Abs-olute Tempo Run

Since I did strength and core work on Tuesday night, I took Wednesday off, to get into work early and do testing on our overdue Version 15. However, I did some abdominal exercises last night, that I saw in Runners World. Even though I had done crunches the night before, this article stressed that straight crunches only work your outer abdominal muscles, and you need to work the deeper (“core”) ones to really help your running efficiency. Or maybe it was just the photos of Olympic track star Lolo Jones in a midriff-baring top that inspired me.
Today is a tempo run – 1 mile warmup, 5 miles at at an 8 minute pace, then a mile cooldown. I usually cheat on the warm-ups and cooldowns, with about a half mile each. I’m not sure if this is wise, because the mileage on this FIRST program is so low already, compared to other programs.
This run should not be a problem, because my 13 mile long run on Saturday averaged an 8 minute pace. But it is cold out. We got over an inch of snow the last 36 hours, and this powdery stuff is drifting in the 10-15 mph wind. The snow on the streets would not be a problem at all, if the Village would do any semblance of plowing, and would not be so stingy with their salt supplies. I understand that the economy is bad, and that the price of road salt has increased – but maintaining and clearing the roads is one of the few vital services that these suburban towns have to provide – much more integral than paying for yet another $25-$50K study of what the depressed “downtown” area needs to do attract businesses and shoppers.
Today I put on a Dri-fit T-shirt as an inner layer, and then a long-sleeve wicking shirt, and yet another one with a hood. Then I put on a lightweight, vented “shell” jacket. I have cold weather tights, with shorts over them. Today I am going to try 2 pairs of socks, which I don’t usually do. I like my Mizuno Wave Rider 11’s (http://www.onlineshoes.com/ review), but the weave on the uppers is really light. I also wear 2 pairs of gloves, a thick, wicking hat, hat and a fleece face warmer.
As soon as I get to my driveway, I start running. By the end of my block, I am hitting my tempo pace, instead of starting at the slower warmup pace. I had planned to tack a mile out and back onto my 4 mile route, so I could get at least 6 miles overall. But after a half mile in these conditions, I realize that 8 minutes heading straight into a near-zero wind chill will freeze everything that faces that way, including my “package”. So, I divert northwest onto a more winding route that zig-zags in that general direction. In sipte of the 2 pairs of gloves, my left hand is getting numb from the cold. I wonder if the Garmin GPS on that wrist is constricting the flow of blood to that hand. So I retract my fingers out of the gloves fingers, and curl my hand inside the main part of the glove. I end up doing this a lot when I run in the winter. After a while, the fingers will warm up, and I wear the gloves normally. I am welling well under an 8 minute pace, because I am motivated to get warm.
The streets are mainly clear, except for icy corners, and some stretches where snow has drifted off open fields/lots to cover the streets -but it is not dangerously icy like the weeks before Christmas. I extend my route at its south end, and end up just short of 5 miles at tempo pace as I pass my house. It is very hard to keep going when I know the heat is cranking up in there, and I could be in a hot shower in 5 minutes. But I run to the end of the block to hit 5 miles, and I run one more time around the block for a woefully short quarter-mile cooldown. My total run was 6 miles instead of 7, but I was 22 seconds under my tempo pace.