???....Some more running

Despite the icy conditions and cancelled road races (Belgooly on 26th and Bandon tomorrow) I still managed to get out over the last few days to complete my scheduled runs. It wasn't without a few challenges though. My early morning run on Wednesday was an easy aerobic session and although jack frost was everywhere road surfaces were not slippy. This was not the case on Thursday as I headed to the park for a few steady miles (on the easy end of the 7:00 to 7:20 spectrum). I still had to watch my step as the ground was frozen solid in places. I headed to the park again on Saturday as my attempt to run a hilly fartlek session on the road was doomed from the start . I didn't even make it to the base of the hill as there was ice everywhere, despite the fact that temperatures were well above freezing and the sun was shining - the ground takes a while to defrost I suppose. My long run this morning with Pat was also in icy conditions although we both made it around the 18.5 mile hilly course without loosing our footing - however Pat covered a few yards without moving his feet. The pace was relatively slow as a result but the morning was beautiful and sunny and the icy roads meant that we didn't see many cars (none between miles 1 and 8.5). I'm a little disappointed that tomorrow's Bandon 5 miler is cancelled as I was looking forward to a challenge and perhaps even a last PB for 2009. Instead i'll have to settle for a different type of PB as I hope to get a 4.5 hour training run (crawl?) in before the year end. Taking into account the weather and my social life Thursday 31st is looking good. Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday.

Wed 23rd Dec 10.38 miles in 1:25:12 (08:12 pace @ 129HR) Thur 24th Dec 7.3 miles in 54:59 (07:32 pace @ 135HR) with 4.75 miles steady @ 7:17 pace. Sat 26th Dec 10.62 miles in 1:19:57 (07:32 pace @ 141HR) Fartlek - 05:51 to 06:24 pace Sun 27th Dec 18.61 miles in 2:40:18 (08:37 pace @ 125HR) Long Run Base Week #5 - 60.78 miles