Well the first snow of the year is history and I went 5 rounds with a roof rake and the roof would have won by KO, except I was saved by the bell.

Okay what happened? We got a bit of rain with the snow and it was forming an ice dam at the edge of the roof, so I got out the roof rake to knock off the ridge. While pulling hard against a ridge out back, it suddenly let go and wacked me square on the chin.

That one took me to my knees and I know that I exceeded the 10 count before I got back up. I haven’t been hit that hard in over 40 years!!!

I did stagger back to the corner and came back out and wacked the hell out of the remaining ice ridges, without further injury to the chin, body or ego. Although when I walked to catch up to Mary & SD2 who were walking the dogs, she did ask why my face was all bloody.

She laughed when I told her the story of the defending my roof raking championship. Hehehee

Planned Workout Description: A faster paced workout in the New Balance Fuel Cell Propel – to see how they respond on the treadmill and at faster paces.

Comments: When I got on the treadmill, I really did not feel like doing a 5K time trial. I had been outside playing with a snow scoop, roof raking and walking on ice covered roads. So I figured I would do something faster, but not the original plan.

So I started out at faster than usual warm-up pace and figured out today would be a good day for a progression run and hard strides.

• 1.0 mile @ 7.2 mph
• 1.0 mile @ 7.3 mph
• .50 @ 7.6 mph
• .50 @ 7.7 mph
• .50 @ 7.8 mph
• .40 @ 8.1 mph
• .10 @ 9.3 mph
• 4 x 1.0 @ 9.3 mph with rest intervals @ 7.2 mph
• .10 @ 10.1 mph to finish up

Actually going through the first 4.0 miles I was feeling a LOT better than I thought that I was going to after the “fun” morning that I had.

While doing the strides, it did take me a few seconds to figure out how to run that fast in the Propels, but once I did they handled the faster than I will run in a race paces quit nicely

I gotta admit that I sweat like a stuck pig during this workout and was ready to stop when I hit 5.0 mile mark on the treadmill.

Variables that impacted the run: Storming outside so had to do scooping and roof raking (see story above), sore chin and walking a couple of miles on icy roads

• Day: Tuesday

• Type of Workout: Treadmill Progression Run with 6 x strides at the end.

• Course: Treadmill

• Distance: 5.0

• Duration: 38:24

• Pace: 7:41

• Clothes: NB socks, Compression Sleeves, Skora shorts, Reebok compression shorts, NB singlet

• Rating (1-4): 4

• Running Streak Day #: 19

• Weather: Indoor – outdoors sucked too much to even think about running outside – too much ice for me to stay upright.

Shoes: Mileage (22.0) I got to use the Propels on a faster treadmill run and they did everything that I wanted from them. They did not bother my right foot at all and when I did the faster strides, once I figured out how to run fast in the Prpels they were fine.

Very impressed with them so far, only change I would make is to lower the ankle side wells a bit and make the toe box more rounded like the Beacons. Otherwise, I like the cushioning and how well they respond when I do want to run faster.

How did this run move me towards my goal(s)? It showed me I can run a treadmill 7:30 to 7:40 pace and not have it kill me. Then I ran the strides a bit faster and felt fine.

I did learn that while I can run faster in the Propels, that I would prefer to run faster in my Zoom Fly SP or 1400 v6, both of which just feel faster underfoot and I don’t have to focus as much on running faster.

Cardio Total: 3.01

Non Running Comments: With the storm today, I started my winter chauffeur duties for SD2, she doesn’t do well in crappy weather driving. It does take a bit more out of me than it used to, but hey it is part of the deal of living in Maine.