That time of year

It's that busy time of year again. The semester ends a few days before Christmas, which means that a decent chunk of research/work needs to be accomplished in a short period of time.  Although Winter doesn't start for another week, it seems to have already arrived.  Fortunately, it's in the early period of marathon training, so mileage is not ridiculous and workouts are not too intense yet.  Unfortunately, the weather may just get worse from here on out. 

Most of my mileage, at least during the week, occurs in the early morning.  Sometimes it's hard to drag myself out of bed and out the door before work.  It doesn't help that the snows have started already and that the muscles are cold and dead from sleep.  However, this usually works better for me. At the end of a long day, it's hard to get myself motivated to go more than a few miles; it's much easier for me to get it out of the way early.  Also, even though it's much easier to crank out a fast workout at night, that kind of effort affects me.  A hard effort at night keeps me amped up for way too long, which keeps me awake for way too long.  I'd rather sacrifice the fast times for proper rest.

For the first real week back, I had a few good workouts and a race in the snow, so I would call it a successful week.

Sunday: 12 miles.  Miles 7-9 at 5:18/mile average
Monday: 9 miles easy
Tuesday: 3x1600m w/ 3:00 rest (5:03, 5:07, 5:10). 10 miles total
Wednesday: 8 miles easy
Thursday: 8x(200m-ish hard, 400m-ish easy). 6 miles total
Friday: 6 miles easy
Saturday: Freezeroo #1: Don Curran Memorial 5K in 17:25. 10 miles total
Total: 61 miles

I was feeling well on Sunday, and I wanted to do a few "push miles" towards the end, with the goal of 5:30/mile.  They went a little faster than I should have let them, and I was feeling it for the workout on Tuesday (originally planned for Wednesday, but I wanted to beat the wind and snow).  I was still happy with how the workout went, considering I was finished by 7:30 AM.  The snow came Wednesday and has been persistent since.  Thursday ended up being a stride-like workout around a 600m-ish grocery store parking lot to get ready for the race Saturday.  The race was a mess between the snow, wind, and frigid temperatures, but it was a good time nonetheless. Maybe someday I'll attempt a race report.

Next up on the agenda is the Reindeer Run 5K next Saturday.  Hopefully by then it's a little less snowy and a little more warm!