1/10 - 1/16, BM Training Week 2

One of my strongest assets of a runner is my knack for staying injury-free. I attribute this to many things, but the two most important is my incorporation of some chi running principles as well as my willingness to run easy pace several times a week. Running with snow on the roads has been a little tough. I had to deal with some Achilles pain over the past few days. It has improved, but I need to be careful.

Monday: Another 5 mile steady state run in Worcester. Neither Caitlyn or I had watches but we did it on feel, and it was very strong throughout. We warmed up with about 2.4 or so and then rocked the work-out portion. 7.4 miles.

Tuesday: I ran in Douglas before rehearsal. This was an easy paced run. Part of it was done on packed snow on the SNETT. It's actually a lot nicer to run their with snow than in the warmer months because of the bumps on the trail. Felt a little tired from Monday, but the run felt good at an easier pace. 7.4 miles.

Wednesday: Matt and I ran in the afternoon of the winter storm. It was pretty rough out there. We started at his house and did 8 loops at Brickett Hill. It was a lot of fun to run in the storm though. 7.75 miles.

Thursday: I ran a few miles with Sumner in Uxbridge - she had already run her main workout - and then I finished my 10 mile run with pick-ups from miles 4-7.5 or so. This is when I started to have a little Achilles pain from dealing with snow and ice. 10 miles.

Friday: Ditched the hill workout for an easier run with Caitlyn in Worcester. We ran about a half hour and then did some strides. Pain was a little better, but not completely gone. 4.65 miles.

Saturday: Fudgcicle 5K (3.15 I like to say). Warmed up with about 3 miles and went out kind of strong despite temperatures barely above zero. I think the first mile was around 5:54 for me. A HS runner was getting splits called to him at each mile marker. I ended up with slower 2nd and 3rd miles, while last week was a lot more balanced. For the weather though I can't complain. There was a point when Frank, Jason, and I were all in the same pack. I slipped behind, got ahead, and then Jason zipped by at about 2.25 without his shoes which he ditched at mile 2...yikes I can't imagine what that felt like, but I could see his footprints all the way back to the line. Finished in 19:02, 9 seconds slower than last week, but with those temperatures, that's actually pretty good. Cooled down on the course with Matt and Caitlyn. 9.5 miles.

Sunday: I met Jeff at NECC and it was awesome to run with him again. We did 30 minutes before I continued solo on the big West Newbury/Groveland loop for another 12.5 miles. My legs were pretty sore for the last few miles and I definitely did this run in the low 8's for average pace. I felt a little banged up. I am thinking about taking tomorrow off. We'll see. 16.4 miles.

Week: 63.1 (4th straight 60+ week)
Month: 151.4