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 […]

By on January 23, 2008 | Comments

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.

Bryon Powell

Bryon Powell is the Founding Editor of iRunFar. He’s been writing about trail running, ultrarunning, and running gear for more than 15 years. Aside from iRunFar, he’s authored the books Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons and Where the Road Ends: A Guide to Trail Running, been a contributing editor at Trail Runner magazine, written for publications including Outside, Sierra, and Running Times, and coached ultrarunners of all abilities. Based in Silverton, Colorado, Bryon is an avid trail runner and ultrarunner who competes in events from the Hardrock 100 Mile just out his front door to races long and short around the world, that is, when he’s not fly fishing or tending to his garden.