1/20 - 1/26

Mon: 3.5-miles, 8x800m (3:09,09,08,08,11,09,09,06)
Tues: 2x2-miles (14:03, 13:58)
Wed: 10.5-miles
Thurs: 8-miles (w/ some hills around Centennial)
Fri: Off
Sat: 17-miles
Sun: 8-miles
Total: 60 miles

I miss running with Matt (he hasn't been able to run for a week because of his Achilles). And I miss running with people. Weather and work have resulted in a lot of solo running this week, which is good mental preparation for Boston I guess. I had a pretty good week of training. Got in some workouts, and ran 60 miles, which hasn't happened since I think like July of 2012.

I had to get up early this Monday to get some miles in before heading to work. Apparently I was still asleep. I didn't realize I was going that slow, and I really can't figure out what I was doing pacewise looking at the Garmin data! I ended up doing a track workout Monday night because it was gorgeous out and Tuesday was supposed to be crappy (cold with a good chance of precipitation). The Boston schedule had 2 sets of 4x800m at 10k pace. I modified it slightly, basically walk-jogging 200m between each repeat. And, mine were closer to 5k pace... what I usually do Yasso's at. I was pretty consistent, which usually happens when I'm running by myself and have no one to push me (I was a tad slower than last week).

Tuesday was miserable. It hadn't started rain/sleet/snowing by track time, and I wanted to see people. I had decided on 4-miles at marathon pace. I figured this wouldn't be overly taxing (I had just done 800's yesterday and usually don't do two hard days in a row), and I still don't have this pace locked in (so it's good to practice on a treadmill or track). I got there a little early and warmed up with Sean, and promptly modified my workout to 2x2-mile at marathon pace since it was really windy on the finishing straightaway. As it was already getting dark, I couldn't see my watch so well, and I was not having the best luck with doing math on the fly. I finished the first one in 14:03, which is closer to my half marathon pace than my marathon pace. Everyone else had got to the track by now, so I walked over to talk to them... and I felt a rain drop. I got going again, and ran a lap solo before jumping in with the group. I wasn't sure what they were doing, but I ran with them for the next couple of laps because it was nice to have someone to block the wind. Turns out, they were doing 1200's, and my mile split was 6:53 (which is damn near close to my ideal half marathon pace). I pretty much gave up with math the next mile because it was windy and the rain had picked up. I really just wanted to be done, and ended up finishing in 13:58. So much for locking in on marathon pace! I cooled down on the track, which was difficult because it kept getting colder (and since I had done a 1.5-mile warmup, I decided to do a 1.5-mile cooldown to make it an even 7-miles for the day). Eventually, the rain turned to sleet, which turned to snow.

I had no intention of getting up and running when it was in the single digits on Wednesday morning. Plus, Jim had said his coach recommended trying to do longer, single runs versus doubles (even if the overall daily mileage was less) to build endurance. This makes sense to me, and I didn't die last Thursday, so I decided to try this "mid-week medium long run" concept. Except, this week I decided to run easy. It was kind of cold, but I warmed up ok. I was good until the turnaround back up Ridge Rd. I started getting tired and I had run out of things to talk to myself about (I forgot my MP3 player). Somehow, I got the Disney Galloway Song stuck in my head for the next 2.5-miles. I had to stop for a while in order to cross Wade Ave, which only made me colder. I tried to think "warm thoughts" which resulted singing "I'm a Little Teapot" over and over again in my head for the rest of the run. I was pretty happy to finish. I don't think I'll forget my MP3 player again!

Thursday's run went well. I was trying to practice not freaking out and slowing down a ton on hills. I mapped out a route around Centennial that featured hills of different lengths and grades (I didn't feel like waiting and driving to RRO to run down and up North Hills Dr. in the dark/cold). I managed to keep my pace steady for the most part. I took Friday off. I've been putting in some miles and some good workouts lately, and I needed to get some work done. Plus, it was cold and I was doing a long run on Saturday. The last time I did over 15-miles was back in mid-August, and I didn't want to push my luck.

Dydula and I got up at the crack of dawn (aka 6:30) to run on Saturday. We had mapped out a run the previous Sunday at work that featured some good hills. It seemed like a great idea then, but not as good idea on Saturday morning when it was freezing cold and windy. We never really warmed up, but the run went pretty well. We kept it slow... time on your feet as Jim says... get your body used to burning fat for fuel first as Sean says... and Mike brought up the good point of focusing on being out there and running and training and not about getting it over with. Very zen. All the same, we did "pick it up" the last mile because it was ridiculously windy and we were freezing and wanted to be done at that point. But, we did it, and that's what matters.I was pretty tired Sunday though. The first half of the run went fine, but I could definitely tell that I had run 17-miles the day before by the second half!