!).  The run started out fine, I actually ended up "running" into an old friend during my first mile, so we ran together for a bit and chatted.  It was great!  But during that time I ran faster than I should have and my heart rate got way to high.  I'm supposed to run my long runs with my heart rate under 140, but I let it slip too high because I wasn't paying attention to my pace, and it ended up reaching 170's.  After that it was hard to get my heart rate back down, and keep it down.  Eventually I just gave up and decided to try just keeping it under 150, hoping after a mile or so my body would settle down a bit.  Nope.  By the time I finished mile 4, I was running nearly 20 min/mile and still unable to keep my heart rate down.  I was also feeling miserable.  My body just wasn't having it!  Trying to fight off sickness, plus running, plus trying to keep me warm in the rain...it was just too much.

I stopped off in a public park to sit for a few minutes, to see if I could get my heart rate calmed down so I could head home. I knew I'd be short of my required time, but I also knew I couldn't pull off the full 3 hours.  After sitting for a few minutes, my heart rate was still crazy high. That's when I made the decision to ask my husband to come get me.  I was miserable, I was tired and I was cold.  While I probably could have made it home, I knew that at such a high heart rate, it would probably do more harm than good.  

Of course my husband immediately came to get me, thankfully his job allows him the flexibility to do that!  As I sat in the park waiting, I was still trying to accept the decision I made.  In my head I knew it was the right one, but I still questioned it.  I'm just weeks away from my goal race, did I just set myself up for failure?  Are all those weeks I put into training going to go to waste?  Of course not, but I still had those doubts.

I spent the rest of the day in bed, binge watching Netflix.  Since my Garmin has a built in heart rate monitor, I kept an eye on my heart rate.  Even after spending hours in bed, my heart rate was still only in the 90's!  Which for my is high, since it's usually in the 60's.  That helped confirm that I did make the right decision.  My body needed rest, it's working hard to fight off sickness, and running will just make things worse.  So, I'm taking some time off to recover and looking forward to getting back to running soon!  Once my body is ready.

A post shared by Jessica (@runningslowfaster) on Apr 25, 2017 at 9:55am PDT

Pretending it's Spring

Yesterday I tried to pretend that it's spring.  The sun was out, the weather was in the 50's (warm for around here this time of year) and I was heading out to run.  I was still in my warn up, when I decided it was way too warm for a jacket!

Apparently I was the only one who thought so though.  Since it was such a nice day, there were quite a few people out on the trail, walking, running and cycling. I however, was the only one in short sleeves.  Most people were even wearing winter coats, hats and gloves!  So maybe I'm just crazy?  I don't know.  But it felt great to get out there and run in the warm(ish) weather!

My long run route isn't easy.  It isn't hard exactly, but it's got some hills.  Well, really just one hill...if you could even call it a hill.  Looking at it in person, it doesn't seem that difficult, but it wears on you.  Especially when you've already been running for an hour!  And since I need to keep my heart rate under a certain level for my long runs, it gets pretty difficult.  I find myself running significantly slower on the uphill portion.  Which is saying something because I'm pretty slow to begin with ;) 

I think the hardest part about it is my head.  I've run this trail so many times, I know exactly where it starts to go downhill, when I have to go back uphill, and when it levels out again.  I suppose with most hills, you can see the top and you know you'll get there soon so you power through.  This is just steady elevation with no end in sight.  I've thought about changing my long run course, but I've decided to just stick it out because I know it'll make me stronger the more I run it.  Embrace the hill, right?!

Weekend Running

Well, we all seem to be over our sickness, so the first chance I had to go running, I took it!  Sunday morning came, I was feeling good, the sun was shining and I was ready to go.  Then the two year old woke up and excitedly asked if she could come running with me. I couldn't tell her no!  Then as I was getting her ready, her big sister asked if she could come too.  So, out we went, to run in the sunshine! 

Running with these two means not really running.  Well, some running, some skipping, some walking, some stopping to pick up rocks and some stopping to say "hi" to all the dogs.  But at least we look fabulous doing it.  My 6 year old was soooo excited to by "super matchy" with her running clothes today, so we had to take a picture.

These troopers made it about a mile and half though, which was a great way to start the day!  I dropped them off back at home and headed out for a little while longer on my own.  Looking back at my cadence, you can definitely see when that happened! (yes, I know my cadence is much lower than the suggested 180, but I'm a slow runner!)

