Winter 2014 Base Training, Week 1

Monday, December 23rd:

6:00am, 60 degrees, 96%, 0-5mph, light rain.  Maple Shade Loop (S).  Adidas Supernova Glide 5.

5mi recovery - (8:31)

Slow shuffle after yesterday's effort.  Started feeling stronger and looser for the last 1mi+.  It was actually nice running in a light rain today.

Tuesday, December 24th:

8:30am, 36 degrees, 55%, 5-10mph.  Moorestown.  New Balance 1260v2.

8mi easy - (7:41): with 2x.25mi (72, 70) with .25mi recovery jogs (2:00)

Even though there was a slight tailwind and I had Tom pulling me along, I was surprised to see how effortlessly I cruised those fast quarters on Stanwick, and after already having 6mi in my legs for the run.  I don't want to get ahead of myself with my current fitness level, but I have a pretty good idea what kind of mile I could run right now, and it is faster than I had previously imagined.  Very good sign considering I am in MARATHON training right now. :)

Wednesday, December 25th:
Merry Christmas!

Rest.

Thursday, December 26th:

8:30am, 29-34 degrees, 70%, 0-5mph.  Moorestown.  Saucony Cortana 3.

10mi total - (7:24): 2.6mi warmup, 4x1mi (6:48 46 48 5:46) w/90s rests, 3.3mi cooldown

Nice group run with Tom, Colleen, and Mike.  Paced Gozdan for the first 3 repeats and jumped in with Tom and Colleen for the last one of theirs.  Very controlled and relaxed throughout the quality segments.  Nice to hit around 10k PR pace rather comfortably during that last mile.  Great way to get in some light quality during my recovery week while helping out some teammates.  'Tis the season!

Friday, December 27th:

5:00am, 25 degrees, 80%, calm.  Maple Shade Loop (S).  New Balance 1260v2.

5mi recovery - (8:19)

Cold morning.  Kept the pace slow and comfortable.

Saturday, December 28th:

6:15am, 28-31 degrees, 70%, 0-5mph.  Moorestown.  Adidas Adizero Boston 3.

11.5mi easy - (7:55)

Relaxing, conversational run with the group.  Me, Colleen, and Jamie for the first 5 miles; added Jason and Steve for the final 6.5 miles.  Didn't think about time or pace at all today - just ran easy and let the conversation take care of the rest.

Sunday, December 29th:

5:00am, 40 degrees, 70%, calm.  Kilmer Loop.  New Balance 1260v2.

6.5mi easy - (7:54): including 4x :20 fast strides after (5:00-:20/mi pace)

Eased into the run and finished feeling great with the strides.  Itching for next week's workouts!

Weekly Total: 46 miles

I don’t want to jump the gun, especially on such a little body of evidence, but I have the feeling that if things continue to progress the way they are this cycle, I am going to come out a completely different runner than the one going in.  I just FEEL different already, which is very exciting.   For now, I will continue with the plan of running three 70mi+/weeks for every one recovery/down week (45-50/mi) and then probably jump into my first race (5k-10k) sometime in February.  Most likely eyeing an April marathon for the goal race.