Weekly Total: 52 miles road and treadmill. Would love to log some hilly trail miles but all reports say “crappy, icy” conditions.
Saturday AM: 8 miles treadmill — In the morning Mr. P had a race (Black Cat 20 miler, which he finished with a more-than respectable 7:30/mile pace), so I imprisoned Little Boy in the YMCA child watch so I could log a treadmill session. Yeah, selfish, but it was 15 degrees outside so it’s not like we could go gallivant on the playground… plus a gal buddy of his from preschool is a regular at the child watch, so he could play with her (although playing with her is a bit like playing with an excitable chihuahua). I loath the treadmill.
Saturday PM: 9 miles road. Big mistake, running a double only 90 minutes after a full lunch (and probably a bit dehydrated). Nausea started at mile 2, persisted, increased. Very lucky that I did not puke on the side of the road. When I arrived home, I found that our afternoon playdate had commenced early and everyone was sucking down beers (except the kids, of course). I gulped water and prayed for my stomach to stop its upheaval. I had to skip fish for dinner and settled for soup. On a positive note, my legs felt great.
Sunday AM: 11+ miles road. I was torn between doing a road run and trying to head out into the woods. All reports from trail runners that I’ve heard said that the woods are not good — a mixture of ankle-twisting choppy snow/ice, and general misery. Yuck.
Monday AM: BLAHHH. I had planned to swim, but also neglected to plan to set my alarm. I woke up too late to get in the pool. I instead ran 1.5 miles on the treadmill (not even worth logging, since the pace was lagging), did some light weights/core work, and about 10 minutes jump rope. As absurd as it sounds, I think this counts as a rest day.
Tuesday AM: 6 miles treadmill, 2-4% incline. It was 7 degrees outside this morning — without wind chill. So, as much as the treadmill is sucking, it’s the only sane option. At the gym I ran next to a woman who I see frequently; I’ve pegged her as a Type A rail-thin road runner. She runs without music, without television, with the speed on 8mph for an entire hour and doesn’t break a sweat until halfway through.
Wednesday AM: 8 miles road. A balmy 25 degrees in frigid winds meant I could leave the facemask at home. I looped all around our hilly neighborhood, consciously doing hill repeats… but still, the elevation gain only totaled about 600 feet (according to my watch). Legs feel strong and the niggle in my hamstring finally seems to be dead.
Thursday AM: 60 minutes swimming. Temps are back to the single-digits so I decided it would be a good pool day. I swam very leisurely and the time in the pool passed quickly.
Friday AM: 60 minutes swimming. Last morning of extreme cold? Perhaps.
Friday PM: 10 miles road. Couldn’t resist a flat, slowish road run in the 40 degree wind. Oooo, spring…
