Hill Climbin'

Hills were the theme of the week. I got back to Keene and got right down to business. I was horribly sore all week but the nice weather made the screaming of my quads almost bearable. It was wonderful to be able to run barefoot again!

Monday- AM- 3 easy + strength routine
PM- 2 miles w/u, Drummer Hill- 2xmile (5:44, 5:52), 4x400 (63s) 4x200 (28s, last in 25) Felt awful. 2 mile c/d

Tuesday- AM- 3 miles easy, 30min hurdle work. I haven't hurdled since last spring; it went surprisingly well.
PM- mile jog, drills, then 7 miles slow through muddy trails (52 min). 6x60m sprints on grass after. Felt awful and sore.

Wednesday: AM- 3 easy, right quad barely functioning
PM= 5 min jog to attempt to loosen up right quad, 10 mile tempo with Wilson on very hilly course- 55:57. That's a great effort over that course- last year, 6 days before indoor nationals, I ran 58:20 for the same loop and it was a really hard effort. There are several climbs of a mile or more on this loop. Afterward, 8x150 fast on the grass, walk back rest. The tempo felt surprisingly good despite the bad quad but it was next to impossible to get going on the 150s.

Thursday- AM- 3 easy with Jared + 20 min hurdling.
PM- 1 mile jog, drills. 7 miles slow through muddy trails (51:30) then 4x60m sprints after. Felt awful- sluggish and sore.

Friday- AM- 5 easy with Amy, feeling a little better. Abs + pushups after.
PM- 5 barefoot on the grass, Pete jumped in with me for the middle two. Drills after.

Saturday- At Trinity Invite, 3 mile warmup, 5x3min on, 2 min off at fast intensity, 5 mile c/d.

Sunday- 13 easy- first 10 miles were fine, but right about 70 minutes into the run, the clouds opened up and we ran through a freezing deluge all the way back. The run went from being kinda pleasant to thoroughly miserable in about five seconds. Hands too numb to do laces, so I showered with my shoes on.

Total- 85

Solid first week back- I felt like crap all week from all the hill climbing but I was satisfied with the week's training. Next Saturday I'll be doing my first race of the outdoor season- a steeplechase at Fitchburg State. If I have any kind of affinity for it, I'll probably do a 1500/steeple double at Nationals. If it goes poorly, I'll go 1500/5000 most likely.

Have a nice week, everyone.