Bret

AM - 2 miles on the treadmill - followed by some indoor rowing.  Really cold out this morning - decided not to venture outside.

PM - Tempo effort.  I had thought about doing a 5k race this morning at Piedmont Park - but decided that I did not feel like dealing with single digit wind chill temps - so instead I did a 5k effort on the treadmill this afternoon.  Started conservatively at 6:58 and gradually worked down to 6:30 pace - with the last .1 was 6:15 pace.  Pleased with the HR through much of the workout and how I felt overall.  

AM - 2 miles on the treadmill this morning - since it was 10 degrees in my neighborhood at 6 am.

PM - still too cold outside; 8 miles on the treadmill at lunchtime.

AM - just under 9 miles of indoor cycling.  Legs/feet tired or sore from multiple treadmill days, plus usually weak the 2nd day after a workout.  So I opted for low impact.

PM - lunchtime treadmill run of 5 miles - still below freezing outside.  Not feeling very energetic today.  

AM - 2 miles on the treadmill followed by 2000 meters of indoor rowing, then some stretching, foam rolling, sit-ups and push-ups. 

PM - treadmill workout (wind-chill 12 degrees at lunchtime) - 10 x ~200 meters with a 2 mile warm up and 1.5 mile cooldown.  Hard to properly gauge on a treadmill if these are equivalent of outdoor / track efforts.  I suspect it is not - particulary for short reps like these.  I am able to get the leg turn-over to keep up with belt, but am I really "driving" the wattage for the pace the same as I would on a track?  Anyway - did the first 5 or so at 5:30 pace and moved my way down to 5:10 pace on the last one...so I was in the low 40's to upper 30's for splits.  When it is a warmer day, I shall compare efforts outside on a track.

In any event, I felt solid and strong and like where I am right now running-wise.  I'd like to have more volume, but I feel as though I am balancing well-enough to get some quality work in, without injury or too much fatigue.  

AM - 2 miles easy on the treadmill before work.  Wind chill was 4.  Temp was 15.  

PM - took Finn out on the golf course for about 4.5 miles when the temperatures got near 30 later in the day.  

30 mins on the indoor spin bike afterwards

PM - 12 miles on the treadmill.   

AM - 2 miles on the treadmill and then some indoor rowing and then some stretching followed by push ups and sit ups before church.

I ended up not doing anything else today.  My dog had me up a few times last night as he was getting sick - so I had a few less hours of sleep than normal.

AM - 3 miles on the treadmill, followed by indoor rowing - 2000 meters.

PM - lunchtime - treadmill workout (rainy/freezing rain and in the 30's) - 5 x 1000's with 400 rest.  Did the first couple at 6:07 and 6:03 pace respectively, then the last three were at 5:56, 5:56 and then 5:50 pace.  The treadmill easily switches from kms to miles on the display - which was nice.  I had limited time at lunch today - so I had not much time for   a cool down.  This was clearly the hardest workout based on perceived effort that I have done in months.  I really had to concentrate to get the last 400 of the last 2 reps done.  Pleased with my progress and how I felt during the workout.  

AM - 2.5 miles outdoors (!) with Finn in the cool fog/mist before work.  Legs and body were sore / fatigued from yesterday's workout - but Finn really needed to get outside for some exercise.

PM - lunchtime 3.5 miles - limited lunch hour today - temps were in the low 50's and completely reasonable.  

AM - 2 miles very early on the treadmill before a flight for work.

PM - 6 miles on the streets of Miami; here on business for a couple of days. 

AM - a little over 2 miles easy shakeout in Miami before meetings and golf.

PM - just less than 8 miles from the hotel across the bridge to Key Biscayne and back.  Legs felt a little weak but otherwise I felt very good.  

AM - just a couple of miles before heading to the airport 

AM - 45 mins on the indoor bike - 13.6 miles decent effort. 

PM - 5 miles slowly on the treadmill.  Tired from the traveling this week.  

Complete day of rest.  First day off since November.  Legs and mental attitude told me it was time.

AM - 2.5 miles on the golf course with Finn.

PM - Treadmill workout 13 x 200 with a 300 rest.  The day off yesterday was just what I needed.  Felt very good today.   All of the reps were between 39-41 seconds.  Don't think I could have gone much faster without really being concerned with falling off. 

AM - 2 miles on the treadmill early - followed by some indoor rowing and stretching/rolling.

PM - 4 miles on the treadmill late after dinner - needed to squeeze some miles in on a busy day.

AM - 2 miles on the treadmill and 2000 meters of indoor rowing.  My office closed today due to weather.  Got about 1.5 inches of snow and the temp with the windchill this morning at my house is -2.

PM - crosstraining 45 mins on the indoor bike - 14.5 miles just under 20 mph.  

AM - 2 miles on the treadmill followed by 2000 meters of indoor rowing.  Stretching foam rolling, push-ups and sit-ups.  Started into work but could not get up the hill out of the neighborhood due to the icy road. 14 degrees. 