Birthday Run and a Giveaway!

Yesterday was my birthday, and I'm now officially 35!  I gotta admit, I'm kind of feeling old.  Thankfully, not too old to run!  Yesterday the sun was shining, and I got to go run outside...which is always wonderful.  

I was sharing on Instagram yesterday, how funny it is that I wanted to run on my birthday.  A couple of years ago I never would have thought I'd want to do that!  Running has changed my life in so many ways, and it's hard to imagine what my days would be like without it.  

So, 3.5 miles to start my first day of being 35, I followed it up with going to a pottery painting place with my kids where I painted this little gnome.

I'm hoping he'll look less creepy when I'm done!  Then of course some coffee,

I came home in the evening to my husband making me a fabulous dinner, and he even cleaned the kitchen when he was done!  It was a great day =)

One other fun thing from the day, is I get the chance to give away some Balega socks for my birthday!  If you haven't yet, head over to my Instagram page to enter!

A post shared by Jessica S (@runningslowfaster) on Mar 23, 2017 at 9:11am PDT

Halfway There!

I'm officially halfway through my half marathon training plan!  Kind of crazy!  I've gotta say, I'm absolutely in love with it.  This training cycle, I decided to try the heart rate training plan from Another Mother Runner.  To say that it's changed my life might be a little dramatic, but it certainly feels that way sometimes!  The idea behind heart rate training, is that you need to keep your heart rate under a certain number so that you're using only your aerobic system rather than your anaerobic.  Most people refer to this as "base building", and that's what the first 6 weeks really were...just training up your aerobic system so you can start gaining speed later in the program.  Which meant many long, slow miles.  Turns out, I kind of love those!  When started week 1 I couldn't go more than about 60-90 seconds without my heart rate getting to high, forcing me to slow down to a walk.  By week 6, I was running 60 minuets no problem.  Now at week 10, I'm running 110 minutes nonstop, and I've taken 4 min/mile off my pace from week 1.  I still have plenty of room for improvement, and I look forward to seeing where it goes in the next 10 weeks!  Some of the best improvements though have been ones I hadn't expected:

-I'm able to run without walking (a new thing for me!)
- I'm consistently running 5-6 days per week
- I LOVE running ❤️
- I no longer dread running, in fact I run for cross training (and sometimes on my extra rest day) because running is all I want to do!
- I've learned to run in a fasted state and no longer rely on gels and caffeine to get me through my runs
- I no longer use headphones when running outdoors. It's amazing!
- My clothes are fitting loosely, and people are asking if I've lost weight. (A nice side effect!)
- I'm not dead after my long runs, I still have plenty of energy left to get me through the rest of my day!

Previous training cycles were exhausting for me.  I'd end up missing at least one run a week because I was just too tired.  I know now that it's because I was running too fast each run, never letting my body build up a good base.  On my long run days, I'd be dead, pretty much useless the rest of the day!  It's totally different now.  Yesterday, I went on my 110 min long run, came home and cleaned to house, played chauffeur a couple of times, made a bunch of food, and had a small party at my house.  I ended up not getting to bed until midnight, and while I was a bit tired by the end of the day, I was also amazed that I was able to do all of that!  Because I started this training with such a poor aerobic base, I know it'll take some time to get where I want to be, but for now I'm absolutely loving it and I'm excited to see what the future holds!

When it Rains, it Pours

After weeks and weeks of complaining about winter, and wishing spring would come...I think I got what I asked for.  Spring is here full force in the form of rain.  Lots of rain.  Constant rain.  Flooding the streets rain.  Careful of what you wish for, right?!  When my long run day came around, there was rain in the forecast, but not until later in the day so I thought there was a chance I would get home before it.  Nope.  I got about half a mile into my long run and it started pouring.  I had dressed accordingly, and it wasn't cold, so I figured I'd keep going for a while.  I could always come come and finish up on the treadmill if needed.  Well, two hours later I was cold and soaked.

