Back on the train…
It took me a bit, but I’m back to following my plan. I do love the challenge of following a plan… for example: HOW am I going to fit in a 17 mile run this weekend? I’ve skipped a couple (or shortened) of my last few long runs, so feel the need to get out and do this one. Problem is, the high tomorrow is 0 degrees with higher winds. That makes for a “feels like” temp of -20. That’s just not even fair. Mother nature’s testing my determination.
I could run inside on a treadmill… but that doesn’t sound like fun at all :(.
Sunday looks a little better, high of 8 and winds of just 5 mph. I think I’ll do the long run then — and it turns out that running from the in-laws (where I’m staying) to Theo Wirth park (where Nathan will be racing on Sunday) is 17.4 miles on foot. Coincidence? I think that’d make the run fun — give me a purpose — if I don’t get to the park with him, I don’t have a ride back home to Red Wing! Plus, destination runs are always fun. Might be a little harder to carry/read the map I’ll bring along, since I’m sure I’ll have my balaclava pulled up as close to my eyes as possible and my hands will have big clunky mitts on, but hey — it all makes for more of an adventure, right?
Skiing has been going better lately, I think. I feel fairly natural striding (although I often wonder if I’m just “running” on skis) and yesterday while skate skiing I felt like I could V2 pretty well. Nate said I’m committing to my skis better than I have, and I think I can feel that. It’s hard to tell. One breakthrough lately: I skated for an hour this week, then ran for 10 miles. I tested my HR during both, and my average skiing HR was 5 beats higher than on the run! WOW! Granted, I was running about 8:45 mile pace, nice and easy, worrying about footing & the cold… but still! This is a really big breakthrough for me, knowing that I can finally get my HR to where I would be running. Wonder if I could do a threshold workout the same on skis now? I’ll have to see! (This sounds insignificant, but for 3 years I’ve struggled with calling skiing a workout because I couldn’t ski well enough/fast enough. It’s been really frustrating, and has resulted in a lot of 7-8 mile runs AFTER long skis so I could feel like I actually “did” something)
YEAH!! Little successes 🙂
