9 weeks out

Nine weeks until the Flying Pig marathon. Two weeks until the Tom King half marathon. Not to excited about the Tom King. Last time I raced it was 2-3 years ago. I tweaked my achilles about 2 miles from the finish and hobbled home. Plus, though the course is flat and fast, it's very boring. The greenway section has no character, only thing good is being able to see the other runners after the turn around.

Training this week went pretty well until yesterday. This was a high mileage week, but only one speed workout. Fridays run was an hour and a half, with the last 4 miles in a driving rain. Saturday's run was shorter, but again in the rain. At least it was only a light rain. Sunday, I woke up to snow and went back to bed. Plan was for a progression run, no way that would work in the snow and ice. The guys went ahead and ran in the snow. I should have went with them.

I waited until 12:30, after most of the snow had melted from the roads. The temperature was 40 degrees, but a steady wind with some really big gusts. Went out to General Bragg HQ's on the greenway and did 30 minutes of warmup. The trees still had lots of snow and still patches of snow everywhere. Next 30 minutes were supposed to be around marathon pace, 7:15 miles. I ended up averaging 7:06, and had to really make an effort to keep from going to quick. I did these miles on the loop at the Stones River Battlefield. Worked well, because it sheltered most of the wind except for maybe a quarter mile worth of headwind and another quarter worth of tail wind. Final 30 minutes were supposed to be around 6:45. It never happened. First mile came in at 6:50 and it was a struggle. Next mile was a 7:16. I couldn't keep the fast pace going and decided to just try and maintain marathon pace. Twenty minutes into the final 30 minutes and I caved. I was spent. Can't believe the lack of energy at that point. Couple of things come to mind: strong winds wore me out, high mileage week, or maybe the late start? Heart rate was higher than it should have been in the last few miles, almost maximum.

Really ready for winter to be over. The cold isn't that big of deal. This morning it was 24 degrees and everything was comfortable except for my face. The wind was blowing enough to make my face hurt. It never really warmed up that much. Everytime it did, I'd be back into the wind. Brrrrrr....... Tomorrow is even supposed to be colder, but at least I'll be running with the herd and can tuck in behind someone for a portion of the run.