1:00:00 :: 9.1 miles

Easy run with speed. WooT! First week of workouts. Today was just a mile or so of speed reps with long recoveries.

(15 minute warmup)
.40mi - 2:00
(15 minute run recovery)
.25mi - 1:08
.20mi - :55
(15 minute run recovery)
.13mi - :35
.12mi - :33

Everything was between 4:30-5:00 pace, and it all felt surprisingly smooth. Nothing like last year when I tried this same workout for the first time.

More of the same tomorrow, then my first MP workout of the build on Friday!

I cannot stress enough how good that 10 day cutback in mileage was for me. I felt bad about it at the time, feeling like I was caving in and whining about the weather, but it turned out to be a perfect time to back off and consolidate gains.

1:12:00 :: 10.1 miles

Easy run. Very nice day. If you can believe it, +22F with a light breeze. It was still cold and windy enough to require pants and a jacket, but still, what a difference. Legs felt great.

2:10:00 :: 20.4 miles

Long run with 5k 'race'. Finally, a nice day! Very little wind, sunny, and +8F. That doesn't sound like much, but when you're used to -10F or colder every f***ing day for two months, it makes a big difference. Did 14 miles around 6:25-6:30 pace, then jumped into a 5k, and finally, finished with another few miles. I figured I had preliminary speed coming up on Monday, so I could sneak in a couple of MP miles and a quick finish without getting too far off the plan. After deciding three-quarters of a mile into the race to close the five-second gap and commit, I hit the first mile with the lead pack in 5:41. Mile two slowed a bit to a 5:52, which set me up perfectly for the last mile. I opened up and cruised in for the win, finishing with a surprisingly comfortable 5:07. Having not run a mile faster than 5:56 since November, I was shocked. Pretty cool.

Anyway, I got a few more miles in before getting that feeling that the long run was long enough, so I went back to race HQ to chat, eat, and drink a bit. All in all, a very nice way to break out of the Winter from Hell. Legs felt great the rest of the day, never feeling tired or sore. Even did an hour of sledding with the kids after. Good day.

1:09:00 :: 11 miles

Moderate 10 miler in 1:01:35. Reaped some solid gains from the cutback week (10 days). Felt really smooth and easy compared to last week. Mystery Coach wanted me to keep the HR at a max of 150, and I was able to do that without a problem and still keep the pace similar to the past few weeks. Recovery improved as well. I don't have my watch with me now, but I'll get paces, HRs and recovery posted.

1:14:00 :: 10 miles

Easy run on the treadmill. Minus 17F, 13mph wind. It just keeps going.

I got this in the e-mail yesterday, which was kind of awesome. Something to think about.

A few months ago, I applied for PowerBar Team Elite or Super Team or Team MegaZord or some such. As expected, I got turned down. But, I did score a six pack of PowerBar gels for the application. Very kind of them--and tasty.

This time around I may experiment with gels. Last year, I used a custom powder mix, by InfinIT. I used it for the Fargo Marathon and the Beardsley Half Marathon, and it worked really well both times. I especially like that it's not full of food coloring and wacky flavors (Mango Passionfruit? Really?). What's cool about this stuff, is you can mix it with very little water, and the powder is super fine, so it will actually dissolve and turn into a gel. Then you just take water like you would with any other gel, and off you go.

I could also go with the prepackaged gels. Not sure yet. I like the flexibility of the powder, and being able to tweak my own recipe, but the convenience of packaging and no mixing or mess is attractive, too. There's still plenty of time to experiment.

1:42:00 :: 14 miles

Easy run on the treadmill. I guess it was a record-breaker today--minus 33F, about 4 degrees colder than the old record for today. Since January 1, there are four mornings that I know of that have been above 0F (that's 32 degrees colder than freezing). Even worse than that, there have been *zero* days since late December 2007 that have been above the freezing point (again, that is 32F)!

This is the worst winter I have experienced in my life.

50:00 :: 7.2 miles

Easy run on the treadmill. Minus 21F this morning with 20mph winds, so running outside is not in the cards. Would like to have gone 10, but got started late.

1:25:00 :: 12 miles

Moderate run on the treadmill. Twenty-plus mile an hour wind and -5F outside, and it's still slick from snow and freezing rain a couple of days ago. Ugh. Anyway, I did 12 miles with 6x.25mi hills at 4% incline, one per mile during the middle miles. Hamstrings are no longer sore, and energy levels are much better after a weekend of better eating, vitamins, and hydration.

1:12:00 :: 10 miles

Easy run on treadmill. Felt slightly better today. Not so tired.

Scope Creep

1:45:00 :: 16 miles

Busted long run. Pretty tired from the start--just a weird day. Started feeling really weak and tired around 8 miles, and it just got worse from there. Starting to wonder if I have something going on.

1:01:14 :: 10 miles

Slippery and windy. Frustrating.

6:16(141) | 6:08(151) | 6:07(150)
6:07(152) | 6:04(154) | 6:05(153)
6:07(153) | 6:10(152) | 6:04(153)
6:05(154) | :33(130)-:44(120)-:58(110)

No Run

Day off. Went outside and shoveled for about 45 minutes before (not) running. Fucking cold, windy, and six inches of new snow on the ground. Just didn't feel like it. It's been a down week.

1:12:00 :: 10.4 miles

Easy run. Cold again. Windy again. Dog balls.

1:05:37 :: 10 miles

About what I expected, slightly slower pace, weaker recovery. Okay traction. Had to use the spikes. With colder, windier weather, and less traction, I would call this 'holding steady'

	12/18	1/1	1/15	1/28	2/12
Weather	5F/3mph	-2F/16mph	-3F/19mph	20F/9mph	4F/15mph
WU Time	22:00	20:09	13:43	20:35	20:13
WU Dist	3 mi	3 mi	2 mi	3 mi	3 mi
Mile 1	5:59(152)	6:07(152)	6:01(152)	5:55(151)	6:04(152)
Mile 2	6:08(152)	6:11(152)	6:11(152)	6:02(152)	6:08(152)
Mile 3	6:11(152)	6:14(152)	6:12(153)	6:06(152)	6:07(152)
Mile 4	6:14(152)	6:11(152)	6:10(153)	6:07(152)	6:08(152)
Rec 130	:32	:23	:28	:29	:32
Rec 120	:44	:34	:34	:37	:46

2/6 - 2/11 Summary

2/6 Wed 1:47 16 miles
2/7 Thu 50 min 7 miles - treadmill
2/8 Fri 1:09 11 miles - 1:01:02 10 miler
2/9 Sat 1:10 10 miles - treadmill, blizzard outside, busted long run
2/10 Sun 2:30 20 miles - treadmill, made the best of things
2/11 Mon 45 min 6 miles - treadmill

Good 10 miler, otherwise a bad week.

1/30 - 2/5 Summary

1/30 Wed 1:30 13 miles easy - intended to go for 16-17, but very cold and windy, and too much will was required between 10-13, so I cut out.
1/31 Thu 53:00 8 miles easy (ran out of time due to slowpoking in the AM)
2/1 Fri 1:01:15 10 miles - very strong winds (25-30mph), pace was all over the place (also 6mi easy on the mill in the evening)
2/2 Sat 2:35 24 miles 6:27 pace, felt good, finished feeling like going for a couple more miles
2/3 Sun 1:31 12.1 miles recovery pace - 2 runs (one in, one out) - Tired, esp. compared to last week
2/4 Mon 1:24 12 miles easy - feeling 90%
2/5 Tue 1:14 10 miles treadmill - 4in of new snow outside