Sun and Ice

Finally! Last weekend was the breakthrough -- as of last Friday, all weekend was set to be sunny and relatively nice (high 40s). Thursday night was another late night treadmill session, which honestly went great; reading everyone's posts and comments made me reflect a little and lighten up. I was planning that great Saturday morning run, and I wanted to run a little longer than I had been. 8 to 9 miles was on tap. I live close to a pathway along a river (now a stream really), that is quite scenic, relatively flat and a good place to run and walk. (My older daughter learned to ride a bike there, actually.) I thought I would get up and gooooo!

Saturday morning came and I went outside to get the paper. Sun! But, uhhhh, it really wasn't that warm. I checked the weather: 30 degrees. Eh, whatever, I just dressed warmly and headed out.

I felt great. I have posted splits below, but I ended up going 8.1 in 1:04, for a 7:54 pace.The strange thing was the path was not completely thawed out. Various stretches still had ice and snow on them. And because we have been thawing and freezing, it was like this pockmarked, crunchy snow ice mixture with frozen footsteps. I wasn't worried I would slip so much as I would twist an ankle. But made for some slow going, so the pace was even better.

Of course, given the great run, I felt absolutely entitled to enjoy myself cooking for company Saturday night. At my wife's request, I made an old recipe I know for Potatoes Gruyère. Contents: potatoes, spice, 3 cups of heavy cream and 3/4 pounds of cheese, shredded. Every time I have made these potatoes I haven't even bothered to look at the calories involved; ignorance is bliss. Saturday, I peeked at the heavy cream. 3 cups equals 1.5 pints, by the way. One pint heavy cream: 60 calories per serving, with 32 serving per pint. So the cream accounted for over 2700 calories, before adding the cheese and potatoes. Definitely not low cal. They tasted divine though. So either that or the 16 bottles of wine that night really sunk the diet this weekend.

But it felt great to be back outside. This weekend: a race, the NYRR 8000 meters (about 4.95 miles). That race was the first race I ran last winter that kicked me back into gear. I'll post before and and after pictures to prove what a difference a year makes.

UPDATE:  the promised splits (more for posterity):

Distance    Split time    Pace vs avg.    Elev. chg.    Time

1.00    7:12    -00:48.60    -75    0:07:12
2.00    7:50    -00:09.96    +10    0:15:03
3.00    7:53    -00:07.61    +13    0:22:57
3.97    7:58    00:12.94    +0    0:30:53
4.97    8:47    00:46.43    -1    0:39:40
5.97    7:45    -00:14.64    -8    0:47:26
6.97    8:02    00:01.96    -15    0:55:29
7.97    8:24    00:24.04    +77    1:03:53
7.99    0:10    01:50.49    0    1:04:04
8.01    0:06    -03:25.79    -1    1:04:11