Training in Montana

9 TM miles at home this morning. The roads are almost dry enough to run on, but starting today we'll get more rain and snow so I guess I'm indoors for a while more.

I slept in for 15 minutes and turns out I could've used that time as I wanted to run 10 but no worries. Warmed up for 1/2 mile at 6, then bumped to 7.0 until 2 miles, then 7.6 for 5 miles, and 8.1 for the next 2 miles. Good run, lots of sweat.

5 TM miles at the Y this morning. 6.0 for 1/2 mile, 7.0 for 1 mile, 7.6 for the remainder. Lots of sweat for only a 7:54 pace.

45 heel drops, 25 pushups, 25 situps.

7 x hills on the home treadmill. Warmed up for 1 mile at 6 mph, then cranked up the volume. 7% incline at 7 mph for the first 5, then the last 2 I bumped it up to 8% incline and 7.5 mph. Those last ones left me nearly breathless, which was perfect. Solid workout. It's fun to see the body improve and get stronger and faster over time.

Yesterday at the Y I enjoyed being vain for a few moments. There is a wall of mirrors at the end of the room (with a row of TVs above the mirrors). It's a nice way to see your form and to see if anyone is coming from behind to attack. Great place to be in a zombie apocalypse. Nobody was in front of me so I could see myself in the mirror and it was a thrill to see that I've met my goal of having runner's legs. With each step I could see my quads relax then do the flex/bounce thing on contraction. I used to really envy leg muscles in runners. And to think, it only takes a few thousand miles to do that. Now if only I could work on my upper body....

1 warmup mile, 10 marathon pace miles on the treadmill this morning at the Y. Today's run was more mentally tough than physically tough, and I'll take that. TM running is a bit harder than being out on the roads as well because you can't cheat on pace and it's so monotonous. It's easier to do these runs while watching a movie. Anyhow, I kept up the pace and kept on going. Had to pause once in the middle for a potty break and the TMs turn off at 60:00 so I shut it down at the 7 mile mark then turned it back on again for 4 more. Not crowded so no problem.

45 heel dips, some calf stretching, 25 pushups and 25 situps. Hopefully ready for tomorrow's 20 miler.

20 outdoor miles this morning in town on roads. Once again Strava messed with mileage so I guessed and I might be a bit short but I'll take it. 2:48:51 of running with one pee stop in the middle, 611 feet of climbing. Felt pretty good but not great which isn't surprising considering the 10 pace miles yesterday.