Half and Half

Cars speed along the freeway while I speed along one of my running routes

I was really looking forward to being able to run after work now that we've sprung forward. I get home from work a little before 6:00 PM so for the past several long months I haven't had enough daylight after work to squeeze in an outdoor run. Outdoor runs were reserved for weekends. I have to say, I'm getting pretty tired of the treadmill.

So last night when I got home and looked at my training plan I was disheartened to see what instead of my usual 2 miles on Monday, the plan called for 5 miles. I forgot this was a "step-back" week with two 5 mile runs and one 4 mile run. Next I checked a weather website to see what time the sun would be setting. 6:45 PM. Not quite enough time to squeeze in a 5-miler at my usual pace. Plus, it was gray and overcast all day so it would still seem darker earlier.

And then my dear husband, Jason, suggested that I do half and half. Half my run outside and half inside. What a great idea! So, on went the running tights, the shorts, the t-shirt, and the fleece. I leashed up the Trinka Deu and off we went.

It felt so good to run outside after a long day at work. So refreshing. In fact, it was so refreshing that I ended up doing 2.67 miles in just over 26 minutes. My average pace for those 2.67 miles? 9:47 minutes per mile or 6.1 MPH. A full minute faster than the training plan called for. I'm bad at this running slow outside thing, aren't I? Well, to be fair, I also stopped a few times to take some pictures.

Here's a shot of part of my little town's downtown area. If you click to see it bigger, you can see where I've pointed out our (foggy) view of the Sears Tower.



And here's a shot looking the opposite direction.



And here's what I see for pretty much most of the run when I take the Deu dog with me.



By the way, it's really difficult to run with a dog AND take pictures at the same time. I really need a third arm.

Anyway, I probably could have squeezed in 3 miles outside and then just done 2 on the treadmill, but the dog was getting tired. She is technically a senior citizen!

So, back to the house we went. I stripped off my tights and fleece and hopped onto the treadmill. Getting in my warm-up outside really put in a fast treadmill mood. I started the treadmill at 5.8 MPH when I usually start out at 5.4 or 5.5 MPH. I finished the 2.5 miles at 6.1 MPH. This may be the first time I've really been able to easily match my outside speed with my inside speed. Apparently the secret is running outside first! Who knew?

Overall, I did 5.17 miles last night. I forgot to upload my splits chart from the Garmin Training Center software so we'll just make do with some of the Bones in Motion data. I'll add the Training Center chart later. Also, I sort of wish I had a heartrate monitor or a footpod for the Garmin so that I'd have something to show for my treadmill run. Oh well.

Oh, and if the weather behaves itself on Wednesday, I think I'll do the same thing again. It was fun!

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 620 ft Location: Forest Park, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 03/09/09 Up/Downhill: [+22/-22] Time: 06:17 PM Difficulty: 2.0 / 5.0   Weather: Overcast   39 F temp; 78% humidity   39 F heat index; winds E 12 Performance Distance: 2.67 miles Time: 0:26:08 Speed: 6.1 mph Pace: 9' 47 /mi Calories: 218 Map   Elevation (ft)

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