2.9 miles (4.7 km) | 27:42 | 9:30/mile (5:54/km)

This was an easy run over the same loop route as yesterday but in the opposite (counterclockwise) direction. Temperatures were about the same as all week, hovering around 0 C (32 F). A tiny bit of fresh snow was down, but already melted in places that they'd salted.

On motivation: I really, really didn't want to run this morning. I worked late last night, had a late 10 PM dinner, was up reading until midnight, and didn't sleep well. When 6 AM rolled around, I wanted to go back to bed and turn this into an unscheduled rest day.

I told myself that I would just swap today's run and tomorrow's rest day. After about 10 minutes, I decided to go out and do it. There was no good physical reason not to, and it was only an easy run of less than 3 miles/30 minutes.

On toes: my little toe on my left foot is hurting me a bit. It's got a weird toenail that is really tiny and hardly ever grows (at least, I never have to cut it). Yesterday it was sore to walk around on it, and sore in my boots I wear on the trip to work. I'm not sure if it was yesterday's running shoes or the boots that did it.

I've got two pairs of running shoes that I alternate. The ones I wore today didn't seem to bother the toe.

I've also got long second toes on both feet, longer than my big toes. That means they rub on most running shoes. They're not blistered yet because when I started running last week I used two pairs of socks for warmth. But they are a little sore on the tips.

Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day. Other than my toes, I don't feel sore anywhere. I'd like to keep that up.

2.9 miles (4.7 km) | 27:01 | 9:13/mile (5:44/km)

Another dark morning running at 6:20 AM. Today there was light snow as well. The temperature was mild, right around 0 C (32 F). It was absolutely beautiful.

My GPS watch was not getting great satellite reception (overcast?). It showed my pace varying quite a bit from below 8:00/mile to almost 11:00/mile. It was also strange that my heart rate was low, down around 125 bpm, for the first 0.8 of a mile before jumping up to about 180 bpm for the rest of the run. The heart rate monitor must not have been getting good reception either, or I didn't have it fitted properly.

Tomorrow I'll try the same loop in the opposite direction.

2.16 miles (3.48 km) | 18:45 | 8:40/mile (5:23/km)

After a scheduled off day on Sunday, this was another short, easy run. It was the first time running in the dark this year; I left before 6:30 in the morning. It was chilly again, but not too bad once I started running. Temperature was about -1 C (30 F).

My average pace was helped by two one-hundred meter sections where I picked it up to about 6:30/mile just to see what it felt like. My legs (quadriceps especially) were stiff yesterday, but they seem to have recovered and felt good running today.

I plan to run about 30 minutes tomorrow.

2.2 miles (3.6 km) | 19:39 | 8:51/mile (5:30/km)

2.2 miles (3.6 km) | 20:07 | 9:02/mile (5:37/km)

First two runs of the year (and in a long time). The first one was January 1, the second was today. It's chilly here (26 F/-3 C), but not too cold once I start running.

I didn't remember to put on the heart rate monitor yesterday until I was already bundled up, and then I didn't want to bother. Today, I had it on. Average heart rate was 163 bpm. It was higher for the second half of the run and my pace was even.

Overall, I felt pretty good. I'm trying not to overdo it while it's still easy. My quadriceps were sore after the first run. I plan to take a scheduled day off tomorrow.

30 minutes & 60 minutes

Tuesday I ran from my sister-in-law's place in Bayville (on Long Island) out toward the village of Centre Island. I ran out 15 minutes before turning around and coming back. The total time was just barely over 30 minutes.

This morning, Wednesday, I ran the same direction for 30 minutes before turning around and running back. The total time was under 1:01.

My knee feels OK. It's still a little sore, but not keeping me from running. My ribs feel very sore, but it's a duller soreness than when I first banged them, so it doesn't keep me from running.

I figure 30 minutes is a little more than 5K, and 60 minutes is a little more than 10K. Tomorrow I will run 30 minutes, maybe along a slightly different route.

Long run fiasco

I had planned to run 11 miles (well, an hour an 45 minutes) in Copenhagen on Sunday morning. Early Saturday, I took the ferry and bus to Copenhagen. My wife and son and I spent the day in Tivoli, the amusement park. We stayed at a Danish hotel chain called Cab Inn that has really tiny rooms, like ships' cabins (get it?).

Our room had two bunks, with a pull out mattress. My wife was going to sleep on the lower bunk, with our son on the pull out right next to her. This didn't leave any room for the ladder to the top bunk for me. I though I could get down from the top bunk all right (at 4:45 AM, and without waking anyone else up) without the ladder, but I decided to practice Saturday night to be sure.

Coming down by hanging myself over the metal side and then dropping, I banged my ribs on the side and severely bruised them. I don't think they're broken, but it hurts to twist or pick up anything heavy (like the two suitcases we were carrying, or the two-year old).

I tried to run on Sunday morning, but my ribs hurt a lot. I ran for twenty minutes, then I had to stop and walk. I ran and walked for a little while after that, but my knee would stiffen up while walking so I'd have sore ribs and a sore knee when I started running again.

So, I decided to turn around. I ran and walked most of the way home. I was out on my "run" for an hour and twenty minutes. I would judge that I ran for about half the distance (not time). I guess I only ran 45 minutes, which would be five miles or a little less.

I was pretty disappointed. I had been planning how I was going to get the run in with all the travel, and I was looking forward to it because it was my longest of the year, my first over 10 miles, and over halfway to my 20-miler, the longest run before the marathon.

I've landed in New York now, and took Monday as a rest day. I'll go out and try to run three miles tomorrow and see how I do. I think the 11-miler is a lost cause, because there's no real way to get it in now.

10 K pace

6.2 miles (10 km) | 57:38 | 9:18/mile (5:46/km)

This was a 6 miler at marathon pace. My pace was 8 seconds per mile slower than my goal pace. I ran the same route as on Tuesday, when I actually did run at my marathon pace.

I was a bit distracted this morning (thinking about software bugs, I guess). I stopped my watch at the one kilometer mark, but then forgot at the two kilometer mark. I got three kilometers, I don't really know where four is, and I got five (halfway). Six is the same as four, then I forgot all three of seven, eight, and nine. Each time I remembered about 45 seconds later, and told myself "I'll get the next one".

I did remember to stop my watch at the end.

The first kilometer was 5:32. I averaged 5:22 for the next two, and 5:36 for the two after that. That's 5:30/kilometer (8:52/mile) for the first 5K. The second half, I averaged a much slower 6:02/kilometer (9:44/mile).

Knee is still a little sore, but not so bad since I've started stretching morning and night again.

Tomorrow I will take an off day, because we need to catch the bus at 5:45 in the morning to get to the Aarhus bus station, to get on a bus to get on a ferry to get back on the bus to go to Copenhagen. I will try to run an 11 miler on Sunday in Copenhagen. Actually, since I don't really know where I'm going to run, I'll probably just run an hour and 45 minutes (just over a 9:30/mile pace). I'll run out somewhere for 50 minutes, and figure to take about 55 minutes back.

That will take me up to 14 weeks away from the marathon (as of Sunday). The next two weeks, I will have to tweak things because of travel. I think it will work to just shift things by a day, so my long runs are on Sunday instead of Saturday, and so Monday and Friday are my off days.