February 26th through March 3rd

Sunday, 2/26: Hyannis Half Marathon: 1:18:17.  

Highlights: first three miles in low 17's, stayed mentally tough at the end.

Low lights: poor pacing, one of the nastiest winds I have ever ran in, feeling tightness throughout the race, and some stomach pain.

"Some days you're the hammer, some days you're the nail."  Today I was the nail.

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/12/ma/Feb26_Hyanni_set6.shtml

Kelsey ran 1:47:43.  I was really proud of her today.

Dave (Kelsey's Dad) ran 1:57:59.  Also, a very solid run for him.

Fun trip, tough race.  Not sure how I feel about doing winter half marathons after today.

Monday, 2/27: 0 miles
With some lingering stomach pain and late work meetings, heading out for a run wasn't anywhere in my plan for the day.  Did some stretching and tried to loosen up.  From here, I will gearing up for my St. Patty's Day Race!

Tuesday, 2/28:
AM: 3 miles on the 'mill
PM: 3 more miles on the 'mill..caught up on with some uninspiring Celtics action on tv.

Wednesday, 2/29

5.6 miles on the 'mill again.  35 minutes.  Started off running 6:40's and increased the pace to around 6 minutes a mile as I progressed through the run.  I'm not sure what I turned up more...the speed on the machine or volume on my IPOD.  Actually felt pretty good despite the boredom.  I need to get back outside ASAP!

Did some push-ups and ab work for good measure.

Boring posts, I know.

Thursday, 3/1
6.5 miles

4 miles with Lulu through Weekapaug roads and down to the Inn Beach.  As we ran down the beach board walk, I was shocked to see that the beach was totally washed out from a recent storm.  The sea was pounding what was left of the beach.  Cool site to see.  We shot back up the hill home at a very solid pace.

Upon arriving back home, I met Kelsey to run another 2.5 mile loop.  On our way back, we checked out this historic grave yard from the early 1800's.  It turned out that one of our local roads is named after the family in the grave site.

Friday, 3/2
5 miles
20 minute run with Kelsey and Lu, followed by 8X400 with 35 to 60 second rest at Hell Field.
The 400s are not accurately measured.  Based upon time and effort, I consider these little loops I run to be about 400m.  This setting is affectionately called Hell Field because I only go there to do these kinds of workouts. When I started the workout, I had 10 repeats in mind.  By the time I hit 5 repeats, I was feeling slow and tired.  I settled on completing 8 repeats and cashed it in!

Saturday, 3/3
15 miles
Early morning jaunt with the WTAC Crew (Jeff, Muddy, & Jonny) from the Westerly Y through the streets of Pawcatuck and then the trails of Barn Island.  I've always wanted to check out the trails of Barn and was not dissappointed. 

Forecasts predicted for pouring rains and heavy winds. We were pleasantly greeted with mild temps and no rain...perfect conditions for a long run.

Best parts of this run:
-Running down the middle of the street in downtown Westerly.
-BARN
-D & D Munchkins on my way home.

Weekly Mileage: 52
Definitely the highest mileage week I have hit in years.  Bookend long runs made this happen.  I was pretty beat up after Hyannis, but was able to get some solid work in this week.   I had some back and foot soreness at times throughout the week on my left side.  My next goal race is the Holyoke St. Patrick's Day 10k, which is coming up in two weeks.  I'm also looking forward to a really good workout at the Spring Forward 1 hour trail race next weekend.  Cheers!