Today's Mighty Oak


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!


Another weird week schedule-wise due to the holidays, as well as having to pull one run from next week into this week due to shifting schedules to see an art exhibit (the Van Gogh experience)

  • Monday: Rest.
  • Tuesday: 5 miles, tiny loops. I’ve found my watch overcounts if I go counter-clockwise (also, as I just learned, known as widdershins) around my neighborhood, and undercounts if I go clockwise. Trying to figure out what’s going on.
  • Wednesday: 7 miles, tiny loops.
  • Thursday: 5 miles, tiny loops.
  • Friday: 7 miles on the trail. Had the day off so headed to the trail for my speed work: 12-15 (ended up ~14) minutes VO2. Certainly I lost speed since my last training cycle, but that’s to be expected, but not as much as I thought at least!
  • Saturday: 5 miles, tiny loops.
  • Sunday: 14 miles. Hit up the Westmoreland Heritage Trail. It was chilly, but great running weather.
  • BWF/Core work/Yoga/Meditation: Did the BWF routine once this week, so staying on track with that!
  • Stretching: Stretched after each run!


Oh boy, back at it! At this point, I’m training as if I’ll go to Eagle Up (had to use my registration), but with the pandemic, I will be playing that by ear as we get closer. I also had to use my registration for O24, which is the month before EU, but it’s also much, much smaller, so much like Miakonda (at least right now), I feel comfortable going there.

Either way though, back at it, after a fall of not much running. It’s nice to be back on a schedule, although I’m already sick of running in the rain, and it’s only the first week! This week, and next week are also a bit strange due to the holidays, so while I got all my runs in, the days they happened was all over the place, and will be again.

And of course, I still have my notes from Miakonda that I need to turn into a race report. It was a tougher race than I expected in a few different ways, and I’ve had trouble finding all the right words, but I am still working on it. Anyway, back to it, here’s what I did this week:

  • Monday: 7 miles, tiny loops.
  • Tuesday: Frontrunners Holiday Light Run! Joined everyone downtown as we ran around looking at the lights! Always a great time, and I’m so glad we did it this year after not having it last year.
  • Wednesday: Rest.
  • Thursday: Rest.
  • Friday: 7 miles, tiny loops.
  • Saturday: 5 miles, tiny loops. Then headed to my parents to celebrate Christmas all day.
  • Sunday: 13 miles. Hit up the Westmoreland Heritage Trail. I just have to be careful with this, as they pulled all the port-o’s from the trail, so I have to plan things around the bathrooms at Blue Star (and there might be port-o’s at the parking lot in Duff Park, I’ll have to check). But nice to have a long run on the trail again.
  • BWF/Core work/Yoga/Meditation: This time around, I’m going to be mindful of doing this type of cross training, but I won’t let myself feel as guilty for missing it as I have in the past. I did do the BWF routine (on Festivus, for the joke about feats of strength), but I also need to make sure I’m giving myself a break and some grace to take care of my mental health as well.
  • Stretching: Stretched after each run! This will be super important, especially these first few weeks as I’m a bit creaky and my hips (just like always) are very uncooperative.


Race week! Still hot and humid, hoping that trend breaks for the race. Lots to pack, even though I’m running, I’m still bringing out gear like I’m crewing!

  • Monday: 2 miles, tiny loops.
  • Tuesday: Rest.
  • Wednesday: 9 miles on the trail. Last run before packing and heading out, figured it was appropriate to do it where most of my training had been.
  • Thursday: Rest.
  • Friday: Drive out to Toledo.
  • Saturday: Miakonda Trail Ultra 2021. Race Report coming soon.
  • BWF/Core work: None specifically this week.
  • Yoga: No yoga this week, but my favorite local class is starting back up and I registered for that for the second half of September and all of October.
  • Stretching: Got all my stretching done.


Another disgustingly hot and humid week, but maybe if it times it so the heat snaps for the race, I’ll be okay. Also dealing with utter incompetence on the part of the camping department at the Boy Scout camp this is taking place. You wouldn’t think basic information about the cabin I paid them to rent would be so hard to find, but here we are.

  • Monday: Rest.
  • Tuesday: 4 miles, tiny loops.
  • Wednesday: Rest.
  • Thursday: Was all dressed and about to head out when I heard the huge rumble of thunder. Huge downpour and storm for the next few hours meant an unexpected rest day.
  • Friday: 11 miles on the trail.
  • Saturday: 10 miles on the trail.
  • Sunday: 7 miles. Went to an art exhibition opening the night before, so slept in (which was needed), and ran this in the afternoon. It poured for about two miles of this run, which dropped the temperature by 15 degrees, and made for an interesting time.
  • Long run fuel: –
  • BWF/Core work: None specifically this week.
  • Yoga: No yoga this week.
  • Stretching: Missed on stretching session.


I ran a bit extra throughout the week, knowing my schedule would be tight over the weekend. Well, I just couldn’t fit in my long run, and that’s okay I think. Crunching the numbers, even with the week off for injury, I’ve still run 85% of the miles in this plan, and I keep reminding myself that showing up at the start line undertrained but healthy is so, so much better than trained but injured.

And then of course, there is the question, ‘what constitutes undertrained?’ This is a training plan I cobbled together from three others, but I haven’t been as flexible as I should have been with myself. All of this plan has been through a hot and humid summer, while dealing with the stress of a pandemic. Sure, I wish I would have hit all the runs, but life gets in the way, and that’s okay.

  • Monday: Rest.
  • Tuesday: 6 miles, tiny loops.
  • Wednesday: 9 miles on the trail.
  • Thursday: 9 miles on the trail. For whatever reason, this felt so difficult. The humidity was higher and there was no cloud cover, but even with those factors taken into account, I just struggled.
  • Friday: Rest.
  • Saturday: 6 early miles before the rest of my weekend got super busy.
  • Sunday: Rest.
  • Long run fuel: –
  • BWF/Core work: None specifically this week.
  • Yoga: No yoga this week.
  • Stretching: Got all my stretching in!

Social Links

Archives

How I’m Resisting

What I’m fighting for

What I’m running from

What I’m reading

What I’m drinking

What we’re writing

What I’m running