That First 5k

If you are like me, run training wanes sometime in December. For about a month or two, weather conditions are usually not amenable to putting feet to pavement. If I'm lucky, I can don my running shoes as early as February - but not consistently. Consistency doesn't happen until March at the earliest. It is then that my "running season" begins.

During those blustery, winter months I hike, indoor climb, and indoor bike. This does a good job of maintaining me until I can get back running. However, riding a stationary bike is not a comparable replacement to being on the real thing and neither does it satisfy my alone time when I lace my shoes, plug in my headphones, and run for miles. In moderation, I like the indoor bike. It dutifully serves it's purpose and allows me to push myself. One advantage it has over other training programs is visibility to vitals monitoring. You need not look far to visually register cadence, speed, heart-rate, and power (with no distraction from traffic). Come to think of it, you have an ideal heads-up display! Another advantage to the indoor bike is control. Like a laboratory experiment that dictates every considerable aspect of the environment, a stationary bike is controlled. It is laboratory experimentation at it's finest, really. The rider controls intensity with a precise turn of a resistance knob in an environment set to specification. It is admittedly easier to account for plateaus in training in this environment when compared to one unfettered. It seems so ideal... only it isn't. Riding a bike and not going anywhere disheartens my legs. They rebel and refuse to work without proper compensation. Legs, after all, are designed to take you places. How frustrating would it be if you jumped in your car, drove for 30 minutes, only to find you hadn't gone anywhere. My legs agree. They have to be outside to achieve proper motivation. Truth be told, I see my greatest gains in performance when I'm outdoors. There is just no substitute for the thrill of fresh air.

So despite the crisp air, single-digit temperatures (Fahrenheit), and piles of snow, I have been running through the winter months. Better yet, I'm running a 5k today at pace. Nothing spectacular but I'm hoping for a sub 7:40 minute mile average.  This will be the gateway to my training for a sub 2-hour half-marathon later this year. Here's to an injury free running season!

-Happy St. Patrick's Day