Quality Miles Wednesday: Hitting a workout outside!

Plan: Warm Up, 5 mins hard, 2 mins easy, 4 mins hard, 2 mins easy, etc.  Cool down
Actual Mileage: 3.97 miles

Route: I tried Rush Creek trail but it was a hot mess (so different from last year) so I ran on the trail next to the river and then finished up along the dam.  I don't know why I thought this workout would be easier on the road than it is on a treadmill. 

Weather: 30* and some wind.  The biggest news is I got to wear my sunglasses!
Wardrobe: I am in love with this outfit!
Top: Running t-shirt, InkNBurn top, buff on my head
Bottom: Nike running shorts under the pink pants, wool compression socks, Altras
Execution:
Warm up: Roughly 1.3 miles and I did not fall on any ice, so that was good.
5:00 at 10:17/mile pace, 2 mins easy
4:00 at 10:01/mile pace, 2 mins easy
3:00 at 9:49/mile pace, 2 mins easy
2:00 at 9:52/mile pace, 2 mins easy Messed up my descending splits!
1:00 at 8:59/mile pace.  Wowsers!
Cool down

High Points of the workout: I mean, that last split right?
Struggles of the workout:The real 'struggle' today is knowing how to pace myself.  Which I'm not that great out outside.  It's why I do all my workouts like this on a treadmill.
From today I learned: What worked best for pacing was running 'from my hips' if that makes any sense.  Keeping my form tight, small steps, high cadence.
Next steps: I can't believe I did this workout outside at these temperatures.

Bonus: Also picked this route so I could take pictures!

Quality Miles Wednesday: Hill Day

Plan: 2 miles warm up, 8x 1:00 up the hill hard, rest is back down the hill, 2 miles cool down
Actual Mileage: 5.57 miles

Route: I was out on the Rum River trail which was in decent shape when I started.  The salt truck came by about 20 minutes into the run, so the trail was even better on the way back.
Weather: 35* and cloudy.  Winds were out of the south (so strong on the way out, not as bad on the way back)

 Wardrobe: It's that time of year right?
Feet: Wool compression socks and Altras.  I kind of love the Lone Peaks better than these shoes.  A lot better. They are warmer.
Legs: Brooks running pants.
Top: Long sleeve shirt and grey sweatshirt.
Other: Buff on my head.

 High Points of the workout: I mean, I started it and I survived it.
Struggles of the workout: I was just feeling lousy all day. I'd actually woken up early to run in the morning and I was so tired and blah that I just went back to bed and did this in the afternoon. Blah I tell you!
From the high points, I learned: Get it done anyway?
From the struggles, I learned: The hardest part is getting started.
Next steps: I really focused on cadence on this one, more than pace. I have no idea how I did because I haven't looked yet.

 Bonus:Would you like to see what this place looks like without the snow?

Quality Miles Monday - A surprise lake run

Plan: Warm up
3 x 1 mile at 10:40 or so, 3:00 break in between each mile
Cool down
Actual Mileage: 4.9 miles with working miles of 10:38, 10:52, and 11:08

Route: Out and back along Lake Nokomis.  I had to start miles 2 and 3 in some pretty specific places to make sure I could get them both in on the 'back' portion of the run.

Weather: 28*.  Winds were 12mph, and the part of the lake closest to Cedar Ave (north and sound ends) is always the coldest.
Wardrobe: True story here.  I'd gone to the dentist in sweats (think athleisure) and brought clothes to run inside at the gym.  But when I drove by Lake Nokomis on the way to the dentist, I was all "it's warm enough, I could run outside.  They plowed the trails." and then I was all "I think I can make this work with the clothes I have".  So I had starter sweatpants, senita shorts (with pockets for my keys because the pants didn't have that), compression socks, blue Asics that I almost never wear running but had good traction, sports bra, long sleeve shirt, sweat shirt, ear band and sometimes gloves.

