12/16 - 12/22

Mon: 3.5-miles, 5-miles
Tues: 2x800m (3:14, 3:09), 1mile (6:27), 2x800m (3:09, 3:11), 4x400m (88, 89, 87, 86)
Wed: 6.5-miles
Thurs: 6.5-miles (10x 2min hard, 1min easy)
Fri: 8.5-miles
Sat: 10-miles (5x1000m @ HM-M pace)
Sun: 6-miles
Total: 52 miles

First 50+ mile week in I can't remember how long!

I finally managed to get my butt out of bed Monday morning and run. I wore my watch just to make sure of the distance, but I think I'm going to leave it at home for a while on "junk mile" runs. I don't want to get in the habit of living by my watch. The purpose of my "double days" are to keep my legs loose and safely get my weekly mileage up, not to run a certain pace. However, I need to get used to running in the morning again... my stomach has been less than happy with me lately in the AM. I'm chalking it up to eating too much cereal at night. Ok, enough said on that topic.

So, I managed my first "double" in some months. I actually felt pretty good. I'm going to try making this a habit through Boston 2014 (potentially both Monday and Wednesday). We'll see how that goes. Monday's and Wednesday's runs were uneventful. Friday's run felt pretty good, especially the last 3-miles. Sunday's run was a little sluggish, but at least we got it in before the rain started.

Tuesday's track workout went well. I felt pretty good, comfortable even, except the 400's were a bit rough (still not used to running that fast). We were supposed to do the 800's at 10k pace (goal: 6:35), the mile at half-marathon pace (goal: 6:50), and the 400's at 5k pace (goal: 6:15-6:20). Obviously, I was a bit fast, but still not at the times I was hitting in the summer. However, I felt like I could have gone faster, but didn't want to push the workout too far beyond the actual pace that I was supposed to be hitting. 

Thursday's run was a bit challenging. First of all, it was early, so I was half asleep. I find it difficult to do speed workout's when I'm half asleep. Secondly, it was dark. I couldn't see my watch or the sidewalk, which made running fast(ish) for 2min rather difficult. But, it terms of effort, I did it.

Saturday's run went pretty well. I had looked at some of the "advanced" Boston Marathon training program workouts for the first week (which technically doesn't start until the end of December) to get and idea of things to do. I wanted to run semi-long, but not too long since I wanted to help out for the holidays. I decided on 10-miles with 5x1000m in at MP. Since it had snowed earlier in the week, the sidewalks and streets were a bit dicey. I used the old "birchies" route from high school and extended it a bit. Anyways, the 1000's were faster than marathon pace, probably around half or so. Anyways, it felt pretty good. 

I tried out the Glide Boost on Monday night's run. They were decent. I would consider them for a training shoe. Pretty cushioned, but still responsive. They were a little stiff, but then again I find most Adidas shoes stiff for the first couple of wears. And, my knee actually felt pretty good, as opposed to the twingy feeling I've been having (although that might be attributed to running in shoes that are hitting their "400 mile" mark). The only weird thing... I wore a size 7. They didn't have a 7.5 (the seven other pairs of Adidas shoes I've worn have all been 7.5's), and the 8 felt runnable, but a little big (I am a size 8 in nearly every other brand of running shoe). So, I tried the 7, and still had what I would consider enough room (aka if I were a customer, I would tell them that the shoe fit). The size 7 felt fine for the 5 miles I ran in it, and it was a hilly route so I put it through both up- and downhills. The arch felt right. I don't know. I'd still like to see what a 7.5 was like because that's just weird, especially since and all of the feedback has been that the shoe is running "true to size".