1:06:00 :: 10 miles

Evaluation run. A day earlier than planned due to some bad weather on the way. I figured I'd give up a day of recovery, but wouldn't need a facemask or a second layer of clothing, which I haven't had the luxury of skipping so far this year. Light winds and +20F this morning, versus a forecast of -2F and 25mph winds tomorrow. A no brainer.

	12/18	1/1	1/15	1/28
Weather	5F/3mph	-2F/16mph	-3F/19mph	20F/9mph
WU Time	22:00	20:09	13:43	20:35
WU Dist	3 mi	3 mi	2 mi	3 mi
Mile 1	5:59(152)	6:07(152)	6:01(152)	5:55(151)
Mile 2	6:08(152)	6:11(152)	6:11(152)	6:02(152)
Mile 3	6:11(152)	6:14(152)	6:12(153)	6:06(152)
Mile 4	6:14(152)	6:11(152)	6:10(153)	6:07(152)
Rec 130	:32	:23	:28	:29
Rec 120	:44	:34	:34	:37

1:32:00 :: 12 miles (2 runs)

Two easy recovery runs. Six miles and 46:00 each, one outside and one on the treadmill. Ran a bit outside with neighbor Rick, which kept the HR well under 130, and kept the pace on the mill slow enough to average 128HR. Legs felt great for both runs, no soreness or tiredness to speak of. Very excited about putting together two solid weeks of hitting the workout targets really well, getting in good mileage, and good recovery. We'll see if it's reflected in Tuesday's evaluation...

2:31:00 :: 23.1 miles

Long run. Best long run in memory! Felt really good out of the gate, and seemed to get stronger through the end. Took a 1/2 bottle of accelerade at 13 miles. Shooting for 6:40 pace, and had to pull back to get there during the first part of the run.

6:36(139) | 6:31(143) | 6:24(143)
6:27(142) | 6:34(144) | 6:42(141)
6:33(141) | 6:24(141) | 6:36(142)
6:44(143) | 6:42(141) | 6:36(143)
6:38(140) | 6:40(142) | 6:39(142)
6:41(146) | 6:35(147) | 6:36(146)
6:30(146) | 6:24(148) | 6:24(151)
6:23(153) | 6:20(155)

Recovery
:37(130) - :53(120) - 1:36(110)

Got to 18 miles feeling great, so I upped the pace a bit, planning on stopping at 2:20-2:25. Still feeling really good at 21 miles, so I kept going for the full 2:30, plus another minute to get the 23. At the end, still felt fantastic. Really felt like going for another 5K! Recovery drink, no ice bath. No soreness or tightness hours later. Everything seemed to click today.

1:03:26 :: 10 miles

Moderate run. Shooting for 1:03, but missed by a bit. Didn't feel the greatest and the pace was all over the place. Just a bit off, sleepy tired, and a little flat. Didn't try to push to get back the three seconds per mile, just let it go, and focused on having a solid long run tomorrow.

6:31(140) | 6:21(143) | 6:06(149)
6:16(147) | 6:22(148) | 6:21(149)
6:17(151) | 6:28(149) | 6:22(149)
6:21(151)

Recovery
:33(130) - :44(120) - :66(110)

1:15:00 :: 10.4 miles

Easy run. Ready for the weekend.

1:40:00 :: 14.4 miles

Easy medium-long run. Back to the cold again--minus 15 this morning, but almost no wind, which made it strangely tolerable. I almost didn't believe the Weather Channel.

Average HR of 138, which is getting better, especially with all the layers. Everything feels good, so an easy day tomorrow should leave me set up well for the weekend, where the goal is a solid 63 minute 10 miler on Friday and a followup 2:20-2:25 6:40 pace, long run on Saturday.

1:07:00 :: 10 miles

Easy run. I was looking for a Pina Colada halfway through the run--it was +8F! More than a 25 degree difference from Saturday. The cold is coming back, though, with more of that godforsaken Canadian air already on the way.

Home with sick kids today, so I considered a second run, but with 90+ miles in the last seven days and a medium-long run tomorrow, I don't want to push, even if it was just an easy 30-45 minutes. With all the coughing, puking, and everything going on in the house the last week, it's better to stay well within my limits and keep healthy.

1:40:00 :: 14.2 miles

Easy run with tread-hills. Added a mile long hill on every fourth mile for a total of 3x1 mile hills. Progressed from 1.0 to 4.0 grade for the first .5 mile, then steady at 4.0 through the end of each mile. HR on flats was 130-140, higher toward the end, and 143-151 on the hills, again higher toward the end. Very good run, legs feeling good, calves just a bit 'full' after the hills. Recovered to 120 in :33 and 110 in :45. Recovery from Saturday seems complete.

1:30:00 :: 12.1 miles (2 runs)

Recovery runs. Two very easy runs on the treadmill today, 45 minutes each. Legs feel good, very little residual fatigue from the previous couple of days, so I should be set up for a solid week and building some of that elusive consistency I keep talking about.

