First Miles Back Outside

This weekend finally cracked the door open to outdoor running again, and I didn’t waste the opportunity.

Saturday, with the sun out and the temperature hovering around 32 degrees, I headed outside for an 8-mile run. I went out strong but controlled, opening with a 7:53 first mile, then settled in right around 8:00 pace for the rest of the run, finishing at 7:57 average.

By mile six, I could clearly feel the difference between treadmill miles and road miles. My legs were fatiguing in a way they simply haven’t been indoors. The heart rate told the same story — sitting in the 160s and creeping into the 170s, I was clearly red-lining more than intended. It was a harder effort than planned, but once I got rolling, I didn’t really want to back off.

What’s interesting is that, despite the numbers, it never felt bad. There was no sharp discomfort, no sense of damage being done. If I hadn’t been wearing a heart-rate monitor, I probably wouldn’t have labeled it a high-impact run at all. It just felt like running fast again after a long stretch of restraint.

Sunday backed that up in a reassuring way. I logged just over four miles, starting with an easy mile alongside Maya, then finishing with 3.25 miles at Donovan Park. I ran entirely by feel on a hilly cross-country course and averaged 8:12 pace. Despite Saturday’s effort, Sunday felt smoother and more relaxed, which was exactly what I was hoping for.

Monday morning I was back on the treadmill, and surprisingly, I was perfectly content to set it at 6.5 mph. The run was smooth, controlled, and almost enjoyable, even with some lingering leg fatigue. That was probably the biggest positive sign of the weekend — the hard effort didn’t linger or derail the next run.

All told, I’m now at 41+ miles for February through the 9th, which puts me well on pace for 100+ miles on the month. This week includes work travel, so mileage may dip a bit, but I’m hoping to still squeeze in a run or two to keep the rhythm intact.

Overall, I’m satisfied with how the weekend played out. I got a legitimately hard effort in, recovered well, and didn’t feel like it took much out of me long-term. If there’s one small critique, it’s that I would’ve liked the pace to be a bit faster relative to the heart rate — but context matters. That was my first outdoor run, in cold conditions, and the fastest sustained pace I’ve run in quite a while.

If the aerobic base I’ve been building does what it’s supposed to do, the speed and threshold pace should come around quickly now that I’m finally back on the roads.

Takeaway: Winter fitness is real, but it still needs a few honest miles outside to fully show itself.

January Wrapped, February in Sight

January is officially in the books, and it was a solid one. I logged 117.55 miles, which would’ve ranked as my second-highest monthly total last year—a nice reminder that consistency still works.

I closed the month with a 7.05-mile run in just over an hour (8:38 pace), then rolled straight into February with 9 easy miles at a 9:06 pace. Back-to-back longer days earned me a rest day today, which still leaves a very manageable math problem: 91 miles over the next 26 days to hit 100 for February. That’s 3.5 miles a day—and the real goal is to push my bread-and-butter run days closer to five miles, which should make the hundred feel almost inevitable, especially with some longer weekend runs mixed in.

Those long runs really seem to be the secret sauce right now. The fitness is starting to show up, and keeping things easy has my legs feeling surprisingly cooperative. The bonus motivation? The Christmas weight is finally starting to peel off, which never hurts when you’re trying to stay locked in.

At the moment, I’m relying pretty heavily on the treadmill to keep this whole thing afloat. The belt is clearly on borrowed time, and I’ve resorted to Flex Seal tape at the seams to slow the inevitable. It’s not pretty, but it’s buying me time. I’ll probably need a new belt before next winter if I want the treadmill to remain a viable option—but for now, I’m aiming to squeeze one more month out of it.

The good news is that temperatures are supposed to creep into the mid-to-upper 30s this weekend, which should open the door for some outdoor runs. That’ll be a welcome change of pace—both figuratively and literally.

Takeaway: The plan is working, the fitness is building, and February is set up to be less about surviving the miles and more about stacking them with intention.