Week 7 & 8: Slight Volume Bump/ Sore Butt Muscles

I didn't make it to the computer last week to type of the weeks summary. I did a decent bump in mileage and managed a few doubles in the process. The amount of time it takes to hit 90-100 miles per week boggles my mind. The days I did hit some doubles I felt like the day was over and all I said to my son and wife were "good morning and good night". It wasn't a pleasant week. I figure with the added hours of light to each day those will become easier. I'm hoping. 

I managed a couple decent tempo style workouts and even fit in a 10K ski race. The race was more like a "tour" for me but at any rate I burned some calories and made a few muscles really sore that had not had a workout in some time. 

This past week I found myself really tired on Monday so I rested an extra 90 minutes and it payed off huge! The rest of the week I had no troubles getting my runs in and had good energy most days. My runs on Friday through Sunday were plagued with a really tight right upper hamstring/glute. I also have quite a bit of tightness in my right psoas muscle. There is definitely something brewing there and I need to attend to it ASAP. I used some massage balls and roller last night and it did respond but there is still a lot of junk to work out to get things running smoothly again. That is goal number one for this upcoming week. If that issue gets ironed out quickly, my second goal is to maintain mileage and hit 85-90 for the week. I need a few more bigger weeks before settling and really honing in on some specific pace workouts. 

The weather here in Duluth remains to play a big part in my running quality. I am getting in some volume runs but really there is little to no quality in any part of them. The only quality I have hit has been on the treadmill and those are once a week. I have a 10 mile race coming up to test the waters on pace and that will really set me up for the final push in my last phase of training heading to Boston. I'm hoping for the best!

Feb. 10-16

M: am: 1:03:00, 8.2 miles treadmill easy

     pm: 37:40,  4.4 miles easy trails

T: 1:07:00,  8.2 miles  woodland area

W: am: 1:14:20  10.8 miles, treadmill *6.5 miles at 5:56-6:00 pace

     pm: 50:00, 6 miles,   park point

Th: 1:23:0, 8.1 miles, slow snowy run

Fr: 1:11:19,  9 miles *Fartlek runs

S: am: 1:23:22,  10.1 miles, West Duluth miles

   pm: 55:00 , 6.2 mi ski, Book Across The Bay

Su: 2:06:00,  16.2 miles  W. Duluth, Skyline, Canal Park.

Week Total: 87 miles *10 runs

Feb. 17-23

M: off, tired and poor sleep all weekend.

T: am: 1:16:39,  10.1 miles, treadmill steady run

    pm: 35:00 spin at home on bike

W: 1:18:54, 11.1 miles, Vermilion to Tish, Billy's,Riley, Eagle, Vermilion, Home

                                     4,5,4,5 min at 5:35 pace tempo intervals.

Th: 1:34:21, 12.5 miles, West Skyline, Dunedin loop

F: 1:00:34,  8 miles, treadmill Snap, R ham tight

Sa: 2:29:30,  19 miles, Pike Lake  *bad glute/ham pain

Su: 1:30:00,  11 miles, old E superior street and back

Week Total: 72 miles *6 runs

Years Total: 509 miles

Week 6: Forced Rest/ Crabby Long Run

This past week was not in the plans but sickness never is. I woke up and ran on Tuesday and had an "off" stomach and it then turned into a full on head cold over the rest of the week. I really burned through the virus, as I was ready for long runs by Sunday. In all I only took one day completely off and the rest of the days I altered my mileage and cut back to make sure I didn't over do it.

The weekends long run was just about as miserable as any long run has ever gone but we managed to get through it and once the run was over I felt quite a bit better as the mile splits were quicker than I thought. We mostly ran sub 7:30's in -10F weather with windchill's much lower than that. It was kind of funny as both Dave and I had an off day and spent the entire 2+ hours looking for better miles to come and they just never did. I guess a person needs to have some bad runs to appreciate the good ones.

Here is my week:

Feb 3-9th
Mon: 1:10:49  8.7 miles, Vermilion recovery miles
Tue: 1:09:13  8 miles, sick, stomach troubles, Hartley
Wed: 0 miles/ rest day off/ head cold brewing hard
Thr: 45:31  6 miles trails, feels ok
Fri: 1:09:52  7 miles trails faster downhills, feels ok
Sat: 1:20:34 10 miles, trails, feels good. legs a bit tired
Sun: 2:21:05  18.2 miles country roads/ Lester downhills

Total: 58 miles (6 days, sickness)

Years Total: 350 miles

Week 5: Vortex Remains

The month of January has been a weather challenge to say the least. There has not been a single week where running temperatures have been comfortable. A day here and there spattered in the middle of many sub-zero weeks. I find the silver lining in that kind of weather in that the running surfaces are amazing. The cold temperatures make it so you can just cruise on many roads and trails like no other temperature. That is the thought I grasped on to when the Polar Vortex looms. For reals though, Hartley trail system has been the best condition for running in many years and I am thankful I live just a quick 4 minute jog to the trailhead.

This week found my legs in the mood to push the volume a bit and I recovered well from most of my runs. My wife and I also purchased a spin bike and I have been using that for recovery in the evenings. The next big jump in mileage will only occur if I can start hitting some double days. My goal for Feb. was to have a few 100 mile weeks but I am not sure that is going to work out with the family schedule and all. Time will tell.

*First 5 weeks of build-up: 48, 60, 60, 69, 75 miles

Here is my last week of training:

Jan. 27th - Feb. 2nd
M: 1:00:53, 7.5 slow miles, very tired treadmill
T: 1:18:06, 11 miles treadmill 5 X 4 min @ 5:42 pace
        30:00 spin on bike
W: 1:25:21, 9.1 miles trails
T: 1:18:54, 10.3 miles roads, snowy
F: 1:18:56, 9 miles trails, felt awesome
S: 2:30:00 19 miles country roads
Su: 1:21:32  9.3 miles trails, recovery
         30:00 spin recovery on bike

Total for week:  75 miles

Years Total: 292 miles