Cutting Back and New Kicks

This past week was a cutback week for me.  That meant I cut my running by about 25% from normal.  Normally I'm not a big fan of cutback weeks, but I do throw one in occasionally just because it gives my body a chance to more fully recover.  This past week however was pretty awesome:

Monday
Rested and hit the NordicTrac for about 30 minutes while watching hockey.

Tuesday
Ran 5 miles.  There were some snow flurries floating around in my headlamp beam.

Wednesday
New kicks arrived!  I ordered a pair of Saucony Peregrine shoes for use this spring/summer on the trails.

 Of course I had to try them on.  Out of the box they are the most comfortable shoes in my rotation.  I can't wait to start logging some miles in them.  I also got out and ran 6.4 miles (in different shoes) under a clear, starry sky.

Thursday
Got out and ran 4.5 miles in my new Peregrines.  Because of their lower drop (4mm), I wanted to try them on a shorter run.  I like them a lot already.  I can see we are going to get along really well once we get back on the trails.  Just have to wait for the ski trails to melt out which takes longer in the shade of the forest than it does in my sunny yard.

Friday
Really rested.  Helped my wife out with some chores around the house.

Saturday
4.8 miles on a cloudy afternoon.  It was so gray it hard to tell if it was 10 a.m. or 5 p.m.  It all looked the same.  In the flat light like that it's hard to see the bumps and dips along the road.  It all just blends into the white ground and gray sky.  Skiers will be very familiar with this phenomenon.

Sunday
An awesome 10.8 mile run at sunset.  It was one of those runs that just seemed effortless.  I could have just gone on forever.  My overall pace ended up being about the same as the half marathon I ran in last fall and it felt easier.  I would have been even faster if it wasn't for some intermittent GI upset towards the end.  I wasn't ill or anything.  My system was just telling me my choice of pre-run fuel (pizza) wasn't the best idea ever.

Have I mentioned I'm a bit of a nerd?  Something I enjoy doing before heading out for an evening run is checking to see which planets and constellations are prominent and then looking for them while I'm out there.  Google Chrome has a cool app called Planetarium that will show you what the sky looks like from your location at any time of day.  I check that and know exactly where to look for various things.  How cool is that?  Too often I end up trucking along, listening to a podcast, looking for Orion or the Pleiades and end up totally forgetting to do my fartleks or stride intervals.  Oops!

What is something you enjoy doing on your runs?  Bird watching?  Looking for specific plants and flowers?  People watching?  Feel free to discuss in the comments.