5...well, almost.

Great day for running. Temperatures were in the mid to upper 20s, and much less wind than last week. I decided to take on the bike path that I attempted a couple of weeks ago, but at the time it was covered by ice. Today was much better. Nice and clean. I set out with the goal of 4 miles. Things went pretty good. Once I finally got my running app to pick up a GPS signal I was all good to go. It started telling me my split times, and they were quite good. At 3 miles, it gave me my total time, 24:53. Wow!! That's nearly a minute faster than last weeks race. I was feeling really good. When 4 miles hit, I wanted more. I kept going. All told, 4.99 miles in 42 minutes. I'm very satisfied with that. Considering that is the distance that I believe my race in April is, I'm very pleased. That is the first time that I have really run that far. And if I'm able to maintain the kind of pace times I had today, I should be in in good shape to finish Boulder in less than an hour. Averaged an 8:36. And looking at the data the app recorded, my pace was pretty steady the entire run. That's really a first for a run that was not during a race. Usually my pace looks like an erratic heart beat when graphed out, but today it was very steady.

Hoping the weather starts to even out some and I can stat to get at least one run a week in. Plenty of time to get things done. But I do want to start running 4 to 5 miles each time I go out.

Updates

I think going forward, I may start adding in monthly video updates. Might be kind of fun. Maybe a quick tour of some of my favourite running places. Updates on fundraising goals. So Stay tuned!

Brrrrrrrr....seriously, brrrrrrrrrr....

Well, I've done it. I have now run the coldest run I've ever run. Almost 10 at race time. It was good though. 25:53!! 64 out of 220 overall. 8 out of 11 in my age group (M 35-39). 45 of 96 in all of men. I'm happy. A pretty good course. The last bit was killer, an uphill climb that rose near 100 feet in just over a 1/4 mile. It was good though. Great running around the capital square, down State Street, past the Kohl Center. The cold definitely played into it today. Anytime we were in the shade it was cold, but emerging into the sun was rewarding. Some great runners out there!

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/484590615

http://www.performancetiming.com/admin/results/Frosty5K_Overall.htm

Tomorrow's race day!

Well, I've survived Friday. That means tomorrow is race day! I'm excited, except for the fact that it's going to be cold out. Looking at the forecasts, it really doesn't look like it's going to be much above 10 at race time. I don't think I've run in anything colder than 18. This could be interesting. Part of the course goes around the capital square in Madison, that should be pretty cool. There's also going to be cross county skiing going on there too. They actually build a ski course on the road! I'm hoping to bring my GoPro with me to get video of the race, from my perspective.

Can't wait! Don't forget, race day updates can been seen on Twitter, https://twitter.com/TeamMunky

Twitter

Did I mention, Team Munky is now on the Twitter! Mostly for race day updates, but we're there @TeamMunky

First race of 2014 is days away!

Well, the first race of 2014 is just days away. As good as I feel about it, it seems the weather has other plans. From what I've seen, it will still be in the teens come race time, and possibly snowing. Could be interesting. Probably one of the smallest races I'll be doing this year. Currently 153 people registered. Not quite the 20-50 thousand in the two after that.

I've really been trying to get the idea of holding back out of my head. Sometimes it seems like I really try and hold back, and not let my body go at the pace it really wants to. I'm still learning my limits and how I need to pace myself. But, if things hold true, I'll have plenty of energy left for that final quarter mile sprint.

Hit the treadmill at work today. 5k in 28:45. Not my best, but I did have the elevation mask on. I really want to get my lung capacity up and body using oxygen more efficiently even before I get out to Colorado in May. I really didn't have issues out there in December, in fact it felt really good. But the race in May is twice the distance, and most likely much warmer. Just have to keep working hard!