Week of February 18 2013 Training log

Training log for the week of February 18, 2013

“If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”

Monday: 10 miles starting 7:30 working down to 6:00 on the  treadmill. Need to get a strong workout in. Both a confidence booster and preparations for Boston.
Tuesday: 5.6 snowshoe run  and 1.5 on the snow covered roads. Really enjoyed the snow while it was still cold out there. Only started to stick towards the end. Need to sharpen up the teeth, getting dull. 15 minute core session
Wednesday: 3.1 warm up followed by 6x1min hills (2mi) with 3mi cool down. Ran with the dog. He wanted to go hard up hills, at first, and hard down hill. So i guess i got two workouts in. Perfect for Boston!
Thursday: Flurries coming down, 8 miles with the dog. Kept it easy threw in strides over the last mile.
Friday: 7 miles around Stockton Springs. That's a fun route. Nice island route with plenty of hills. If i get into Mount Washington Road Race there's a nice hill there that would be perfect for long repeats
Saturday: 21 miles with Tim T. Ty T. and Matt H. Good meal afterwards. Point to point runs can be fun.
Sunday: 1.5 miles after 6 hours of skiing. First time we've been in two years. Got 6" of fresh pow-pow through the day. legs were toasted.

Total: 

Over the last 3 weeks I've run 51, 56, 63. Three long runs of 14, 16, 21 and I continue to be consistent with at least 30 minutes a week devoted to strength work of some kind. It's progress. I'm not anywhere close to the same kind of shape I was in last January and February but I really shouldn't compare the two years. Things have been different that's for sure. The point to point was from Bar Harbor to Ellsworth. It took 10.5 miles just to get off the island from The MDI Y. Some grueling hills on that section of route 3. After that it really didn't get much easier with the horribly small shoulder. Overall it was nice to run with a group and get a solid long run in.

Some numbers
13 days till The Chamerblain March 1/2
50 days to go till Boston..
55 days in of the Crow Athletics 100 day streak
322 miles year to date

Take number....I lost count...lets reflect

Well after dealing with nagging hamstring issues after MDI, oh PR 2:54!, I dug myself into a deeper hole by running too much too soon. Nagging knee pain kept me from closing out 2012 on a good note and through the first couple of weeks into January it didn't look good. I slowly became frustrated and just really sick and tired of sitting around doing nothing. I think the call if the runner's blues, sort of like taper madness before a Marathon but much worse because your held back from even going out the door.

Finally i got a hold of myself. Started more strength work centered around the knees and hips (they're important) and really got inspired by my good friend, Gary Allen. Gary ran from Maine to DC in 14 days, yes it sounds daunting but a well seasoned runner like himself, 5 decades of sub 3hr marathons, could do it and he did. I crewed for him Monday and Tuesday early in January and it was at that point I realized i didn't need to be held back by my knee. I wanted to run, and RUN I was going to!

I jumped in with Gary for 20 miles, somewhere around 11-12min pace (3 1/2 hours). I loved it. Just happy to be back and running again. His 700 mile trek was a daunting and fairly spur of the moment adventure but his willingness to just DO IT gave me that extra push i had needed.

Now here I am..275 miles into the new year, getting in some solid workouts and finally getting long runs in again. It's day 51 of the Crow Athletics 100 day streak and at this point i just hope to beat last year's streak of 88 days.

Boston is what, 7 weeks away, and i can't wait for it. I've been thinking at night of what a nightmare last year was, it makes me want to work harder and want it even more. I'm going to hunt down that dam Unicorn this year.