My husband called my toward the end of my run, just to make sure I was ok.  I told him it wasn't too bad out, and I had stayed surprisingly dry.  Oh how wrong I was!  When I got home and changed I discovered every single item of clothing I had worn was soaked.  My hat was even dripping!  I guess it's just goes to show what decent running clothes can do...I didn't even realize I was so wet!  Although my socks?  Totally dry.  I love my Balega Blister Resists =) 

So, two hours of running, nonstop, in the rain kind of rocked.  It made me kind of pause and think "Hmm...I guess I am a real runner!"  You'd think at some point it would be easy to call myself a runner, but it's not.  This run, made it easy though. 

The Maiden Voyage

It's hard when you get your new treadmill on rest day.  I did sneak in a few minutes after it was all set up, but I couldn't really do more than that.  So yesterday was my first real run on it.  I got a late start in the morning, and my kids woke up early, so I was still running while they were eating breakfast.  These kids though?  They were nearly as excited as I was about the new treadmill, so they got their breakfast, came out to the garage and sat down on a yoga mat next to me to watch me run.  Awkward?  Maybe.  Cute?  Definitely

I managed to squeeze in about 3 miles, and it felt awesome.  The treadmill was spacious and easy to run on...and I'm totally in love.  My 6 year old asked if she could have my old treadmill though...so I guess I'll have to make space for both of them in the garage!

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Is it Spring Yet?

For realz.  I'm sure all you Instagram followers are tired of hearing me complaining about the snow, but it's been a really bad winter!  I did manage to get out there and run the other day, and it wasn't too bad.

The snow was almost gone, the sidewalks were pretty clear...it was great!  And then the snow returned.  So I've been using my treadmill for the last several runs, including my long run.  That's tough y'all.  Nearly two hours on a treadmill in the middle of my living room.  Usually I stream a little Netflix on my Kindle Fire which fits nicely onto my treadmill, but since I knew it was going to be a longer run, I set up a tv in front of my treadmill to watch some Gilmore Girls while I ran.

Which worked great...other than I could still see the giant mess all around me ;)  I recently finished up the final season of Gilmore Girls, and now I'm working my way through the Netflix original series. I haven't decided about it yet.  Some things are great, some things are not.  But it's good enough to keep me entertained through my long run!  My long run was great.  I ran about 1 hour and 50 minutes.  Without walking.  I was amazed!  I love my training plan more and more with each passing week.  I never could have done that in the past, primarily because in the past I was always running at a pace that I thought I "should" be running, rather than at a pace that was right for my level of fitness.  I'm still struggling with how slow I am, but I really do love the fact that I was able to run for two hours, then take my kids to a birthday party for three hours (no easy feat!), then come home and make dinner and get the kids to bed...all with plenty of energy.  In the past I'd always be dead the day of my long runs.  So I'm calling that a win!

The Time I Nearly Got Attacked by Zombies

I didn't want to go on this run.  At all. I had arranged for childcare and was looking forward to my 60 min run in the sunshine.  Sadly, the weather missed the memo about sunshine and it ended up pouring rain instead!  Well, it was still in the 40's (warm for around here!) and I figured I might as well go.  A little rain never hurt anyone!

Well it was fabulous.  It was lightly raining, foggy and misty and it made everything look gorgeous.  There's a trail near my house that I usually run on , it's surrounded by trees on each side, but it looked a little too foggy for running, so I went the opposite direction where it's more prairie and farmland.

My phone photos don't do it justice!  I was cruising along nicely, at my slow and steady pace, when I started looking a little closer at my surroundings.  I was out in the middle of farmland, there was and old, rundown, abandoned barn and tons of fog.  Then the power lines started making a really loud buzzing sound!  I started thinking that it was feeling like a horror movie, and this was about the time everyone would be yelling "turn around!" at the stupid person on the screen who was about to get attacked by a zombie mob.  Well, I figured I'd listen, and I turned around and ran back the other way!  Because, really...who want's to get attacked by zombies?!

I spent the rest of my run circling around my neighborhood, and it actually turned out to be a great run!  My training plan called for an easy 60 minute run, keeping my heart rate under 140.  Which is harder than it sounds. I was actually able to run the whole thing, without needing to walk to get my heart rate down.  That's a huge milestone for me in this training plan!  I'm really excited to feel like I'm progressing out of the base building phase and into some more "real" training.  Which is kind of a stupid way of looking at it, because that base building is so pivotal to any kind of training!  Plus, you've gotta have a strong aerobic base if you want to survive the zombie apocalypse.  

