Training: 14-20 February

Monday, 2-14-11
Skinner Butte + VRC - 6 miles
Met the Sheldon AD at lunch, then came back to work to run solo. Ran an easy Skinner + VRC, felt pretty good.

Tuesday, 2-15-11
South Eugene - 4 miles
Really tired today; rainy, cold, crappy day. Thought about running more, but I need the rest.

Wednesday, 2-16-11
Willamette Path to Owosso w/Jeff - 9.5 miles
Ran to Owosso Bridge w/Jeff again; kept it easy to the Bridge, and once across, I ran a 2-mile AT run solo. Felt a little sliggish for the whole thing, but I came around a bit at the end: 5:46, 5:38. Looped back and got Jeff, who was feeling a little rough. Jogged the last couple easy.

Thursday, 2-17-11
South Eugene/Rexius - 7.5 miles
Ran long over lunch; South + Rexius. Wasn't too swampy. Focus on keeping it easy but good hip mechanics. It helped getting rolled up on by a UO guy.

Friday, 2-18-11
Sheldon Track Session w/Jeff - 9.5 miles
It's been forever since we've done a Friday track session; Jeff's been pestering me to do one, and now that I'm healthy -- and, based on Sunday's outcome, VERY SLOW -- it's time to get back to it.

Traditional 3-mi warm-up + 2 laps strides, then the repeats. Windy today, but had the wind at our backs for the first 150, then a faceful the last 100. I led the first because I wanted to ease into them. Jeff ran 1-2, 4, 6 and 8. I did all 8. The splits:

52.9, 53.2, 52.9, 52.7, 51.6, 52.1, 51.9, 50.5

Averaged about :70 for the rest, which was 50m walk, 50m jog. Felt REALLY STRONG, except for the last 75m into the strengthening wind. Focused on mechanics -- flick and pull, more assertive pull w/lefty, etc.

Hammies a little sore after, but overall felt strong and great. 3-mi cooldown.

PM: Around SEHS w/Garrett - 2miles
Met with a coaching client to work on mechanics, some drills, then an easy 2 miles around campus.  Weather was brutally cold, rainy/snowy!

Saturday, 2-19-11
Hagg Lake Ultra (volunteer) - 19 miles
Woke up EARLY (430), packed up and drove to PDX for the 2011 Hagg Lake Ultra. Way back when, I wanted to race this, but my achilles put the kibosh on that. Instead, I went up to knock out my "mandatory volunteering" hours. Nice drive to Newburg (right past Champoeg), then country roads to Hagg Lake, about 30 miles W of PDX. The roads were ICY and going was slow -- so much so, that when I arrived at the Lake for the race, many others were just arriving -- or would not arrive at all -- due to the conditions. Ice everywhere, including the first mile(s) of the course. Despite the ice, it was a PURE SUN day -- not a cloud in the sky, making for a beautiful day from start to finish.

From 745 to noon I helped out at the start/finish, doing odd jobs. Shortly past noon, my job was to "sweep" -- or bring up the caboose on the course, behind the last person, so that the aid stations can close. I started my run, excitedly, about 30min after last place slogged through. I was hoping I'd be able to run several miles before running into them.

The course was unbelievably muddy -- EPIC mud. Ridiculous mud -- ranging from a half inch to a legit half a foot. Of the 14 mile lake loop, at least 7 of it was pure mud, puddle and everything in between. Insanity.

I ran along for a good four miles until I hit last place, so then I turned around for a few minutes, and doubled back -- this would be the theme of the day, resulting in a good 17-18mi run in 2:30. I stopped at both aid stations for 5-10min and helped them pack up.

I ran all but the last 1.5 miles of the course, when I ran into the last place woman. By this time, I was tired and my heels sore, so I walked/waddled in, amongst the sea of mud.

Overall it was pretty fun, but I would've been frustrated if I raced -- NOT worth the money, that's for sure. The only downside for me: my R achilles got aggravated after yesterday's track workout.

Post-race: had a couple hot dogs ("Whatever's free..."), then walked back to my car and rinsed my legs off in the lake -- which were CAKED in mud.

Was gonna drive to PDX to hang w/Julie but she was busy, so I rolled down OR47/99 to Corvallis to hang w/Mike, et al. Nice day!

Sunday, 2-20-11
Ex Bike at work - 0 miles (60min cross-train)
Slept in at Mike's, then drove home. Spent most of the day packing up my stuff. At 5 I made it to work, where I ex biked while reading WS100 posts -- most of which were linked from Thornley's blog. GREAT READING. I could seriously bike for HOURS while reading those.

TOTAL: 57.5 miles.
SUMMARY: Good week, ups and downs.  UPs: A good, well-deserved recovery week after a huge escalation from 0 - 75 in only a month's time; a great workout on Friday, the stride feeling and looking strong.  DOWNs: lingering achilles issues, both side; still favoring the L leg (overusing R); did not get long, rugged trail run this week -- important training for both volume and hills/terrain.