Obsessive week training in review

The numbers: 78 miles total

Monday: 11 in 106, HR=134
Tuesday: 11 in 107, HR=131
Wednesday: 11 in 103, HR=132
Thursday: 12 in 106, HR=137
Friday: 11 in 105, HR=126
Saturday: 10.5 in 103, HR=120
Sunday: 11.5 in 103, HR=126
[and as if anyone cares, I'm up to 19 push-ups]

Thursday's run was a bit fast, Friday I developed a very slight tear in my right calf. On slow days, my heart rate seems to be lower than for similar runs in earlier weeks. I currently think I'm in shape to do the Superior 100 in 32 hours (28.5 at best, 35.5 at worst). The problem for me is that there's really no goal between just finishing and trying to win the thing and there's no chance of getting in shape to win. 27 hours seems to be where I start developing respect for the finishers there; I'd have an outside shot of that if I get to 11.5 per day and I'd be fairly confident at 12.5 per day. Half a mile per day is a big thing! As much as I romanticize my last good year (2007), 12 in 105 each day would get me back to that shape. If I could do 14, I'd give the CR a shot [not gonna happen! Winner's marathon PR's: Peterson 2:36, Davis 2:33, Andrish 2:35]. If I just stay where I am, I can live with that.

Not doing long runs or hill work or trails is getting to be a bit of a grind and a little worrisome. Why am I being so obsessive in January for a September race? Here's why: I've got 4 weeks of training in and there's 32 to go; I'm more than 10% the way there already! Things will shift soon enough and I'm relying on the weather for cues; if it's a normal year, we can expect two more weeks of bad weather, then three weeks of occasional bad days (i.e. wind chills under 0), then four weeks of transitional spring weather and suddenly it's April, when I typically have a great race and then succumb to allergies. I'm not planning on racing this April, though Ron Daws, Chippewa and Trail Mix are all tempting.

Winter Carnival

The Securian 1/2-Marathon was Saturday. I went to spectate and saw Karen G., Pete A., Wayne N., Kim H. (came from Duluth!), Jerry H., Kirt G. and Sarah S. ("Pharmie" who was wearing a shirt making an announcement; I'll leave it to her and husband Steve to blog about it first). I finally got to meet Shannon L. and there's a photo of us out there that might get published soon. Results show Chris Lundstrom won. Correction: updated results have Pete Gilman first, Lundstrom second.

I went home to do my run, in one of the few locations where the St. Paul Winter Carnival events seem to be held. There was a cross-country ski race (and either there was a very good team in orange, or it's a surprisingly flattering color) that gave me the standard shock of seeing how fast they went - it's like when you go from seeing people jog in the park to running a mile on a track; you get used to seeing the slower speed. There was also an ice fishing contest, a kite flying exhibition, a dog sled expo of some sort, a bicycle race on ice, lawn mower races on ice... and you could tell at a glance who belonged where. X-country skiing and ice fishing have zero overlap!