Winter Base Training, Week 5

Monday, January 2nd:

6:30 am, 38 degrees, 30%, 10-35mph.  Valley Run-Kilmer-Valley Run.  Nike Structure Triax 15 Shield.

9m steady

Yesterday afternoon, ran in shorts, was sweating profusely afterward, and celebrated with a Gatorade and two pretzel dogs with cheese.  This morning, ran in Under Armour from head to toe, gortex shoes, fought wind burn, and celebrated with hot chocolate and pancakes.  Go figure!  Jokes aside, strong effort in tough conditions, picked up the tempo last two miles (~7:30 pace), and stayed mentally strong with good form.  What doesn't kill you...

Tuesday, January 3rd:

6:00 pm, 25 degrees, 30%, 10-20mph.  Maple Shade Loop (S).  Nike Pegasus 28.

5m easy - including 4x strides at end of run

Brrr!  Some how, felt great after 2 miles and strides felt awesome.  Looking forward to my day off tomorrow if only to have respite from the Arctic Blast.

Wednesday, January 4th:

Day off.   Nine days in a row.  Perfect timing with the cold weather.


Thursday, January 5th:

3:45 pm, 37 degrees, 50%, 10mph.  Reverse Merchantville Loop.  Nike Structure Triax 15 Shield.

6m easy - included 5x :20 second strides after the run

Little rusty in the beginning of the run after my off day, but felt great last 2 miles and very fast on the strides - probably 3k pace.  After the first (surprise) coating of snow this morning, I am definitely looking forward to the warm-up this weekend!

Friday, January 6th:

5:00 am, 30 degrees, 75%, 0-5mph.  Valley Run-Cherry Hill Blvd Loop.  Nike Structure Triax 15 Shield.

6m easy

Felt incredibly strong from the start.  I think the post-workout strides are giving me more power in my pushoff, as the effort keeps getting easier and easier.

1:45 pm, 53 degrees, 50%, 10-20mph.  Merchantville Loop (S).  Nike Dual Fusion ST 2.

4m moderate (BOF) - 7:24 average

A smooth, controlled effort - despite the gusty conditions.  Happy to see the sun and warmer temps, though, after the last couple days!

Saturday, January 7th:

5:45 am, 37 degrees, 70%, 0-5mph.  Garden State - Tavistock (L+) - Garden State.  Nike Structure Triax 15 Shield.

12m steady (BOF) - 7:47 average (8:22 7:50 39 51 44 41 47 42 45 42 46 33)

Ran on feel, stayed controlled, worked Tavistock Hills a little, and maintained a very consistent, steady pace.  Increased the tempo ever so slightly the last mile just to open up a bit, but finished feeling very strong.

Sunday, January 8th:

6:30 am, 35 degrees, 65%, calm.  Brake's house - 3 Town Tour.  Nike Pegasus 28.

9m recovery pace ~ 8:15 average

Finally having some company was a welcome relief!  Wasn't looking forward to another solo 8-9 mile run after yesterday's 12, and running with Oleg and Kevin at a casual, conversational pace was just what my body needed.


2:30 pm, 48 degrees, 40%, 5-15mph.  Neighborhood.  Nike Dual Fusion ST 2.

4m steady

Right groin was tight for about 1/2m, legs felt incredibly loose and nimble after that.  Beautiful sunny afternoon.

Weekly Total: 55 miles

The miles are coming back nicely.  Just realized I ran 25 miles the last two days of the week.  Beautiful.