Heather and I exchanged Christmas gifts last night and I now have an iPod Nano to replace my broken four-year-old classic iPod. The Nano’s small size makes it perfect for running in the winter, I can just drop it into my glove and then pull my hand up into my jacket sleeve to keep me warm. Heather also got me the Nike+ which works with your iPod to tell you your pace, and distance. I think there is bunch of software on their website to analyze your workouts in a million different ways too.

I‘ve always been more of a watch and sneakers type runner who doesn’t really want any other high tech gadgets to go along with my runs. The more stuff you have the more you have to get together before you can head out the door. So I am a little unsure if I’m going to like this new attachment to my runs. God knows I already spend enough time running, planning to run, recovering from a run, showering after running, logging my running, g-mapping my running and blogging about my running. Do I need to add another layer of analysis and time to the whole thing?

Last night I didn’t get out until 8:00. I took Boomer for an easy 4 miles, dropped him off and headed out for 3 more. 7 miles in 59 minutes. It felt a little faster than that but it is what it is.

This morning my thermometer read 17 degrees my first sub 20 run of the year. I’ll still take this temp over 80 humid. The morning was completely clear and even at 6:15 I could see a faint light on the horizon. Now that I am in more a morning running routine I really enjoy running into the sunrise.

This was sort of a tempo run. The first couple miles were probably around 8:00 pace and then I began to pick things up. I was probably in tempo range for about 3 miles and under marathon pace for a total of 5 miles. I finished with an easy mile. 8.2 miles 58 minutes.

For whatever reason I am having an easier time mixing in the speed during this marathon build up. My legs are protesting a little less even though I am running on sneakers that are over the hill. I’ve now been to 5 different shoe stores that are either out of my size 9 Asics Gel Cumulus or don’t carry them. It’s frustrating. I know I should just order online but I just want to have them in my hands so I instead try another store. I’m running out of options and may just order them today.