Cold weather speed boost!

Thanks to browsing the internet and tips from someone which whom I went to HS, I've started doing leg exercises for my quads to help out those painful knees of mine. The dog was very confused and wanted to attack me as I lay on the floor kicking my legs around and the hubs was rather amused at my patheticness... but I got through the suggested reps and most of the exercises on my list last night.
I'm going to try to do these exercises 4-5 times a week and hopefully will see some improvement and not just soreness - like this morning :)

Saturday before General Conference we went to our favorite long loop at the park and ran 8 miles. I will admit that I was pathetically slow and we averaged about a 13 min mile for the whole thing, but at least we did it and at least it was a steady pace! That included stopping for a quick potty and drink break, but I still can't blame the slowness on that.. *sigh* o well. Slow and steady might not win the race, but it will help me finish the race injury free!

Fortunately it was a bit colder last night when we went running after work and somehow that gave me extra energy because I pushed my pace the whole way and we averaged 11:10 / mile for the whole 5 miles. That is probably the fastest I've run outside this year - felt GREAT! Hopefully I can get close to that tomorrow on our 6 mile run and get my 8.5 mile run on Saturday down to 12/mile instead of 13. Wish us luck!

Due to the colder weather setting in I was finally able to wear my awesome purple tights! O boy... do I love them! They are so comfy and there is no riding up, rubbing, etc. and they keep me warm enough to be comfortable but not over heated. If race day is in the 50s I'm going to have a GREAT race!

I've noticed a rather odd thing while running with Lukas tho - I'm always cold at home, and he is always warm - but while running, I get over heated quickly and need to wear just a tshirt, while he is cooler and needs a fleece jacket - strange right? I figure its probably because running at my slow speed is more taxing on my body than on his, since he runs around 8-9 min/mile, so maybe that is why he is cooler. Who knows... but that is why someone invented the idea of layering... so you can strip while running as needed haha.

Other than a head cold that set in on Sunday, we had a lovely and relaxing weekend. General Conference  was fantastic and there were some really great talks that I personally needed to hear. I am looking forward to the Ensign (church magazine) coming out with all of the talks in it so that Lukas and I can reread them together and discuss them more indepth. Looking forward to Stake Conference this weekend... mostly because that means no Sunday School or Relief Society, haha, but in general its always a good experience as well. Some how General Conference is more motivating for me to set goals and try to make positive changes than New Years - I guess because its based on inspiration and not just the "end of the year - must make a change!" fever that everyone gets. I definitely will be writing down some personal and spiritual goals and try to improve between now and the next conference in April.