Weeks in review: two weeks in one!

My apologies for not posting last week's summary. Here is goes, with stories as always:

Week of 4.11.11

4.11.11: 7.2 miles
Trail run.

4.13.11: 7.2 miles
Trail run. Again.

4.16.11: 1.6 mile warmup; 5K race; 0.6 mile cooldown
First competitive 5K for three or four years? Took second in 19:55ish.

4.17.11: 15.5 miles
Trail run. I forgot how hard it is to run 25K on trails at a good clip.

Miles: 35.266
Time: 5:14:08
Year-to-date: 552.546

That week wasn't so great. No a lot of miles, and I should have run another 10 or so after the 5K. Downtime leads to an off week.

Week of 4.18.11

Big week! I ran more miles this week than I think I ever have in a non-race week.

4.18.11: 8.2 miles

4.19.11: 6.8 miles

4.20.11: 8 miles
Trail run with triathelete coworker. Nice and easy job on a new route.

4.21.11: Zilch
This goose egg would come back to haunt me.

4.22.11: 5.1 miles
Starting the day with a 4:30AM run just does the body good.

4.23.11: 14 miles
The weekend is here. That means putting on 37+ miles in two days! Here comes that haunting I warned you about.

4.23.11 noon: 3.7 miles
Trail run with wife. I'm teaching her how to handle the downhills.

4.23.11 1PMish: 8.95 miles
Trail run immediately after wife leaves. Tried to run at a decent pace. More or less succeeded.

4.23.11 8 PMish: 11.1 miles
Late evening stroll. Minus the stroll. My calves felt this the next morning.

Miles: 65.85
Time: 9:40:33
Year-to-date: 618.4 miles

A couple of notes: Even though I cleared my goal miles this week, I didn't get in my speed workout. The trails make up for it slightly - I run hard on all the down hills - but this is a repeated pattern that I need to address. Next week is 65 miles with a long run of ~16 and a running 13.1 at marathon-pace. The latter quality run should help me manage the stress of the last chunk of the upcoming 50Ks and the latter miles for my longer races.

Week in review: 4.4-4.10.11

This week started excellent. And then I took Thursday off. Friday was a wash because I went directly from work an aid station at the Zumbro 100 from 9 PM to 9 AM. Saturday was spent recovering from my sleep deprivation, and I finally returned to running on Sunday. I had intended on pacing a friend for 20-30 miles on Saturday, but he DNF'd before I got there on Friday night.

Alas, this week was supposed to be a recovery week and I took full advantage of it. My long run on Sunday felt easy and slow despite its pace, and its hills came easier than they have in the past. Three consecutive, full days of rest will do that to you.

4.4.11: 6.6 miles

4.5.11: 3.6 mile warmup; 3 mile tempo run
Unintentional tempo run done on the spur of the moment.

4.6.11 PM 1: 3.5 mile
Trail run with my wife. Her first.

4.6.11 PM 2: 4.8 miles

4.7-4.9.11: zeros
See above. No excuses necessary.

4.10.11 AM: 13.5 miles
Long run for the week. Felt great.

4.10.11 PM: 3.5 mile hike
Same path as trail run above, but walking half of it.

Miles: 35 (does not include hike)
Time: 4:52:12
Year-to-date: 517.3 miles

Up next: 65 miles this week, more than I have ever run in a non-race week. Three quality workouts: long run, fartlek, and either hills or a trail run (likely the latter).

Also, I have added the Voyageur Trail Run, a 50-mile jaunt near Duluth, Minn. to my 2011 race calendar. It will be a tune-up for the Sawtooth 100 just six weeks later. More on that later.

Photo essay: wife's first trail run

I took my wife on her first trail run on Wednesday. And she loved it. Why ever run on asphalt again?

The proof is in the smile and the mud.

Hers.

Mine.

Review: Zensah Compression Leg Sleeves

I recently tested Zensah's Compression Leg Sleeves for the minimalist footwear site ToeSalad.com. My review is here. Enjoy.

Week in review 3.28-4.3.11: Switcheroo speed work

This week was a switcheroo. Last week was supposed to be focused on lactate threshold work. This week was long slow distance with a short interval workout built in (16-24x 200 meter repeats). But last week didn't happen as planned; instead, I failed to complete my speed work and ended up doing back-to-back long runs over the weekend. So I swapped the two weeks. The swap left me with three quality workouts this week: long run, tempo run (37.5 minutes at threshold pace), and the mentioned interval workout.

I was skeptical of the plan. The last time I did the tempo run (35 minutes that time, scheduled only for 30), I was drained for the remainder of the evening. The 200 meter repeats is a personal favorite workout, but it is by no means easy.

The end result: I ran the tempo run and interval work hard and boosted by VDOT by a couple of points for future training. I skipped one day and ended up putting down another long weekend to compensate, including an 18 mile run on Sunday (my longest run this year). The numbers:

3.28.11: 5.1 miles

3.29.11: Interval workout: 1.7 mile warm up, 20x200meter repeats (2.5 miles), 1.7 mile cooldown (5.9 miles for day)
Personal favorite early-season workout.

3.30.11: 7 miles

3.31.11: zero...

4.1.11: Tempo run: 2.1 mile warmup, 5.5 miles @ threshold pace, 1.4 mile cool down (9 miles for day)
Sunshine and determination go a long way toward good runs. Results and excuses are mutually exclusive.

4.2.11 AM:11.75 miles
Good hilly course with Runner's Edge/Mankato Multisport folks.

4.2.11 PM: 2.5 miles
With my favorite person in the world.

4.3.11: 17.8 miles
Longest run year-to-date. Felt awesome.

Week Miles: 59
Week Time: 7:56:57
March Miles: 198.67
March Time: 27:35:30
Year-to-date: 482.3

This week is a different bag. It was supposed to be a low week before the boost to 65 miles/week, but I've already taken a few of those. On top of the usual long run, I'm planning a mixed long run/threshold workout that will surely show me my place. I'll also be manning Aid Station 2 at Zumbro 100 from 9 PM to 9 AM. Sleep deprivation, here I come.