Recovering from CECS

Middle Road - Gavin Hill Road. 11.24 miles. 1:28:00. 7:49/mi. 140BPM.  5 degrees and a little breeze.  Very hilly course.

Middle Road.  20 degrees and a slight breeze.  Not a bad running day.  I decided to take advantage of the good weather and push the pace a little.  I'm mainly trying to build a good base level through the winter, but I do not want to lose gears in the process. 4 quicker miles in the middle. 7:20 (mostly uphill), 6:44 (downhill), 7:02, 7:15.  149BPM for the tempo.  Total time 45:13. 

Scheduled day off.  Letting my sore legs heal a little.

Nice day.  20 degrees, sunny and no wind.  13.13 miles. 1:39:14. 7:33/mi. 143BPM.  Very good long run.

Middle Road. 33 degrees and light snow. I'm a little tired from yesterday's long run. 6.25 miles. 7:42/mi. 137BPM.

River Cove loop.  5.22 miles. 7:39/mi. 138BPM. Sunny and 25 degrees.  We're going to get a big snowstorm over the next 2 days, so I'll probably have to run inside tomorrow.

Snow, sleet and freezing rain.  I ran on the indoor track today.  3 miles easy followed by 3 progressively fast miles and a cooldown mile.  The middle miles: 6:54, 6:41, 6:23.  7 miles total, 51:12.

Easy 8 miler inside at St. Mike's College indoor track.  1:02:45. 7:51/mi. 132BPM.

Indoors at St. Mike's.  Steadily picked up the tempo throughout the run. 7:33, 7:22, 7:13, 7:11, 7:01, 6:46.  Total time 43:07, avg 7:11/mi, 139BPM.

Easy 8 miles indoors on the St. Mike's track.  1:01:02. 7:38/mi. 132BPM.  Maybe the weather will be nice enough tomorrow to run outside.  I'm a little spoiled by the indoor track, but it beats cold weather injuries and sprains.  It also keeps my morale a little higher through the New England winter.

8 miles indoors at St. Mike's.1 mile warm up followed by 6 mile tempo run.  1 mile cool down.

20 degrees, sunny, breezy.  My longest run in years.  I felt pretty weak near the end.  Most of the courses around me are pretty hilly.  I'm sure I would've had an easier time on a flat course. 1:59:34. 7:47/mi. 140BPM.

Taking a day or two off.  Anne and I leave for Vegas this afternoon.  No other good reason, just feel like I need a couple day break.  I'm looking forward to missing the below zero temps over the next few days.

Arrived in Vegas this morning.  I'm pretty tired from driving 3 hours to the Manchester, NH airport last night followed by the 5 1/2 hour long, early morning flight.  The roads were nasty and slick and the flight was packed.  I'll get back in the saddle tomorrow.  It's time to take a nap and then hit the strip!

Anne and I followed the hotel concierge's directions to a spot southwest  of LV to run some trails in the foothills.  We ended up on what I think were old wildcat mining roads.  The trails were rough but I was happy to be out of the snow.  It actually reminded me of running in AZ 15 years ago.  5.59 miles. 42:47. 7:39/mi. 145BPM.

9.5 miles on the LV strip.  I ran south past the airport on the old LV 1/2 marathon race course.  Really, it's just HWY 604 running parallel to Interstate 15.  It brought back a little nostalgia from when I ran it in the early 1990s.  Two miles in the run and I was away from most of the casinos and was able to run on a dirt shoulder.  It was a treat to run a flat course with the temp in the 40s.  I picked up the pace a little after warming up.  Total time 1:08:50. 7:17/mi. 143BPM. 

Same course as yesterday, same effort.  Almost identical time.  1:08:56. 7:15/mi. 139BPM.  We're heading back to frigid Vermont today.  Bummer.

Side note:  While waiting at the airport for our flight, we hit a 1,000 quarter jackpot on a Wheel-of Fortune slot machine.  Coincidentally, we did the same thing on a previous Vegas trip 2 years ago.

Back in Vermont.  It snowed last night and this morning.  The roads are very slushy.  It felt like I was running in sand.  8.09 miles.  1:02:58. 7:47/mi. 139BPM.

Snowy and 15 degrees.  The roads were very slippery.  I had zero traction for the entire run.  This was a very slow run, but long days are mostly about time on your feet anyways.  15.38 miles. 2:09:17. 8:24/mi. 138 BPM.

Easy 6 miles indoors.  Pretty tight today from yesterday's slippery long run.  I loosened up near the end.  46:02. 7:40/mi. 131BPM.

4 mile tempo run indoors. 2 mile warm up, 2 mile cooldown.  8 miles total.  It felt OK.  I haven't done much quality work, so it'll take a few sessions before I feel comfortable.  The indoor track isn't conducive to fast running, so tempo pace running is about the max I'll try.  Between the woggers and the tight turns, I'm afraid I'll get hurt.

Easy 6 miles indoors.  47:09. 7:52/mi. 130 BPM.

Easy 8 miles indoors.  1:02:08.  7:46/mi. 130BPM

Outside on Middle Road.  0 degrees with a stiff northern breeze. My hat was frozen to my head y the end.  I worked a little too hard for an easy day, but the cold was getting to me so I sped up a bit.  8.79 miles.  1:07:13. 7:38/mi. 141BPM.

Middle Road.  10 degrees and windy.  1:04:48. 7:58/mi. 140BPM.

After freezing my rear end off the last two days, I decided to run indoors to thaw out.  It wasn't fun since it was my long day.  Combined with the fact that I'm breaking down a little bit from the increase mileage, I wasn't very motivated today.  It's funny that 50-60 miles seems like so much right now.  I guess it's all relative.  15 years ago, 100 mile weeks were the steady diet.  I might back off in a week or two to let my body rest up.  No sense in overdoing it in the middle of the winter.  My goal right now is to be a base monster and get down to fighting weight.  I'm now under 170 pounds.  When I started back in September, I was pushing close to 190 pounds.  I'd like to get down to around 160 pounds by summer.

 I did have some nice company today.  The Adjudant General of the Vermont National Guard, General Dubie happened to to be at the track so I ran and talked with him for a bit.  He's a pretty pleasant fellow and he can keep a decent pace.  He and his brother, the LT Governor have run the Vermont City Marathon relay together a few times.

12.5 miles. 1:40:12. 8:01/mi.  140BPM.

Easy 6 miles indoors.  44:54. 7:29/mi. 131 BPM.

Tempo run indoors.  We're in the middle of a big snowstorm.  We'll probably get close to a foot by tomorrow morning.  2 mile warm up followed by 5 tempo miles and 1 mile cooldown.  Total time for the 5 mile tempo: 32:32.

Easy 8 indoors.  Plow trucks are dealing with the snow.  I should be able to run outside this weekend.  No snow in the forecast and the temps are supposed to be in the 20s.  1:02:39. 7:50/mi. No HRM.

8.25 miles indoors.  1:05:11. 7:54/mi. 131BPM.

Middle Road.  15 degrees, sunny and breezy.  The wind kept this from being an entirely enjoyable run, but it wasn't too bad.  My left leg below my knee feels a little weak.  It's not exactly painful, but it doesn't feel normal either.  I'll keep an eye on it.  I'm planning on a light mileage week next week.  Maybe that'll help heal up a few bumps and bruises.  8.08 miles. 7:46/mi. 135BPM.