Shoot for the Stars

ARSHS. Early a.m. So hard to get running this morning due to how cold it was, lack of enough sleep, and recovering after vacation and a long drive up. I have been missing running and felt I need to get back into it so I pushed myself to run. It was so cold that there was still snow and ice out and on the track this time. I almost decided not to run but thought I would give it a try and see how slick it was. About half of the track was more of a crunchy/icey snow and the other half was snowy. It looked so beautiful to see the snow sparkle from the street light. I felt okay because I doubled up in layers. The only area that was cold was my ears. I had gloves my my hands. I could tell it was a tough run though and wanted to only do 2 miles but I kept myself running.

TT: 26:11                   Avg: 8:44 min.                  Max: 5:22 min.

Splits: 8:36, 8:57, 8:38 (I sprinted on the last 200 meters. I also yelled out at end of run, "Aaron, I miss you and did this run for you!" My brother used to run no matter what the weather or temp, even in the bitter snow or blasing heat) Miss you!! It felt good to just yell that full volume. I am sure no one heard me that early in the a.m.

Game Farm Park. 6:15 a.m. Ran at the park because short on time and wanted to get some things done at home. Cold but not too chilly. Wore long sleeve. Could have used gloves but was okay. Only saw worker out, a guy walking dog, and another guy walking. Most of the area very lit up with lights. Felt good and ran a faster pace. Started out a little too fast.

TT: 24:20               Avg: 8:06 min.               Max: 6:21 min

Splits: 7:57, 8:12, 8:10

Game Farm Park. Semi early a.m. Felt a little more rested this morning. Felt fairly good on run. Nothing much to note of today. Just happy I got another run in this week.

Roegner Park. 8:00 a.m. Met up with Lisa there and we ran together. She has been having some foot problems so trying out new shoes but foot still bothersome for her. She did alittle over 3 miles with me. She di well though. It was rainning on my drive over so I figured it wouldn't be that cold but my hands were bothering me the whole time. After Lisa ran her 3+ miles I should have grabbed my gloves in the car. My hands felt so cold I could barely bend them. I kept putting them on my stomach while running to warm them up. I was probably running faster so I could done sooner and warm my hands. Run was pretty good. I saw people playing disc golf and some walking. After my run, I couldn't even turn the key to get in my car. I had to wait a bit. Yikes! Happy to have accomplished my longer run!!!

Game Farm Park. Early morning. Again, it didn't feel that cold but when I was running I noticed small flakes of snow. I guess it was lightly snowing when I was running. I still felt warm enough though. I had to scrape frost of my windshields and also wear gloves but I still had a good run. It was a little darker than normal at the park, kinda scary without my headlight hat. All went well though; only saw worker there. Ran 3 regular laps again=3 miles.

Game Farm Park. Early a.m. Only person I saw was maintenance guy. Dark but some lights. Felt pretty good this morning. It was sprinkling when I started but started to rain harder as I kept running. On mile 2 it started to come down a little more steady. My legs/hips area felt a little tight. Slight pain on both sides but nothing too much. Did 3 laps but area on last loop was flooded so I did a little detour on the area near the baseball cage and ran near the street out and back.

BPA Trail. 8:00 a.m. Met up with Lisa in Federal Way. It has been a long time since we had ran at the BPA trail so Lisa suggested it. Weather was good due to no rain. We were lucky because most of the weekend it did rain. It was just cloudy but weather was fine. We ran regular route, almost to the aquatics center but not quite and turned around. Lisa wanted to just run about 3 miles. Then she took of and I did one more route all the way to aquatics center and turned around. This 2nd time was a lot harder and those hills were tough but I kept running. I counted about 6 hills maybe. 1 hill was the largests more near end of route before turn around spot. I felt fairly good, since I had gotten fairly more sleep last night. The only area was tight was the muscle right above my hamstrings, just below my butt on the L side. Just some slight pain there, odd. I did the whole run without music. I just enjoyed Gods nature.

