Project 365/016: Winter day run

I was hoping for a bit more sun for this shot... and for my run today, but it will do. It ended up being a nice day despite it being around 24F degrees or so.

Finally got outdoors for a 5 mile run today instead of jumping on that God forsaken treadmill. This was my first time back to Independence Grove Forest Preserve since last November. It's pretty much a frozen tundra this time of year, but I was happy to find the paved bike path cleared of snow, besides the usual icy spot.

Although I've only been averaging 10 to 15 miles per week this winter, my workouts are increased in intensity much to the chagrin of my hips and quads. The weekday treadmill workouts have been 45 minute runs mixed in with the incline ramped to between 5 and 9.5 grade at 5 minute intervals after a 15 minute warm up.

Once that's done, I'm off to do a core workout or weights for 30 minutes or so. This whole routine's been taking me almost two hours to do. The cold weather and treadmills aren't too friendly to my knees this time of year, so I'm having to compensate for not running more.

Either way, I hope it pays off with added strength come spring.

I'll be making a decision in the next few days on marathon #1 of 4 for which I start training for in February.