Training Week 1/10 - 1/16

I had a good week of workouts this past week.  Because of the lack of daylight during the winter months I am taking spinning classes twice a week.  The class is approximately an hour, with 45 minutes of actual spinning and the final 15 minutes dedicated to core workout and stretching.  During the class we work mostly on interval training which is fine with me because this saves my legs from pounding on the road.  I also did some interval training on the road this week too.  It went well, but the first couple minutes of sprinting are very uncomfortable and I feel more relaxed on the last few intervals.

I have had a few DNFs as much as they hurt, my DNF at MMTR really hurt.  I missed the cutoff at the half way point by 7 minutes.  After that day in November I made a promise to myself to seek revenge on the mountains that made that particular DNF so hurtful.  Because I don't live particularly close to any mountains to train on daily, I have been going to my gym and hopping on the Stair Master for 45 minutes.  I did just purchase trail maps from PATC (Potomac Appalachian Trail Club) for trails on the Massanutten Mountain, Appalachian Trail, and Tuscarora Trail.  Come Spring time I hope to spend ample time running in the mountains with my new trails maps.  With more mountain trail training this year combined with the Stair Master workouts I hope to seek revenge on the mountains that got the better of me last November.

I finished off the week with a planned 22 mile run of Susquehanna State Park, but when I arrived on

(this map was taken from the HAT Run website)

Saturday I saw that the park got significant amount snow fall during the week.  There was approximately 4 inches of snow on the trail, I decided to try and run the trail anyways but it was tough sledding (no pun intended).  Without the aid of microspikes or snowshoes, the trails were just to difficult to run.  I ran for 45 minutes before deciding to pack it up.  When I was heading home I decided stop by Cromwell Valley Park and see what shape the trails were in.  Upon arriving I saw the trails were in good conditions and only had 1 inch of snow.  I ran my course that I usually do, which is approximately 4.75-5 miles.  I ran 3 laps fairly quickly (by my standards) and felt tired, sore, and beat up after the final lap.  After the effort I put in on Saturday I decided to take Sunday off.

I am looking forward to training this upcoming week and getting in a nice long double run (hopefully 15-20 miles each day) in this weekend.  If you are reading this Dad, get well soon and listen to the the doctors!!!!!!!

See ya on the trails.