Solid Month

January is done.

Total mileage: 236.3
Roads: 145.2
Trails: 43.3
Snowshoes: 47.8

Solid month. Those snowshoe miles in particular are worth a lot more and I like the overall balance. This is setting me up for some increased speed workouts later in February and through March rather nicely. Great momentum for Boston.

Today I just did two laps of the Armory loop from the school. Let the pace come down since the run was so short. Felt great. The only nuisance was having to "whoop" at the driver of an SUV who was about to pull out without looking and would have otherwise nailed me... all the while, the crossing guard was sitting in his toasty warm truck just 10 feet away. Thanks for your service, guy.

Otherwise, nice to run in shorts. Continued warm through the weekend and I suspect I won't need the long tights for MWC either.

Ran 3.5 miles @ 7:07/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Slightly hilly.
Upper 30s, partly sunny.
Saucony Virrata, shorts, windbreaker, short sleeved shirt, beanie.

Short and Slow

I have to admit, motivation was a little low to run this afternoon, but I made myself go and of course I was glad I went. Had been feeling chilly all day, and though today was somewhat warm it still didn't help much. That chilly feeling was a result of my classroom's bipolar temperature complex being on the downside all day and my body fat now being at the lowest it's been in quite some time.

Run went well. Easy to keep the pace easy and by the end of the first mile I felt comfortably toasty. One of my cross country runners joined me for the last stretch which was a nice treat.

Ran 5.0 miles @ 8:11/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Moderately hilly.
Upper 20s, sunny.
Saucony Virrata, long tights, windbreaker, long sleeved shirt, beanie, gloves.

New Route Quest

I knew that I wanted to get in 10-12 miles today, but none of my routes just sounded very appetizing. I hemmed and hawed all day on what to run, measuring routes on my lunch break and racking my brain. Finally decided on one that connected two routes and that proved fine.

Legs felt great once again. Pace wasn't anything crazy, but nice to know that I would have had no problems pressing down on the gas. Weary about wearing them down ahead of the MWC, but I think a very easy paced short run followed up with a session of strides tomorrow will be a good solution.

Ran 11.2 miles @ 7:40/mile.
Paved roads.
Moderately hilly.
Lower 20s, sunny, breezy.
Saucony Virrata, warm-up pants, windbreaker, long sleeved shirt, beanie, gloves.

Hilly Progression Run

Felt super strong thanks to yesterday's rest day. Amazing how just one day off after a big mileage week can dramatically turn things around. I was slogging through the last few days last week. Not today. It's like that rest day was the liquid Drano that unclogged the sink and today the water just flowed down the drain.

Very encouraging. Route was hilly and I just planned on taking it easy but the pace naturally came down. I didn't realize I had ran a true progression until I looked at my splits afterwards. More importantly it all felt effortless.

Feeling pretty confident about the Mid-Winter Classic on Sunday. I ran an extremely good race (for me) there last year, coming in 24th place at 1:03:45. Goal is to top that time. As long as I'm smart on those first few miles which have the bigger hills, I should be okay. Got a good pull from a runner last year, hoping to link up with someone and get the same benefit. Also, lock eyes on the guy in front of me and chase him down. Really looking forward to it. Man, I love racing.

Ran 7.6 miles @ 7:28/mile pace. 

Paved roads, a few patches of packed snow and pebbled ice. 

Very hilly. 

16F/-9C, sunny. 

Saucony Virrata, long tights, fleece pullover, long sleeved shirt, beanie, gloves. 

Capping Off a 70 Mile Week

Needed a little under seven miles to bring me to seventy for the week. The choice was obvious: The woods out back.

I ran the logging trail which passes over a creek and over some short and dramatically steep hills.

I met up with the snowmobile trail that goes through a deep forest. I saw what I'm pretty sure were bobcat tracks.

The trail connects with the fire road, where I turned right and enjoyed a nice, long downhill.

I took the trail that goes up a short, scenic ridge which cuts through a bog and a pond, watching the wind blow huge clouds of powdery snow off the surface.

I took the snowmobile trail up the big hill and rejoiced when I reached the top... especially with this week, where my legs are pretty tired.

I enjoyed the long, technical downhill until I reached the trail junction.

I turned left, where there is a very fun rolling downhill section that is the perfect grade and one can really let loose. Not today though, the snow was kind of soft and uneven, but at least gravity was still on my side.

I met up with the other fireroad and turned left. It is long, flat and straight, probably the most boring section of the route but still not bad.

I turned right and stopped to look at the salmon pool before running on. It's frozen over again.

I turned left and took the snowmobile trail home, happy and content to meet my goal of running seventy miles for the week. 70.8 miles to be exact.

Extremely windy today, with gusts over 30 mph, but being in the woods I was very well protected. Running roads today would have definitely sucked. But in the forest? Perfect.

Haven't had a rest day in 12 days, so I'll be taking one tomorrow to recharge. That'll feel weird.

Ran 7.3 miles @ 10:47/mile pace.
Trails, with softly packed snow.
Very hilly.
12 degrees, sunny, very windy.
New Balance MT1010, long tights, windbreaker, long sleeved shirt, buff (for neck), beanie, gloves.

Cutting it Short

Had planned on twenty miles today but stopped at fifteen. That simply felt like enough. Part of me is disappointed but - being logical - this is a pretty high mileage week and it's not too surprising. I could have pushed on but it just would have set me back. No regrets though. And it does set up a nice seven miler in the woods tomorrow to still get me over 70 miles for the week, which is the main goal.

Much warmer today with highs in the upper 20s, and thankfully the high winds they predicted never blew. In fact, this was probably the least windy day of the entire week. That was a nice treat. Very comfortable running conditions.

Worth noting I got a late start, due to having to wait for a friend to come over and do some maintenance on our other property. Otherwise, would have loved to join the Trail Monsters and run the beautiful loop.

Ran 15.1 miles @ 8:08/mile pace.
Paved roads, patches of snow and pebbled ice.
Moderately hilly.
Upper 20s, overcast, intermittent light snow flurries.
Saucony Virrata, long tights, windbreaker, short sleeved shirt, buff, gloves.

Chilly Friday

Got in a solid ten miler after work on some hills. Easy paced, but felt strong. Pretty breezy out which along with the 12F/-11C temps had me feeling the chill down to the bone. I kind of had a slight ice cream headache going on there once I was up on an exposed ridge and the wind was head on. 

However, the wind was at my back for most of the second half, which also featured more downhills than ups. 

Just about a mile and a half shy of the 50 mile mark so far for the week. Very much on track still for breaking 70, but more importantly, I'm feeling great doing it. 

Ran 10.1 miles @ 8:08/mile pace. 

Paved roads. 

Very hilly. 

12 degrees, sunny, breezy. 

Saucony Virrata, long tights, fleece pullover, long sleeved shirt, buff (for neck), beanie, gloves.