That's a Pisser

The "tightness" I was feeling in my hamstring was exactly that, and worse. On Monday I attempted to head out for a super easy shake out run with my plan of being near the 30 minute mark for a total. I made it a grand total of 24 minutes and I was once again reduced to a walk the remainder of the distance home. Lots of explicits to vent, good thing it was 5:30 in the morning as there are very few soles out there stomping the pavement.

I have taken the remainder of the week off of running and had one Chiro treatment  as well as one hour massage, along with plenty of stretches to go with the week!

The most frustrating part of all this is I am being smart and not overdoing it in any way. I have listened to my body and really been in tune with whats going on. My leg has been great and bam! in one or two runs I am out of commish again. Once again I am reduced to running as much as I can slowly... I only hope this all ends soon.

On a side note, I think someone pissed on my tires...

Hammies Hurtin'

This week has been a nice progression. I gave myself one rest day and continued to run near an hour a day and a bit more on the weekend days. I plan to move up to get my two medium distance runs and longer efforts on the weekend within a months time. The main hurdle for this to happen seems to be a nagging hamstring that just will not let me progress to decent mileage. There seems to be some underlying problem that has yet to be discovered and now, more than ever, I need to figure it out!

Both runs this weekend had a little bit of hamstring tightness and keeping me from cranking up the pace too much.

Here is how the week looked:

Monday: 47:00  6.1 miles
              easy jogging to stretch out the legs

Tuesday: 1:02:00  8.2 miles

Wednesday: 51:45  7.1 miles

Thursday: 0 miles rest day

Friday: 1:01:00 8.1 miles *last mile at 6:00 pace
            super foggy out!

Saturday: 1:45:00  10.5 miles  *Jay Cooke Trails

Sunday: 2:20:00  18.2 miles roads

Weeks Total: 58.2 miles (6 days)
Years Total: 520.5 miles

Tee Shirts and Sunshine

Friday morning I made my way out and did a short out and back on Skyline. Nothing special about it. Just recovery miles.

This weekend was two marvelous days of running. Saturday a small group hit some very wet snowmobile trails that turned out to be a swamp run but none-the-less we had many laughs and much fun! Thanks to Dave, Dodgeball, and the Deb. For most of the run I actually ran without a shirt on and nearly caused many car accidents because of it.

This morning I had a group of five come to our house in order to hit some consistent road miles and get aide at the half-way point. We did a two loop course and once again, running in shorts and a tee in March just isn't right. My legs felt fair and towards the end of the run I had my right thigh start crying for mercy and to stop. I made it a total of 2 hours and near 16 miles. I have some more work to do on the leg but soon I hope to be jamming the miles and finally getting fit! Thanks to Eric, Tony, Dave and Dave. Great run!

Totals:
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 9 miles
Sunday: 16 miles

Weeks Total: 54 miles
Years Total: 462.3 miles

Dear Right Leg, I'm Gonna Win!!

I managed to have some decent miles last weekend and I rewarded my quad with a day of rest on Monday. I really had no choice as I was quite sore and very tired from the lack of sleep all weekend. I still got up and did a few subtle stretches then did a long ICE session on my quad, then a hot shower. I woke up Tuesday feeling refreshed and ready to rip it. The daily running has remained quite simple as of late and will remain the same until there is vast improvement in the range of motion in my quad. (still a bit limiting and very bruised) Until then, daily mileage is key and I will do my best to be ready to pound some pavement come June 3rd in Minneapolis.

Here is how my week has progressed thus far:

Mon: 0 miles (rest and rehab)
Tues: 55:50  7.2 miles
Wed: 47:35   6.2 miles   (icy roads)
Thurs: 1:10:33   9.7 miles

Snow Today...Gone Tomorrow

Not literally but pretty darn close. Last Saturday we received close to 15" of fresh powder on top of the 12" we had received a few days prior to that. That would be the entire "winter" to date. I realize it's still March, but I'm going out on a limb and saying we will not get any more storms like that!

