It’s never going to be warm again. Ever.

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 5 mi, treadmill, 136 bpm
Wednesday: 4.7 mi, trails/hills (Bagley), 143 bpm
Thursday: 5 mi, treadmill, 135 bpm
Friday: 6.5 mi, road, 139 bpm
Saturday: 7.1 mi, road (MAF test), 138 bpm
Sunday: 10 mi, treadmill, 151 bpm
Total: 38.9 mi

IT’S ALMOST FREAKING MAY AND I’M ON MY TREADMILL BECAUSE IT’S TOO COLD THIS IS NONSENSE.

Ok we actually did have a couple nice days this past week, but now we don’t have another high above 50 degrees until May. It is really getting to me, mentally and even physically. It’s tough to get motivated to do anything. Last weekend, it was warm, and I had the energy to come home after a trail run and clean my house. This weekend, I slept poorly both nights, got buffeted about by the wind on Saturday, and had to do my long run on the treadmill rather than get hypothermia from running 10 miles in a frigid downpour.

I discussed in my last post that I won’t be doing MAF training for awhile. I still plan to monitor my heart rate, so I’ll still give that stat in my wrap-ups, but I won’t be sticking to any set maximum. I’ve already had a couple workouts where I’ve had sustained periods above my target heart rate.

Wednesday, I decided to do the first real hill workout I’ve had in quite awhile. I went to Bagley, which ended up being kind of stupid since it was 4/20 and there were several groups of people smoking dope in the area. I felt like a tool running by them, but no one made any comments, so I felt lucky. I did get a few whiffs of smoke as I went by. I warmed up with the easier loop, and then attacked the hill 3 times, heart rate be damned. I recovered with another pass of the easier loop, and then 3 more attacks on the hill. It wasn’t so bad, although by the end my legs were feeling a bit wobbly.

Unfortunately, the hill workouts took a toll on my calves, and they felt as taught as violin strings for a few days after. I didn’t have any other muscular issues, which was surprising. I thought I would have felt something in my thighs, but I didn’t.

My weekday treadmill runs were as uneventful as they always are. There’s really nothing to report on any of them, which is why I skip over them. I can’t stand that I’m writing about treadmill runs on the regular right now, but I am trying to stay healthy and sometimes that means staying out of the cold. I’m such a weakling right now. I’m not sure what I’m going to do now that the Wild are knocked out of the playoffs, as I watched a lot of hockey while on the treadmill. It’s a lot better distraction than movies or TV shows, although I get easily frustrated when the game isn’t going well, which doesn’t help with treadmill running.

I got in a little extra workout on Thursday as I made a little pilgrimage to Enger Tower, which was lit purple in memory of Prince. I climbed to the top, which was a nice stair workout, but it was too misty to get a good picture of the view.

Friday I had an uneventful road run. I got stopped at almost every stoplight I encountered, so that threw the pace off a bit. Saturday’s MAF test was cold but I did enjoy the roar of the surf to the north of me, just out of view.

There’s a ship just barely visible on the right side of the photo. I think the waves were more dramatic on Sunday, but I didn’t venture out of my house beyond a coffee run. Sunday I slept late, since I’d had trouble falling asleep again, and I was wrapped up in the Wild game and the extra innings of the Twins game, so there wouldn’t really have been time to go down to the beach again. Plus, rain and gusting winds and cold and sloth.

So I ran my long run of the week on the treadmill. I probably ran at a bit of a higher heart rate than I should have, but I just wanted to give it a shot. I stopped twice: once to go to the bathroom, taking advantage of the proximity, and once when I had to start a new workout because I hit 100 minutes. I ate some of a granola bar at the second stoppage, and started up at a slower pace to let myself digest a bit. I’d forgotten to take the heart rate alarm off my indoor running mode, so my stupid watch beeped like mad the whole time.

I did try again to buy a new pair of shoes, but the store I went to (a sports version of a big box store) was completely out of Mizuno shoes, and that’s what I wanted. I ended up going online and finding a clearance pair of Mizunos which weren’t exactly what I wanted, but seemed suitable and were cheap enough that I was willing to buy them without trying them on. I really hope they don’t suck. I was trying to see if I could find another clearance pair of my Wave Prophecies, but they didn’t have any in my size at the places I looked online. The shoes should be here this week, and I should have time to break them in before my 5K. So much for instant gratification.