I quickly need to be deciding what my spring goal race is going to be. Some of the marathon’s I’m thinking about require that I start training post haste (last week!) My training is at a fine level for the beginning of marathon training. But should I do a spring and a fall marathon or should I focus on something a little shorter for the spring and nail a marathon this fall?
Monday I took a much needed rest day as we returned to Minneapolis late on Sunday night.
Tuesday I decieded to accomplish two tasks at once and prepared myself to bring home all of our mail from the vacation hold and ran to the post office. When I arrived there, the clerk said I was at the wrong place and needed to go to a different place. She even asked, “You aren’t planning to run there are you.” Obviously not, my mail was another 4 miles away. Ugh. So I ran home discouraged and frustrated. My run went pretty well though despite the snow covered and slippery sidewalks both in my neighborhood and downtown. It was 5 miles round-trip in 39:12 with the temp at 15 and the windchill at 5.
Wednesday I ran a 3 mile loop that takes in Little Earth, the Greenway and the LRT Trail. The -6 windchill was pretty cold! The flurries falling made a nice glisten as I ran around with my headlamp on!
Thursday was even colder with the air temp at -2 and the wind chill at -17 for my 3.27 mile out and back run along the Greenway. Passed a few bikes. The Greenway makes a nice wind tunnel and sadly the wind was hitting me from the front or side the whole way! I wasn’t quite sure why I was out there running to be honest!
Friday was a little nicer for a 5.5 mile run. We were supposed to get more snow, but it never came. I ran to the downtown riverfront and headed back south along the Mississippi River before heading for home on Franklin. This threw in a couple of hills. The footing on the river road trails was less than desireable. It was 12 above with a -2 wind chill. I also bike commuted to a few meetings getting about 8 miles in.
Saturday morning the MDRA Polar Bear group met at the Longfellow Grille and ran 11.5 miles along the East and West River Road trails. From Lake St we ran north on the East side cutting across at the Plymouth Ave bridge and heading back south on the West side. I got pretty tired during the run combination of the distance and the crappy footing. It was good to catch up with the guys since I hadn’t run with them in a few weeks. The temperature was around 0 with -9 wind chill.
Sunday since I was already over last week’s mileage I decided it would be a good opportunity to cross-train. 350 yards of swimming was enough to wear me out. I’m quite a wimp in the pool for some reason!
Weekly Mileage:
Running – 28.3 miles
Biking – 8 miles
Swimming – 350 yards
Last Year
Running 17 miles
This is our anniversary week of being in Minnesota! I obviously wrote about my first cold run in Minnesota and made a few comments about the treacherous sidewalks. Last year’s Dubai Marathon was giving away a million dollars – oh to be fast! While I haven’t figured out my race plan for this year, you can read last year’s plan. Of course don’t forget the Foto Friday, of my ice crystal covered face (actually taken while I was still in Indiana!).