Thursday has been my long run day for a couple of years now. Having kids with busy weekend schedules and a working husband that already has dibs on Saturday long runs, I need to get my long run out of the way during the week so I can play car pool driver and sport spectator on the weekends. My favorite benefit of the Thursday long run is that it gets it out of the way, so when Saturday comes around, I know that I already have mine in the bag.

Today was Thursday and there was a 85% chance of rain starting at 8:00 a.m. My kids leave for school at 7:20. The moment they left, I turned on the Garmin, turned up the iPod and bolted out the door. I was determined to get in a few miles before the rain started coming down. The 2 mile loop around my house is perfect for days like today. Yes, it’s boring, but knowing that I’m never more than 10 minutes from home makes up for it.

The air was saturated enough that the ground was wet, but for the first loop it was just foggy. During the middle of the second loop, it started to mist. I could see to the west that the air was thick with moisture and that the rain was on its way. At mile 4, it still wasn’t raining. Now I was kind of disappointed. I had figured my run would be cut short by the rain so I really hadn’t mentally prepared for more than 4 miles. Where was my excuse? I started out trying to beat the rain but was now was getting irritated that I wasn’t going to get out of my run early. I rounded the nearby subdivision which adds another mile, and thankfully it started to precipitate a little more than a mist. I decided that this was a legitimate sprinkle. Whew! Now I could head home with no guilt. I hit the driveway right at 5 miles and was still pretty dry. Sure, 5 miles doesn’t count as a long run, but it’s the off season and it was raining. See, I couldn’t help it!

Next Monday, November 1st, is a big day on my running calendar. The Plymouth Dome, my winter sanctuary, with it’s AstroTurf track, temperature controlled atmosphere, and walkers that don’t pay attention and hog the whole track will be open for the public. There is a “usual crowd” at the dome and I have to admit that I miss them. Let’s face it, runners are a pretty homogeneous group compared to the general population. Walkers, however, are very diverse. They come in all ages, some walk with evidence of a battle against an injury or disease, some are very serious and some are there to socialize. They all make for great people watching and help pass the time on the little track.

So this Monday will mark my freedom from the weather man. Bring on the rain, the snow, the bitter cold winds. I’ll have my hodgepodge of regulars and the dome as my back up plan. Thank you, taxpayers of Plymouth, MN. It’s no wonder Money Magazine voted Plymouth the best place to live in 2008. What more could anyone want from their tax dollars than to provide me with a place to run all winter long?

Today is Monday, so it was back to the dome for some speed work. I will be so happy when all of this snow is gone and I can do my intervals on a regular track. I live just about a mile from our neighborhood school, so when the ground is clear I can run over to the school for a warm-up, use the track, and then cool down on the way home. It works out very well. Of course, when school is still in session, I tend to be a distraction to the elementary schoolers, many of whom already have a short attention span. Too bad for them! I gotta get my speed work in! If it keeps snowing, school may be out of session by the time the track is clear.

Speed work on the indoor track is not ideal. The track is small, with about 5 laps equalling a mile. As a result, there are a lot of turns and they are sharper than a normal track. I have to take it easy and slow down on the turns because they are hard on my little broken body. There are also a lot of “mature” citizens at the dome that I would prefer not to run down as that could cause me further injury. No, really, they are very nice and, if anything, I feel bad that they are worried that they are in my way… which they are… but I don’t mind because, hey, at least they are moving their bodies which I admire… but I digress. The bottom line is I have to take it easy when stepping around them which slows me down. It’s a little more difficult to hit my target split times than normal when I go there.

Now that I’ve laid the groundwork with a lot of excuses:

Last week, I sucked big time. The whole time I thought I was running fast. I felt fast (for me, anyway). I checked my Garmin occasionally during the intervals and thought I was hitting the right pace. When I got done with my workout, though, I checked the splits and I was way slow. I couldn’t believe it! Bummer. (Do people still say “bummer” or am I showing my age a little?)

Today there were a lot of people at the dome because it is yucky outside. I was all set to have another crappy day. I don’t know why, but today I was super fast! I easily beat all of my split time goals and felt great! Why is that? Why do we have good days and bad days? All I know is that I am very happy with my workout and the bad workout from last week is now forgotten. I love that about running… sometimes all it takes is one good run to renew your motivation and optimism.

I’m a pretty hardy soul, but the temperature when I got up this morning was negative 15 degrees. My Plan B for Mondays is to go to the dome. There is a nice artificial turf track and plenty of obstacles (older walkers) to keep things interesting. Here is what it looked like when I got there:

The inside is netted off for soccer and other activities. Today, it was set up for pre-schooler play time. Not too many pre-schoolers when I got there, but it was pretty busy when I was done.

On my calendar was my first “speed” workout. When I first started running, my plan was simply to run. When I decided to train for my first marathon, I modified my plan to run far. That plan was only moderately successful. I did finish my first marathon, but with a whole lot of walking involved. For my second marathon I enlisted the help of a coach who wanted to complicate things by introducing things like intervals, stretching, weight training, and even more running into the plan. This resulted in a better second marathon effort. My coach and his fancy-dancy schedule won my allegiance and are both in full employ for this round of training.

The four miles with a few pick-ups went by quickly and it was a balmy +3 degrees by the time I left. Let’s hope the heat wave continues!