sNOw days?

It looked and felt like winter today in Hog Heaven: overcast with some sleet and snow flurries and a temp of 29 degrees when I went out running.  Fortunately, the winds were relatively light.  I felt good enough to attempt a hill workout, and I completed it with no ill effects.  I did 6 x .5 mile hill repeats at a 5K effort, and for the first time, I managed to run each repeat faster than the one before.  I made a conscious effort not to go too hard on the earlier hills, and that paid off at the end.  I'm also seeing some gains from earlier hill sessions.

The next few days will be dedicated to cross training and maintenance runs.  My next starred effort will be Sunday's speed workout.  This initial speed workout of the season will be 4 x 1 mile at ????  I'm still trying to work out my  pace for the speed workouts.  Jeff Galloway (Marathon: You Can Do It!) would have me running the repeats in 9:30.  That would be the conservative course, but I like to push things.  So, we'll see. 

It seems that the big blizzard that hit Colorado skipped Colorado Springs.  Check out the story and pictures from Sunday's Super Half Marathon along the streets and trails of the city here: http://www.outtherecolorado.com/201202059151/Running/super-half-marathon-a-5k-make-a-great-sunday-run.html

Farther north, Denver had a foot or more of snow, but Ft. Collins--home of the Colorado Marathon in May--received only four inches or so.  That's enough to be a nuisance but not enough to cause big problems.  With temps warming to well above freezing this week, the white stuff won't last long.  And, good riddance.  That's from the perspective of a runner and hiker, not a winter sports enthusiast.  Skiers, skaters, sledders, and the like probably have a different take on the snow and cold.  I live in cold country, so I've learned to tolerate winter.  But, I don't have to like it. 

It does appear from my vantage point on the space-time continuum that the weather is warming up.  That's  nothing more than anecdotal.  I have no evidence or special meteorological insight.  Whether human activity has anything to do with it or not is another question.  The earth was warming and cooling long before the Industrial Revolution.  What caused those episodes?  Just saying.

Anyway, if global warming is real--and continues into the medium term--there will be winners and losers.  Yes, some people, places, and things will benefit from warming.  A longer growing season will help many, for example.  Others, like those living in coastal areas, will suffer. A warmer world will be a different world.  Who knows if it'll be a better or worse world?  The alarmists would have us believe that we'll all suffer enormously.  But, alarmists are rarely right.  So far, the world has ended . . . Never.

Nature is much more powerful than man, and only our conceit allows us to believe differently.  If natural causes are behind warming, we're not going to stop it.  Even if human activity is contributing to warming, what are the chances that politicians will come up with the right answer to save the day?  These are the same people who can't do what ordinary folks do all the time: balance a budget.  The likelihood is that they'll make things worse while wasting even more money: see ethanol subsidies.

There are lots of prudent things that we can do--conserve, recycle, etc.--that are independent of the global warming debate.  Just do it!

Good riddance

The Iowa caucuses were held last night.  What did we learn?  Well . . . We learned that while Iowans might personally like native daughter Michelle Bachmann, they don't like the idea of her running the country.  Also, if her threshold is 5% in her native state, she's done.  The fork fits.  Same with Texas Governor Rick Perry.  Go back to Texas.  Anyway, it's a whole other country.  We learned (again) that Christian conservatives are a force in Iowa Republican politics.  See Rick Santorum.  Santorum is this year's Huckleberry.  Okay . . . Hucklebee.  We learned that Romney is boring.  Okay, we learned that in 2008, but nobody told him.   We learned that Obama is resting better these days.

What does any of this have to do with running?  You could only ask that if you don't live in Iowa.  For months now, my land-line has been ringing off the hook.  Like one of Pavlov's canines--and despite knowing better-- I invariably jumped up and ran to answer it.  Only to find that it was Mitt or Newt or Michelle breathlessly urging me to caucus for them.  Or, a pollster imploring me to: "Using your touch-tone phone, press 1 for Michelle Bachmann, press 2 for Jon Huntsman, press 3 . . . "  Huntsman, of course, didn't campaign in Iowa.  That's always a good strategy.  Just ask President Guiliani.  So, I've been able to get in plenty of extra miles this winter.  Junk campaigns.  Junk miles.

So, good riddance.  I'll get back to doing all my miles on the road.

After a couple days of Iowa winter, we're back to unreality today.  It was already 30 degrees when I ran this morning--on the way to a high temp around 40!  And, no snow in sight.  I am a happy camper.  After a brisk 6 miles yesterday, I did a more-leisurely 4 miles today.  Add a mile of walking to warm up and another mile of cool-down and that's 6 miles of calorie-burning.  Tomorrow is cross-training.  Friday is my long run (15 miles).  I've moved the long run from the weekend to Friday to take advantage of Friday's weather: a forecast high of 50 degrees.  The average high for January 6 in Bettendorf, Iowa, is something like 30.  The average low is 13. 

Some alarmists blame global warming for our usual weather this winter.  I think it's the result of having all those politicians around for months.  If the weather here suddenly takes a turn for the worse (colder/snowier) and it warms up in New Hampshire, I'll have my proof.