Mixed Bag

The weeks since Snowshoe Nationals have been a mixed bag, much like the weather. I had a great race with Jim Johnson at the Granite State Snowshoe Championships, where we finished in a dead heat in some of the best conditions of the snowshoe season, and ran a stinker at New Bedford, tying up pretty badly in the last 5k. This past week wasn't much better.

M- 6 on Saco River Trail w/ Paul, 49:26, pretty stiff after New Bedford

Tu- 2.2 roads w/ Roger, 22:15, his knee was bothering him and I was in no mood to run solo in the cold rain

W- 6.5 Town Hall Rd. (dirt) with Jim Graham & Roger Sayre, 51:59, felt much better, moved washer/dryer in the morning and my back stiffened up after dinner

Th- 7.9 Office to quarry via singletrack, 1:03:43, 4.5 mile fartlek (36:35) in middle on singletrack, back started spasming after run. Back and lower front rib cage really tight, had to get a prescription for muscle relaxants to fix it.

F- massage from Jean Brauel in AM, really loosened back up

Sa- 12.0 1:20:12 on Corridor 19 snowmobile trail, 2.3 wu then 9.7 mile tempo in 1:01:54 (6:22 pace). Good workout. Trail muddy and hilly. A little slower than when I did the same workout on snow a month ago, but I was holding back a little to keep the back in check

Su- 5.8 miles, 55 mins trails. Started a long run from my house to Peaked Mt. and back (15 miles), but rolled my right ankle really badly 5.8 miles in on a pretty easy piece of trail. Had to limp a mile out of the woods to the nearest trailhead. Caught a cold in the process.

Totals: 40 miles. Happy with the workouts, but not happy with all the other stuff that happened. Was not in the mood to run at all yesterday. Ankle is pretty stiff this morning. I’m going to try to go easy tonight, then get back on schedule depending on how it feels. I’m going to stay away from the trails until this thing heals for good. I have plenty of really hilly roads in the area, so I think I can still get in some good climbs despite no running on mountain trails for a little while. I hope your week was better than mine.

Looking ahead, the results of the Mt. Washington lottery were put up today. It is going to be deep. I know I'm on track for a good race, but I still need to put the nose to the grindstone to run my best. Keys to running well this year:
-Lots of easy mountain running. Many easy days are going to be easy climbs.
-Lots of hill repeats and mile repeats on the track at 10k pace or faster. Need to work on getting that heartrate up and feeling the burn.
-Long hard climbs. Need to simulate the mental ups and downs of the first few miles on the road.
-Long run in the mountains. I'm really happy with the long runs I did on snowshoes in the mountains this winter and want to keep that going. For the meantime, I'm going to be doing long, really hilly road runs in Jackson like this one until the ankle is better.

I'm also going to focus on the little things. I've been eating much better and practically haven't drank at all since Christmas. I also cut out almost all caffeine. I need to keep getting a proper amount of sleep. Without sounding like I have an eating disorder, I'd also like to drop a few pounds. I've been hovering around 133-135 for a while, but I race best under 130.

This spring is going to be fun.