Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Weekly Log 24-Feb to 2-Mar-2014

Final week of February, and final consecutive week of race-free running for a while.

Monday:  4
Easy run on the beach at sunset.  A lone walker yelled to me that it's too cold for shorts.   30 degrees - nah, not too cold at all.

Tuesday:  7


(Park entrance road into Mine Falls Park, Nashua, NH)
Yeah, I'll be needing the Yaks with the carbide bits



Trails well marked.  It would be interesting
to see what the trails look like when
the snow melts (in May).

Running downhill on this glare ice section was
a true test for the carbide bits


Running this single-track through the
forest was both beautiful and a workout

Don't slip off the edge of this trail!

Finished up the day with a spinning class with FiveK.  I appreciate that people have different tastes in music, but just could not get into this at all.  Tom referred to the music as "sorority girlish".

Wednesday:  5
Feet a little beat up from yesterday's NH Ice & Snow romp.  Seeing all the snow gone from my front yard, thought I'd go for an easy run on Champlin trails.  Fool!  When I am going to listen to sage Trail Master Jonny's advice (which in this case was his posting not two days ago on Strava advising to have patience as the woods hold snow longer)?  There were indeed nice long bare trails sections great for running; but alas there were also long sections covered in frozen snow and ice that were just treacherous and I slid many times not having my Yaks today.  Finished up on roads.

Thursday:  0
Just couldn't will myself to get out, and it did the body good to take a rest day.

Friday:  5
Tough getting the motivation to get out there today, with highs only in the low 20s.  Short and easy neighborhood run.

Saturday:  16
Chilly group run with the WTAC guys:  Muddy, Jonny, Mike B, FiveK, Chris, and Nate.  I planned out a route on roads I grew up with during my childhood:  from Charlestown Elementary, through Shannock and Kenyon villages, Lewiston Avenue, Heaton Orchard, Beaver River, Shannock Hill, etc.  When I asked my Mom if she minded if I set up a water stop at her house about half-way, she did one better and insisted we come inside out of the cold and had prepared water and granola bars on her own.
Is this March 1st?  Really?

Cold start to the day.
Chris and Mike B apparently looking for some shared body warmth.
Leaving Mom's house, I quickly got cold again, but after climbing Shannock Hill, warmed up right away and stayed warm.  Jonny, Muddy, and FiveK charged the uphill Strava, and I charged the downhill one.  The last mile was a 6:15 pace, pretty fast for nearly all uphill.  By then, I was near overheating and started stripping off layers.  Don't worry; no body flesh revealed.
Attacking the run up Shannock Hill:
Mike B in foreground, Muddy in orange,
and Jonny and FiveK way up ahead
Sunday:  10
Solo 8-mile progression run:  7:51, 7:37, 7:19, 6:57, 6:48, 6:34, 6:18, 5:46

I wanted to quit a few times on this one, and was happy with my perseverance to see it through.  I find it hard to continually adjust the pace faster, but it is good training to run faster when fatigued.  Finished up with a 2-mile cool-down.

Weekly totals: 
Run:  47 miles
Spin:  1x

February month totals:  234 miles.  While the month tally was high, this week's tally at 47 miles was my least since early January.  It's ironic as just a few years back 47 would have been a really high mileage week for me that would have been during marathon training.  Highlights included a snow run in NH, the Saturday group run, lowering my own Shannock Hill downhill CR, and sticking to my progression run.

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