On my last post I mentioned the long, backcountry snowshoe I did with the boys in the Lester/Amity Valley. We had tons of fun. Too much for me! What I failed to mention in my last post was the fact that I almost tore my right quad off! I launched off a ten foot cliff into some fresh POW and when I landed it threw me forward and I had to tumble a bit. In the process I hit a fallen tree buried under the snow. (a major risk of jumping blindly into fresh powder, even though the previous three launches left me in hysterics and joy! This jump would initially leave me a bit stunned but no means in the condition I would find myself in come Monday morning. Damn!!!!! My right quad was so bruised and sore I could barely lift for a simple flight of stairs. Ice, Ice and more Ice was the treatment of choice. Lesson learned for now.

This past week things slowly improved and by the weekend I was able to hobble myself to a few runs and ended Sunday with a pretty decent effort and some swill to cap off the evening.

Sunday was the 2nd Annual Shamrock Pub Shuffle. We had a blast and many laughs were had by all. I had ran 2 hours in the morning so the evening three miler was doable. So, here is a quick summary of the week. I hope this week I can get back to some consistent training as I am lagging big time!

Mon: 0 miles
Tues: 0 miles
Wed: 0 miles
Thurs:  38:00   5 miles
Fri:  32:00  4.5 miles
Sat:  48:00 slow trails, very sore yet  5 miles
Sun: 1:55:00   14.2 miles (a great improvement)
          30:00      3 miles  (eve. pub shuffle)

Total:  ~32 miles

Years Total: 408.3 miles

Two Week Rap...Totally!

Two weeks have passed since my last entry. One reason for this is just laziness and not high on the daily priority list but mostly I haven't been doing much except resting. I have run a bit over the last two weeks but I had some minor setbacks to say the least.

Here is a brief summary of the week following my last entry.

Early in the week I was running well. I did a series of runs in Hartley as well as roads and was getting consistent runs with the hamstring tolerating them fair. (still some pull)  On Thursday of that week I saw Adam, a sports Chiro, and he worked the snot out of my hamstring.  I have been doing some strength exercises and he liked what I was doing and added a bunch of stability work to my regimen. After his appointment our family took a short trip to the Twin Cities for a few days. I ran on the treadmill for a short run and did my exercises on Friday. Saturday I was off and Sunday I ran with Hypo from the Canal into gale-force winds! Then an hour after our run I came down with the Flu!

My week looked like this:
M: 51:17  7 miles
T: 55:28  7 miles
W: 52:01  5.7 miles (trails)
Thr. off
F: 4 miles treadmill
S: off
Sun: 1:36:00  12 miles

Total:  35.7 miles


Since I came down with the flu I had a tough time getting back on track and then Thursday I turned the corner and things improved rapidly since. So happy with that! I managed to see Adam again this week and he is happy with the progress on the hamstring.  I took of most of the week and had a wonderful late week of running. It looked something like this:

M-Thursday: 0 miles sick!
Fri: 43:46  5+ miles roads
Sat: 58:00  7.4 miles
Sun:  2:15:00  snowshoe with the boys! crazy fun in Lester Park.

Total: 21+ miles
Years Total: 376.3 miles

Tampa To Tulsa

Off of Rainy Day Music, the title song is one of all time favorites. Not too sure why. Maybe just the simplistic idea of the song.
I'm a bit bummed out because the Jayhawks played last night at the State Theater and I missed them. Maybe, just maybe I will see them in the future if at all possible. So, this is the last of my Jayhawk song/blog titles for the week. For some of you, I hope I gave you some new music to add to your library.

For the weekends running I managed to get out both days and continue to be baffled by the hamstring issue i'm dealing with. Lot's of What the !?? throughout the weekend.

Saturday I hit the trails of Hartley and I was just going to do the main trail and exit on the other side and run some Woodland area roads before making my way back home. Well, instead I managed to stay on all trails and do a short loop past the gasline and return home. I felt really good and only had a hint of tightness in the ham. I DID realize though I couldn't have strided out and ran fast as I felt my limit with the shorter trail strides I use.

