Week 6 2014 - Recap

Lots of snow this week!  This was a down week for me anyways, so I had an opportunity to do some ski cross training and take a bit of a break over the weekend with lower miles than normal.  My typical off-day (Friday) was more of a workout than I expected with skinning 3 laps at Pico, but I lowered my Sunday run by a few miles accordingly.

Summary of Week 6:
M    OFF
T     Skate Ski at Mtn Meadows (1 hour 20 mins)
W    7.8 mile Griffin Hill Loop Run
Th   7.8 mile Flat Rail Trail Run
F     Skinning/Ski at Pico (4300')
S     11.3 mile run (7:45 pace)
S     8.3 mile run with Hillary

Weekly Totals:
Run distance:                    27.4 miles (49.5 miles run & ski)
Total run elevation gain:    1,484 feet (6,755' run & ski)
Total time all activities:       8 hours 47 mins

Week 5 2014 - Recap

Just when I was planning for a hefty trail run, bammm a foot of snow comes down.  I'm not going to complain too much since it is extremely refreshing.  It has remained cold, the snow is still soft, and the weekend was nothing but blue skies.  It just means that I am going to take advantage of the snow for some cross training.  On Sat I ran 25 miles, but there was not a ton of elevation gain.  However, since much of the run was on pavement I was definitely a bit sore afterwards and this morning.  After hauling in wood that will last the week for the furnace I was feeling pretty good, so I gathered the dogs and skis to explore the snowmobile trails around Castleton.  It was a tough endurance weekend and I am feeling tired, but still strong after the weekend activities.  It will be nice to drop the mileage a bit this week to allow for some recovery before getting into big weekend miles again the next week.

View from Pond Hill VAST trail towards Bird Mtn

Tired dogs

Summary of Week 5:
M    OFF
T     7.6 mi trail run (1,528' elev. gain)
W    5.0 mile classic XC Ski (breaking new trail 10" snow; 600' elev. gain)
Th   5.0 mile deep snow run (strenuous)
F     OFF
S     24.8 mile run (8:09 pace; 1,400' elev. gain)
S     19.6 mile classic XC ski VAST trails (2,325' elev. gain)

Weekly Totals:
Run distance:                    37.4 miles (62.1 miles run & ski)
Total run elevation gain:     3,509 feet (6,434' run & ski)
Total time all activities:      10 hours 25 mins

Week 4 2014 - Recap

This last week was the first fairly tough week for me with the weekend miles growing (33 miles), hill intervals, and total elevation gain for the week increasing (~5000 feet).  The weather has been getting warmer, yet the roads have remained snowpacked all week.  I have been running mostly on dirt roads, but my 20 mile Friday run was almost entirely pavement.  My feet and legs were a bit more sore than normal since I am not as used to the impact.  I am looking forward to getting out on the trails more and more.
Next week I am building up to a Sat.-25mi, Sun-20mi before I bring the miles down for one week as part of my training periodicity plan to facilitate recovery and prevent over training.  Even though I am not putting on a ton of miles per week compared to a lot of runners, since I am only running 4 days a week I am putting on many more miles per training event.  So far I can't believe it, but I am feeling really great!

Sunday morning run on Birdseye Rd

Summary of Week 4
M   OFF
T    8.25 mi run (Medium effort, small elev. gain)
W    4x1mi hill (~450') intervals; 8.0 mi total
Th   40 minute skate ski on Castleton Rail Trail
F    20.5 mi run (decent effort, decent elevation)
S     OFF - Ice fishing Lake Bomoseen
S     12.3 mi run (easy, decent elevation)

Weekly Totals
Run distance:                       49.1 miles
Total run elevation gain:        4,933 feet
Total time all activities:          7.4 hours

1st round of hill intervals

Another mighty cold start to the week!  Yesterday was windy and just 5 degrees for my easier 8 mile run around the Griffin Hill Loop in Castleton.  I was feeling pretty good in preparation for my workout today, which was to do 1 mile repeat intervals on Piontek Rd Hill.  I had a short amount of time between classes to make it happen, but I was just able to squeeze it in!
I chose a 1 mile section from the bottom of the road where there is a continuous climb of ~450' over the mile.  I ran 4 cycles of up at 8:45 to 9:00 min pace then 7:30 pace on the rest down for a total of 8 miles.  I was definitely feeling pretty beat nearing the total 1800' in gain at the end of mile 7.
Two days so far on my Salomon Missions and I so far so good.  Less aggressive than the Speedcross3, a bit more support and they have still been pretty grippy on the snow packed dirt roads.

