The Week of January 14-20, 2008

Synopsis of Week’s Training:
I came into this week having run 13 straight days, including my YTD longest run of 8 mile the preceding Sunday. On Monday, my legs felt tired. This was awesome! This feeling was totally different than the zero-energy problem [link] that resulted in me taking off the second half of December. Also, my running had come far enough along I could tell tired leg days from other days. :-) Tuesday was a hill day, while Wednesday through Friday were all the same flat five mile loop. In just two weeks, the average pace of these easy runs has come down from around 8:45 to around 8:15 pace.

Inspired by my thoughts of Potomac Overlook Park [linky], I ran over to POP late in the day on Saturday where I logged my longest run since early December – 9 miles. Where as it was nice to be moving faster on my easy loop the previous few days the relentless hills of POP put me back in my place and soundly reminded my of my current fitness … or lack there of. THat said, I thoroughly enjoyed the run and returning to my favorite local trails.

On Sunday, I unintentionally deviated slightly from my plan of not running two “harder”runs back to back. It was SO cold out I couldn’t help but push the pace a bit – I had no desire to be outside any longer than I needed to be. Sure it was only in the low 20s, but I headed out running directly into a brutal headwind. Brr. By the way, by harder workout, I meant an average moving pace of 7:49.

By The Numbers:
Monday – 5.
Tuesday – 5.
Wednesday – 5.
Thursday – 5.
Friday – 5.
Saturday – 9.
Sunday – 5.

Weekly Mileage: 39
Year-to-Date Mileage: 111
Three Week Moving Average: 37
Year-to-Date Weekly Average: 38.5

Upcoming Training Goals:
Run almost every day. Try and hit 6-8 miles one weekday evening. Shoot for a 12+ mile run over the long weekend. Focus on slow and steady improvement – don’t overdo things even if I feel good on a given day.

Related articles:

1. The Week of January 7-13, 2008 Synopsis of Week’s Training:After not running 12 of the final 14 days of 2007, I started running again in the new year. Heading into this week I’d run 6 straight...
2. The Week of January 28-February 3, 2008 Synopsis of Week’s Training: Now THAT’s what I’m talking about! Six days of running this week with a 10 mile weekday run, a 16+ mile run on the weekend and...
3. The Week of January 21-27, 2008 Synopsis of Week’s Training:After two back-to-back harder efforts, my legs were a bit tired on Monday. I headed out planning on run 8 to 12 miles, but bagged that idea...

Filed under Bryon · Tagged with Training Update, Weekly Update

Bryon Powell is the Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar.com, which he founded five years ago. Also the author of Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons and a contributing editor at Trail Runner magazine, he's quickly approaching 10 years as an ultrarunner and 20 years as a trail runner. These days he calls Park City, Utah and its trails home.
All posts by Bryon Powell