Monday: 5.6 mi, trail (Bagley + one loop around campus)
Tuesday: rest (FE prep course)
Wednesday: rest (hockey)
Thursday: 7.2 mi, paved trail (Lakewalk + Minnesota Point)
Friday: 6.4 mi, road + trail (to/from Bagley, one short loop)
Saturday: 8.1 mi, paved trail (Lakewalk)
Sunday: 11.9 mi, road + trail (to/from Hartley, Guardrail + Root Canal + SHT to Arrowhead Rd)
Total: 39.1 mi

A great week of training! I ended up with 2 days off last week again, since I made plans on Wednesday, but was still able to hit the mileage I wanted to. 2 rest days is kind of nice, although I wouldn’t mind having some time to myself on one of them. That might happen this week, if it rains as much as it says it’s going to today.

The weather was mild all week, and I took full advantage of it. I was grinning, just grinning, during most of my runs. I was happy to get in some trail running during the week. I still need a headlamp, but it’s staying lighter later & later, which I enjoy.

Thursday I actually ran without a headlamp, which I did not intend. I forgot it, and I was already halfway to the parking lot at the Rose Garden, so I didn’t turn around. I survived, although I had to slow down a bit due to uncertain terrain. There are still so many icy patches.

Friday, even with the headlamp, I ended up having to walk a lot during the last couple of miles due to icy sidewalks. The sidewalk drainage in Duluth is not the best. I was late to the hockey game (like, I arrived at the start of the second period) on Friday due to a late start running, and then ended up freezing cold at the game. I get a bit chilled after a run, and sitting in a cool rink, holding a cold pop, doesn’t help.

Saturday was so warm I ran in a tank top and shorts. I warmed up with a jacket on, but realized after only a mile or so that I’d be too hot if I kept it on, so I ended up running with it tied around my waist like a dork. I started later than planned (I went to a town hall meeting in the morning, and needed to get to a hockey game by 4, which I did not, but came close), so I ended up turning it into a tempo-ish run. I didn’t have a lot of jump in my legs, but I did end up with an average pace of 11:39. For me, that’s pretty good, especially since I had to dodge tourists and Pokemon Go players.

Sunday was warm again, though not as warm as Saturday. I wore tights, but ended up with the jacket around my waist again. I had a t-shirt on and wore my lightweight gloves, and only felt a bit cool. The snow was soft, so it was kind of slow going, and there was one point where I had to break trail (when I left Woodland to get on the Superior Hiking Trail segment that links in to Hartley) which wore on my legs a bit. I finished the whole run at a pace of 14:32, which is fantastic. I need to finish the first half of CM50K in 4 hours, which is a 15:2X pace, so I am feeling pretty confident about that right now. I realize it won’t be on the road, but it also won’t be in snow.

My focus last week was to work on getting more sleep, and I did a great job, I think. I registered about 7 hours of sleep each night (although some of that wasn’t actually sleep, just me lying in bed trying to ignore my cats or my husband’s snoring, but my fitness tracker thought I was sleeping). I’ll pat myself on the back, and try to keep that up while I focus on something new this week: strength training.

I say this every training cycle. I think I’m at “definition of insanity” levels of repetition here. I don’t know what my freaking problem is. Well, one of the problems is that I’m always procrastinating and starting my runs so late that I’m out of time to do a strength routine before dinner/hockey/whatever. That’ll be a focus next week, maybe, but I need to get back to strength training RIGHT AWAY. I do not know why this is so hard for me. Do some freaking push-ups, lady. I plan to do a lot more running this year than I did last year, so I need to take care of my core. My back was a bit sore after my fast-ish run on Saturday, which was a wake-up call. So, if I do any strength at all (that includes like, 3 sets of pushups or something), that’s a win for the day.