Total: 44:18  5.3 miles  trails

Today I decided to venture out and hit some new terrain. I really wanted to run a new section of SHT and I decided, on what I will call the Fox Farm Road Section. I really didn't know what to expect from my hammy so I kept my options "open". I started out by running the trail east (up the trail) and soon found a few reasons to turn back for the truck.

 There are very few times in my past when I felt unsafe while running. For some reason I never feel like I am vulnerable as a runner. That may be a bad thing, but I chalk it up to being very "comfortable" while I run and if harm finds my way while I am on a run than I guess it was my number and I get to depart this world while doing the one activity I love the most out of life. I mean, I have run in inner cities while attending work conferences and never really feel threatened. Maybe because I usually run at 0600 and there is little harm awake at that hour. But the feeling I had today out on the SHT was completely unexpected and I was taken back a bit by it. I was running under complete sunny skies and still air. As I was out only 10 or so minutes from the lot I began seeing small tracks on the trail, as there was fresh snow from a day or two ago and not a single walker had made their way up the trail in that particular direction.  Soon after seeing what I would expect to be coyote tracks, they stopped, and soon a much larger track appeared and I soon knew what I was involved with. Soon one track led to two, and three, and four...you get the idea. I was following fairly fresh Wolf tracks and I expected to see a pair of eyes staring at me on my next climb. The feeling of "being watched" never left me but soon I was very comfortable with actually seeing a Wolf. I had a camera and was ready to take my best shot of the bugger if he/she would show up. The trail soon began to offer a bit too much snow, I know really, but I just couldn't settle in any rhythm and I was forced to make my turn back to the lot. I was 27:00 out from the lot and after dashing back through the wolf pack I was soon at the truck and making my way down the trail in a westerly direction. This section was packed from a lot of walkers and I was able to maintain good form and run a decent section. I soon had to call it quits as the hamstring was calling my name and I didn't want to go into a full spasm. The run ended up being fairly successful from a hamstring point and really eye-opening in regards to Wolf and how close they are to us! Wow!

Total: 1:15:00  ~8 miles trails

Weeks Total: 37 miles
Years Total: 319.6 miles

Pics of the day:

  Trailhead FF Road

 Trail flooded by stream

 Wolf track compared to my hand. drrrr. right?

 Trail going east (up)

 Trail westerly (down)

More proof the wolves are here. Hairy poop!

Say Your Prayers

This song is labeled as a "demo" and is off a double album with this specifically titled More Rain.

After running for a few days with minimal ham issues I was slapped in the face on Thursday morning with a good ol' fashion ham spasm that reduced me to walking home yet again. Frustrating to say the least. When I am injured I tend to A) Get Crabby and B) Focus all my energy on the injury and want to get better. Well I accomplished (A) quite well and failed at (B). I thought I was working hard at stretching and strength work but to no avail on the injury at hand. Just when I think I have the source of my issues it comes up empty. I thought it was my calves and I have them very loose and still the ham problem.

So, for now I am just going to keep doing my strength work and try to sneak back to running and see where it takes me. I have a marathon on my mind for late April but that is slowly becoming doubtful. At this point I guess it's what they call "one day at a time".

Total: 47:00   5 miles
          (4 running/ 1 slow mile walk home)

Stick In The Mud

Sound of Lies, 1997, was the first album after the departure of co-founder Mark Olson and the blog title track was a good one. I felt like I was a Stick in The Mud this morning as I had a repeat run of yesterday.

My run started off much like yesterday and I had a wonderful 4 miles. At about the 5th mile I started to feel the hammy tightening and I stopped right away to stretch the calf muscle to see if I could keep things at bay. It helped a bit but soon I was feeling quite a pull and I stopped a second time for a good stretch. After this one I began to stride out and soon I was running symptom-free. What the? Towards the end I was running sub 7:00 pace and feeling well. So....I don't really know what to say. I am still baffled and trying to find the source of this menace. I'll keep you posted.

Total:  1:13:37   10 miles  Enger and back

Stumbling Through The Dark

Jayhawks album- Rainy Day Music produced the blog title hit listed. I really enjoyed Rainy Day, could be one of my favorites of all. That is too difficult to say as I love all their music but you know what I mean...

