An End to a Great Month

I could describe this month as one of the most well-rounded training months I've ever had. While I sacrificed some running miles for XC skate skiing, the fitness gained from that should translate very well to running. I think that was evident this week, with a lot of the snow gone and all of my running went really well, including today's 24 mile run.

Totals are:
Running = 130.7 miles (including two runs over 20 miles)
XC Skiing = 90.1 kilometers
Elliptical = 19.2 miles
Snowshoeing = 3.0 miles

I should note that the XC skiing distance really equates to a lot of work, as I am not very efficient yet and those were buttkicking workouts.

Back to today... Blaine was hosting a Fat Ass 50K, though he was the only one that went the distance. I stuck to my plan of doing three loops that were eight miles each to give me 24 total. It went really well. I feel I'm finally getting my endurance legs back underneath me, as my energy was great throughout.

The only obstacle was 18 miles in when my foot broke through the ice and I took a tumble, badly twisting my ankle. After shouting a few curse words, I got back up and got going again, hoping it'd lessen, which it did, but the ankle remained very tender and it slowed me down quite a bit. I'm still hobbling around.

It's not a big deal. I've had my fair share of ankle sprains, and know I'll be fine in a few days. Planned rest day tomorrow, but will play things by ear after that. At the most, might have to take Tuesday off as well.

Here's some footage from today's run, starring many of our Trail Monster Running members... note the icy beards:



Ran 24.0 miles @ 9:51/mile
Trails with ice, snow and bare patches.
Moderately hilly.
Upper single digits to start, around 20 degrees at end, sunny.
Brooks Cascadia 3 (screw shoes), long pants, fleece jacket, long sleeved shirt (shed after eight miles), short sleeved shirt, beanie, gloves.