High Points of the workout: I didn't look at my watch at all during this workout, so I had no idea what my paces were.  I was really pleased when I got home and saw that they were not far off the goal paces my coach laid out.  In wind, cold, and crappy footing, I'll take it. I also see that my heart rate shows a hard effort, so I'm proud of that.What stuck out for me the most was the cadence of the first mile, which turned out to be the fastest of the 3.

Struggles of the workout: Did I mention the footing and the wind coming off the lake? I also had a harder time pushing myself alone than I do when I'm on the track with a lot of other people watching me.

From today I learned: I'm glad I did this one outside.  That surprises me.  I'm glad I focused on effort here versus actual pace. It made it a fun workout for me.  I was able to find a good attitude for this workout, even though this particular one intimidates the heck out of me.

Next steps: I told coach that having endurance to last 'till the end of the workout continues to be a place I can improve.  I was dogging it today by the end.  And then I froze my butt off.
Bonus: I told coach I feel like I can kick my feet up and chill for the rest of the week. The hard workout is done.

Quality Miles Wednesday - Treadmill 54321 workout

Plan:
Warm up walk: I got to the gym before it opened (on purpose) and did my “warm up” walk outside on Nicolett Mall for about 10 minutes.
Workout:
10 mins of ‘warming up’ running, starting at 4.1mph and building to 4.4mph, somewhere towards the end of this Dungeon Master showed up and was on the treadmill next to me, telling me about her family and Christmas.
5 mins at 5.9mph (which is faster than I’ve ever done this set), 2 mins at 4.4mph
4 mins at 6.0mph, 2 mins at 4.4mph
3 mins at 6.1mph, 2 mins a 4.3mph, Dungeon Master left in the middle of this set to get ready for her class.
2 mins at 6.2mph, 2 mins at 4.3mph
1 mins at 6.4 mph
I ‘cooled down’ from 4.6mph to 4.1mph and had to be off the treadmill in time for my friend’s spin class.
Actual Mileage: My watch, hilariously, says 0.45 miles walking.  So I did 3.55 miles on the treadmill for an even 4.0 miles total.
High Points of the workout: My friend talking to me for the first few sets really took my mind off things.  Time flew by.  I felt like I was working more than normal but enjoying myself.
Struggles of the workout: The last couple sets, I focused on having a fast and even cadence.  There was this guy on a treadmill next to me that had the biggest slowest stride I have ever seen.  We'll call him stomper-clomper.  It was really messing with my rhythm.  (No judgements, it was just loud.) I had to stay inside myself and focus on what I was doing.
From the high points, and from the struggles, I learned: Today showed the difference between good distractions and bad distractions!   Both are good practice for race day.
Next steps: I went into this workout with a most positive attitude than December workouts.  Also more adventurous and curious than December, and that made a big difference.
Bonus: Coach actually texted me to see if the workout was okay, since my last long run was kind of an explosion. That was thoughtful

Quality Miles Wednesday: on the treadmill

Plan:  54321 workout  

Actual Mileage:
1 mile walking, total. 3 miles of running.
Dynamic stretches and 10 mins of walking on the treadmill.
Running: 10 mins “warm up” running at 4.1-4.3 mph
5 mins 5.8mph 2mins 4.2mph
4 mins 6.0 mph 2mins 4.2mph
3 mins 6.1 mph 2mins 4.2mph
2 mins 6.2 mph 2mins 4.2mph
1 mins 6.3 mph
Cool down from 4.4 - 4.1mph
10 mins of walking cool down.
Route: Treadmill

Weather: Freezing too cold outside
High Points of the workout: I “settled in” to the longer intervals. Where they felt hard, but like I had a good rhythm. I could’ve kept going at those speeds, though I was fine with the rests.
Struggles of the workout: Getting out of bed and getting the workout started?
From the high points, I learned: Focus on form a rhythm. Nice confidence builder.
From the struggles, I learned: Don’t think about the workouts ahead of time? Maybe I should do this for race day too?

