Oh boy, is this thing on? February was a rough month for training. Ice kept me off the roads and trails for quite a bit of it (and local COVID transmission still has me wary of going to a gym), although I tried to get as much in as I could.

Overall, I have to say I’m happy with this last week of training, considering how inconsistent February was. Looking ahead to when my races are, it’s daunting, to say the least, but I’ll go out and have a good time no matter what (and week 12 is the halfway point anyway).

• Monday: 8 miles, tiny loops.
• Tuesday: Rest.
• Wednesday: 10 miles, tiny loops. I said it before and I’ll say it again: ten mile mid-week runs are the worst (but good time for me to think about things)
• Thursday: 5 miles, tiny loops.
• Friday: Rest.
• Saturday: 22 miles on the trail. Started this run in the 30’s, ended up in the 60’s, so just a wild temperature swing. Was really good to get an actual long run under my belt after missing February, so I’m taking what I can get (and even for not being able to do speedwork due to ice, I wasn’t too unhappy with my speed, either).
• Sunday: 5 miles, tiny loops.
• BWF/Core work/Yoga/Meditation: Did the BWF routine once this week, so back to that!
• Stretching: I stretched after each run except one of them, first one I’ve missed this training cycle!

Another rough week with low temperatures and more snow. When it’s in single digits (with wind chill below zero), I just noped out, which again, trying to refocus on enjoying the running and not hurting myself. It’s looking like a lot of this block, and probably a bit of the next, I’ll be contending with these temperatures and snow, but I’ll do what I can. Thankfully, this plan is long so I’ll have time to ramp up once again when I can finally get back to my normal trails. In the meantime though, at least I’m incorporating a few more hills, but I’ll have to modify my speedwork when I can.

• Monday: Rest.
• Tuesday: 7 miles, modified tiny loops
• Wednesday: Rest.
• Thursday: 7 miles, modified tiny loops.
• Friday: 4 miles, modified tiny loops.
• Saturday: Rest.
• Sunday: 12 miles, modified tiny loops. A neighbor called me crazy for running in the cold, which, I mean, she’s probably not wrong.
• BWF/Core work/Yoga/Meditation: Did the BWF routine once this week, so staying on track with that! Two more times shoveling snow also added in, again.
• Stretching: Stretched after each run!

This was a rough week. Woke up Monday and shoveled the rest of the heavy snow, and then went out for what was the third time for that snow event, later in the day, to scrape up any ice. All of that left me sore all week and scrambling. Only about half of the homes in my neighborhood shoveled their sidewalks, so I spent the week in the road, dodging piles of snow where cars had been parked (but thankfully, no incidents with moving cars).

With more snow predicted on Sunday (and the city pretty much failing at keeping roads cleared), as well as residual soreness from shoveling and just a couple really bad mental health days in a row, I skipped my long run. Ended up sleeping way more than normal, which was a nice bit of a reset so we’ll be back at it this week (although more snow is coming, so more scrambling!). It’s also a good reminder that this is supposed to be fun, and aiding my mental health, and not being so rigid with my training every now and then is okay.

• Monday: Rest.
• Tuesday: 5 miles, modified tiny loops
• Wednesday: 8 miles, modified tiny loops.
• Thursday: 8 miles, modified tiny loops.
• Friday: Rest.
• Saturday: 6 miles. Modified tiny loops. Frigid. Even though I waited
• Sunday: Rest.
• BWF/Core work/Yoga/Meditation: Did the BWF routine once this week, so staying on track with that! Two more times shoveling snow also added in.
• Stretching: Stretched after each run!

Hard to believe this is already the end of one block of training, five more to go! Week 5 is going to be rough based on the snow and my ability to find safe places to run, so I might be doing some substitutions instead, we’ll see what I can figure out.

• Monday: Rest.
• Tuesday: 5 miles, tiny loops
• Wednesday: 7 miles, tiny loops.
• Thursday: 4 miles, tiny loops.
• Friday: Rest.
• Saturday: 14 miles. Super cold once again, ended with an ice beard and a frozen, unusable water bottle.
• Sunday: 5 miles, tiny loops.
• BWF/Core work/Yoga/Meditation: Did the BWF routine once this week, so staying on track with that! Had the first of three snow shoveling sessions from the storm (followed by a walk through the neighborhood with some hot cocoa!)
• Stretching: Stretched after each run!

One of the scheduled runs for this week got shifted back to last week due to the Van Gogh exhibit, but otherwise, still on track with everything!

• Monday: Rest. Went and saw the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit, which was really cool!
• Tuesday: Rest.
• Wednesday: 7 miles, tiny loops.
• Thursday: 7 miles, tiny loops.
• Friday: Rest.
• Saturday: 16 miles. Super cold, started out about 10 degrees, with a real feel down in the single digits. Ran loops around the Highland Park Reservoir, with an out and back down to Penn. Managed well, but was dodging a lot of snow and ice, especially when I was on Penn.
• Sunday: 6 miles. Tiny loops between the worst of the rain.
• BWF/Core work/Yoga/Meditation: Did the BWF routine once this week, so staying on track with that! Also had an early morning of waking up to shovel snow, which I always half consider a strength workout, although this wasn’t heavy (or all that much) snow this time.
• Stretching: Stretched after each run!