Training in Montana

Happy December!

4 is the new 10? I need to get out of this 4 rut but I seem to only have/make time for 4 miles anymore. Dropped off my 8th grader at wrestling practice & headed to the Y for a little TM. Warmed up at 6.0, then up to 7.0. After a mile or so I moved the incline to 1% as I've been slacking on using incline so far this winter. I'll pay for it later. I got a wild hair so from 1.5 to 2 miles I upped the incline to 7% and 7 mph. That was a good workout. I need to do that more often to get ready for my 50 miler in June. Finished the last mile quicker with the last 1/4 at 10.1 mph.

4 miles outside! Finally. Only 31F with a slight breeze so not bad at all. It was so nice to run outside and not too much snow on the ground roadside. Hopefully many more days of outside running in my future this winter.

I only ran 8 miles last week. Ugh. Busy week.

Today I ran at lunch time. 39F and no wind, not too shabby.

4 miles at lunch from the Y. Beautiful day. Slightly overcast but 52F with little breeze. Nice and easy first mile, then faster miles. Did a progression run without meaning to. Mile 2 7:42, mile 3 7:12, last mile 6:37.

4 miles in the morning outside from the Y. Dropped off my 5th grader at basketball practice then headed to town. 40F with a slight wind, but I think it was colder than that. My gloved hands were very chilly and I had to do the finger/thumb tuck to keep them warm. The watch got screwed up so I'm not sure of time the first mile, but I turned it on just before mile 2 and I had solid times. I likely need to slow down though or I'll get an injury with a case of the Toos - too fast too soon too many miles.

Prepping now to ramp up my training the end of January for the June 50 miler. Gulp. Not sure I can manage a 50 especially with my schedule being a bit hectic, but I'll give it a shot. I think. There's still a chance I'll only register for the 50K. We'll see.

Decided to shake things up a bit. Went an extra 5/4 of a mile. Ooh la la. Ran outside as we're having crazy warm weather right now and it was 54F. Lovely. Run went well. I tried to keep it a nice steady pace but I kept going faster than I planned and where I wanted to be in the 8s I ventured into the 7s. Good steady run, hoping for the same on a 10-12 miler tomorrow. Will hit Boot Camp on Monday as I need to start working other muscle groups to prep for a good 2015 season.

10 miles up my favorite Saturday route.

4 TM miles after work at the Y. Cold, snowy, and icy outside so I'll be inside for a few days. Good run, the time flew by. Finished last bit in the 6s. Good run.

Left hamstring has been tight for a couple months. I need to start giving it more TLC. I've rolled it a few times, need to do more of that and start stretching it regularly.

5 TM miles this morning at the Y. Good to have 2 runs within 13 hours of each other. Run went well. Started off walking at 15% incline, did that for 5 minutes. Maybe that's my new TM warmup to get me ready for mountain running. Since running on the roads the past few weeks I can feel a huge difference in strength as these last two TM runs were easy. I need to find me some more cheap good clothes so I can run outside more often and not hate it. I hate being cold.

Boot Camp for the first time in a while. I'm now committing myself to Boot Camp once per week until my training mileage gets up there. I've got about 6 weeks before I start my training and even once a week will help me strengthen my core and stave off injuries.

I normally take a break on Thursdays but I was awake to get my kid out of bed for seminary and I didn't feel horribly tired so I went for a run. 22F with a 15 mph wind made the wind chill single digits at some points, but I was prepared for it. In fact, I was sweating pretty heavily up top with a couple long sleeve shirts inside my wind proof jacket. Love the wind proofability but wish it breathed a bit. But I complain.

Good run, nothing fancy, no watch or music. I just ran. Needed the micro spikes the 3/4 mile to the main road and again the 3/4 mile back home as our road is still icy but the main road was good with no slick spots.

This 50 miler is totally in my head now and I'm excited about it. Registration opens at 6 am on Monday January 5th and I'm already looking forward to hitting the trail June 20th at 6 am when the race starts. I hope my enthusiasm continues through the long training miles ahead of me.

10 miles up my favorite route. Wore my micro spikes due to icy roads. I forgot how badly they give me a blister under my big toe. Next time I'll wear them to the main road then rough it. It's a painful little buggar.

Noon Boot Camp. It was Burpee Monday so each exercise included some form of burpee. I thought I would hate it as that is my least favorite exercise, but only one station was actual burpees and I enjoyed it. I must not breathe enough as I was straining through some of the weights and I started getting a pressure headache. I eased off quite a bit the last 15 minutes and the headache subsided. Aneurysm averted....

Noon run outside from the Y. 40F with some wind. Not too bad. Legs a bit sore from BC plus the wind made me feel like I was slogging through mud but my times were pretty decent. Always funny when you feel like you're running in molasses and the watch tells you the true story.

Went snowboarding with the family. My first time boarding and it was a blast. Wish it wasn't so expensive so we could do this more often.

Day 2 of skiing and snowboarding. Learned that two days in a row of skiing is a bit much for everyone but the runners. I was still going strong on the last run of the day while everyone else pooped out a couple hours before me.

5 TM miles at the Y. I love vacation.

6 TM miles at the Y. Did I mention how much I love vacation?

3 miles on the home treddy before heading out to some tame NYE parties.

Happy New years everyone!