Weekly Training Wrap - 1/13 - 1/19

This week was a continuation of my plan to run with no real plan. I am loosely following the 50 mile race on 50 miles per week plan from the book Relentless Forward Progress. But that is mostly just to give me markers for my long runs and minimums for my weekly mileage. This week didn't offer much structure from day-to-day and I am continuing to just run mostly easy. Once in a while I throw in a hard workout, usually when the weather pushes me to the treadmill. Anyway, my body is continuing to respond well (mostly) and I'll keep building easy mileage for at least a little bit longer. Hopefully my body and my motivation start to line up for some harder training by mid-March. Motivation is always a little low for me in the winter. But one thing is undeniable, I prefer the trails right now, even in less than ideal conditions.

Obviously, the biggest run of the week was my first 20 miler in seven months. I used to run 20-milers nearly every weekend, nearly two-dozen times in each of 2011 and 2012. That number dropped to 6 times in 2013. That distance remained an elusive mental barrier, until now. By the time I was done, I was stiff, sore, and pretty gassed, but it went pretty well all things considered.

I was talking with my buddy Chuck on our run today and my knee isn't "right", but I am not sure it is "wrong" either. There are good days and bad. Things are continuing to progress as I build mileage and balance XT. But there remains constant reminders that I need to go easy. I am not running through pain that is irresponsible, mostly a 1-2 on a scale of 10, and it never gets worse on the run. In fact, many days, it feels better if I run. However, there is low-grade aches that are seemingly everywhere. Some days they are behind my knee. Some days they are the front. Some days it is along my shin. Rarely is it ever on the side, where it resided quite extensively last summer. The long and the short of it is that I continue to rehab and rebalance (I think my quad and hamstrings are sort of out of balance) while I wait for things to feel full go. I honestly think the track I am on is normal and that day will come. In the mean time, I just need to find the confidence to keep pushing and not worry about the bad days.

Not shown in the table below is the amount of rehab work I do. While I have designated days for Yoga and strength training, I lots of stretching and PT/rehab exercises each day. I am struggling mightily to get my left hamstring to loosen up and my left my quad to strengthen and "fire" so I can handle some real vertical.

Day	Miles	Notes
Monday	6	Night Run on Trails Yoga
Tuesday	Off	Strength Training
Wednesday	6	Lunch Time Trails Yoga for the Core
Thursday	6	Easy with my wife Yoga
Friday	Off	Rest
Saturday	20	Cheyenne Mtn Trails
Sunday	4	Recovery
Total	42	4400 feet of vert