Heart rate and elevation profile for the hill workout

Week 3 2014 - Recap

Another successful week of training!  I feel like I am at a pretty healthy balance of faster training runs, longer miles, and adequate rest.  After the faster 6:45 pace for 7 miles tempo workout on Wed I was a bit sore, but I was recovered and ready to go for my weekend miles.  Saturday's 17 miler had about 5 miles of atv trail with 3 inches of snow and the rest was snowpacked roads, so it was overall a great workout even if the elevation gain was not enormous.  Today I ran my first 4.25 miles with Hillary.  It was difficult to get out of the car with the temperature at 14 degrees and the trees swaying back and forth due to the high winds.  It took us a mile to get warmed up as we crossed the open farm fields, but once we started to climb Griffin Hill all was good for the rest of my 11 mile run.

Hill intervals and a 20 miler to look forward to next week!

Summary of Week 3
M   OFF
T    7.4 miles, 640' elev gain, easier run
W    7 miles at 6:45 pace; 1.2 mile cool down; total 8.2 miles
Th   45 swimming in the pool
F     OFF
S     17 miles, 1700' elev. gain, lots of snow on trails and dirt road
S     11 miles, easier recovery run

Weekly Totals
Run Distance:  43.7 miles
Total time all activities:  6.5 hours
Total elevation gain:  3,232'

Weekly highs in the single digits, where to run

So it has been cooold!  Since I have no desire to run on a treadmill I have been having to beef up the clothing for my runs this week.  Unless the wind is unbearable you too should not fret the cold weather on a run.  The hard part is to just get motivated and start moving!
My typical run gear on a 5 degree run is a synthetic T-shirt, 2 midweight wicking shirts (one with a tall zippered neck), a lightweight wind resistant vest, double pair of gloves and my Swix wind resistant front breathable back pants.  I have also been enjoying my Salomon Speedcross 3 running shoes for the recent conditions.  The cleat like bottoms provide sure footing on the snowpacked dirt roads and I find even the regular model warmer than most shoes.  I do not really need to beef up from a normal running sock.  This gear is good for up to an hour or so.  If the run is slower paced I may need to add one more layer.
I have ran two ~8 mile runs the last two days.  One was casual the other was a faster tempo run near 6:50 pace.  Today was another glorious 45 minute swim.  My legs were getting a bit sore/tired, but I feel great again tonight after the swim.  Swimming does tend to make me tired though.  I am nearly ready for bed at 8:45p.

Week 2 2014 - Recap

It has been another great week of training! I was a bit worried about trying to get in my miles during January and February, but I just have to convince myself to stay off of most trails and make the best of the rolling hills of the Vermont dirt backroads. This week had some easier long runs, 1 mile repeats, and one 15 mile run at a decent pace. I am on track with the schedule I have made for training and do not yet have any reason to back down mileage. It was extremely useful to come in to this with a lot of nordic skiing leading up to January.  I should add that the swim day after intervals was complete rejuvenation! I may hit the pool again tomorrow if time allows during my off day.

Summary of Week 2
M  OFF
T   8.2 mile easier run
W  5x1 mile repeats with 0.25 mi recovery - total 8.9 miles
Th  Swim in pool - 45 minutes
F   OFF
S   15.0 mile run at faster pace, dirt and pavement (~1200' elev. gain)
S   10.1 mile easier run (~1000' elev. gain)

Weekly Totals
Run distance:  42.2 miles
Total time all activities:  6.3 hours
Total elevation gain:  2,877 ft