Winning Back What I Lost

1PM: Snow mixed with rain forced me inside on the TM. First hard workout in a long time. LT run: 3M warm; 4M @ current HM pace (7:13/mi); 2M easy. HM pace was all I could handle. If I had to run a HM right now there's no way I could hold it for 13 miles. It felt comfortably hard which is how it's supposed to feel.

I tried unsuccessfully to register for Robie Creek. Got all the way to the checkout on active.com and the system booted me. Tried to go back and register again but it filled up in 9 mins. Probably a good thing. I'm coaching my son's t-ball team and this would have been a conflict. Robie would be just for fun. The goal race remains UVM in June.

530AM:  Raining again, treadmill again. Very slow & easy medium long run.  This is week 2 of being back on the Pfitz plan and the mid-week medium long runs to supplement the weekend long runs are its hallmark.  It definitely helps build endurance and strength quickly. I've been pretty diligent about keeping a food diary this month. I've let myself partake of some of the V-day candy hanging around but the weight loss is starting to come at a rate of 2 lbs/week. I'd like to get it closer to 3 lbs/week as I ramp up the weekly mileage to 60-70 mpw.   

625AM: Easy recovery run. At the start of the run I felt pretty stiff and tired but ended the run w/ a couple of strong miles at or near 8:00/mi pace. 

530AM:  Easy Medium Long Run. Didn't notice that the GPS wasn't working until I was about 20 mins into the run so the Garmin summary doesn't match my total mileage.  Felt pretty strong today. Kept the HR down and concentrated on running tall and breathing easy. 

630AM: 3 sets of single leg extensions + single leg press + calf raises. Progression run on TM starting slow w/ the last 1M @ 7:30/mi pace.  I think I pulled something in my right hip during my stretching and strengthening routine at home last night. Feels like a sciatic nerve problem because its causing numbness down to my right calf.  Also, starting Day 3 of my detox from diet soda. So far I've refrained from tearing anyone's head off or kicking any small dogs. 

1230PM: Long Progression Run on the TM. I could have run outside but I didn't want to fight the gale force winds. 14M in 1hr 57 min then cool down. Finished strong with mile 14 at goal MP. First couple weeks of Pfitz program has me feeling much stronger than I did over the winter. Weight loss steady at 2lbs a week. Hopefully, at this rate I can be back to where I was fitness & weight-wise at UVM '11 by the end of March. That will give me April-May to improve over last years fitness.