Spring has sprung?

On Monday, I once again awoke to a world covered in (black) ice. Not wanting to chance anything, I opted to run on the dreadmill again. I got in 8.

On Tuesday, I cautiously took to the roads in the Tilden neighborhood. I ran very easy as the last few days have been hard on the body ~ workout + long run + treadmill. Nothing much to report other than that. I got in 10.

On Wednesday, I ran a 3 mile warm-up and proceeded to a quarter mile long stretch of the Trolley Trail (between Edson and Golf) that was relatively free of snow and ice. This section of the trail is on a hill; nothing too crazy, but certainly noticeable. I started on a downhill and hit 71. Not a bad start. Uphill, however, was a different story. After a 77, I knew I had to try a lot harder. I took 90-secs rest between each (shuffling in place, because the ends of the trail were still super slick). I got down to 65 on the downs and 71 on the ups. I only ran 10 x 1/4, but it was a good start and I was definitely beat; my calves were screaming after. 8 miles total.

I took Thursday off, per the snow storm (7" or so). I didn't want to run the dreadmill and didn't want to head out in the weather. I was either acting soft...or smart. Or, both.

On Friday, I headed back to the treadmill. I got in 9, which is the longest treadmill run of my life. I've run on the treadmill 3 times during the last 2 weeks. Again, getting soft.

On Saturday, I met Outlaw, Dix, Sean O and Dave O at Pierce Mill. After a 3 mile warm-up we proceeded north along Beach Drive running 1 min on, 90-secs off, 2 min (90 secs) followed by this ladder: 3-4-3-2-1-2-3-4-3-2-1. Essentially, it was nearly 8.5 miles of on/off. The workout started off easy enough, but it really crept up on me. Also, although the temperature at the start of the workout was in the teens, it got a lot warmer while we were out there and I found myself drenched under my windbreaker. The "ons" began to feel like I was running wind sprints wearing wet clothes. Still, I was thankful to see that even my slowest pace was about 5:12 and my fastest was close to 4:40. It was a solid workout to say the least. I got in 13.

On Sunday, I returned to Beach and ran a truncated version of the Zoo Loop, omitting some of the trail sections. Washington is in the process of thawing out, so roads were wet, but ice free. Early in the run some of the trails were quite runnable, but later, as the sun and temperatures rose, the ice came out. After 6 miles, I ditched the long sleeve and found myself running in short sleeves, shorts and baseball cap -- for the first time since October or November, I imagine. My legs were cooked from Saturday's workout. I got in 14.

62 miles for the week.

I finally feel as if things are beginning to come around. December and January were both solid as I built up my base and engaged in the "hard training" - hammering long sections of my long runs. But, February got off to a shaky start with the inclement weather and my irksome hamstring. Now, the worst of winter appears to be in the rearview mirror and my speed is (slowly) returning. I'm also, for the most part, injury free. Cherry Blossom is still 5 weeks away...

The racing season starts in earnest next Sunday with the Shamrock 5k. Hopefully next Sunday I will have a solid result to recap.