Week 12 2014 Recap

Well it was a bit of a crazy week, but in the end I was able to get in nearly the number of miles I projected for the week.  A lot was going on at work, Hillary is in South Africa, had an all day workshop on Sat., rain and the spring thaw washed out part of our road, and I was still able to put in an 11 miler on Sat night in the dark followed by 26 miles the next day.  Oh, and we cooked up some maple syrup.
I am feeling a bit tired from the weekend since my alarm went off at 4:45 this morning to get to work and catch up on everything I should have gotten done over the weekend.  It feels good to be back on track.  Joints, and overall the body feels good.  The warm weather (40s!) has been nice, but there is still a lot of snow that needs to melt.  This is a down week before climbing back up for one big week before I start to taper for Bear Mountain.  It is crazy but the race is just 4.5 weeks away!  Hard to believe the trails around here will be passable by then!
I hit 500 miles for the year earlier this week.

Summary of Week 12:
M    OFF
T     6.4 mile run with Castleton XC team
W    OFF
Th   7.3 mile run Pond Hill Loop
F     OFF
S     11.4 mile night time run
S     26.1 mile Monument Hill Marathon distance run (1,654')

Weekly Totals:
Run distance:                    51.2 miles 
Total run elevation gain:    3,692 feet 
Total run time:                    7 hours 21 mins

Week 11 2104 Recap

I am really itching to get out on the trails again, but there is still nearly two feet of snow in the woods around the house.  I'm ready to get off the roads.  My knee was pretty sore for the end of my run today, otherwise my body is feeling good.  I plan on increasing my pool workouts with a mixture of lap swimming and aqua jogging this week so that I don't over do it.

Summary of Week 11:
M    OFF
T     8.2 mile run Griffin Hill loop
W    6.9 mile run Pico Mtn Hill workout, snow (3,257')
Th   OFF
F     45 minute lap swimming
S     14.0 mile run Pond Hill Loop
S     22.0 mile run (1,841')

Weekly Totals:
Run distance:                    51.2 miles 
Total run elevation gain:    6,402 feet 
Total run time:                    7 hours 56 mins (8 hours 41 mins total)

Week 10 2014 Recap

Well this was supposed to be a down week and it was really treated as such.  I actually didn't run again until this past weekend and only got out for two cross training sessions (Swimming and Classic Skiing).  The 2 day snowstorm that dumping 20 inches of snow at the house and heading up a new faculty search interview at work certainly contributed to my lack of training time this week.  I feel like my body needed some recovery time anyways so I am not too concerned.  My calves now feel great and my right knee was feeling about 90% during today's 15.5 miler with Hillary.  This week I am back on the train!

Summary of Week 10:
M    OFF
T     Lap swimming
W    OFF
Th   XC Classic Skiing in deep snow
F     OFF
S     11.8 mile run in NH;  XC Classic Ski on Newfound Lake
S     15.5 mile run on pavement and hard packed snow on dirt roads

Weekly Totals:
Run distance:                    27.3 miles (33.6 miles total)
Total run elevation gain:    1,792 feet (1,838' total)
Total run time:                    3 hours 53 mins (6 hours 38 mins)

Irish meal of champions!

Week 9 2014 Recap

I'm pretty tired today.  It was a tough running week right after the snowshoe marathon last weekend.  Hill intervals, 30 miles on snowmobile trails up steep mountains on Sat., and 10 more miles on Sun.  I think my periodic training plan is a good one since I feel like my body is ready for a lower mileage week after building up weekend miles and importantly elevation gain over the past three weeks.  Next week I have lower miles to look forward to in order to allow my muscles to recover and get stronger.  It was difficult to get motivated to get out for a recovery run today, but luckily Hillary needed to get in a 10 miler for her marathon training, so I slogged out 10 miles where she pulled me around Castleton.  I feel way better this evening after getting that run in, but I'll admit that is was probably the worst run I've ever experienced.  My left calf and right knee were sore, but I just kept moving.  Thanks Hillary!
I'm looking forward to some cross training/swimming this week.

Summary of Week 9:
M    OFF
T     8.3 mile Griffin Hill Loop
W    7.4 mile Herrick Mtn Hill Repeats - Snowmobile Trail (~2000' vertical)
Th   Indoor Bike Trainer (42 minutes)
F     Rail Trail Skate Ski (45 minutes)
S     28.7 mile snow trail run Pico-Killington-Chittenden Res. (5200' vertical)
S     9.4 mile Griffin Hill Extended Run

Weekly Totals:
Run distance:                    53.7 miles (59.8 miles total)
Total run elevation gain:    8,200 feet (8,400' total)
Total time all activities:       9 hours 1 mins (10 hours 28 mins)

On top of Pico Sat morning

View of Killington near Pico summit

Chittenden Reservoir on Catamount Tail Sat.

Week 8 2014 Recap

My first race of the season was on ... snowshoes!?!?  And it was a marathon with ~6500' of vertical!  Needless to say Saturday was a hell of a 5.5 hour workout.  You can see my race report for my second place finish in the Peak Snowshoe Marathon in Pittsfield, VT here.  Spring certainly has not sprung yet, so I need to continue to be creative about how I will get my vertical miles in.  I am sore on Sunday after the race.  More so my right knee is a bit tweaked, so I just ran/walked about 1.5 miles today to get some movement in.  Hopefully this is no big deal and I will be ready to get my next run in on Tuesday.

Summary of Week 8:
M    OFF
T     8.3 mile Snowmobile Trail Run (~1,000' vertical)
W    OFF
Th   8.0 mile Herrick Mtn. Snowmobile Trail Run (~1600' vertical)
F     6.55 mile Snowshoe Run in Pittsfield (~1600' vertical)
S     26.2 mile run (6500' vertical)
S     run/walk

Weekly Totals:
Run distance:                    47.8 miles
Total run elevation gain:    10,594 feet 
Total time all activities:       9 hours 49 mins