Next steps: I’ve finally given this workout the respect it deserves. Even though it looks like “oh, it’s only a few minutes, I can do that” it’s a hard workout. I think being purposeful about the warm up, and including walking before the running really helped me. Even though I was ready to start the ‘work’ and get it over with, I’m glad I took my time and built up to it. I felt really solid when I got moving.
Bonus: I'm sitting on my couch having tacos.

Quality Miles Monday (on Wednesday)

Plan: The good old 3/2 workout.
Actual Mileage: 0.5 miles warm up.  4 miles of workout.
Route: Treadmill
Weather: It was -6* outside, so, yeah.
High Points of the workout: I told my coach the best part of this workout was getting done.  Not that I hated, but that I was proud of myself for getting through.
Also, I used 4.4 mph for my 'rest' interval, which is faster than I used the last training cycle so maybe that's why I was so tired?
Struggles of the workout: I almost pooped my pants.  Sigh  I mean, it was a hard workout.  The hardest part was getting up and getting it going.
From the high points, I learned: Keep moving.
From the struggles, I learned: Start moving!
Next steps: This was a good early workout, nice confidence builder.
Bonus: I am still learning the details with my fancy new watch. 

Quality Miles Monday: The Three Two workout

Plan: Warm up; 6x 3:00 at race pace, 2:00 easy, cool down
Actual Mileage: 0.75 miles walking warm up; 3.85 miles working out.  No cool down because I had to, um, jump off the treadmill for a moment.
Route: Treadmill!   Actual paces were
First 10 mins started at 4.1mph and went up 0.1mph every 2mins as a running warm up after the walking warmup.
3:00 at 6.2mph, 2:00 at 4.5mph
3:00 at 6.2mph, 2:00 at 4.6mph
3:00 at 6.2mph, 2:00 at 4.7mph
3:00 at 6.2mph, 2:00 at 4.8mph
3:00 at 6.2mph, 2:00 at 4.9mph
3:00 at 6.2mph, 2:00 at 5.0mph
And then I gradually backed off the pace from 5.0mph down as my cool down.  But I had to abort the cool down and go handle some other business instead.
High Points of the workout: I felt like I could do this all day.  My pace felt smooth.  Even as I made the 'easy' times harder, they felt like a rest. Coach asked me my favorite workout of the actual workouts and this may be it.  Or maybe it was just having a good day.
Struggles of the workout: Keeping it real here.  I almost did not get out of bed for this.  Hardest part of today was waking up.  And then trying not to poop my pants, but we're all good there.
From the high points, I learned: I practiced staying calm even when my lungs were burning.  I'll need that on race day.
From the struggles, I learned: I'm glad I didn't let myself go back to sleep. Because here we were at 9am and my workout is all done for the day.
Next steps: As I was running, I started thinking about the last time I really raced hard, and how excited I was for that race, and how excited I was about being on the pain train the entire time.  Really. I could not wait.  So, I'm putting myself in that head space again.  Ride the pain train.  It'll be great!
Bonus: I did legs and abs today, since I didn't really do a good cool down on the treadmill.

Quality Miles Monday: Half Mile Repeats

Plan: 4x0.5 miles at 10:00/mile, 0.25 miles easy

Actual Mileage:
0.75miles walking warm up
4 miles - actual work out including 0.5 miles running cool down
0.25 miles walking cool down

Route: I did this on the treadmill.