To Run, or Not to Run...That is the Question

Well, close enough.  Yesterday was my long run day, but there was a major problem.  See, I live in north Idaho where the weather is just downright obnoxious sometimes!  We've already had an insane amount of snow (the most since '96) and then just as it was starting to finally get above freezing and some of the snow was melting...we got another major snowstorm!  We pretty much couldn't leave our house for two days and we kept ourselves entertained by watching all the cars get stuck in the street.  Ok, we helped dig them out too ;)  Eventually the snow stopped and the rain came instead. Which means that by Tuesday morning, my driveway, the sidewalks and the street were pretty much a solid sheet of ice.  So what's a girl to do?  I look forward to my Tuesday runs, it's about the only time I get to run outside, but I just didn't feel like the conditions were safe enough.  So I had a pity party, whined about it to my husband and friends, then finally sucked it up and hopped on the treadmill.

At least my socks and capris matched ;)  The nice thing about spending 75 in on the treadmill is that I made it through 2 episodes of Gilmore Girls.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I'm done with the series!  I'll have to find something new, but what?  Although, hopefully I'll be running outside more as it warms up =)  I gotta admit though, I find it hard to keep proper form while running on the treadmill, I imagine part of the problem is I have to look down slightly to watch my show!  I'm trying to figure out how to mount my tablet to the wall so that it's not such a strain on my neck.  But for now I gotta do what I gotta do!

75 min :: 4.2 miles :: 17:55 pace ::  Avg HR 137/Max HR 154  - Still putting in those slow, steady miles, and I'm going longer and longer between walking breaks.  I gotta admit though, it's a bit depressing to see that I only managed a little over 4 miles in all that time, but I know it's an investment and will pay off in the long run!

Goodbye, January...Hello, February!

January has now come to an end, how did you do on reaching your goals?  My half marathon training plan started at the beginning of January, so my focus was on completing each of my training runs.  I also had the hope of logging at least 84 miles to make a good start to completing my goal of 1000 miles this year.  Well, I didn't quite make it, but I got pretty close.

Since my training has just begun, I know my mileage will increase and I'll be able to make up that 10 miles, no problem!

As for February?  My goals are pretty similar.  I want to focus on getting all 5 of my training days done, and possibly a 6th day if I can swing it.  I also want to try and get some time on the BOSU each day, even if it's only for a move or two.  Between my BOSU and my resistance loops, I feel like my hips are really getting stronger and my balance is getting better.  So I'm keeping up on that for sure!  I don't want another injury ;)

Running with My BRF

All winter long, this little girl of mine has been begging to go running with me.  While I don't mind running in single digit temps, I'm certainly not letting my little 6 year old out there in that!  Well, it's been warming up (yay!), so we got dressed up in our running best, and headed out.  We even got the whole family to join us...although they didn't want to be in our awesome running photo.  Running with my kiddos is always an adventure.  There were lasers to leap over (sidewalk cracks), landmines to dodge (dog poop) and plenty of fun to be had!  I love how she always wants to be doing whatever I am doing...although it's a bit daunting at times, knowing she's always watching and learning from me.  

After we finished our "run" I headed out for a little bit on my own.  My plan called for 45 minutes of easy effort running, and I figured I was already dressed and ready to go, so I might as well!  Sadly my Garmin died about 15 minutes into my run, so I'm not really sure how far I ran, but I was a great run.  Although, I felt a little more self conscious out there running in a sparkly skirt all by myself!

Oh, and of course we had to do the standard picture of our Garmins post run:

Long Run Woes

Tuesdays are my long run day.  Why?  Because I'm kid free that day!  I've gotta admit...it's a day I look forward to.  I can get my long run in, do some foam rolling, then spend the afternoon watching Gilmore Girls and catching up on laundry.  My current training plan focuses on time rather than distance, so my long run this week was 75 minutes.  I got ready, headed out the door, and made it to the corner of my street before seriously considering going home!  It was super cold and windy.  But I decided to stick it out, after all, I'd warm up a bit after a while.  It was brutal.  About 1 mile in it started snowing.  And not that pretty, fluffy snow.  It was half frozen snow pelting me in the face, not super enjoyable.  I'll tell you, my watch buzzing at me when it was time to turn around and head back?  Happiest point of the whole run.

