Unlocking the Positive

Rather than join the chorus of bloggers lamenting the winter weather, I'm going to take the opportunity to test positive for a change. Here in southern Mass, we've been pretty lucky this winter. Sure, we've had an average amount of snow, but it's all come a little bit at at time for the most part. We've had our typical meltings in between each storm, although until recently we only seemed to be getting one or two days of clear trails before the next dumping. February brought a warming trend though, and with tons of rain and temps averaging 10 degrees warmer than last year, not only was my gas bill lower than anticipated, but by last weekend every last speck of snow and ice was gone from the ground. Even the pack ice in the shady spots was gone. The flooding wasn't as bad as you might expect either, and as an added bonus it's been just cold enough to keep the mud frozen and able to support weight.

Monday it seemed like spring was in the air for sure, with lengthening daylight and temps pushing 60. I guess that was a bit too much to ask at this stage, as was two weekends in a row without snow. Today we're supposed to get a half-foot or so, not much, but enough to be a nuisance on both the road and trails. I base my training on key workouts. In other words, instead of a detailed plan of doing this or that on each specific day, I focus on making sure I perform certain key workouts within roughly mapped out time fences. As long as I do the key workouts (generally two or three per week), everything else is optional. This allows flexibility while still making sure the areas I need to work on get the required attention.

Speaking of fences, as noted earlier I'm still on the fence about doing New Bedford. It's three weeks away. For me, that means I need to do two key long runs between now and then, and really by next weekend in order to allow for a full two week prep period before the race. That's why I've been waffling, as for the bike racing season I also need to get in a few key long rides by the end of March, and if I lose one weekend for the race and possibly another for the taper, that doesn't leave me many extra weekend days, which could be a problem if the weather sucks. And it does look to suck this weekend.

Staying positive, rather than give up, I got up at 4:30 am, before the snow began. I packed up my work shit, got dressed to run, and drove in to work. I hit the road running at 6:20 am, still no snow. Rather than run up Big Blue, I crossed over the highway to try the trails on the Ponkapoag side of the reservation. After cutting through the golf course, I headed up another road/trail along the reservoir. At the four mile mark, the first flakes started to fly. By six miles, it was a full-fledged snowstorm, but with small flakes that wouldn't pile up too fast. The unfamiliar trail that I was on got pretty rocky in a few spots, but just when it started to suck, it came back out on the road I went in on. I went back in and ran all the cart paths on the hills of the golf course, then headed back down the dirt road that comes out at exit 3. I only had about 10.5 miles at that point, and 12 when I got back to work. With only a half inch or so accumulated, the dirt 5/8 mile horse track we have on the property was still fine for running, so I finished up with almost six laps, 15.1 total miles in just over 1:56, a 7:43 pace. Not as fast as I'd hoped, but for a trail run in a snowstorm before work, I'll take it. Average HR was only 134, and I felt very relaxed during the run and quite good now, considering this was my longest (time wise) run of the year.

So now I only need one more good long run to feel confident about doing a half marathon. If my knees keep feeling good, I'll probably go ahead and do it. All contingent upon this shit melting within the next week or so. I'd like to be ramping up the bike mileage outdoors rather than in, and I also need to get in a few hard hill runs in lieu of speedwork (which I never seem to do). Keep smiling, and don't bitch about training. Think of how lucky you are to be able to do it. Thanks for reading!