Probably about time that the city of Atlanta realizes that it needs to incorporate winter weather services - such as road clearing / treating as with most major cities in the US.  We've been here 4 winters and every year we have "snow days" that in most cold weather locations, would have had little impact.

PM - 5.5 miles on the former golf course (soon to be passive greenspace and trails) with Finn.    It is still about 50% covered with thin layer of snow and ice. (There was actually a "golfer" on the second hole walking with a bag - using the "free" track before it transitions from a golf course - but I imagine it was a challenge to find his ball when it landed in the snow).  It warmed to 31 degrees by lunchtime and the sun was out - and I could not face another indoor treadmill run.  Finn was estatic with the activity.  

PM - 4 miles easy after work.  Planning to try to race tomorrow. 

Milton High School Boys Lacrosse Team 5k Fundraiser.

Had a decent race today.  Local race - not a big crowd, perhaps less than 100 participants.  

Pre-race warm up - felt bad.  Temps were cool, but not bad.  May have gotten to nearly 40 degrees by the time of the start, which was a really nice/civilized 11 am.  

Did not ascertain much in the way of obvious fast runners except for one.  He looked to be a high school cross country athlete.  Race course map was non-existent.  I figured out much of the course during my warm-up.  As we stood awaiting the start, I asked a runner next to me if he knew the course, and he described it as if he'd run the race before.  He appeared to be in my age division, and shot out quickly at the start - so I decided I would have to keep him close.  The race had several of high school lacrosse team players (both boys and girls) who were bunched-up and goofing around in the first 600 meters.  When we came to an early U-turn, I was in 6th place.  The fast runner that noticed at the start had already gapped the field by 150 meters.  

Gradually, I began to settle in and pick-off each of the runners in front of me.  By the first mile split I was in 3rd place and tucked in behind the 2nd place runner who looked to be high school age.  There was some wind that I allowed him to block, but I noticed he was weaker than me on the uphills, but faster than me on the downhills.  Once I could see the turn-around at 2 miles and shouted some encouragement to the first place runner, I moved past the second place runner and headed back uphill.  With a half mile left to go, I could not hear anyone behind me, and I could not see the first place runner ahead - so I was essentially running a time trial to finish up.  

So - 2nd place overall, and first place in Masters.  The winner was 18 years old.  Did not post his time, but I suspect it was below 18 mins.

I was pleased with my first two splits:  6:18 and 6:21.  Third mile split was slower at 6:59 but my perceived effort felt about the same - so I attribute the slow down to the long hill and essentially running by myself for the whole of that mile.  I finished strong with a split of 6:14 per mile according to my watch for the last .1  My average pace was 6:33.

Overall I was happy with this. I competed well and with the exception of the 3rd mile split, I would have been extremely satisfied with the effort.  

PM - 4.25 easy miles with Finn and Riley on the former golf course on a really nice afternoon. 

AM - just under 3 miles this morning with Finn before work.

Long workday with no opportunities for a second run today. 

AM - 5k with Finn before work.  Did some indoor rowing afterwards.

PM - lunchtime treadmill workout 10 x 300 w/ a 100 meter rest.  Good solid effort for leg turn over.  Most were at 5:25 pace.  

AM - 5k with Finn and Riley before work.  Chillier this morning.  Legs/body were fatigued and sore from yesterday's workout.  Work schedule today may prevent further running today. 

AM - 3 miles with Finn before work.  In the 20's this morning - face felt it.  Indoor rowing and stretching after.

PM - lunchtime - treadmill tempo - 1.5 mile warm-up; 4 miles at tempo (6:44 pace) and then .5 mile cool down.  Good effort - felt a little "stretched" in the last 10 mins or so - as my HR drifted a little above threshold.  

AM -  2 miles easy on the treadmill.

PM - 3.5 miles with Riley and Finn on the golf course.  New XC spikes came in the mail today - so I wanted to try them out.  Jury is still out on the verdict with them.  Kept the run short just because the shoes were new and different.

PM - 5 miles at lunchtime with Finn. Had planned to run a few easy miles with him and then go back out to get in a longer run.  But I ended up feeling really good and so I just went with it running mid to low 7 min pace for the last 3 miles.  It was fun. I will try to go back out later for a few more.  

Got 3 more in later.  

Busy day - got 3 miles on the treadmill late.  

AM - 5k with Finn in the neighborhood before work.  2000 meters of indoor rowing.

PM - lunchtime 6 miles on the treadmill

PM - treadmill workout.  6 x 200 with equal rest - 2 mile warmup and 1 mile cool down. 

AM - 5k with Finn on an icy cold morning.  I was not inclined to run outdoors but Finn was very persuasive. 

PM - 5 more on the treadmill at lunchtime.  It was actually pretty nice out and had warmed to nearly 45 degrees - but I was in a time crunch and treadmills tend to take the potential of an outdoor run taking too long out of the equation.