The week in training . . .12 16 12

Another week down.  Another week closer to the fifty.  This was also the last week before a two week vacation commences.  During the next two weeks, I'll continue with my training and even get in a few trail runs at a higher altitude.  This was a good week for training in spite of being quite busy with work.  I managed to get a couple of quality runs in and I'm finding that these generally occur on the weekends when I have a little more time.  Here's a summary of the week.

Sunday December 16th, 2012: Out the door early again.  A few minutes after five and I'm out on the street, running through the dark with only my  headlamp to illuminate a small sphere on the ground in front.  And it's cold.  Very, very cold.  Normally on a run, I warm up after about 15 to 20 minutes, but that isn't the case today.  After an hour I take my first walking break of five minutes.  I try to keep a brisk walking pace, and the five minutes goes quickly.  I start up again and after another 30 minutes or so of running, the sun finally breaks the horizon completely.  The temperature rises and I'm feeling even better.  My pace ranges between about 10:45 to 12:00 per mile at a bpm of 139-145 throughout the run.  I'm in the zone for the last 5 miles and feeling great.  Felt like I would have been good for another couple of hours.  Total run time: about 3 hours.  Mileage: 15 miles.

Tuesday December 18th, 2012: When I got home from work I put about 40 minutes in downstairs doing weights and core exercises.  I'm including some lunges, dumbbell squats, and calf raises with dumbbells for my legs.  I ended with about 5-10 minutes of yoga.

Thursday December 19th, 2012: With the bike trainer all set, I flipped through the channels and noticed that Battle Los Angeles  was just starting.  Nothing like a low-quality movie to watch while training.  About 30 minutes into a good ride, just as I was getting into the movie,  I could feel the back wheel jumping a little bit.  I've ridden enough to know what the problem was.  A flat tire! Damn.

Saturday December 21st, 2012: Today was a short run of 8.67 miles.   I waited until about 8:30 to head out the door and it was worth it in terms of temperature.  The weather was absolutely beautiful this morning.  I elected to do a two loop run, first clockwise, then counter clockwise, just  like the CPTR.  Only difference was that each loop this morning was less than one-fifth the distance of CPTR. Ha!  I wound up a little short of the 90 minutes I'd planned.  Total run time: 1:23:54.

Tomorrow I'll be up again (early) and I'm planning on a little over three hours of running before Mass.