I didn't run yesterday as I focused on some really deep stretches and exercises in preparation for my evening visit at Muggymoose. A local studio that didn't disappoint. I was not too sure what to expect, as my exposure to Yoga, and Thai Yoga Massage was limited to zero. Since my weaknesses in my running have surfaced yet again in the form of a bum hamstring I figured it was/is time to really focus on stretching and strength work as a staple and not as a fix. I want this to be part of my daily routine. Yes, it adds time to what I do, but so what. If I have to give up one sitcom a night to accomplish this I will. I need to take care of my body or I will not be able to partake in the training and running I enjoy so much. Anyhoo, the massage session was very beneficial and I will be going back at some point for another session.

This morning I "stubbled through the dark" on an easy hour run. I had the best feeling for 4 miles then I could feel my hamstring getting ready to get ugly. I did my best to relax and adjust my stride and soon I was running pain free again. That made me realize I have something triggering my hamstring to tighten. I knew this but was trying all options. I didn't figure it was my calf but I sure may be. They are tight and I need to focus some days on them. Too many things to think of...

Total: 1:03:47   ~8.7 miles

The Trap's Been Set

Although not a true Jayhawks song, the song title listed is off of Mark Olson and Gary Louis album titled Ready for the Flood. A nice mellow album put together in early 2009, the music is a bit slower than past albums yet still has the Jayhawks feel and powerful lyrics that I can relate to.

Now this song may not be related to my run in any way, I liked the title and can make a connection thru it.  I feel like my "trap" has been set for the next year or so. My wife and I have decided to make the effort to run Boston 2013, which is a two year project to get there and now I am "trapped" into training marathon-style. Not that that is a bad thing, I tend to get into really good shape, as most would, but it's a different life style than just "training for the next 10k". Don't get me wrong, I love it, but at the same time we are all trapped into the lifestyle if we are gonna meet our goals. Right now I would not have it any other way, as I am super pumped to run the 26.2 on April 28th in Brainerd.

As for my hamstring, things are better but still bothersome. I feel like for right now all I can do is dawdle and run easy paced runs. If I were to crank up the intensity I feel like the hammy would get cranky and just spasm and thus piss me off! I have a massage tomorrow and I am hoping for a little bit of a miracle. I realize that one hour will not change the world dramatically but the end result of what will come out of it, I remain hopeful.

Today's run was another successful hour plus without a spasm and allowed me to muster up a nice 9 miler. No frills, just mileage at 7:30 pace or thereabouts.

Total: 1:06:33   ~ 9 miles

Weeks Total: 17 miles
Years Total: 282.6 miles

Waiting For The Sun

I have been in a Jayhawks mood lately. A Minnesota born band that always seems to make me smile. The are touring again and possibly making a showing in the Twin Cities very soon. Hopefully I can attend. They don't tour too often and it's one not to miss. In their honor I will title each blog post this weekend and next week with a song of my choice. Hopefully my run or events of the day will in some way reflect the title.

As for this morning I woke up to temperatures in the negative digits. That wasn't all that bad but the windchill made it close to -30F and I wasn't willing to go for a short "chance run" to test the hamstring on what might end up a walk home. So, I made the decision to run on the treadmill. I started off easy, paying close attention to my ailing leg and soon was up to a respectable pace. As I was warming up I quickly realized I had the shades closed so I ripped them open only to see a blinding sun come shining in. As this month passes and the next one arrives I will be Waiting For The Sun to shine once again on my morning runs  as for now it's still the moon and stars.

The treadmill treated me well and I ran for an hour at 7:30 pace with minimal hamstring issues. I had some tightness but no real pains to speak of. Thank You!!! I only hope to back that run up with another just like it tomorrow.

Total:
1:00:00  8 miles (treadmill)

Attempt...Fail

Since I managed to get out or a little over an hour yesterday I figured I could do for 90 minutes and see how the hamstring would handle the load. I made it 3 miles then I was walking again! I did the walk/jog program back to the house and that was it.

A bit disappointed to say the least, I decided it was time to really focus on a weeks worth of strength exercises and stretches in order to get the hamstring under control. A week now will not make a shits worth of difference come late April and this summer when I want to be crankin' out some race performances.

I do realize this is something I need to focus on and stay in tune with. I plan on seeing a massage therapist soon and see what kind of ugly "woosie worms" (aka: tight muscles that hurt like a bitch when worked on)we unfold in my legs and hips.

45:00    ~5 miles

Weeks Total: ~42 miles
Years Total: 265.6 miles

Looking goooodddd....YEOW!

On Monday I posted that I was feeling my Sunday's long effort and I may need an additional day of recovery before heading into more up pace efforts. I did that. I knew I would thank myself and give my legs another 24 to reap the benefits of easy aerobic exercise in the form of soft, snow-covered trails in Hartley.  I headed that way Tuesday morning and proceeded to do one complete loop along with some other short loops and a short section in Rock Hill. That felt great.
On Wednesday I woke up plenty early to hit my 90-100 minutes with some steady state running in the middle. The weather was rather warm at 25F and the roads/paths I chose were very clear of any debris. After my usual 3 mile warm up I started to work into the steady state miles. At first it was a bit more difficult than I wanted the pace to be. I ran this pace so easily last week and this week it was actually beginning to feel like work. I decided to stop looking at my gps and really focus on body effort and breathing. Coincidentally that was about the time I started to feel better. To ensure I would have a decent run I took my Powergel in hopes to make the last half hour of this SS period go smoothly. Not long after my "good" mile I started to feel my right hamstring tighten and get that "heavy" feeling. I did few short and long strider-style moves in effort to relax the bombing muscle. No luck. At the end of the next mile I was stopped and stretched over a guardrail at the Lester River some 5 miles from my warm house. I had to walk for a few minutes and then slowly worked into a very subtle shuffle in hopes to keep me from freezing and get home. My leg allowed this shuffle until the hills of Tischer Creek. I walked up to the streets and then ran the rest of the way home.

The next two days and today I have been focusing on keeping my low back, piriformis and hamstrings loose and it seems to be working. I have a Chiropractor appointment on Tuesday and I hope to keep some form of respectable running until then. My hope is that this is just a minor bump in the road and a reminder to vary my running terrain. I have been putting in quite a lot of miles on the single track this January and I think my back finally said, "enough". Once things loosen up I may return to the awesomeness of those trails but by then they might be a big pile of mud.

Here are Tuesday and Wednesday's running:

Tuesday:
Another easy, recovery style run in the wonderful single track trails of Hartley Park. No complaints and many more miles to do there. Legs did appreciate another easy day and I hope all systems go for tomorrow.
1:16:13   8.1 miles (trails)

Wednesday:
Out to Lakeside on the bike paths for some up tempo running. I did close to a 3 mile warm up then worked into my steady state. The plan was to run 50 minutes at 600-605 pace. As I started the session I felt a bit flat and soon ran on effort and didn't look at my gps for pacing. I then started to feel better and took a gel soon after only to have my right upper hamstring tighten up on me and force me to a walk. A slow hobble home and I had self-prescribed a couple days off of running. Lot's of stretching and strength work for the low back and hips.
Total: 1:33:45   12.4 miles
   *6:09,6:14,6:13,6:06,6:04,6:55.....

Thursday and Friday:
off, no running. just stretching and strength work.

Hammy Test

In brief, I had a minor set-back this week and ended up taking off two days to let a ailing hamstring heal. It's source, I believe, is my low back and piriformis causing my hamstring to howl a bit.

I ran a slow out and back with Dave this morning and things were just "OK".

I will recap the week soon and possibly run a medium long effort tomorrow.

1:12:30   9+ miles easy pace

It's A Whiteout!

When I ran this morning I couldn't believe the snow falling. I made my way up Woodland and by the time I crossed Martin Road it was blowing and snowing like a real winter blizzard. I had a half-mile stretch where the wind was biting me right in the face but other than that I had a cross wind which was tolerable.

I was pleasantly surprised how good I felt. My legs turned over nicely but I could feel a bit of tightness in the IT bands and that made me realize the importance of proper stretching. I may be able to do my medium long SS run tomorrow but it will be a last minute decision. I want to make sure I am recovered properly and ready to hit the faster pace once again.