ARSHS. Early early a.m. Weather seemed good at first but near the last mile of my run it really came down but more of a misty heavy rain. It was hard to run this morning because I was very tired and the wind was blowing hard. It was chilly. The wind and the rain did not help when I was runnning on the track. Switched direction on each mile. When I took off my jacket after about 1 mile I accidently stopped by stop watch so 1 lap or so was not accounted for on mile 1. Felt tired.

Game Farm Park. Semi early run. It felt pretty cold this morning. I wore my gloves while I ran. My R outside leg about my ankle felt a little painful when running but nothing major. Legs felt stiff this morning. Ran usual 3 loops around the park with headlite. Saw worker cleaning bathrooms and one guy walking off to the side where the cars park. Happy I increased my time each mile even though mile 2 to 3 wasn't as big, it was still an increase!

Game Farm Park. 7:30 a.m. When I woke up in it was rainning quite steadily. I wore my hat, long sleeve shirt, and pants. It took a lot to get me to get out of the warm dry car and into the pouring rain. I needed someone to run with me today to push me. I eventually got out so I could get it done with. I ran 3 loops but this time extended my route by running on the concrete wall along the river. It is basically my long route except not on the dirt trail. There were lots of puddles that i had to dodge and tip toe through but i couldn't avoid getting my shoes wet by the 2nd mile. Felt yucky to run with wet clothes but still was invigorating run. I saw some old guys walking their dogs. They were smiling as I ran by. I felt fairly good with the run. The rain just made it difficult.

Enumclaw, WA. Met at Starbucks. I rode with my church friend, Angela, from her home to Enumclaw Starbucks. We had a misunderstanding that we were suppost to meet at her friend June's house. However, it was just us 3. People meet at 7 p.m. who want to go further miles but the other group meets at 8 p.m. So we ran 4+ miles then we stopped at the Starbucks and waiting for the rest of the group to join us. We first ran around the surrouding neighborhoods in that area and on a bike trail and back. When the other girls joined us we ran out more on farm land roads and part on the bike trail. A loop basically. There were about 8 of us there. Great run but on the 8th mile my L leg started to tighten and I could tell if I ran too much further I would have some leg problems. We ran with the whole group some of the time but probably about the last 2 miles I ran with just Angela. It is neat because we were about the same speed. I even felt she pushed me a little bit. Both of us were done though and her leg kinda hurt. We were done when we could see the starbucks so we just walked the rest of the way. I felt decently good most the time. I ate some fruit and toast before the run.

ARSHS. Early a.m. No rain, cloudy, but really chilly this morning. Just cold. Wore gloves, jacket. Ran usual route, 11 laps, switching directions. I felt good this morning. Nice to get decent sleep! No pains. Not a lot of cars at the HS this morning.

Alki Beach. 5:30 p.m. I worked in West Seattle so I decided to try a new place to run that had lights. It was misty rainning but luckily not heavy. I got some salt water on my face while running and had to keep wiping off the mist. I was so upset this morning when I realized I forgot my Garmin Forerunner! I had to estimate my run. Parked near a small park and ran from there-Marine St. to Alki beach street (made a right) ran all the way to a building where you rent Kayaks, not quite to Saltys. I felt very good! I just wanted to know how far and what my pace was.

Lakeland Hills. May have been 9-10+ miles. Met up with the ladies group in Lakeland Hills this time. We met at Starbucks at 8 a.m. and went from there. We ran R on the road where the Rock Pizza is and went down a new area I have never been. We made a loop back there and then up and down a hill then past the Shopping plazza and straight across. Turned a left where the park is and went on some other streets. From there I am not sure where we went but it was nice. There were about 7 of us running. 2 dogs were running as well with our group. We ran about 5 miles and then I kept running when everyone else stopped. They said we are at 5+ miles when my gps said 4+ miles. i am have forgot to push the button when we stopped to tie a shoe. I went according to my garmin though and figured even if my watch was off I would run some extra if it was. I would rather run more than not enough. I ran on the Lake Tapps Rd from the Rock Pizza to the Texaco and back. On the way back I ran on some neighborhood streets. Then I ran L at the rock pizza and up the same Rd we went on in the beginning but just about .5 miles then turned around. Then I was back at the shopping plaza. No major problems, but my L upper hip bothers me some and my calus on my L foot. It was great to have partially sunny weather!