Much needed step back week, and I think it's paid off. The draggy feeling I had in my legs early in the week had dissipated by the end. Additionally, the timing was quite good as my sinuses were in bad shape this week, thanks to our daycare kiddo. My face was sore all the way out to my ears for a couple days. Good times. So, I do thinking backing off on the mileage and the intensity was just what I needed to help fight it off.
Onto the numbers...
Sunday, 2/6: 5.25 - 1:00:10, Mt. Ararat snowshoe. A bit crusty and slushy on a warmish day, but much faster than the conditions from last Thursday. Decent effort, but could definitely feel the illness. Just never felt fresh.
Monday, 2/7: 10.25 - 1:23:35, Woodside Road. Kept the pace very easy, for both the legs and the sinuses, and, overall, I felt pretty good. Better than I expected, actually. That being said, the roads around Topsham and Brunswick right now are even less fun that usual due to the narrowing caused by the snowbanks and ice and slop all around. In addition, the temperatures were up a bit, and there was a little bit of melting. So, every passing car sprayed a sweet mix of water, road salt, dirt, gasoline, oil, and gawdknowswhatelse all over me. Running on the roads sucks.
Tuesday, 2/8: 4 total, 3k snowshoe "race." Back to Nordic Meisters again, but this week, I was really just going through the motions. Shorter warm up, moderate effort during the 3k and really short cool down. Just felt tired and off, but taking it easy was the right call. Because of this, my results aren't going to look that good, and Tuesdays are the best day for me to go hard. Really, it's all about keeping my ego in check and focusing on the bigger picture.
Wednesday, 2/9: Off
Thursday, 2/10: 5 - 42:45, Highland Green. Another real easy day, and I felt really good and comfortable. Very uneventful run, which was nice. Back road, the dirt portion of the loop, was very, very icy reducing my pace to shuffle.
Friday, 2/11: 9 - 1:20:39, Topsham Snowmobile trails. This was a sweet run. I had a really fun time just wandering and exploring some trails I'd never been on before. Kept the pace really easy and the legs felt great. I think that I can come up with 6- and 7-mile loops from my house, which will be great. Got a lot out of this run both physically and mentally. Great stuff. Well, not all great, I did tweak my left calf a bit with about a mile to go as I stepped into a posthole.
Saturday, 2/12: 4.5 - 1:20:15, Bradbury White Out, course marking. At The Brad early to get the course marked for Sunday's Bradbury White Out snowshoe race. Carrying a backpack full of flags, stopping at every intersection and then stressing about every single flag, tends to slow the pace a bit, but there is no denying that the course would be firm and fast for the race. Enjoyable tour of the course, but my calf was very tight from the previous day.
Totals: 38
Trail: 22.75
Road: 15.25
Pretty pleased that a 38-mile week represents a step back week for me, and even more pleased that my legs felt rejuvenated by the end. My mindset also changed throughout the week as I was not looking forward to my runs early in the week, but I was back to my usual ready-to-go attitude by the end. Hopefully, things will stay together with some big training weeks coming up. Looking forward to them. Obviously, I'll be monitoring the calf, just to be safe, but I don't think it will be an issue.
1 comment:
again....great training...you da man and the course marking was perfect for the white out race
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