Total: 1:06:00    8.1 miles

Steady Out East

With the little snow we received I was in search of good footing so I could do a steady-state run outside. I realize I will be performing these workouts on the treadmill very soon but until I absolutely have to I will squeak them out on the streets. The weather was cool but relatively calm so I made my way out to Lakeside and used the dry lakewalk and HWY 61 to get in some quicker miles.

After my usual warm up I eased into pace and tried not to stare at the gps and just run on effort. I want to become familiar with pace based on how I feel and hopefully will not have to rely on gps splits. I guess I managed to do pretty well as my splits, even with the subtle ups and downs didn't vary all that much. I will list them below with the workout details.

Saturday I was feeling a bit fatigued and ran with Dave and Ryan on the trails for an easy hour. It's always good to run with someone on the easy days. For me, those days can often be the hardest to get out and roll the miles out. I'm glad it worked out for all.

Sunday was a long run and I managed to run the trails for most miles. I did a short out and back on Skyline before hitting the single track and then ran some with Dave and then some with Tony as our meeting point for the day didn't quite work out. I felt really good on the trails and managed the entire run just about 8 oz's of water. I had an emergency gel with me but I didn't take it until I got home. It's good to burn the legs a bit in training as long as there are no signs of injury looming. Not to be had for me. All systems a go!

Here are the run details:

Friday:
Out and back thru lakeside to mile 17 of gmas course and back. 45 minutes of steady state, good for a little over 7 miles. Splits:6:07,6:05,6:05,6:07,6:02,6:12,6:00
1:31:00  13.4 miles

Saturday:
easy trail run for recovery.
1:02:07   ~6.1 miles

Sunday:
long run on roads for 4 miles then trails.
2:33:42   17.5 miles  (single track trails)

Weeks Total: ~73.4 miles  (9.9 hours)
Years Total: 223.6 miles

Ramping Up

This week will be a first of three consecutive weeks of volume building. I plan to to do a pattern of three up and one down (rest). I have about three or four more weeks of base-phase training and then switch to some longer threshold workouts and continue to work on the long runs.

So far the week has gone about as well as it could. The snowshoeing the past weekend left me a bit more sore than expected on Monday and Tuesday but by Wednesday I was ready for a medium long effort with steady-state. I woke up to about a half inch of fresh snow on the roads which made for very poor footing. Instead of risking any pulled muscles I just ran the time and pushed some sections a bit more than usual. In the end I had a great run. I feel a bit tired today but I will be able catch up and gain some extra hours come this weekend.

Here is the week thus far.

Monday:
Up Woodland out to Arnold roads before making my way home via Vermilion and UMD. I really took it easy on this run in hopes to ready myself for the medium distance run.
Total: 1:10:00   9.1 miles

Tuesday:
I woke up still a bit sore and fatigued so I made a quick decision to stick to a slow, easy run. Since things were looking decent I made my way to the trails of Hartley and proceeded to loop around. Felt great and the trails were very good.
Total: 1:08:43   ~7.6 miles (easy)

Wednesday:
Out and back on West Skyline to 28th Ave W. I managed to push a few miles near 6:40 pace but too slick to do any quality work. The run was still a very productive effort. I will be pounding out this course many times in the next 13 weeks!
Total: 1:31:00  12.7 miles

Thursday:
This morning I made my way to the trails of Hartley again. A bit slick but still very runnable. One complete loop and I returned home to fuel up. Looking forward to the second medium long run tomorrow morning.
Total: 1:02:11   7 miles

January Freeze and Winter Bliss

Kari and I heading out for Saturdays snowshoe.

Lucas doing some tricks on his snowshoes.





The cold temperatures finally made their showing in Duluth this past week. We had a run of three or four days with temperatures in the negative digits. The put me running with some crazy, cool temps but manageable for the most part.

