M'kay

7 miles Recovery in 1:00:31 (8:38/mi, avg HR 138).

Pretty stiff from the Chiro adjustments on Friday. He's obviously hit on a problem area, because the tingly leg sensation I'd been getting on long runs in the past is now in full force and obviously emanating from my lower back. Once I got on the road today, though, things loosened up nicely and the run felt super-easy. Wound up running a bit faster than my recovery pace allows but just couldn't help myself, and since my HR was well below the 70% threshold, why not? Perhaps the feeling that I'd gotten a few days this week that my fitness had suddenly jumped was right on.

Merry Xmas to me. Got my personalized training schedule from Greg McMillan today, along with some light reading material. Before I blog about any sort of specifics, I've asked if there's anything he'd like me not to write about, and there's nothing worse than making your coach mad I suspect, so I'll withhold details until I get the okay, but I'm well and truly excited. It starts tomorrow with an Easy Run, which is much less exciting, but still has me pumped. I was somewhat bummed to see that there is no "Run This Workout Twice And It's Guaranteed To Halve Your Marathon Time" workout included, but I'll get over it :)

Brooks Trance - 258 miles.

8 miles Easy in 1:04:23 (8:03/mi, avg HR 158), followed by 8x100m Strides w/100m rest in 17.9, 19.7, 21.6, 21.1, 19.8, 19.6, 19.9, 19.8.

First six miles felt *very* easy, followed by last two just easy. My sciatic nerve in left leg is bugging me, as a result of my Chiro adjustments today and Friday, but run was still easy. First six miles felt extra easy today, while last 2 just easy. Took the strides slower, since the nerve discomfort increased a bit with faster running, so I didn't push too hard. I think the 8 miles was a bit long today, since my Garmin decided to space out for a few tenths of a mile halfway into the run, but even at what I guess is the true distance (8.3 mi), was still in the Easy run range.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 116 miles.

14 miles Easy in 1:52:43 (8:03/mi, avg HR 162).

A sleep in late morning today cost me when the winds and snow started just prior to commencing my run, making it tough running in spots.  As added incentive for keeping pace was the turkey dinner waiting my return home, so neither wind nor snow...sciatic nerve gave me some problems early on, but they worked themselves out by about the halfway mark, and my leg felt much better by the end of the run over when I started. 

Brooks Adrenaline (Blue) - 366 miles.

7 miles Easy in 57:50 (8:15/mi, avg HR 151).

Ran by easy effort today, looking at the watch as few times as possible. Road covered with slush and icy in spots resulting from snow yesterday and sun out today.  Wound up a bit below my Easy run range, but effort felt easy and I needed the recovery in prep for tomorrow's Steady State. All the extra sleep has done me good, but it's about time to stop sleeping so late. Got back to my core exercises and stretching following run.

Brooks Trance - 265 miles.

2 miles Easy in 16:47 (8:23/mi, avg HR 145) warmup.
9 miles Steady State (4 uphill, 1 flat, 4 downhill) in 1:02:07 (6:54/mi, avg HR 174) with splits: 7:02, 7:22, 7:25, 7:25, 6:52, 6:33, 6:17, 6:25, 6:42.
2 miles Easy in 16:12 (8:06/mi, avg HR 156) cooldown.

Blowing flurries and some winds to deal with today.  I've been having some mental trouble in that I find myself dreading Tempo/Steady State runs starting about a day prior.  Nonetheless, got to it today and upped the distance to 9 miles.  Harder than last week, in that uphill miles felt substantially harder (and were even run a bit slower) and the last 2 felt like I was about out of gas.  The 2 mile cooldown even felt somewhat difficult.  Need to take tomorrow really easy to try to recharge, and perhaps a nap today. 

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 129 miles.

7 miles Recovery in 1:02:51 (8:58/mi, avg HR 141).

Completely wiped by yesterday's Steady State, so I ran my scheduled Easy run as a Recovery run today.  Felt uncoordinated for the first 5 miles, last 2 finally felt a bit better but legs still very tired.  Will take it easy the rest of the day to prep for tomorrow's long run.

Brooks Trance - 272 miles.
 

20 miles Easy in 2:43:59 (8:12/mi, avg HR 154).

Today's run begins yesterday. After run yesterday, legs, hip, feet, everything felt bad. Would get sharp pains in left foot randomly, making me think I'd cracked something. Bunion was bugging me and big toe was almost immobile. Left leg, from hip to foot would get shooting pains, making me think the sciatic nerve issue I've been dealing with was more, and for once I could replicate by applying pressure in certain positions. Stayed up late and last thoughts on going to bed were to make today a rest day and attempt the long run tomorrow instead.

Fast forward to this morning. Felt much better, but still some sciatic nerve twinges depending on how I applied pressure to the leg. After taking it easy in the morning, I decided to try the long run, but abort and only run 7 recovery if things didn't go well. Things went well.  Road was slick in spots, with about 1/3 of the route covered with slush, 1/3 snow, and 1/3 just wet.  Sciatic issue disappeared after 2 miles and got back into the normal groove. Some very minor left big toe discomfort off and on, but much better than yesterday with full joint mobility. Tried to keep speed constant throughout on a 2 10 mile loop course, running the 1st half in 1:44, 2nd half in 1:40.  Back on track!

Brooks Adrenaline (Blue) - 386 miles.