our choices show what we truly are

First run of the new year under an heavy downpour. I got back home after a vacation in the mountains in central Italy. The weather was great, clear skies and freezing temperatures, the snow was good too and snowboarding was just fun, I did a few miles runningwise and rested a lot during the remaining time. Tonight I was really craving for a good ole run and in spite of the rain I went out and just did my ten loops in the industrial area. Looking back at my 2011 running year I missed my goal of running 2400 miles, this year I wanted to do less miles then in 2010 when I did 2700 miles, but more fast runs. I succeded in doing more big workouts, but coldn't keep my mileage high enough. During the last three months was hard to keep 200 miles per month for this reason I feel I should have run more miles  during spring when the weather was great. This year I improved my halfmarathon and marathon times, especially the marathon PR was a great gift after more than five years since my last one.

Goals for 2012 are more or less the same of last year: run 2400 miles and improve my race times (for a 5K and 10K it should be easy, I have just to pick up a couple of flatish or not too hilly races) big goal again will be improving my marathon PR.

7 miles in 60 minutes and a few seconds, almost perfect.

Tonight I did the first mini tempo run (10k) of the new year, 2 weeks after my last one. I wanted to beat my marathon pace (45:00) and I managed to finish  just ahead in 44:10. I was happy for sure at the end but it wasn't easy as it was used to be a few months ago. For sure I lost some fitness in the last month, but it feels good to go fast again.

This morning before going to work I did 30 minutes on my bike trainer.

30 minutes on the bike trainer early in the morning.

5 miles at night, the pace was slow and relaxed.

I took advantage of the vacation day and I slept until 9:30am. Outside was windy and cold, an dthe sky was blue without a single cloud for miles, it doesn't happen very often here. I could even see the Appennini mountains covered with snow.

I waited until the afternoon to go out and run. At 2 pm the weather was much warmer and I really wanted to go a little bit faster and longer than usual, but I had doubts. I drove to the lake and I decided to finish 10 miles in 1:12, or any pace I could sustain for that distance.

It was harder than expected to maintain an even pace because the headwind, crosswind and tailwind were messing up my efforts, after 8 miles I turned around and this time the wind was no longer a problem even if it was still there constantly changing directions, I was much more focused and determined to maintain an even pace. On the way back I was making up some of the time I lost on the way out and I managed to finish in 1:12:10, just 10 seconds off of my goal. I did 1 mile cooldown to enjoy the last 10 minutes of sun. Considering the weather and my initial feelings I was happy with this run. At home I finished with 20 minutes on the bike trainer.

AM - 5 easy recovery miles then trip to Rome.

PM - 35 minutes on the bike trainer.

This morning I took advantage of a fun run organized by the local trail marathon organization, it was just a 10k, but with 600m uphill and 600m downhill it was not going to be an easy stroll in the park. We were about 30 runners and 30 walkers, it was more a training run than a real race, I was in the leading group of 5-6 people and we waited at the main intersections for the immediate followers in order to make sure nobody got lost. At mile 5 we were at the highest point of the race and we had just a technical downhill before cruising in at the starting/finishing point, but three guys went down fast and we soon lost sight of them and four of us got lost too, we ended up bushwacking for 300 meters until we ended up on someone's farm, we knew we were out of the trail and to rejoin it we went all the way down, run on the asphalt road for half kilometer, turned right on a unpaved road and after another uphill km we rejoined the original trail. We finished our loop with 7.1 miles in 1:34 minutes, overall it was lots of fun running with other people and our detour loop offered us a beautiful view of the lake and of the surrounding hills.

After drinking some water, I went for another 10 k "cooldown", much easier than the race, it was on the asphalt road, almost completely flat. 3.1 miles out I turned around and I realized I was already on my legs for longer than two hours and I was really thirsty and hungry. I finished the last 3.1 miles dreaming water and food. Total running time for 13.3 was 2:31, overall time since the start of the race was almost 3 hours. I was definitively feeling it, but it was the perfect way to spend a gorgeous sunny day outside.

After three very good running days (it helped that were vacation days), with a beautiful blue sunny sky and warmer temperatures, going back to running at night with near freezing temperatures, high humidity and cold wind, it was miserable.

I managed to put together 5 miles and I felt it was a major accomplishment all things considered. I hope tomorrow it will be better. No indoor biking tonight.

7 miles in 1:03:57, nothing fast just some miles in the cold dark night.

AM 30 minutes on the bike trainer, this is what I usually do, warm up for 5-10 minutes, increasing cadence until I start sweating for 5 minutes and then make sure I keep sweating for the last 15 minutes; it sounds gross and I am really a mess at the end, but it is a good measure of the effort.

PM Tonight I didn't have enough time, I went for a MP run that lasted only 5 miles. My goal pace was 4:30/km, at the end I finished 5 miles in 36:24 (4:33/km). I started really slow and progressively I went faster each km. I should be happy about this run but the constant theme of this training season is lack of good feelings, in september I was doing more speedwork and more mileage and every was easy. Right now I am fighting just to keep a minimum mileage and minimum speed. In the end it is probably better doing what I can rather than giving up completely (that is the real danger).

AM - 20 minutes on the bike trainer

PM - 7 slow miles, it was one of those nights were just going out and doing a single mile was already a victory, I did 7 of them, I won't be any faster or stronger after tonight's run, but for sure more stubborn.

Another 5 slow miler,  cold and dark night.

I wanted to do 26k close to marathon pace using a 5k interval scheme, but I had doubts, because I haven't done anything close to that for months and I feel that my fitness level is no longer where it was in september/october. I decided to attempt it anyway in a do or die way. Target pace was 4:30/k (7:14ish/mile).

