The Next Step

I had some extra time today so got in a few extra miles. I felt good today and the run seemed easy. It was probably the result from having an easy week last week. The legs felt fresh so I will try to get back up to normal mileage this week and see what happens.

45:36 (7:36 avg)

It was pretty cold out this morning (15) but not very windy so that helped. Luckily I ran a route where I could go out into the wind and then come back with the wind. I felt pretty good this morning but just ran easy. I am trying to kick the mileage back up this week so want to run mostly easy miles this week because of the increase in mileage. I will see how the body adjust and then add some faster stuff later. We are supposed to be getting some significant snow tomorrow so might have to spend a few days on the treadmill. Hopefully not.

62:20 (7:48 avg)

We didn't get as much snow as expected but enough that I didn't want to get out on the roads and worry about the crazy drivers. I need to find some better routes with less traffic for days like this. Anyway, I ran on the treadmill this morning. I felt pretty good. I had planned on doing some hill repeats but after the first one I had some pain in my right knee so decided I would see if it felt better if I just ran normal. It didn't bother me anymore so I thought it best to just turn this into an easy run and I will try the hill repeats later. We are expecting a more significant snow tonight so have a feeling I will be spending most of my time this week on the treadmill.

62:20 (7:48 avg)

We got about 10 inches of snow last night so no way to get outside today so back to the treadmill. Today I wanted to do a tempo type run so started off with a couple of easy miles then started progressively picking up the pace on the 3rd mile which was probably around marathon pace. Starting on the 4th mile I kicked it up to the tempo pace and ran 4 tempo miles progressively faster in 7:03, 6:50, 6:42, 6:30.

It has been awhile since I ran a tempo and I felt suprisingly good. I wish that I would have ran the first two miles faster and tired to hold it all around 6:40 instead. At least it was good test of my fitness and gave me some confidence to move forward in my training.

57:48 (7:13 avg)

Roads still a mess from the snow so back to the treadmill today. I just did an easy run today after the tempo yesterday. I felt pretty good but was a little sore from shoveling snow for 3 hours yesterday. Probably the best upper body workout that I have had in awhile. Maybe I can get back outside tomorrow.

62:10 (7:47 avg)

Kept the 8 mile streak alive today. I have been tempted to bump up the mileage a couple of days this week but since I haven't done a 60 mile week in awhile I didn't want to over do it. Today was one of those days that I felt good and could have tacked on a few more miles but I will try to remain patient. I did add in 4 x hill intervals along the run. I had some pain in my knee a few days ago when I tried some hill intervals so was happy to get 4 in and will try to slowly increase these over the next few weeks.

I hope to get a longer run in tomorrow so that will really be the key to see if this is a successful week or not. I haven't been getting in many long runs lately so need to get back on track.

61:10 (7:39 avg)

It was good to get back on track with a longer weekend run today. It has been 3 weeks since I did a run over 10 miles and that is not good. I felt pretty good today but I did get some pain in my left calf around 11 miles so backed off the last 3 miles and it didn't bother me anymore. It was just a good steady run today and the pace was a little better than 3 weeks ago. I didn't push at all. Just trying to get the body used to the weekly mileage again. I am happy to hit 60 miles for the week and hope I can build on this next week. It turned out to be an ok month. I had a good week to start the month then a couple of off weeks but finished strong. I need another solid mileage week then I hope to start running more faster stuff.

On a side note I got a Wii Fit for the s but I have enjoyed playing it today as well. I am pretty hooked on the snowboarding.

1:47:54 (7:42 avg)