Monday: 9 miles - URI indoor track alone. Back to school for the kids and I decided to just run once in the middle of the day. It was another cold blah day so I decided to head to the indoor track for some warm miles. The track was busier than in the mornings, but manageable. My legs felt trashed from the Saturday long run/workout. Running on the even track was fine though. 2 miles in 13:47, then reverse 2 miles in 14:14, then reverse 2 miles in 13:39, then reverse 2 miles in 13:21, then reverse 1 mile in 6:27 with 8x100 strides. Total time: 1:01:30.
Tuesday: 14 miles on two runs. First, I ran 6 miles at the indoor track on my way to work. Boy my legs are still trashed. Total time: 41:21. At lunch, I did a snowshoe run at Ryan Park hoping for better conditions than last week. I did the 10K course, but starting from the Lafayette lot - the only one of the three that a vehicle could get in and out of. Conditions were okay. Rte 4 was only tracked by a single cross country skier. I didn't sink much out there. The heavily used trails are kind of a mess. Frozen uneven boot holes are everywhere. Being on snowshoes helps, but still frustrating. Overall, I enjoyed being outside in the snow. What I'm calling 8 miles in 1:05:33.
Wednesday: 10 miles - Ryan Park snowshoe run. Another one run day. It was warm today - low 30's. Roads were messy with puddles and slush so I opted for a longish snowshoe run back in Ryan Park. The wet snow on top was better to run on then yesterday. I saw the cross country skier for the first time. Guy looked legit. From Lafayette, I headed down the rail bed and ran some different trails at times. Some spots were untouched and slow. I ran around the ball fields and then made my way back to the west side of the park. I took the new side trail to the pond, but mostly followed the normal trails. I decided to cross Lafayette and try the powerline and other ATV trails. Bad decision. It was so deep and untracked. A terrible way to finish a 1:23:27 snowshoe run.
a happy moment on the trail
Thursday: 12 miles on two runs. My legs were feeling much better and I wanted to try a workout idea I came up with a few weeks ago: a ladder with R and I pace: 200/400/600/800/1000/1000/800/600/400/200. It seemed fun. Anyway, I went for it this morning at the URI indoor track. I did a mile warm up with a few strides and then jumped into the R paced portion: 200/400/600 with equal rest. I just didn't have the speed in my legs today. I bailed on the 600 and turned it into a 400. I then switched to I pace and did the 800. On the 1000, I bailed again and made it a 800. I ran 4 800's at I pace and then did 400/400/200 at R. A broken ladder. This winter makes me feel slow, but I'm sure it is because snowshoe running is physically demanding and I'm still running a lot of miles. But I still couldn't help being a bit disappointed. Results: 36/76/75/2:40/2:41/2:41/2:42/76/76/35 (400 recoveries for everything except 200 for 200's). Total time: 47:25 for 7 miles. At lunch I again ran in snowshoes at Ryan Park. I wasn't looking for much, just some active recovery. It snowed again briefly midday. I made it out before it stopped which was fun. I ran on the west side of the park. 5 miles in 46:04. Ready for another snowshoe running break.
Friday: 10 miles - EG/NK road loop. Nice day - 30 degrees and sunny. Lots of puddles to splash through, but traffic wasn't too bad. A decent amount of climbing as well. Legs feel a little fatigued, but happy with my easy pace felt. Total time: 1:11:45.
Saturday: 16 miles - early morning long run with Muddy. No later in the day start this week - we braved the chill (single digits at the start) and still managed to bang out a quality long run with two, two mile tempo pace blocks. I'm glad I purchased the balaclava earlier this winter, but annoyed that I've actually had to use it a few times. We parked at the Charlestown Bakery (unfortunately closed!) and ran roads to and around Green Hill. At the three mile mark we did the first block of T pace (target is 5:52 pace per mile, but hard to do in the cold). We had a relatively flat section of road and we managed a 5:59 and 5:46. It felt relatively good, but not really. We then got to relax for an hour, running along Card's Pond Rd, out to Deep Hole, and back to check out the bathroom at Trustom (it was open). After 8 miles, we did the second T pace block. Muddy got ahead of me after a quarter mile. My legs just felt like they couldn't move any faster in my tights. I struggle to a 6:09 first mile, before rallying to a 5:55 second mile. My legs are officially destroyed. I winced through a mile cool down (8:17) before stopping at my car. Luckily I had a time constraint so I couldn't do the full cool down with Muddy. Total time: 1:52:54
Sunday: 4 miles - Cambridge icy sidewalks in the late morning. It looked like the storm was coming in faster than forecasted. My nephew's birthday party was supposed to start at 3:30PM, but we decided to head up as soon as we could and then leave early. I wasn't sure if I would even run. I got my chance because there is no street parking in the city due to the snow. So I had to drop my family off at the house and then park a mile or so away in a big shopping lot. Luckily I had packed running clothes just in case! I ran from the parking lot, taking a circuitous route to get to my destination. Running in a city can be frustrating. Somehow I avoided having to stop on this run. On Mass Ave, a group of fast looking runners crossed the street and were a few hundred feet ahead of me. I picked up my pace, but never closed the gap (I was running 6:45 pace here). Anyway, a fun little run. Total time: 28:49. It was a long ride home (Rte 95 was snow covered most of the way), but no driving troubles.
Overall: Another good week with a mix of track, roads, and snowshoeing. I don't feel very speedy, but hopefully I'm stronger than ever. Next week may be a bit of a cut back, but it depends how I feel.
Weekly Total: 75 miles
Last Week: 74 miles
Year to Date: 592 miles
February Total: 285 miles
March Total: 4 miles
You're going to come out of this winter in great shape Jonny. I'm excited to see how you do at Wapach!
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