An update of sorts

It's been a bit of time since my last post.  The past few weeks have been great for work and research, and after six months of trying to figure out a few problems with my experiment, I'm finally getting good data.  Good data means one step closer to publishing something cool and one step (albeit small) closer to graduating.  However, good data also means long workdays, short nights, and more coffee than I'd really like to consume. I've been able to keep up with my training at least, as that has been a nice break from work. Since my last post, I've had an injury scare and run another two races.

The injury scare started about three weeks ago.  I've been running a lot more miles on the treadmill than I'd like to, but they've been good miles, with some nice workouts.  The workout was 4 miles, 3 miles, 2 miles, 1 mile with a half-mile rest, starting at 5:30 pace and getting faster.  I succeeded, but less than a half of a mile after the final hard mile, I felt a twinge in my shin.  I could still finish the cooldown and thought nothing of it.  In the next few days, it started to hurt a little more.  By Monday of the next week, I finally decided to be smart and back off a little bit.  To my surprise, after one fairly low-mileage day and a few more days of mileage and no workouts, the pain started to go away, just in time for the fifth Freezeroo race, the Valentine's Run 8 mile race.

Hanging out before the race.

I did not get to run this race last year, as it was cancelled due to a large snowfall the previous day.  The course is very flat but also exposed to lake breezes, which make for some tough stretches.  This year, race time temperature was around 10 degrees, which made for a very brisk race.  I set an initial goal of 44:00 for the race (5:30 pace).  Through the first part of the race, this seemed feasible.  After a 5:15 first mile, the pace slowed down a bit, but I was still through the five mile mark in 27:15.  Unfortunately, the last three miles went along one straightaway directly into a headwind. The pace slowed down significantly, and I finished the course in 44:58.  Given the conditions, the race was still a good effort, and I made it away without losing any fingers or toes.

Trying to finish strongly.

Very cold.

Right after the race, I noticed the pain again in my shin. I made it through a cool down with Matt, Josh, and Brian Barker and tried to take the rest of the day easy. Miraculously, by the next day, the shin was just sore and not painful to run on, and I made it through my long run. Gradually, the soreness started to diminish, and after another two weeks of good mileage and good workouts, it was time for another race, the Edge of the World 10K, the final Freezeroo race.

I ran this race for the first time last year.  Both years that I've run it, it has been a little warmer than the other races, but the main change this year was that the wind was much stronger.  The first part of the course is slightly downhill and fast.  I came into this race tired from work but still feeling pretty good.  I questioned the possibility of a PR.  I was hoping to start the first mile in 5:10 and see what happened from there.  Well, Dave and I made it through the first mile in ~4:57, around 10 seconds faster than last year.  Yet it still felt kind of comfortable.  Somehow, I was soon through the 5K in 15:52 (4 seconds short of my PR), then through 5 miles in 26:30 (faster than Pineway Ponds and a PR), and finished in 33:32 (tied my PR).  The wind really slowed me down over the second half; my 5K splits were 15:52/17:40.  Nonetheless, this race gave me confidence for the marathon training.

The Team.

Glad to be done with the f****** wind.

Oh yeah, the marathon.  I'm nine weeks out from the Gettysburg North-South Marathon, and I'm starting to get into more specific marathon training.  My mileage has been high enough, and besides the slight injury scare, training has been going well.  In the next few weeks, I'll be getting into more tempos and marathon workouts.  I plan on running Johnny's Runnin' o' the Green as well as several other races between now and mid-April.  Hopefully nothing else unexpected happens to derail training!