Execution:
0.75 miles walking warm up, watch off.  Starting at 3.0mph and going eventually up to 3.6mph
0.5 miles 'warm up' running going from 4.2 to 4.4mph
Sets 1, 2, and 3 were 0.5 miles at 6.1mph or 9:50/mile, and 0.25 miles at 4.4mph (I think)
Set 4 started at 6.1mph until half way, and then incrementally got jacked up all the way to 6.6mph, but most of it was at 6.1 and 6.2mph.
Running cool down was starting at 4.9mph and basically going down 0.1mph every 0.1 miles, until I got to 4 miles.
0.25 miles walking cool down.
Bonus abs workout as well

From today, I learned: My first point here is that I legit took out my ear buds for this workout.  It was easier for me to count my paces and stay in a rhythm that way.
Second point is I tried to focus on having 'light' footsteps.  The first set, I felt like my foot was slapping the treadmill or something.
Third point is that I really tried to not have "chicken wings" on the treadmill.  Which is an issue I've noted in the past as well.  I did try to tuck in and stay compact.
Fourth point is that I'm glad I could keep running after the fourth set.  Even though part of me was all "how am I going to run a whole race faster than this?!?" 

Bonus: The showers at the gym are not fixed.  Apparently they'll be done tomorrow.

Quality Wednesday: This workout still looks easier than it is

Plan: Warm up, then sets of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 minutes at progressively faster speeds with 2mins in between for rests.  Cool down.
Actual Mileage: 2.5 miles running, 1 miles for a warm up and cool down
Route: Warm up and cool down were on the track.  The main sets were on the treadmill for speed accuracy. 
Execution: I decided, because this workout looks mild on paper, that I'd try to run each set slightly faster than the first time I ran this workout.  So, what happened was
5:00 at 5.8mph or 10:21/mile
4:00 at 6.1mph or 9:50/mile
3:00 at 6.1mph or 9:50/mile
2:00 at 6.3mph or 9:31/mile, and this is about where I tore my headsets out because music was making things worse
1:00 at either 6.3 or 6.4mph, I honestly can't remember which.  Again, in silence because music was not helping my rhythm at that point.
From today, I learned: This workout always looks much milder than it really is.  I think I would've done better with a longer workout on the treadmill before I started jacking up the speed.
I'm proud of myself for trying to make this one just slightly harder and sticking with the pain.
Bonus: I did 'leg day' exercises as my warm up as well.

Quality Miles Monday - not so fast?

Plan: 3x 1 mile at goal race pace

Actual Mileage: 5.58 miles

Route: Along the creek and the river, the 'longer' route goes farther north before coming home

Weather: Glorious.  In the 60s with some wind.  I was planning on doing this one on the treadmill.  (Perhaps that would've been the better choice?)  I just couldn't make myself go inside for this one. 

Execution: From "ok" to 'meh' to 'big fat fail'

• Warm up: I warm up over a mile, because I had to make sure I wasn't going to get stopped by a train in the middle of a fast set.
• Round 1: 10:04/mile.  This is basically the right pace, a couple seconds off, but there's a lot of twists and turns under the bridges down there.
• Round 2: 10:46/mile.  This is too slow. Oh good, I'm starting up a hill, my favorite I knew this one might be off.  I tried not to care, but also to make up the speed.
• Round 3: 11:04/mile.  I don't know what my issue was here.  I was soooo stiff, I just could not make my body turn over any faster. I really tried to focus on a strong back kick and 'clawing' the ground to propel myself forward but nothing helped.

From today, I learned: I'm still processing.  I think I could've hit the paces on a treadmill but it would've been hard.  But I need to learn how to hit these paces on the road.  So I'm not sure if I should just never see the treadmill again, or if I should go there sometimes for a morale boost. For today, I think I'm proud of myself for trying the harder thing even though it didn't work out perfectly.

Bonus: Let me tell you about all of the cooking I did today.  It's been wild! I'm sort of doing W30, but obviously not the full on version because the first thing I did was...

