How many days till spring?

Now the winter weather is affecting both of us since we are both running now.  Neither one of us like it, but we are learning to adapt.  We both have really good winter clothes so we are both nice and warm on our runs but it is more about learning how to run in this crap.

We still had several inches of snow on the ground from the last snow.  The roads had just cleared and we were just back to running like normal.  We had been warned about this latest snow but we kept hoping that they were wrong.  KSU actually shut down the day before it all hit.    KSU never shuts down.   It started snowing some time last night and it is still snowing at 2:37 pm as i type.  We measured over 5 inches when tony ran earlier today.  It isn't suppose to stop till sometime tomorrow morning.  This is madness!  

I have to do two speed work sessions this week and then 4 miles and an 8 miler and it is suppose to snow again saturday.  URGH.  I hate doing speed work on a treadmill but I just can't get speed up on slick, icy, slushy roads.  I also can't seem to go much faster than 6 mph on the treadmill.  

I found a really helpful chart on converting outside pacing to pacing on the treadmill that includes using increasing incline to increase pace.  I have not tried using incline in  a long time because of injuring myself a few years ago using incline.  My legs are a lot stronger now so I decided I would try again.  If I didn't feel comfortable, I would stop and head outside and do straight mileage.  I looked at the chart before getting on.  5.4 mph with a 3% incline to pace at 9:30.  30 minutes at that pace with a 5 minute warm up and cool down.  I thought I would go half way and then stop and take a break.  I had read in my runner's world mag to always have water and a fan because running inside in dry air is harder sometimes if you are use to running outside.  I had my tunes, my water bottle and my fan and it still sucked.  Every last second of it sucked.  Even with the best music and the fan and the water.  I did it but I counted every single minute till I could stop.  I even made little packs with myself, one more minute then you can stop and take a break or five more minutes.  I also found myself holding on to the front  of the treadmill a lot.  Not sure what that does to your running form but it helped me feel more stable on the 3% incline.   I can always tell when I am working hard because i get snot in my throat.  Well I had a ton so even though the mileage wasn't adding up with the pace I was suppose to be doing, I felt like i was at the right place.  Then I got done and looked at the chart again and I should have had the incline up one more percent.  Crap.  That blows.  Oh well, I guess I did faster than 10 minute miles which was my previous comfort zone.  Baby steps right?????

That's what andrew says.  Yes, other than running, we have all been in our pjs all day.

So interested to see how my legs feel tomorrow after running that incline.  I have a tempo run planned and I am going to probably have to try as well on the treadmill.  I am not sure if i will be able to make it in tomorrow to work either so will probably be stuck in the house again.  I have some work out videos downloaded on the computer that i may try if andrew allows it.  I am also getting pretty worried about this weekend.  The next storm is due to hit saturday.  I was planning on driving up saturday.  So I will have to make a decision, drive up friday night, spend money on two nights of a hotel or loose my money.  I HATE WINTER!!!!!