Wed, Jan 18

It snowed last night and today was bitter, windy, and cold. I still wanted to take Pippin out for a short while, but I didn't want either of us to get too chilled, so we just did 3.4 miles.

I felt like that was only good for half a workout, so I did a quick 30 minute row afterwards.

***

Fri, Jan 20

50 minutes on the row machine today, followed by my favorite lifting exercise - barbell overhead presses.

It has been pretty chilly and still icy out, so I've switched to a little more indoor exercise lately.

***

Sun, Jan 22

Sharon met me at the track for our second week of repeats!

The track was rather snow packed from the most recent winter squall, so our laps were a little long because of having to avoid the snow.

We opted to do the same workout as last week. This worked out great, as it made a good comparison of times.

My times were pretty similar to last week. I ran 1:45, 3:43, 6:00, 3:53, and 1:40 for the 400, 800, 1200, 800, 400.

I was more rested going into the speed workout this week, so I felt more energetic than last week. I hope my body is getting the hang of running at a decent race-pace effort.

As we both said at the outset this morning, we weren't necessarily looking forward to the actual speed work, but staying consistent and getting it done is good.

And as always, it's far easier to maintain motivation with a friend - it's too easy to cop out if I was doing it on my own!

As this was our second track workout of the month, I've met my twice-monthly goal for January.

I hope to fit a longer run in before the end of the month.

Today's total mileage, including warm-up, repeats, and cool-down, was 6.5 miles.

***

Mon, Jan 23

Today I took the majestic trail dog 🐕, Pippin, out for a run on the Rock Island Trail.

We got 7 miles in on partly-snowy, partly-slushy, partly-sloppy trails.

***

Tue, Jan 24

6 miles total, out to Grandview Overlook and back.

It was cold with a bitter wind, but when that bright winter Colorado sun poked through the clouds, it made the temperature feel much more tolerable.

***

Wed, Jan 25

5.8 miles with Pippin. Nice evening run. Felt fast in the cold air with no wind. I could see my breath in front of me in my headlamp.

We got over 700 feet elevation gain from going out to the Grandview Overlook and back.

***

Thurs, Jan 26

With Pippin again. Rock Island Trail.

6.1 miles with full sun and nice temps. Glad I wore shorts.

Later on, just a few sets of regular push-ups.

***

Fri, Jan 27 

I tried to not run today. I really did. I wanted a rest day from running, and I even did 40 minutes on the row machine in the morning.

But by the time evening rolled around, I was too tempted by the running dog... He looked at me 🤣 and I took him on a run!

We did 7.3 miles with 950 feet elevation, although I went a little slower today.

***

Sat, Jan 28

I now have a one-week daily run streak under my belt.

I felt a little sore a couple days ago, but overall I feel stronger today.

I am not intentionally doing a run streak, but I decided that I don't have to feel guilty about wanting to run every day, and I'll continue to do so until life forces a rest day (which will happen eventually, I'm sure.)

I did some more reading about running with dogs, and found out that what I'm doing by training Pippin to run on a waist leash is called "canicross." It's a whole sport consisting of cross country running with a canine! Or, more specifically, a human-dog running team.

Pippin and I did 8.5 miles today, and 850 feet of elevation.

He has gotten so good with his training! He only requires minor adjustments each run now, but mostly stays on my right-hand front side. He knows how to pull consistently, to help me run faster but not pull me down.

I also found out that blue heelers are actually the blue-colored variation of Australian Cattle Dogs, so that is what Pippin is. They are perfect for canicross! They are very active working dogs, so they respond well to training and have a tendency to "herd" which translates great to pulling when on a canicross lead.

***

What a nice week (and a half.)

I made my goal of two speedworks for January, and got Pippin trained for daily runs. Now I am going to have to run every day (mostly) - it's for the sake of the beast 😂!