• Making yogurt.  This is my first attempt.  I used whole milk and no cream.  It's currently straining in the fridge to turn into 'Greek' yogurt.
• Rosemary Chicken Thighs with fresh rosemary from my garden. I used lemon juice from a whole lemon instead of broth for my marinade.  And there's a lot of garlic in mine.  I think it's the best chicken I've ever made.
• I had the chicken with some potatoes and some Sage Mushrooms (the sage is also from my garden).  Fungus was made yesterday.
• Chile Verde is made but I have not cooked up the meat with it.  My slow cooker was busy making yogurt.
• Lastly, I made Steak Bites for lunch for the week.  I knew my mental health was improving today when I set off the smoke detector and got annoyed rather than having a panic attack.  Life is what it is. 

Quality Miles Monday - I can't pace myself

Plan: Same as this day, 54321 workout.
Actual Mileage: 4.7 miles today, including lots of walking.
Route: Around the marsh in my neighborhood.  "The marsh" is 0.6 miles so I've been running as many loops around it as I want for various workouts.  It's basically flat but not a total pancake.

Weather: 70s and sunny.  It was glorious.
Execution: So, I felt strong, and going fast but not out of my mind.  But I did not hit the prescribed paces.  I am having significant difficulty pacing off my Garmin watch.  It kind of makes me insane.
Planned 5:00 at 10:30 pace. Actual: 10:27/mile (Good!)
Planned 4:00 at 10:00 pace. Actual: 10:19/mile (Ok, that's not so bad.)
Planned 3:00 at 10:00 pace.  Actual 10:32/mile.  (Doh.)
Planned 2:00 at 9:45 pace. Actual 9:27/mile.  (Good job!)
Planned 1:00 at 9:45 pace.  Actual 10:17/mile.  (Ooof.)
From today, I learned: I wrote my coach and asked if I should be doing more of these runs on the treadmill to learn what the paces feel like. We'll see what she says.

Bonus: I did my new "leg day" routine this evening as well.

Quality Miles Monday: Treadmill miles

Plan: "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" workout, which is not my track workout but a similar idea.
Actual Mileage: 3.5 miles on the treadmill plus 0.5 miles walking warm up on the track.
Route: Track: walking warm up.  Treadmill: Actual workout.
Weather: The reason I am inside.

Execution: I told my coach I was 'lulled into a false sense of security' on this one. To me, for some reason, this workout looked easier than the half mile repeats I did last week.  When it was 65* out.
Warm up: walking 1/2 mile on the track. 10 mins easy running on the treadmill.
5 mins at 10:30/mile (10:31/mile because it's what the treadmill can do), 2 mins easy
4 mins at 10:00/mile, 2 mins easy.  I am beginning to question all of my decisions.
3 mins at 10:00/mile, 2 mins easy.  I am beginning to fear flying off the back of the treadmill.
2 mins at 9:40/mile, 2 mins easy.  I have not fallen off the treadmill yet.  I may survive.
1 min at 9:40/mile, 2 mins easy.  I actually almost ran through the front of the treadmill, I was so excited to get this done with.
10 mins cool down on the treadmill.

From today, I learned: Are you familiar with the concept of 'chicken wings' while running?  Because I really had to focus on tucking in my elbows when I was getting tired.

Bonus: I wore my fast shoes today.

Quality Miles Wednesday

Plan: Warm up, half mile at 10:15/mile, quarter mile recovery X4, cool down.
Actual Mileage: 5.53 miles.

Route: Creek/River.  Instead of coming back at 53rd, I went up to 57th to make the mileage work.
Weather: OMG, it's so hot out.  It was in the 60s and humid and a high of 85 later today.

Execution: Warm up: 1.1 miles.  I did not get stopped by a train.  It was a close thing.
1.  10:21/mile.  This one felt the easiest and I guess it was.
2. 10:17/mile, at least I'm not running up hill.
3. 10:15/mile.  I am not liking this hill.
4. 10:13/mile.  I really don't like this hill at all.
Cool down: 1.42 miles with the last half mile or so being mostly walking.

From today, I learned: Not gonna lie.  I had delusions of grandeur while I was running, thinking I was hitting a 10:00/mile or faster.  Oh well.  I did hit the paces my coach wanted.
Starting the next rep going up a hill was really hard.  I just could not get my feet to turn over.  (I felt all those weights I lifted yesterday).
Bonus: It's going to be so hot this weekend!