All I could think about the whole way home was my electric blanket.  It's my BFF.  I managed to make it home, but that was seriously the hardest run I'd had in a while.  It was easily 2 min/mile slower that my normal pace so I was a bit discouraged.  But I got it done, I kept my heart rate in zone, and I got what I needed...so that's the important thing, right?!

The Snow is Melting!

Winter is winding down and I'm so happy!  This has been one of our worst winters in years, and it's been really hard to run.  This past week the temps have been above freezing, which means that the massive amount of snow we've gotten has all started melting.  School was cancelled and flood warnings were issued.  So naturally I figured it was a perfect time to go running!  I asked my oldest to be on babysitting duty and she pretty much thought I was crazy.  But the sun was shining, it was warm(ish) out so I went for it!

The puddles were crazy!  But I had fun splashing through them =)  Of course there was plenty of slush too!

I've been hearing a lot from people about running without headphones.  No music, no podcasts, no audiobooks...nothing.  They say it really changes your running experience, making you more in tune with your running and breathing.  So I figured I'd give it a shot.  With my headphones in my pocket, just in case ;)  It was actually pretty great!  I think I'll keep it up for my outdoor runs, but not for my treadmill runs.  I don't think I can run on a treadmill for an hour without some kind of distraction!

Comparison is the Thief of Joy

I love training by heart rate.  I love my training plan and my Facebook group.  But yesterday?  Yesterday was hard.  My interaction with other runners on social media has drastically increased over the last couple of weeks, and I've joined several new groups on Strava and Facebook.  It's hard not to compare myself to them.  It's hard not see you yourself at the bottom of the lists in your Strava groups and feel inadequate.  It's hard not to wonder why you aren't as fast as them.  But, as so many people in my training group reminded me, "Comparison is the thief of joy."  I'm on different running journey, I can't compare myself to them, especially since I have no idea where they are at on their journey or how long it's taken them to get there.  I've seen amazing improvements from my training plan.  I'm running about an hour a day, 5-6 days a week and I feel amazing.  I'm not tired.  I'm not sore.  I don't dread running anymore, I love it!  I might still be slower than I'd like, but in the 6 weeks I've been training I've gone from a 22 min/mile with an average heart rate under 140 to under a 15 min/mile keeping my heart rate under 140.  That's huge!  Add that to all the other changes I'm seeing, and I definitely have reason to be excited.

So, I'm no longer letting comparison rob me of joy, instead I'm finding joy in the journey.  Joy in running, joy in progress, and joy in how I feel.  

Running for Team Nuun

I'm so excited to get be an ambassador this year for Nuun Hydration!  I use this stuff every day to keep hydrated since I'm extremely prone to dehydration, so this helps me keep on top of it. I love that I'm getting the chance to work with a company who's products I love!


In other news, yesterday was a Monday for sure!  I slept right through my alarm, so I was late getting up to run.  When I did finally get up and ready, my little two year old woke up and thought she should join me!  She was even nice enough to gather all our running stuff.

I figured I'd just fit my run in during naptime instead, but that didn't quite work out either!  By the time three o'clock rolled around, I was just finishing up everything I needed to do and knew that Little Miss would be waking up soon, so a run just wasn't happening.  I wanted to be irritated that I wasn't able to run, after all it's my ONE thing that I do...shouldn't that be a priority?  But I fixed my attitude and stopped feeling sorry for myself.  Then I threw on my running shoes and hopped on the treadmill...jeans and all!

Something is better than nothing, right?!  I managed to squeeze in about 25 min of a decent paced walk, with my heart rate settling in at the 120's, so I'm calling it a win!

Balega Impi

I got the amazing news yesterday that I've been chosen to be a Balega Impi (ambassador) for this year!  It was super exciting to get the email, but to be honest I was pretty convinced at first that it wasn't legit.  I applied for the ambassadorship, thinking I'd probably never get accepted, but I love their socks so much I wanted to be a part of it!  Well, eventually I figured out it was legit and I'm still finding it hard to believe!  I'm really looking forward to working with them this year, and sharing their products with you all.  There may even be a giveaway to look forward to!

In other news, I finally got myself a Garmin heart rate monitor!  I have the Vivoactive HR, but I've found the wrist based heart rate can be a bit too sketchy for my needs.  I've been using a Polar heart rate monitor, which works great, but I obviously can't get the data to my Garmin.  So, I broke down and bought the chest strap for my Garmin and so far it's synced up and working!

