Still plowing away

My 14 miler on Saturday went surprisingly well, some belly upset notwithstanding.  I'm not sure what causes the upset belly, but I choose my routes for the facilities, so it all works out.  This was my longest run in almost 2 years and though the pace was a pretty slow 10:50ish, I got it done.  I think the poor conditions contributed to the slow pace - it was wicked slippery out there!  My Yak Trax did not live up to my expectations and snapped after just 5 or 6 uses, so I was out there sans friction, and the icy snowy yuck that got left up around the reservoir was just enough to slow me down.  I did the last 2 miles on the road and they were MUCH easier, even with the hills.

Haakan's put in some projected paces and finish times for the races I have coming up, and for once I actually don't think he's overestimated my abilities.  I'm shooting for a 2:35 finish in the Spring Thaw 15 miler at the end of February, and I think that's pretty doable, if I get the early pacing right.  That puts me at a 10:20 pace, and after I get a couple of 16 milers under my belt, that really shouldn't be pushing it all that much.  I'm shooting for a 4:30 finish in the marathon in May, which would be awesome.  It would please me to no end to actually come in just under 4:30, like 4:29:59.  I mean, less than that would be great, but I'd be happy with *just* under.

Haakan's out of town so I'm stuck on the treadmill, which I absolutely loathe.  It was actually beautiful outside today, over 40 degrees, and I would have taken the younger kiddos out in the jogging stroller, but it was still pretty icy, so the treadmill it was.  I'm sort of perplexed about why it's so much easier to keep my pace up outside as opposed to on the treadmill.  I'm thinking it's because it's just so. damn. boring.  Seriously, it's like being a hamster on a wheel.  I need some better strategies for dealing with it because I'm stuck on the dreadmill for another week or so.  Yes, the fancy schmancy gym does have TV's on the treadmills, but for some reason the volume is so low on the headphones, I can barely hear what's being said.  This does actually provide some distraction, but it's totally annoying, and I can't ever get the closed captioning to work.