spring is kind of here

I know that three years ago on this date we hadn't even gotten our first blizzard yet, that kicked off a fairly epic stretch of winter weather, but it feels like winter is over. We had some early snow and then it got really cold, and it's been really mild lately.

Yesterday I was waiting and waiting for the temperature to rise before I went out, it was supposed to be in the fifties, but it seemed like we stuck around freezing way longer than forecast. Finally, at about 2:30, with 35 degrees on the thermometer, I headed out, hoping everything wasn't too icy. I had gone about a mile and went up this little hill and at the top it was a different season. It was real foggy and about 20 degrees warmer. I stayed in this pocket of warm air for the rest of the run, I think it was the warmer coastal air finally moving inland. When I got home it was fifty at my house.

Sunday at noon, with Heather's parents still toting all our kids around and the Patriots' game still a few hours off, Heather and I got out together on the roads for 6.7 in 51:46. I took her over to Lord's Hill and up the main climb as a part of my efforts to get her on some hilly terrain on the days she's not on the treadmill. We also jacked up the treader with some 3/4" pine to get it slightly uphill with the broken incline feature.

Monday I ran a slight variation on my eight mile loop, heading south instead of north on 97 and running a loop over by the beverly airport. 9.73 miles in 1:05:08.

Yesterday my run in the fog was 8.61 in 59:37.

Today, I met up with Alex Vlahos and Nate Hausman at the Gordon College track for some tempo miles. Alex was really excited (so was I) and Nate was nervous about the workout. We did two easy miles on the track and then set off on the first one. The goal was 3 x 5:48 or so and keep the recoveries short. The first one was right on, although the first lap was fast and the third was slow. I led and Alex was right on my heels the whole way, which was great incentive to keep moving. The recovery was a little long, but that was fine, and we headed into the second one. The first lap was quick again, but then we stayed consistent, for 5:44 second. The second recovery was long again, but this was a January outdoor track workout, so I wasn't feeling like we had to be too strict. The third we were running 84's for the first three laps and then we closed with an 81, for 5:33 on the last one. Did a couple mile cooldown on the roads and called it a (good) day.