Polished off what I feel was a pretty solid week. The runs have been coming pretty easy the last couple of weeks. That's partly due to me being hooked-in to the process again. I've finally arrived back at the point where I look forward to running everyday, and once I am out on the run, there's nothing else I'd rather be doing. However, my long run yesterday did take me a few miles to get "checked-in" to. But once I was there in the moment, into the run, it went swimmingly.
This coming week will be a cut back week. I think I'm going to do a three up, one down build-up schedule through the spring. The past three weeks I went 36, 46, 51, so I think I'll keep it to 40-45 this week, and then look to go 50-55, 55-60, and 60-65. That should set me up to have a down week before the Trudge which would be pretty nice. After that, I'm looking to hit a race per month going forward to Big Horn.
One of my questions or concerns with a mileage build-up is seeing how much I can actually do. In the past, I've been able to stay healthy and run well on 80 miles per week. A couple of times in college, I got into the 90s (I've never had a 100 mile week) and broke pretty badly. Seemed like as I got over 85 and into the 90-95 range, I fell apart. The weeks after those 90+ weeks were typically in the 50s since I was on my ass trying to recover. That's pretty pointless.
I'm not sure if I am a different runner than I was then. I'm a slightly larger body than a lot of distance runners and I've often hypothesized that my extra mass simply can't handle the stress of that many miles. I would like to revisit this and see if I can, if I'm smart about it, get to running in the 90s or triple digits comfortably. However, I don't want to sacrifice something like Big Horn just so I can test my durabilty. I think, for now, my eventual goal is to get back to that 80-85 range and make myself comfortable there. Once I feel like I can handle that long-term, I may push a little harder and see what I can handle.
That may be getting ahead of myself. I'm feeling pretty comfortable with this 40-50 range right now, but I haven't been into the 60s in five or six years. One step at a time.
Mon. Jan. 9 - 6.5 miles in 45 min (6:56 pace). Easy loop on the Greenbelt in the morning. Still a little surprised about how good I feel following the snow shoe race. I guess when one actually trains, a long race like that doesn't necessarily cripple a person.
Tues. Jan. 10 - 5.5 miles in 40 min (7:16 pace). Post-work run along a shortened Spring Creek loop. I had a hard time seeing things in the dark eventhough I had my headlamp on because of all the traffic and blinding headlights. Not the most fun run I've had.
Wed. Jan. 11 - 4 miles in 29 min (7:15 pace). Morning run on the Greenbelt in the blowing snow. Weather rolled in overnight and made it kind of a crappy day. I had intended to get out after work for another quick 4-miler, but decided, given the conditions, I wasn't that ambitious. Ultimately, this was a good decision. Not worth getting hurt in bad weather for four stinkin' miles.
Thurs. Jan. 12 - 11 miles in 1:23 (7:35 pace). I met Jeff and Patrick for a lunch run. It turned into a little longer of a run than I had planned, but running-wise, I felt pretty good. However, I made a huge rookie mistake (I really, REALLY should know better) and did not wear enough clothing. I got home to change for the run, checked my indoor/outdoor thermometer, saw that it was 34 degrees, exclaimed, "Yes!" and proceeded to put on shorts and a single long-sleeved shirt. We had a rule in college that if it was 25 degrees or warmer, you wore shorts. I, in my stupidity, neglected to account for the freezing wind chill (something, again, I should always account for since I live in freakin' Wyoming), and that wind cut right through my shirt. I was very glad to get home and get in the shower.
Fri. Jan. 13 - 5.5 miles in 38 min (6:54 pace). Warm-up to the fieldhouse, 2xhigh knees, butt kicks, side-bounds, karioka, and speed skaters, 8x180m laps averaged in 34 sec with 90m half lap same as jog rest. Hit number eight in 28.6. Had a little more speed this week than last week, but felt very tired after this one. Cool down home.
Sat. Jan. 14 - 5 miles in 36 min (7:12 pace). My old Monterrey Heights-Bar X-Western Hills loop in Cheyenne. Pretty windy morning causing me to fight it a little more than I wanted, but otherwise I felt good.
Sun. Jan. 15 - 13.5 miles in 90 min (6:40 pace). Sunday long run in Cheyenne. I didn't get out until 1:30 or so, and as I alluded to earlier in this post, I spent a few miles around Mustang Ridge trying to find a physical and mental groove. Once I got out on Storey and headed east to Ridge, I found that groove and started clicking off the miles. I had wanted 13-15 today, and as I came up on 13, I decided that was enough for today. I was happy with the pace. Sub-seven pace still seems a little fast to me, but it was very comfortable today. That's a good sign.
Totals:
Week's Miles: 51
Running Time: 6:02
Year to date: 107 (13:19 running time)
Gear: Asics SpeedStar 5 (462 miles) Saucony Peregrine (148 miles)
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