Weekly Training Wrap - 12/23 - 12/29

This was an interesting week with the Holidays. I managed my third week in a row of 30+ miles, but this time mostly just on frequency. There were no "long" runs. I have now accomplished both my running goals for the month of December -- a thirty mile week (I had 30 of them) and a 100 mile month (125 and counting). In addition to the odd week of running, I really didn't do much as far as strength training. I decided this was a good week to take that easy as well. I don't usually give it the credit it deserves, but strength training is another source of stress that needs to be managed.

The best run of the week was my run on Friday where I pounded out some intervals. Now, I admit that it was an easier interval session (with recoveries as long as the intervals), but I nailed it. The design of the workout was to do 6 repeats and between 6:36 and 6:56 (roughly 10k). My splits were a consistent 6:33 to 6:39 and my HR was a consistent 163 - 168, which is on the low side of a 10K effort (probably more like 169-172 for me). This proves that my fitness is not all that bad despite the off year and relatively low miles of late.

I think what I really need is to sign up for a race. Overall my knee feels fine, not perfect, but fine. There isn't really much doubt in my mind that my meniscus is fixed. That part is fairly to figure out since I accomplished both my December goals somewhat easily. The only outstanding question is whether this cyst/bump that has formed is an issue. Nonetheless, I think I can sustainable train at this level, and maybe even a slightly higher level, through the winter as I allow my body to realign and re-balance. The impulsive part of me desperately wants to just pull the trigger on a race, but I have an outstanding doctor appointment that the analytical/smart part of me thinks should happen first. We'll see which side wins!

Day	Miles	Notes
Monday	Off	Rest
Tuesday	3	Easy with my kids Body Weight Strength Training
Wednesday	6	Christmas Morning Trails
Thursday	7	Zone 2/Easy
Friday	7	6 x 2 min w/ 2 min recovery
Saturday	9	Coyote Ridge Trails
Sunday	Off	Rest
Total	32