Quality Miles Monday: Hill Repeats

Plan: Warm up 1 mile; 8x1:00 hill sprints (with recovery back down); 1 mile cool down
Actual Mileage: 4.8 miles

Route: I went around the new little ponds I discovered, over to the pedestrian bridge over Highway 100, and use the ramps up to the bridge as my hills. They were 5 seconds short of a minute.

Weather: Kind of humid actually, or maybe I was just working too hard?

Execution:
Warm up: 1.7 miles.  This is kind of long, but it felt right to me.
1. 10:26/mile
2. 10:52/mile
3. 11:11/mile
4. 11:03/mile
5. 11:34/mile
6. 11:04/mile
7. 11:14/mile
8. 11:18/mile
Cool down: There was a bonus hill as part of the cool down. Cooling down was roughly 1.5 miles, so that was long too.

From today, I learned: Swing my arms and use my abs up the hills.  Also, pick up the knees and take little steps (like a low gear in a car) and things will go better.  This workout felt hard but not impossible.  I definitely slowed down as I went.
Bonus: I saw a fox on the golf course today.

Quality Miles Monday - 1:00 on

Plan: Warm up 1 mile.  10x 1:00 hard, 1:00 easy.  Cool down 1 mile
Actual Mileage:  4.67 miles
Route: Victory Memorial and the river. There are actual hills on this route.  Shorter than on race day but also steeper.

Weather: OMG, I was in heaven this morning. It was in the mid 50s and super sunny.
Wardrobe:
Head: Visor
Body: Ink n Burn outfit.  I love their shorts so hard.
Feet: Xero Prios. 
Execution:
Warm up: Done
Hard/easy - I did not look at my watch much.  I just tried to run fast.
1. 8:50/mile
2. 8:54/mile
3. 8:37/mile
4. 9:23/mile
5. 9:33/mile
6. 9:04/mile
7. 10:14/mile - this one I have no explanation
8. 10:48/mile - this one had 20 feet of climbing just in that one minute
9. 8:48/mile
10. 9:29/mile

From today, I learned: Not looking at the watch seems to have paid off for me.  I was just trying to turn my legs over quickly but have a 'relaxed hard pace'.  Not like I was sprinting from a lion, but like I was trying to move for sure.
Also, for this workout on this course, I wish I'd made the warm up a bit longer.  I knew the mileage was going to be over what coach wanted, so I had the distance in there to play with.  I think that would've been better than having a forever long cool down.
Bonus: I did not get stopped by a train today.   Also, found some more 'Cottonwood Snow'.  Olive told me it's highly flammable. I was partly like "oh, of course it is" and partly like "how did that come up?"

Quality Miles Monday

Plan: A couple marathon paced miles
Actual Mileage:  4.3 miles.  The path under Cedar Ave is still flooded.
Route: My Hiawatha/creek route. 

Wardrobe: I dressed as a highlighter!
Execution:
Warm up - roughly one mile
Marathon mile 1: 12:13/mile, that's okay, my pace was all over the place
Rest 2:00
Marathon mile 2: 11:43/mile, see, much faster
Rest 2:00
Cool down, roughly the last mile
From today, I learned: My 'race pace' feels better in the mid 11s than it does in the 12s.  I don't know why.
Bonus: I worked today too.  So, in some ways that is a bonus

Quality Miles Monday: 100M sprits

Plan: 2 miles w/u
10x 100M sprints, 45secs recovery
2 miles c/d
Actual Mileage: 5.2 miles
Route: 5 miler along Hiawatha/Minnehaha Creek

Weather: Rain.  I was running in the rain.  But it was light rain and not terribly windy so I'll take it.
Wardrobe: This was another dress rehersal.  I had a pair of newer shorts that I thought could be contenders for race day.  (I liked the pockets.) They are for sure not contenders for race day. I kept having to pull them down.  (Ladies, y'all know what I mean right?)

