Training in Montana

4 TM miles at the Y during lunch. Fast, slow, fast, slow, fast. TM running is something I want to end quickly, but always glad I did it.

4 morning miles before work. Dark, headlamp, windy, so wore facemask, but didn't need it the entire time. Felt okay, but haven't been doing much hill work so I should run outdoors much. Maybe once Spring hits.

4 TM miles at Noon at the Y. Legs felt good with 30 hours rest. Started at 7.1, increased every mile to 7.6, 8.1, 8.6, then @ 3.5 miles to 9.1, 9.6 @ 3.75, and 10.1 @ 3.9 miles. Mirrors at the Y allow seeing your form, and I was able to keep a solid form the entire time, so that's encouraging. No incline yet on my TM sessions, when in the past I've always done 2% incline on the TM. With just getting back to running more I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet. Maybe soon.

As for 2018 races, I'm planning on another Bighorn 50K in June, and considering a BQ Saturday Marathon: Dreyer Last Chance in Chicago 9/8, or Indianapolis marathon on 11/3. Fargo would be nice in May, but I doubt I'd be up for a BQ - I'd much rather get ready for the 50K then do a race after that. My current 26.2 PR was a month after my Bighorn 50K PR, so there's a connection. Maybe I'll do the Deseret News Marathon in July again, and if I get lucky with cooler weather (fat chance) maybe I could get a 3:21. Hmmm...

Noon TM Miles. Yum.

5 snowstorm headlamp miles this morning. I even pulled to the side of the infrequently used highway I run on to allow the snowplow to go past as the driver slowed down significantly to avoid sending rocks or mush my way, which was very thoughtful. We don't get the large Utah flakes here, just the small pellet-type snow, so it wasn't too hard to see. Had some wind, so wore my nearly-clear sunglasses to avoide the driven snow and that worked pretty well. Used my new micro spike look alikes and I think I like them well enough, but I'm not sure. They were only $39.99 where the Katoola brand is $69.99, and while the cheaper ones have the same length spikes, they don't have any directly under the ball of the foot, so pushing off is a challenge. Thinking I might go spend the extra $30 to upgrade. The store said that wouldn't be an issue.

10 cold miles from home during 11 am and 1 pm. Bright sun, no clouds, temps were 9 to 11F, with up to -4 windchill. I felt rough physically as this is my biggest mileage week in a while, and my miles have been mostly TM with no incline. Need to get back to 2% incline as that makes inside or outside difference negligible.

I walked a lot, so 20 minutes slower than I normally have run this route, my normal Saturday 10 mile route. 

Happy to have figured out my cold winter weather attire: double everything. Double gloves, plus hand warmers, double pants, and lots of upper layers. My bro gave me a North Face climbing gear pullover which was perfect. I had a warm running hat, a neck gaiter, and that’s normally all I wear. I would have frozen. 1/4 way in I pulled the NF hat over my head, zipped it up all the way, and it goes right to my nose. It saved me. Yay! Very tired today though, so that wasn’t good. Need to figure that out, impacted my family too much. I was a grumpy Gus...