Training: 31 January - 6 February

1-31-2011
Mon: River Falls, WI: RF Loop + Wasson/Campus - 6.5mi (-)
Nice AM run after my mid-night hangover! -- stride felt TERRIFIC -- "long and light", even in the snow. W/focus on proximal control through the hips, it's way easier to navigate/control on even the brown snow. Long rest of the day - 90min delay due to some guy having some health issue right before take-off, so we had to circle back to "drop him off". Got back to PDX, drove to Anytime for a lift. Then Winco, home, and Britten's.

2-1-2011
Tue-Noon: South Eugene - 4mi (-)
Unremarkable noon run.
PM: To Sheldon + Barefoot/Strides + back w/Avalon - 4 mi (-)
Ran w/Avalon after work; ran from Oakway to Sheldon, did a mile barefoot + some strides, then back to Oakway. Had a good talk about "Letting Go".

2-2-2011
Wed-Noon: Big PRE + Hendricks climb x1 - 10mi (500')
Did the Hendricks Climb again, this time with a bottle. SICK. Did not feel great at all, but I got a coffee at Borders afterwards to make it through the work afternoon. Looked like death after the run!

2-3-2011
Thu-Noon: Short South Eugene - 3mi (-)
Nice day but brutal run due to illness. Felt terrible; tired, hot, feverish. Intentionally brought money with me to buy coffee when I was done; that was the only way I'd survive my run. But low and behold, at Vero Espresso (house), 2 blocks from my work, there was "Britten" with two coffees! Very key. :) The rest of the work day went well...
PM: Track session w/Maggie (6x200m) - 5.5mi (-)
Another good track session. 2.5 WU, then 6x200 at "mile pace" (39-35) with relatively faster recovery (<1min 200m). Traded off leading, w/relaxation. Focus: Maggie's arm carriage. MY stride felt really good. These mini sessions are really fun. Felt a TON better than my noon run; more energy, less sick.

2-4-2011
Fri-Noon: Hendricks Climb + PRE - 16mi (500')
BRUTAL long run, but "good training". Worked 7-1 today; SICK. Lifted in the AM and was really tired after that, so I grabbed a coffee (a bad habit developing...)

The "idea" was to run 3-hours today -- just go "shuffle" and put in some foot-time, but from the get-go I felt terrible. Did the first segment with Jeff, so I took him on the Hendricks climb. Felt crappy 'til we started climbing up Birch St; then I felt good -- and really that was the only time. Bombing down to campus I felt like crap and stayed that way. Took some Clif Bloks at UO (and even got Jeff to take 2), then cruised back to the office.

The idea was to drop off Jeff then keep going, but I felt so crappy I decided to bag it at only 10 miles. It took maybe 3min back at the office to decide I needed to get back out there; and "practice feeling like shit". And felt like shit I did!  I tacked on the flat, easy PRE Loop but felt a new level of awfulness -- fatigue + dizzy/lightheaded, even though I'd been fueling and reasonably salting(?). I dissolved an E-Cap into my Powerade bottle, but it wasn't til I took a 100mg caffeine Clif Shot did I snap out of it and get coherent. Even still, I felt awful all the way back.

Wound up being about 16 miles (maybe 17) in 2 hours. It was an awful run but it was good practice to spend some time in that "shitty zone" and do some things, nutritionally, to snap out of it and persist.   I was legitimately sick the rest of the day, so I went home and basically slept the rest of the night.

2-5-2011
Sat: Dorris Ranch - 9.5 (200')
Slept in, then spent all morning reading the result from my Google search: "Western States Race Report". Got a lot of insight, and hopefully I'll learn from many mistakes laid out in those reports.

Despite the illness, and the tough run yesterday, I felt REALLY good on this run. Thought about a bike ride but I discovered ANOTHER flat tire on my bike so I just ran. Did a pure-Springfield run by going from our place to Dorris Ranch, as sweet filbert farm/public space along the Willamette in SE Springfield. Kept it super easy. Enjoyed the few big hills. It's a great feeling when 8-10mi feels "normal" again!

2-6-2011
Sun: South Eugene + Amazon/Rexius - 8mi (-)
Met S-K at the HS, did some barefoot running/gait training, then I ran solo. L calf a little sore overnight, but I foam rolled both beforehand and they were fine.  Kept it super-easy on the trail, trying not to either run fast or on my toes. Nice morning. Rexius was runnable due to practically no rain in over two weeks! Crazy.

TOTAL: 66.5 miles.  
Another good week.  No true workouts, but a nice -- if not aggressive -- mileage build-up.