Execution: This workout definitely didn't require the mental energy some of the other tempo work has required this training session.  It was pretty fun to just haul tail for a minute and then rest, and the workout went by quickly.
From today, I learned: Those red shorts are not the ones for race day.

Bonus: First close up Blue Heron sighting for the year!

Quality Miles Monday Wednesday

Plan: Same as this torture session.
1 mile w/u
4x: 0.5 miles at 10:30 pace, 0.5 miles at 12:00 pace
1 mile c/d
Actual Mileage: 6 miles
Route: Actually had to do this one on the track too, which was not my first choice.  It was to rainy and "weathery" outside. 
Execution:
1 mile warm up: done
0.5 miles at 10:26/mile; 0.5 miles at 12:18/mile
0.5 miles at 10:18/mile; 0.5 miles at 12:08/mile
0.5 miles at10:23/mile; 0.5 miles at 12:24/mile
0.5 miles at 10:26/mile; 0.5 miles at 12:46/mile
1 miles cool down: also done
From today, I learned: I told my coach I was afraid if I did this well, she'd keep writing this workout for me to do over and over and over and over.
The lesson I keep learning over and over again here is that these workouts are generally harder in my mind than they are in my body.  Though this one was pretty tough on both.  I kept telling myself I had to run my mile anyways so just see how many sets I could do.
Bonus: I ordered clothes from InkNBurn and they came today.  I may be wearing some of them on race day.  I hope I get a chance to wear my race vest with a singlet once before the race.  I need to check for chaffing issues.

Quality Miles Monday

Plan: Same as this run.  5x 5:00 hard, 2:00 rest
Actual Mileage: 5.27 miles
Route: I went around Hiawatha and along the creek.
 

Weather: 50*, humid, no wind, and freaking gorgeous.
Execution:
Warm up: 1.27 miles
1. 10:41/mile pace
2. 10:32/mile pace
3. 10:26/mile pace
4. 10:36/mile pace
5. 10:45/mile pace
Cool down: 1 miles
From today, I learned: This was a lot more fun outside than it was on the track.  I'm learning more about pacing on the Garmin (I always start out too fast).   I can't tell if I'm feeling better than the day I did this inside, or if it's really getting easier.

Bonus: Did I tell you how nice it is?  We're supposed to get record setting snow later this week.

Quality Miles Monday

Plan:  As written it was:
Warm up: 2 miles
Tempo: 6x 1/2 mile 10:30-10:45mile; 3:00 recovery
Cool down: 1 miles
Actual Mileage: 7.06 miles
Route: Lakes Hiawatha and Nokomis. 
Weather: 32* and a bit of wind.  Not enough wind to cause trouble but definitely enough to make me cold.
Wardrobe: Did I ever tell you how much I love these pink pants?
Execution: I failed at reading the directions.  Again. So I had the paces in my watch programmed incorrectly.
Warm up 1.54 miles (this I did on purpose because of terrain and logistics)
Lap 1: 11:04/mile, up that hill by Lake Hiawatha
Lap 2: 10:53/mile
Lap 3: 10:39/mile so this was okay for the actual correct pace
Lap 4: 10:57/mile
Lap 5: 10:54/mile
Lap 6: 10:16/mile this was too fast, but I was ready to be done
Cool down: 1.54 miles 
From today, I learned: I mean, I'd say "read the directions right" but I said that last week and failed again.  I was thinking I liked this workout a lot more than this workout which was about the same distance.  Maybe I liked it better because I was slower?
Bonus: As I was running, I was all I wonder if I could do abs every day this month?  So, I'm giving that a try.  I'm also re-starting W30 + dairy.   I tried low carb in January and my diet fell apart as my mental health fell apart in February.  This is me, climbing back on the wagon.