It’s been a somewhat frustrating week in the training department. It’s the new year and I am ready to get myself going and training for the new races but the weather has just not been cooperating. I have been trying to work with the weather, but it’s tough. It has turned into a matter of QUALITY VS. QUANTITY. I want more time outside running but that’s not happening, so I have had to somehow figure out how to get more with less. So with less running I have had the chance to work muscles that would not have gotten worked-out with just plain running.
But I can’t help it – I like quantity and I just don’t feel like I have done enough even though the shorter workouts may be harder. It’s like running the mile vs. running a marathon . . . the mile is over so quickly and it’s hard for me to grasp the concept of putting so much work into something that’s over that quickly. Granted, the effort is there, but it just doesn’t seem like enough. So, since the snow and ice have inhibited the availability of running and my sweat factor limits the amount of time I can stay out in the cold, I have had no choice but to choose “quality” over “quantity”. The time for quantity will get here; I just have to be patient, but right now tallying the miles for the week is a bit depressing!
Monday 1/5: 5 mile run from home to Mom’s. Beautiful sunny day; ran hard. I would have liked more time to run but work limited this.
Tuesday 1/6: Worked last night and had to work this morning at 8am (= very little sleep). Too tired to run, so I rode my bike on the trainer at a good clip, lifted some weights, and jumped rope in my “gym”.
Wednesday 1/7: Freezing rain and ice all over the place. Getting off the porch without injury was a challenge! Maybe I could have run if I had spikes! Again sentenced to the gym for biking, weights, and jumping rope.
Thursday 1/8: Finally, back outside! 5.5 miles of snowshoeing with Joe. Great snowshoeing base of icy snow. The nice thing about snowshoeing is that you get a great whole-body workout in just a few miles.
Friday 1/9: 0 miles. Joe had a doctor’s appointment, an all-day event, and then I had to work.
Saturday 1/10: 5.5 miles of snowshoeing with Joe. I probably could have run on the road today, but why would I want to do that?
Sunday 1/11: 0 miles. Big snowfall last night. Got my workout pulling snow off of the roof before going to work.
So, given that I have not been out running on the roads having to really concentrate on my surroundings while exercising, I have been able to put more effort into thinking about what I want to accomplish this year during my mindless spinning on the bike. On January 1 I decided that this year I would up the ante, doing some of my regular races which I really enjoy as well as adding on some new ones. Maybe I will even throw a 5K race/speed workout in there!
That said, I am going to put it out there right now. The big goal for 2009 is to complete two 100-mile races. I have new and old recruits to get me through this and I feel that there is going to be a lot of tough love going on! The commitments are made – I have registered for Vermont100 again and have committed myself to entering the local Iroquois Trail 100 as soon as the entry time opens.
I have made my commitments and now it’s time to do the work. It’s time to get serious. There's no turning back now . . . I don’t know how Joe puts up with me!
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