First Long Run Success

This is the third time I've trained for a half marathon, so I'm no stranger to the long run, but my view of it has changed.  I never fully understood the purpose of a long run, and viewed it more as an opportunity to go as fast as I could for a certain number of miles.  Now, I'm learning that the purpose is to build up your aerobic system and get your body used to the time it'll take to cover 13.1 miles.  I really appreciate my training plan's approach to the long run, it's measured by time rather than distance.  Somehow that slight difference has changed my way of thinking about the long run.  It's no longer "ok, I've got to get 6 miles in today, I have to finish as soon as fast as possible!"  Instead it's "ok, 1 hour on the schedule today, doesn't matter how far or fast I go, as long as I go for an hour.  That's easy."  It's turned into something more enjoyable because I'm putting less pressure on myself.  That being said, I ran 1 hour on the treadmill yesterday (too much snow!), plus warm up and cool down.

I'm actually really pleased with the result!  Ok, the crazy part of me hates that I finished at 3.8 miles rather than 4, but other than that I'm happy!  When I first started training by heart rate about 4 weeks ago, my average pace was in the 22 min/mile range.  Which felt agonizingly slow.  I feel like my body is finally getting in gear now though!  It's still a bit slower than my long runs used to be, but it's a huge pace improvement, and I felt great afterwards.  Hungry, but great ;)  I'm really excited to see where this training takes me!

Week in Review

You guys...it has been soooo cold this week!  I've been running inside on my treadmill a lot lately, because of this:

Although, even running in my garage has been pretty cold.  My heart rate monitor has been acting up the last couple of runs (when it's been in the single digits), it'll go from giving me my normal heart rate, to hanging out in the 60's, to just simply 0.  Needless to say, it makes running by heart rate kind of difficult!  

I did get one run outdoors this week though, which was crazy because it was way colder than I was used to!  But it was a good run, with plenty of sunshine.

Since the new year recently passed, I figured I'd do the whole "yearly mileage count" like everyone else was doing.  I was blown away!  I for real couldn't even believe it was accurate.  I somehow managed 969 miles in 2016!  That's legit, you guys.  I've often struggled to call myself a "runner".  I'm pretty slow, I don't have a runner's body, blah blah blah.  But nearly one thousand miles run in a year?!  That just might be worthy of a real runner, right?

This next year I don't really have a mileage goal, but I think I'll definitively pass 1000!

Dashing Through the Snow...

I'm a homeschooling mom, so my time for running is either early mornings or weekends.  And seeing as how it's the middle of winter and the temps are in the single digits and the sun doesn't come up until nearly 8 am...I'm often using the treadmill.  Except Tuesdays.  Tuesdays the kids go to their aunts house for school, things like music, art and foreign language.  It's fabulous.  This tends to be the day when I get outside and do my long run.  This week was crazy in terms of weather, and we got at least 6 inches of snow on Monday night (this is on top of what we already had!).  I debated and debated on whether or not to take my run outside, but since the temperature was warm (and by "warm" I mean mid 30's) I decided to go for it.  Well, most of the neighborhood must have missed the memo telling them that it snowed and they should shovel their sidewalks.  And the roads weren't any better!  So, needless to say, it was a challenging run.

See!  I wasn't lying!  But, despite the crazy amount of snow, it was a great run.  It was gorgeous and quiet (I seemed to be the only person out on the trails. Odd), and the weather was great.

I did a 15 min warm up followed by 45 min of keeping my heart rate under 140, and then a 15 cool down.  Oddly, between the several inches of snow, leaping over mounds left by snow plows and patches of ice, it was kind of hard keeping my heart rate under control!  But I was pretty happy to see that my pace was a little better than I expected.  My last outdoor run was an average pace of 22:44 (on completely clear trails), so I was expecting this one to be worse since there was all the added snow challenges, but I ended up with an average pace of 21:40!  I know, I know...still super slow, even for me...but it's an improvement!  So not only is my pace decreasing, but it even decreased with all the added elements.  

I'm nearly done with my "pre-training" plan, and I'm excited that I'm seeing improvements.  The "official" plan kicks off on the 9th!