A New Year

Well, when I think back to all my training over the years I realize I've NEVER had a year where I ran every week. Throughout high school I never ran over the summer(something you can get away with then) and spent quite a bit of time injured in my college years(lack of base). So now I'm trying to build a good base this year and not have a single week where I don't run at all if I can avoid it.

Core:
30x20x20 sit-ups / 25x20x20 push-ups / 70 lunges / 70 step-ups / 2:30 static core / Monday and Thursday cutting it down to 2 as the numbers increase.

Monday, December 31:
Went out in the morning for a nice run with a miserable wind. Since I'm building up the mileage this week I had to make it at least 45 minutes. But after running 22.5 minutes straight into a strong wind that was below freezing my hands(despite my gloves) and ears felt ready to fall off. It was a blessing though that the wind was against me on the way out which is the opposite of what usually happens(when its only one direction that is. It often is coming at an angle that I get somewhat of a headwind both out and back) and to my back on the way back in. It was somewhere above 5.5 miles but less than 6.

Tuesday, January 1:
An easy 30 minutes on the treadmill for 3.75 miles. My right arch started to feel a little weird here and there so I worked mostly on maintaining good form. It was likely due to Monday's run where much of the road is at an angle and since I run against traffic so I can see cars coming it is always straining on the same leg, my right leg.

Wednesday, January 2:
Today was an amazing day. I decided not to make it too long of a run because I was pressed for time. Brenda and I had an appointment for a prenatal check-up and had a couple other errands to run as well. But we got to go out to the trail along the river in Great Falls where I haven't had a chance to run yet. We parked her car at the rail cars and drove my car up to the end of the trail on that side of the river which turned out to be almost exactly 2.5 miles(on the road at least). I did a little more weaving so my total run was a little over 5 miles. It was fun to run in my vibrams on the snow for the first and last 1.5 miles or so. The rest was paved so no snow. I ran to her car and back while Brenda got in a nice walk along the trail as well. I ended up getting back in about 39 minutes according to Brenda's phone even though I stopped many times to adjust my injinji socks(for some reason they ride down a lot when I'm outside but not on the treadmill). I also stopped a few minutes to leave a note on my wife's car. So not insanely fast, but faster than I thought I was going because I was enjoying the scenery, especially with so much treadmill running. There was a couple times when I noticed I was above Lactic Threshold only by the fact that I was far too short of breath. So I had to force myself to slow down.

Thursday, January 3:
The same at Tuesday, 30 minutes easy on the treadmill making it 3.75 miles.

Friday, January 4:
Though it was on the treadmill it wasn't too bad because I ran some hills as it alternates the grade through the 45 minutes of running. So a total of 5.25 miles with plenty of climbing during it.

Saturday, January 5:
A nice run on the road with that blasting wind again. At least my jacket worked like a parasail for a little while on the way back. Went for just over 10 miles in 84 minutes.

Total mileage was about 33 miles. Not a big increase in mileage yet. Trying to keep it gradual at this point.

Running Toward God,
Jason