February 16 - 22 Training

Mon: AM – 8.5 miles easy with 6x30s pickups (7:01); PM – 4.5 miles easy 7:39). Massage in the evening. My first one in a long while. Calves were tender and glutes were tight.

Tue: AM – 14 miles with 10 miles tempo in 57:26 (5:45); It snowed ~6 inches overnight so I had no choice but to run the workout on the treadmill. Started out at 5:50 and worked down to 5:40ish. Thought the tempo would feel tough, but it actually felt smooth and controlled. Finished the workout feeling like I could go for a few more miles. PM – 4.1 miles easy (7:52)

Wed: AM – 10 miles easy (7:09); Freezing run. PM – 5.2 miles easy (7:40)

Thu: AM – 10.1 miles with 6x.33 fast/.67 easy (7:18); didn’t feel like running outside as the roads were still coated with snow and it was 8 deg with a real feel of -9. Ran the fast portions at 5:05-5:07 pace. Felt fast and controlled. PM – 5.1 miles easy (8:05)

Fri: 10 miles easy (7:05); -18 degrees real-feel called for a treadmill run.

Sat: 20 miles with 4x3 miles (17:40, 17:20, 17:01, 16:27) w/ 1/2 mile rec jog. Today was supposed to be an easy day with a 10-mile race tomorrow, but the race was cancelled due to weather. Glad they made the cancellation on Friday because it allowed me to adapt my training and fit in a long run workout. Ran a 4-mile warmup and then did 4 loops of the 3-mile downtown loop with a small 1/2 mile loop for recovery. The goal was to run each 3-mile segment in 17:45, 17:30, 17:15, and 17:00. I ended up running the workout in 17:40 (5:54, 5:53, 5:53), 17:20 (5:47, 5:47, 5:46), 17:01(5:39, 5:44, 5:38), and 16:27 (5:27, 5:31, 5:29). The first two segments felt easy, the third comfortable and the last one I ran aggressive. It started to snow and the winds picked up in the last segment which made things a little tough. Was really happy with the result of this workout.

Sun: 8.6 miles easy (7:32); It snowed ~8-10 inches in the late afternoon/evening with freezing rain overnight. I was okay with running on the treadmill.

Weekly Total: 100.1 miles on 11 runs/7 days.
This week was supposed to be sort of a down week with a 10-Mile race on Sunday. But since the race was cancelled, I got in a quality long run workout and ended the week right at 100 miles. I’m really happy with my current fitness and with a couple more weeks of hard training I should be able to improve my half-marathon PR at the Rock ‘n’ Roll DC Half-Marathon. The course is tough though, so I’ll see. Boston is just 8 weeks away now.