2:15:00 :: 20.4 miles

Long run. Nailed it. Did the first 12 miles outside, but the weather was overwhelming, so I had to bring it in to finish. Held 142-144 HR for the first 18 miles, then 148-150 HR through the finish. Very good run, legs felt strong, pace felt easy, and motivation was excellent.

Felt really strong at the 2:15 mark, but I've been lacking consistency, so I cut the run ten minutes earlier than last week. This should result in a shorter recovery from the Friday/Saturday double, and allow me to build up over consecutive weeks, instead of the good week/bad week rollercoaster I've been on since mid-December.

Since I described the weather as 'overwhelming', I suppose I'd better explain. Air temp was -20F with a 7mph wind, which calculates to a -36F windchill. Whoop-dee-doo. Running into that slight 7mph wind for three minutes froze my right eye shut. I've never had that happen in 21 years of running in North Dakota. I turned back out of the wind and headed for the home loop, for a measure of safety as well as a means of avoiding the breeze. By ten miles, my facemask was solid, I couldn't see through the breath-formed frost and snow that covered my eyes, and my arms and legs were getting cold despite the fact that I was generating a lot of heat. When I finally called it and went inside, I took off my gear and had another first--frost on the inside of my clothes. I've occasionally had snow form between layers and collect inside sleeves and pant legs before. That's fairly common in January. However, I've never seen a uniform layer of frost covering the inside of my jacket and pants after a run.

Someone asked me last year at this time, "how cold does it have to be for you to not run outside?". At the time, I guessed -20F, not having run outside in those temps.

I guessed right.

1:02:32 :: 10 miles

Moderate run. Very cold again, -10F and 17mph wind. Workout was 10 miles in 1:03, so pretty much nailed it. Felt great today, but made sure to hold back enough so that I wasn't taking away from tomorrow's long run. Recovered to 120 in :44, and to 110 in 1:01.

6:23(141) | 6:14(146) | 6:12(148)
6:14(149) | 6:15(147) | 6:16(151)
6:14(150) | 6:16(150) | 6:15(150)
6:13(152)

1:16:00 :: 11 miles

Easy run. Extremely cold (-17F) with some wind. Layered up and had a fairly comfortable run anyway. Felt really good, with good motivation to get out and get running this morning. A shot of Wild Turkey to each of the three(!) other runners I saw out this morning.

"Fucking cold, eh?!"

Cheers to that.

1:30:00 :: 13 miles

Here I go changing the format again...

Easy run, felt very good except for a couple of bathroom breaks. Very windy (25mph steady), but decent temps at 15F. Bearable.

40:06 :: 6.1 miles

Evaluation run, 6+ miles total, short on time this morning.

	12/18	1/1	1/15
Weather	5F/3mph	-2F/16mph	-3F/19mph
WU Time	22:00	20:09	13:43
WU Dist	3 mi	3 mi	2 mi
Mile 1	5:59(152)	6:07(152)	6:01(152)
Mile 2	6:08(152)	6:11(152)	6:11(152)
Mile 3	6:11(152)	6:14(152)	6:12(153)
Mile 4	6:14(152)	6:11(152)	6:10(153)
Rec 130	:32	:23	:28
Rec 120	:44	:34	:34

1/6 - 1/14

The week (or so) that was:

1/6 1:05 - 9 mi - Tired
1/7 1:23 - 12.1 mi - Less tired
1/8 1:10 - 10 mi - Much less tired
1/9 No Run - Vomiting, etc.
1/10 :30 - 4 mi - Sick, sore
1/11 :15 - 2 mi - Sick, tired
1/12 :59 - 9 mi - Felt a bit rough
1/13 1:17 - 12 mi - Better, good run
1/14 1:00 - 8 mi - Leg tweaked from ice

Pretty weak all around. My motivation has been poor lately, so I'm feeling bad about that, but at least only one missed run, and three *really* weak days. I could do worse than to call a 50 mile week 'really poor'. Onwards and upwards...

2:25:00 6:35 22/85

Long run. Went very well--felt strong through 21, then the HR kicked up to 155 and I could feel the transition. Finished just starting to feel tired over the last half-mile. Went a bit too fast over the last five miles or so, with most of the last thirty minutes under 6:30 pace. First fifteen was very consistent at 6:38-6:43.

No fluids or nutrition during the run, ice bath and recovery drink after. Legs feel really good this afternoon.

1:10:00 6:22 11/76

One mile warmup, 10 miles in 63:00. Feeling good, finally. Forgot HRM strap, so no numbers today.

1:15:00 6:49 11/75

Windy as hell (32mph).

1:24:00 7:00 12/76

1:46:00 7:04 15/80

Two runs: evaluation run in the morning, 10 miles total, and another easy five on the treadmill in the afternoon.

	12/18	1/1
Weather	5F/3mph	-2F/16mph
WU Time	22:00	20:09
WU Dist	3 mi	3 mi
Mile 1	5:59(152)	6:07(152)
Mile 2	6:08(152)	6:11(152)
Mile 3	6:11(152)	6:14(152)
Mile 4	6:14(152)	6:11(152)
Rec 130	:32	:23
Rec 120	:44	:34