MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

After 6 days in a row of running, I think I’m starting to come around a little.

Friday I skied for 38 minutes, but the snow was really cold and slow. That evening I ran 5.5 miles on the treadmill. I ran that extra half mile to even out my log book from earlier in the week. Saturday I joined the group for a nice crisp 13 mile run. Everyone kept saying it’d be the last cold run of the season. However, I’ve been saying that for 3 weeks now, so I’ll believe it when I see it.

I ended the week with 53 miles on 6 runs, plus another 10 “miles” on skis. Hard to believe, but that’s my largest running week in 6 weeks. The interesting part is that I now realize that I shouldn’t take 80 mpw for granted. There’s a point after working up to that kind of mileage and holding it there for awhile where I don’t think anything of it. Now I realize that there’s more to it than meets the eye.

Yesterday I had my best 20 miler since adding skiing into the mix. Ironically, it was my first long run in awhile without wearing my iPod. Anyway, I ended up running my favorite 10 mile loop twice; 1:22:30 and 1:19:20. The times aren’t spectacular, but I felt strong towards the end and the run went by quickly – rather than being a drag.

Although I felt good during my long run, my quads were beat up by the end of the run. So, I’m still a little concerned about getting my body prepared for the pounding of the marathon – especially given Boston’s course profile. I guess I have 6 weeks to work on that.

My friend Jenna always seems to have a good dog/runner story, so this one is for her. About 17 miles into yesterday’s run, I’m coming up on a gal with two dogs. She has a dog leash in each hand, the poop bag is flopping all around, and she is really struggling to reel these dogs in before I get there. About 50 feet before I get to them I decide not to chance it and jump the snow bank in order to run in the busy road. As I pass her she says in her high-pitched nasally voice, “Awww, you didn’t have to go into the road.” I’m thinking, “I know I didn’t have to. I choose to.” To her credit, she did thank me.

Quote of the day;

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t run for time. I run to win. That mile was a credit to two men, and I’m not one of them. It was a credit to Bill for preparing me so well and a credit to Ernie for setting such a tough pace.” – Dyrol Burleson responding to questions regarding how much faster he could go after running a seemingly effortless 3:58.6 at a time when the world record was 3:54.5