Out with the Cold, in with the New..

After the long run last Sunday I did not run until Thursday... in an attempt to shake off all the congestion I was still saddled with.  In retrospect the Sunday run was a bit of a mistake as it set me back. Sigh.

It drove me crazy not running Mon-Tue-Wed but my cold was just not going away fast enough...so I gritted my teeth and just toughed it out. A cold front with lots of dry air came in and that didn't help my windpipe either.

Finally, I snuck a little 3 mile  run on Thur and it didn't seem to hurt. The next day I went out during mid-day from work (morning too cold..bad for windpipe) and ran 9+ miles in the Baylands (which is also right behind where I work).

That run was sweet:

2013-12-06 Fri
Split	Miles	Pace	HR	% WHR	Elev+	Elev-	YPB
1	1.00	9:33	128.6	67.7	0.0	14.9	1.424
2	1.00	8:53	124.0	63.9	3.2	4.4	1.598
3	1.00	8:38	125.0	64.8	4.2	2.1	1.632
4	1.00	8:28	134.0	72.1	3.3	0.0	1.552
5	1.00	8:14	137.0	74.6	0.0	0.0	1.558
6	1.00	8:19	132.0	70.5	1.0	1.1	1.601
7	1.00	8:18	134.0	72.1	2.1	4.5	1.579
8	1.00	9:44	123.0	63.1	4.1	1.1	1.473
9	1.00	9:26	124.0	63.9	7.4	0.0	1.510
10	0.20	9:02	126.0	65.6	1.0	0.0	1.550
Sum	9.2	8:51	128.8	67.8	26.3	28.0	1.563

Good numbers. I gradually sped up during miles 4, 5, 6, 7 for some threshold work. 

Thankfully this run didn't make my congestion worse! It's always very hard to guess whether resting or running will clean things up quicker: this run proved I was in the 'cleaning out' stage. FINALLY.

Decided to do a light 5 miles on Sat and then do a 13 miler on Sunday.
Sunday morning it was cool....36F, I looked up the Sacramento temps..BRRR 26F at the starting line of CIM!

My run went well except the heart rate monitor gave me problems the whole way. At first I had the usual cold wx problems of a pegged out high reading. I put a bunch more water on it and that helped.

However the entire run the readings were CRAZY low. So low that a few times I stopped and took my pulse to see if the darn thing was working....it seemed to be.

2013-12-08 Sun
Split	Miles	Pace	HR	% WHR	Elev+	Elev-	YPB
1	1.00	9:33	115.4	56.9	10.8	3.7	1.605
2	1.00	9:37	103.0	46.7	1.1	15.8	1.766
3	1.00	9:25	98.0	42.6	0.0	7.4	1.900
4	1.00	9:30	103.0	46.7	1.1	2.2	1.796
5	1.00	9:20	109.0	51.6	2.0	3.2	1.728
6	1.00	9:07	115.0	56.6	3.2	2.2	1.681
7	1.00	9:14	116.0	57.4	3.2	3.3	1.642
8	1.00	9:11	118.0	59.0	2.1	2.1	1.624
9	1.00	9:34	130.0	68.9	1.0	0.0	1.414
10	1.00	9:07	128.0	67.2	1.0	1.0	1.508
11	1.00	8:42	119.0	59.8	2.1	0.0	1.699
12	1.00	8:53	123.0	63.1	14.7	0.0	1.624
13	1.00	8:40	123.0	63.1	1.0	2.0	1.650
14	0.08	8:28	119.0	59.8	0.0	0.0	1.744
Sum	13.1	9:13	115.3	56.8	43.4	42.9	1.670

Mile 9 it wigged out in pegged out high pulse mode (160+) again and I had to move it around a bit to get it to stop that.

Anyway, probably the best YPB run ever, but I'm not believing it. Cold temps DO help by keeping blood away from your skin, increasing the volume available for muscles, but this is a huge difference..the most efficient run I've ever done.

Summary for the week:

Date	Miles	Pace	BPM	WHR%	Elev+	Elev-	YPB
2013-12-05 Thu	2.9	9:20	124.5	64.3	15.3	15.3	1.535
2013-12-06 Fri	9.2	8:51	128.8	67.8	26.3	28.0	1.563
2013-12-07 Sat	4.8	9:32	120.4	61.0	36.5	38.5	1.530
2013-12-08 Sun	13.1	9:13	115.3	56.8	43.4	42.9	1.670
Summary	30.0	9:10	121.0	61.5	121.5	124.7	1.601

30 miles a light week. But hopefully over the cold for GOOD and back on track.

T-8 weeks to Surf City!