These were my splits.

1k 5:27/km

5k 4:34/km average pace

1k 5:04/km

5k 4:31/km average pace + 2"

1km 5:20/km

5k 4:32/km average pace + 4"

1km 5:39/km

5k 4:32/km average pace

Total time for 24k 1:52:22 average pace 4:41/km

2k cool down in 11:31

Total time 2:03:53 average pace 4:46/km (7:40/mile).

I am happy because somehow I did it, but it wasn't easy, weather conditions were great cold and sunny with a light breeze on a roller course. I underestimated the sun and the breeze and I didn't bring any water, at the end I was really dehydrated. At home I checked my weight and I lost almost 3 kilos, something that is "normal" for me during the spring/summer long runs but not during the winter. It was probably because it was a really harder effort than anticipated. It is the first week above 50 miles in a while, that's a good news, but I have probably to reconsider my goal time for the upcoming marathons, for sure I am not where I used to be in october. Time to take a good recovery nap.

10.1 miles in 1:30 enjoying the sun and the cold air.

No run today, 30 minutes on the bike trainer, I needed some rest today.

Another boring 5 miler with -5°C and a cold wind from the north. I really need some light and warmer temperatures.

After an unplanned rest day tonight I went for my MP run of the week. Goal pace was 4:30/km. I managed to finish a 10k  in 45:15 (4:32/km), it felt much better than the 8k of last weeek, but I am not even close to where I was last october.  I will use the upcoming months to rebuild mileage and speed without having the pressure of PRing in the upcoming races.

Nothing special tonight just the usual plan "something is better than nothing", 5 miles in 45 minutes.

Half marathon with 3X5000m + 1X2000m at MP with 1k recovery. My goal pace for the repeats was 4:30/km, but during the first set that pace was clearly unsustainable, the rest of the run was ok. I have mixed feelings about this run I was much more in control than last week end and I could have kept 4:30/km for another 5000m at the end, but deep down I know that this pace is too aggressive and 4:35-4:45 is probably a more realistic goal pace for the upcoming marathons. I will keep trying to maintain this pace for medium/long runs in the next few weeks and see what happens by mid-march. These are  my splits:

1k 5:19/km

5k 4:42/km + 1"

1k 5:06/km

5k 4:32/km + 2"

1k 5:24/km

5k 4:28/km

1k 5:08/km

2k 4:26/km

0.1km 4:10/km

Total time for 13.1 was 1:38:48, average pace for the whole run was 4:41/km.

After a lazy week with lots of unplanned rest days, tonight I had a very good relaxing run and 7 miles in 1 hour were really easy. Another run is done.

Because I am not sure about my tomorrow night running schedule, I anticipated tonight my MP run. Goal pace was 4:30/km, the first 2 k were hard (4:36, 4:27) because it was cold and my legs were not warm enough, then once I was warm enough I started going a couple of seconds faster each k finishing the last 3k with 4:18, 4:15, 4:09. Final time for 10k was 43:43 AP 4:22/k.

After struggling for a few weeks I finally managed to bring my 10k tempo run under 45 minutes.

45 minutes on the bike trainer, lots of sweat.

6.4 miles at slow pace. Temperatures were around freezing and the wind from the north made this run miserable.

Railways workers strike, my commute  time went up from three to six hours. While I was waiting at the train station I went up and down the train platform (about 200m) for 1 hours covering about 5-6k. It was "fun" watching people staring at me in disbelief, I was probably the only entertainment there. No desire to go running once I got home.

The plan was to finish an half marathon in 1:40 without killing myself. On the way back the cold wind was killing my will power and I slowed down finishing in 1:43:18. I am happy and not too tired. Tomorrow there will be a race slightly longer  than a half, on a much more difficult course where I will try to replicate this time.

If you want to see the altitude profile of this race you can find it in my race report of last here, it is basically a 15k downhill race followed by a 8k uphill death march. This year the start was in the second town ("Tre comuni" means three towns because the course goes through 3 towns and each year start and finish line are in a different town) but it was a logistic nightmare because this town is so small that 2400 runners (and their cars) were 3 times the number of the people living there. To get to the start we were forced to leave the car 2k away and there was no place where to leave our bags near the finish line so we had to run to the start get the bib number, running back to the car drop our stuff and run back, when I got to the start I had all 2400 people in front of me and no way to go around. My goal was just to finish in 1:50 so when we started I tried to relax and for 1k I was in a solid wall of human beings without any possibility to go faster than 6:00/k. My legs were a little bit to  more sore than anticipated and it was difficult to find a good rhythm, I had doubts I could finish it in one piece considering the big hills at the end. After passing a few hundreds of people I managed to maintain 5:00/k for the first 10k then on the big downhill I gained a few more seconds and then I was ready to assault the big hill. I actually sped up even more on the uphill part, passing lots of people and I finished the last 7k at 4:30/km that would be my goal MP. In two days I did a little bit over a marathon, this race was just a good excuse to go out on a cold morning winter and doing some good miles finishing  them at MP. If it wasn't for this race I would have stayed warm at home, after all it was fun, very cold, but very fun.

7 miles alone with just the wind an the approaching storm, at the end of the run I was almost feeling warmish. I hope it is not going to snow, it would be a major mess, and I have to go to work tomorrow and the rest of the week.

At least I reached 200 miles for this month, other than that it was a slow run. It was cold and the rain/snow mix completed the picture. At the end I was colder than when I started.