I gave myself a rest from the long run in order to rest my legs for what I hope a build-up in mileage over the next three weeks. Even with the break from a true "long run" I got in some decent "time" for the week. I am feeling very well and eager to crank up the volume and see what happens. I am ready for some tired legs and will need to remind myself of the fatigue and really keep getting my arse out of bed each morning. That is what is going to make this build up a success!

Here is the week in review:

Monday:
Following a really good weekend of running I was ready for an easy road loop and that is what I did. Out to Martin and back via Vermilion. Doing great!
Total: 1:02:00   ~8 miles

Tuesday:
Very cool morning. It was below zero without the windchill and I got lucky with the wind direction on my out and back from Brighton Beach. The wind was at my shoulder the entire run and that made it tolerable. A headwind would have been sub 20F below zero! I added some uptempo time that was a "steady state" effort but my pace was off because of the cold and blustery wind. The effort was there and I was happy with bumping this workout to 40 minutes. Another 10 minutes will be added this week plus another shorter effort later in the week.
Total: 1:24:11    12 miles
          40 minutes at SS at ~6:15 pace

Wednesday:
Recovery style run in Morley Park area and UMD. Decent run but cold once again.
Total: 52:00  ~7 miles

Thursday:
Too cold. The wind chill outside was -40F!! No way. I hit the treadmill and did a nice warm up of 30 minutes and then proceeded to add 2 minutes hill segments at 6% grade each mile just to break up the monotony. I felt really good and will more than likely be running the treadmill more often for specific workouts.
Total: 1:20:00  ~11 miles
          6 X 2 minute Hills at 6% each mile

Friday:
0 rest day

Saturday:
No real long run so to speak rather a long effort on snowshoes. There was some running and some real hard ass walking in powder up past my knees for a few miles. The goal of this workout was to keep the heart rate up and keep moving for over 90 minutes. I accomplished this very well. After the effort I was surprised how wiped out I was.
Total: 1:45:00  time on snowshoes

Sunday:
I ran the entire time and got in some strength work. The legs felt good after yesterdays long hike/jog. The temperature was a bit higher today and my feet had no problem staying warm. Overall a really good day and weekend of snowshoeing.
Total: 53:00

Weeks Total: 38 miles running  (7.4 hours total)
Years Total: 150.2+ miles

Great American Running!

I was as pumped for this past Saturday as I was for Christmas. The running of the USA Olympic Marathon Trials were in Houston TX. The USATF really effed up big time and didn't have any LIVE TV or Internet coverage of the event. NBC did their usual shitty job at attempting to do a 2 hour "recap" much like they do of the NYC Marathon. I'm sure its all red-tape bullshit but really, the Olympic Trials? They could have done better.

Anyway, my running has been going great and I am popping into shape nicely. I have a long way to go before April 28th but the way I have been progressing over the last three weeks I can only believe I will be ready to toe the line in Brainerd.

Thursday I allowed myself an easy trail run of up to an hour. Right now the only safe trails are in Hartley or snowmobile trails in Lester. I looped in Hartley and made my way home after finishing a loop of ski trails. A really decent run for recovery style and no aches or pains to deal with right now. Let's keep it that way!

Total: 55:56 6.2 miles *slow trail pace

Friday I hit the roads since my hip flexors were a bit tight and that seemed to help. After the run I didn't really notice much tightness. It has been much cooler than recent these last two mornings and with the wind it's been in the negative figures. Brrrr.
Roads up Woodland and home via Vermilion.

Total: 51:16  ~7 miles

Saturday I hit the trails of Rock Hill, Chester (don't bother running here) and then an entire loop in Hartley. I made it home to see Twitter updates of the last few miles of the men's and woman's races. Wow, excitement! We are sending two amazing teams to London and I can't wait to see how they perform on the world scene. For me,

Total: 2:15:00   15 miles+

Sunday was another easy trail jog in Lester with the boys. A beautiful sunny morning/afternoon greeted us and the trails were manageable. Don't run 7-Bridges Road!! Ice, Ice Baby!  Another general mileage run and loving the feeling of getting fit.

Total: 1:12:00  ~8 miles

Weeks Total: ~62.2 miles (8.6 hours)
Years Total:  112.2 miles