February 10th through February 16th-Sufferfest!

My primary goals this week involve continuing to improve my fitness, stay healthy, and have fun.  Oh yeah, a sufferfest or two this week would be sweet!

Sunday, February 10th
Brrr-lingame Snowy Sufferfest
4 mile monster snow run..39:57
Results

Since moving down to Rhode Island five years ago, I haven't seen a storm like this since my days of living in Western Massachusetts.  I was kind of pumped about the possibility of a real New England Winter Storm.  On the other hand, I was not looking forward to losing power and having temperatures plummet inside my house.  After a day of some serious shoveling and a run, I was unsure whether or not the race would go on.  The prospect of running in some really challenging conditions peaked my interest.  Once I heard that the race was a go on Saturday night, I set it in my mind that I had to be there.  Before I even start to give a real race report, I have to offer some serious props to Mike Galoob, his family, and support crew for pulling this one off!

Upon arrival at Brrr-lingame, I quickly crossed up with Jonny, who immediately seemed excited about the possibilities of the day.  After signing up, Jonny encouraged me to borrow his Yaktrax to give me a little extra traction out there.  I took Jonny up on his offer and then headed out for a warmup with him and Rhody Seth.

After shredding some warm-ups, I made final race preparations and caught up with the Gazelle and his entourage.  Gazelle and I chatted it up about the course and our intentions. In the back of my mind, I wanted to make a gentlemen's deal with Jeff about working together out there, but figured it wouldn't be the best idea with today's conditions.  Mike gave us some quick race directions and before you knew it, the siren went off.  I got out at a pretty good pace and then told myself to relax since I didn't know how challenging the race would really be.  As we crossed into the deep snowy trails, the battle began.  Fortunately for me, I had the Gazelle as my wingman.  We hit the first mile in a blazing 10:44.  I knew that splits were "no thang" in conditions like this and I needed to keep my focus on the fun and putting one foot in front of the other.  As we moved through the rolling hills, I took a quick digger and gave some serious consideration to making a snow angel as I laughed.  I opted against the snow angel knowing that Jeff and Ben Folsom were right on my tail and were giving me the opportunity to get up without passing me.  We continued to push on and right before our final hill climb, Jonny came cruising by in his snowshoes.  I knew that Jonny would be running the "Death Course" (along with Sandals and Jackman) and figured the battle of the "Long Run Course" would be between Gazelle and me.  Without knowing it, we shook off Ben and stomped through the remainder of the trails.  As we crossed out back onto the road, the run to finish line was ahead.  Even though we were running uphill for most of the paved section, it felt really good to have some turnover.  As I crossed the line, I was pumped about the fun I just had.  Jeff crossed  the line right after me as we waited for the crazies to finish the Death Course.

While I've run a ton of races through the years, this one stands out as one of the coolest races I have ever done.  Everyone had fun and I really enjoyed the spirit of this event.  It's what running is all about.  The only downside of the day was that I broke one of Jonny's Yaktrax's.  Jonny, I promise I'll get you a new one!

                                                               The finish!

Warmdown

                                                             Team WTAC

*Photos courtesy of Jana Walker

Monday, February 11th
a.m. 5 easy  miles that didn't feel easy on snowy, ice roads.
While the rest of my body felt okay, my outer left knee/calf area was extremely tight.  I had to stop a few times to stretch and hop in place to loosen it up.
p.m. 30 minutes of stretching

Tuesday, February 12th
a.m. 20 minutes of push-ups and core work.
p.m. 60 minutes of yoga

Wednesday, February 13th
a.m. 445- 3 miler on the treadmill

p.m. Workout Wednesday
Warmup
6X400 on Fenway/Wawaloam loop (I brought the space watch out and came up with around a 1/4 mile loop to do some repeats).
Most of my reps were between 77 and 80 seconds.  Final rep was 73 seconds.  After checking GPS data, I realized that most of my repeats were slightly longer than a 1/4 mile.  Solid, but not a killer workout.
Warmdown-that leg tightness came back...need to keep stretching..ughh!!

Thursday, February 14th
a.m. 25 minute stretch.
p.m. 6+ mile recovery run down on beach roads.  I had the chance to run on the beach by Seaside and timed things just right to see the sun set right over the water..cool sight indeed.  I was quite sore and tired on this run.  43 minutes

Friday, February 15th
Met up with Gazelle and Crutch on a charming Friday afternoon for a light 6 miler.  As soon as we got going, I could feel a light tightness in my upper calf/outside of knee area.  Running along, my hope was that the muscles would stretch out as we warmed up and feel better as we progressed through the run. Unfortunately the exact opposite happened and the pain/irritation strengthened as the run went on.  Crossing onto Ocean High Highway, the pain intensified and was really irritating me with every step.  I really didn't want to stop, but as we kept running, I knew it would be the best thing.  Gazelle and Crutch were accommodating to my pain and even waited for me at one point (thanks guys!).  I limped it back to Jeff's house as we finished the run.

While it is always nice to run with the guys, this was a physically frustrating run for me.  Errrr!!!  I thought I followed the right recipe this week...off day, stretching, moderate training.  My hope is that I'm just dealing with tightness.  I'll take a few days of rest and continue to assess the pain and stretch.

Saturday, February 16th
a.m. Salivating as I envisioned running long with the guys on my roads!!!  If I had known you guys were going to be so close, I would have pulled out my breakfast skillet.

p.m. P90X Chest & Back-50 minutes
I needed to feel the "burn" in some format and this workout did the trick..push-up, pull-up..and on and on.  Finished up with some light stretching and rolling.  Feeling the tightness.


Weekly Totals:
Miles: 32
Lulu's miles: 0
Lulu's Cross Training: 2 nice walks
Stretch/Weights/Yoga: 3:15

YTD Miles: 246
Lulu:  35

Synopsis:
Highs: Brr-lingame Sufferfest, solid Wednesday workout, and did lots of stretching.
Lows: Friday run pain was extra frustrating considering all of the stretching I did.  I guess there were signs of trouble throughout the week.