Training Week 1/31 - 2/6

No race for me this weekend because the Exeter Snowshoe Hullabaloo was postponed until February 27th due to lack of snow. Sure wish I lived in Maryland. I could have raced tomorrow at the Mid-Winter 10 Mile Classic, but I frankly didn't want to because...well, I hate that race. Plus, I'd already offered to volunteer during the race, which should be significantly more enjoyable. I actually think I would have done fairly well based on my recent results on snowshoes, but I'm not sure how I great I'd feel after pounding the roads for 10 miles. I briefly toyed with the idea of driving to Northfield for a snowshoe race, but the 9:00am start time made that unrealistic. Instead, I spent the day hanging out with the little lady. Certainly, not a bad option.


"Sup, dawg?"

Onto the numbers...

1/31, Sunday: 5 - 50:49, Windham. Met up with a bunch of Trail Monsters to celebrate/congratulate Blaine on his 1 More Mile for Sunshine challenge. Blaine and Erin hosted a Fat Ass from his house with Blaine running all 50k. I ran 5 miles, mostly with Mindy. Nice day, good times, felt good.

2/1, Monday: 5 - 44:09, Topsham Snowmobile Trails. Great run until I broke through an ice bridge and smashed my left knee. Frozen peas on the knee all night.

2/2, Tuesday: 4 - ~40:00, Nordic Meisters at Great Glen Trails. 10:00 warmup on snowshoes. 2 mile snowshoe course: 19:04. 10:00 warmdown on the road. Fourth week of Nordic Meisters, and the conditions were the fastest yet. Felt really good; better than expected on the heels of Sidehiller. Broke toe pieces off cleats on both snowshoes. Emailed Bob Dion, and he was very willing to send me the ice cleats to replace the standards—I've already broken 4 cleats this season. Hopefully, the ice cleats will hold up better. Knee was fine.

2/3, Wednesday: 5 - 43:53, Topsham Snowmobile Trails. Felt a bit sluggish at first, but felt great by the end.

2/4, Thursday: 9 - 1:12:39, Simpson's Point. Great day for a run to the ocean, even with the gusty winds. (OK, the winds really sucked in some places.) Didn't mean to run the loop that fast, but I just felt good. I'll take it.

2/5, Friday: Off

2/6, Saturday: 3 - 27:17, Powerlines. Due to schedules, I had to get up and go early. I hate that. Felt not that great. It was also 10 degrees.

Totals:
Miles: 31
Trail: 21
Road: 10

That makes up a really good week for me. I may be jinxing myself by typing this, but I'm feeling pretty good about the state of my running right now. I can't remember when I've felt this sharp. I have to admit, I definitely missed racing today. I might be addicted. Speaking of addicted, next week my plan is to race Frosty's Dash for a Cure, a snowshoe race in Atkinson, NH, but unless the forecast changes, I doubt there will be enough snow. So, if that race gets "grounded" out, I'll probably jump into the Polar Bear 5k in Portland. Let's hope for snow.

This week's super awesome retro tune: