While blizzards are raging across the midwest, somehow today we got a bit of a winter warm spell. But the weather reports were unclear as to exactly how warm it would be this morning, with estimates ranging from 40 to 54 degrees. My thermometer read 44 when I awoke this morning, which is a borderline temperature for me. Usually when it's above 40 degrees, I wear shorts and a long-sleeved shirt, but because my knee is still sore I wanted to keep it warm, so I opted for tights and a long-sleeved compression shirt.
The plan was to run nine miles -- 1.3 miles into town, a 6.3 mile tempo run with the DART folks, and 1.3 miles back home. When I arrived in town, Chad, Jeff, and Chris were there, and none of them was interested in running any faster than 8-minute miles. I was hoping for closer to a 7:30 pace, so I ended up taking off on my own pretty quickly. It was a damp, foggy morning and I was worried about my glasses fogging up like they did last week. However, I had bought some anti-fog solution and it seemed to be working well. Most of the fog was in the air, not my glasses. Miles 1, 2, and 3 were pretty quick: 7:40, 7:38, 7:25. But I was a little concerned because on last Tuesday's fast run, I pulled off mile 3 in 7:14, and I was feeling quite tired already. Miles 4 and 5 were okay: 7:50 and 7:53, on two hilly legs. But I was struggling. The combination of the humidity and being a little overdressed were causing me to overheat a bit. On Mile 6, I was just trying to hang on: 7:59. I finished a little stronger, a 7:25 pace for the last third of a mile. Overall, this works out to a 7:43 pace, a little slower than last Tuesday, despite the fact that I got a quicker start today. I faded more than I wanted to at the end.
The lesson: Do a better job dressing for the weather. Still, it was good to meet up with the group afterward for coffee, and I was still able to muster an easy jog back home. The Garmin summary of the whole run is below:
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