12/17-12/23

Even though I was tired most of the week things really improved by the end of the week. I had my highest mileage yet and had a decent workout despite feeling tired. I would like to go over 70 miles next week since I will not be working and can sneak in a nap each afternoon and possibly some morning runs (not likely).

Monday: 10mi (72:26) It was wet, windy and really slippery running on the ice and snow so this was a real slow one. I am so tired of running in the cold on packed snow.

Tuesday: 10.2mi (68:57) Finally got to run on a surface that did not slip back half a step each stride. Easy run to recover from the last two days.

Wednesday: 11.2mi - 2.9mi warm-up, 10k threshold run (33:58), 2.1mi cool down. I was not sure how this was going to go because I was a bit tired from the last couple days and the wind was pretty strong on the back stretch of the track. I almost bailed at 5km but things loosened up after 2.5-3 miles and I finished much better than I started. Splits were: 5:29, 5:29, 5:27, 5:27, 5:24, 5:26, 74. I felt pretty good after the workout but will take it really easy the next two days.

Thursday: 10.5mi (73:10) Recovery run.

Friday: 10mi (68:16) Kind of cold, really wet and windy, extremely miserable. This run just sucked.

Saturday: off

Sunday: 17.2mi (1:50:27) I don't say this often, but this was a truly awesome run. I was not sure how things would go because I have been feeling really tired for the last week and I did not get decent sleep the last two nights because we have a sick 2 year old in the house. I started out quick and when mile 9 passed in 5:58 I had to pull things back a little bit. I felt strong and I was just cruising at 6:15 pace for the last half of the run. I did 4-5 full speed accelerations between mile 8 and 10 to recruit fast twitch muscle fibers.

Total for week: 69.1mi

12/10-12/16

More catch up here. I was a bit short on the miles this week for some reason, had a mediocre workout and had a slow, sloppy long run. Overall the week was kind of meh.

Monday: 8mi (55:24) Easy recovery.

Tuesday: 10.2mi (70:38)

Wednesday: 10.1mi (64:22) I was at work today so I did a 3 mile warm-up, 6x0.33mi hill followed by 1 mile at threshold pace (5:22) and then 2 mile cool-down. This was the same workout that I did two weeks ago in 63:48 w/ a 5:27 mile at the end. I was definitely more tired this week and the warm up and cool down were slower as well as the first mile split on the hill efforts but I was able to pull things together and get in a decent workout.

Thursday: 8mi (58:18) Easy recovery.

Friday: 10mi (64:14) Let it out a bit on one of my standard 10 mile out-and-back runs.

Saturday: off

Sunday: 16mi (1:50:06) I was cold and snowy the whole time so I was pretty tired at the end from slipping on every step and being frozen to the core. It is amazing how much this kind of run takes out of you even when going easy.

Total for week: 62.3mi

12/3-12/9

Catching up on my entries. This week was a really easy week and I hardly ran at all. Felt better by the end of the week.

Monday: off

Tuesday: 3mi (22:33)

Wednesday: 6.25mi (43:33)

Thursday: 5.25mi (36:40)

Friday: off

Saturday: 6.25mi (42:35)

Sunday: 15mi (1:38:36).

Total for week: 35.75mi

11/26-12/2

Things went well again this week as I just squeaked out more than 60 miles, had a good hill workout and was pleased with my race. Based on my Mill Cities Relay split I think that I am making good progress towards my goal in the spring (more on that later). Next week will be a real easy week: ~40 miles.

Monday: 8.1mi (54:57) Easy run to test out calf. All looks good.

Tuesday: 10.1mi (68:37) Another easy day to test my calf.

Wednesday: 10.1mi (63:48) I said that I was not going to do a hard workout this week but my calf feels good so I decided to go with the original plan and do a hill repeat workout. I did a 3 mile warm-up and then went right in to 6x0.33mi hill followed by 1 mile at threshold pace (5:27 - it was slightly down hill). Felt really good on this workout.

Thursday: 8.1mi (55:54) Nice easy run to recover.

Friday: 10mi (70:02) Easy run in Mine Falls.

Saturday: Off. This is the first time I have ever taken the day before a race off. We will see how this goes.

Sunday: 13.75mi (Mill Cities Relay) I did a 2.8 mile warm-up (19:43) and things looked like they would be pretty icy and slick but things turned out okay during the race. 9.52 mile 4th leg in 51:35 (splits: 5:28, 5:23, 5:22, 5:29, 5:29, 5:25, 5:28, 5:25, 5:23, 2:44). I intentionally took the first mile easy because it was the slickest but then let things open up a bit. I was feeling good and passing people until about 7 miles when I heard foot steps behind me. They continued to get louder and at 8.5 miles Pat Moulton pulled even with me, gave me a couple words of encouragement and then when flying by. I tried to go with him and dropped my pace a bit but felt like I was going to blow up and backed off. I was able to keep the gap to about 30 seconds to the end. Over all I am pleased with this effort because the footing was worse than last year and I am at the end of a hard cycle and I ran 90 seconds faster than last year (51:35 vs 53:05). I cooled down for 1.5 miles with Pat (12:38)

Total for week: 60mi