Week Ending February 5

Nothing super exciting to report this week.  Just a week full of work and some running.  Mileage build-up continues as I begin to focus on getting my butt-kicked at the Trudge and looking forward to what I need to do to prepare for Big Horn.  I'm getting impatient with the weather.  I'm very much looking forward to being able to run trails again.  Only three or four more months...

Mon. Jan. 30 - 5 miles in 37 min (7:24 pace).  Early morning run (5:30am) with Jason on the bike paths in Golden before he went to work and I drove back to Laramie.

Tues. Jan. 31 - 10 miles in 80 min (8:00 pace).  Tuesday Night Hills.  I let Rachel set the pace on the warm-up over to the hospital since I was feeling a little stoved up and wasn't looking for anything super stimulating.  I sandbagged the first four reps up the hill in 1:56, 1:57, 1:58, 1:57, taking my sweet-ass time getting back down the hill to start the next rep.  I woke up and loosened up a bit for five and six in 1:54 and 1:49.  Cooldown run home.

January Miles: 206 (25:42 running time)

Wed. Feb. 1 - 7 miles in 47 min (6:42 pace).  Lunchtime run on the Greenbelt.  Enjoyed some sunny, fairly warm, and most surprisingly not windy weather.  I took advantage by running a good pace that felt pretty good.

Thurs. Feb. 2 - 3 miles in 21 min (7:00 pace).  Quick morning run.  I was going to go out after work and put in another 4-5 miles, but the weather turned, and I decided that partaking in some dinner and Second City with Elizabeth (whom fame suits) was a better idea.

Fri. Feb. 3 - 5.5 miles in 39 min (7:05 pace).  Friday form workout.  I took the warm-up and cool down to and fro the fieldhouse easy because of the slick snow on the roads.  Usual Friday: form drills with 8x180m averaged in 33 high with number eight in 31.  Wasn't feeling the turnover this morning.

Potluck at Alec's.  Jelm Mtn. sweatshirt theme.

Sat. Feb. 4 - 10 miles in 76 min (7:35 pace).  HPH Coffee Run.  Met the crew at 17th St. Cafe for some morning fun.  Stayed out a little late and drank one or two too many beers at Alec's potluck the night before, and about 50 min in the run I paid for it by having to stop at a construction site port-a-john.  Haven't done that for awhile.  Oh well.  Felt way freaking better after.  Finished the run back to 17th St. where they served me a stack of uber-delicious pancakes.  

Sun. Feb. 5 - 18 miles in 120 min (6:40 pace).  While I maybe should have been trudging in the mountains, since I was in Cheyenne, and the weather was pretty fantastic, I went out for a long run.  I wanted to get in two hours (which I did) and I was thinking I'd get 15, maybe 16 miles in.  When I got home and mapped the circuitous route I took around Cheyenne (I saw Monterrey Heights, Western Hills, both Lions and Frontier parks, the Capital, the Greenway, and Buffalo Ridge) I was very surprised to see I covered 18 miles.  I was feeling pretty darn good for about 1:40, and then struggled a little on the last 20 minutes, but obviously I was still keeping a pretty good pace.  Long runs at this pace a very productive.

My new shoes didn't hurt, either.  FOTR was out of my size in the SpeedStar, so I picked up Jeff's favorite shoe, the Sky Speed, which is basically the DS Trainer minus the medial post.  Quick review: I like them.  They are an ounce or two heavier than the SpeedStar, but the midsole appears and, more importantly, feels like it's the same height which is important to me not getting plantar fasciitis.

Next week, 65 miles on the schdule.  Then a down week (50 or so), then the next build-up phase and THE TRUDGE!

Totals:
Week's Miles: 59
Running Time: 7:00
Year to Date: 250 (30:45 running time)

Gear: Asics SpeedStar 5 (retired at 512 miles) Saucony Peregrine (185 miles) Asics Sky Speed (18 miles)