Yesterday, spring made an appearance on the last day of January. 45 degrees and very sunny made for an amazing day to be outside and to get a break from what has so far been a tough winter for running. I had my longest single run since last October's Twin Cities Marathon, just shy of 14.5 miles and it felt great. Running in shorts, long sleeves, sunglasses I got a lot of weird looks from passers-by and got some interesting comments from them as well. Deep down I know it won't last but boy I sure wish it would. After I finish my run this afternoon I will be just shy of 60 miles for the week, a great week considering how busy things have been and I'm hoping that this pace can continue.
Looking back at my past marathon training seasons, this one is already on pace to be the highest mileage training season and my endurance level at this point is already much higher than it's been in quite some time. My goal is to maintain my mileage around 55-65 miles for the next few weeks (doing only 6 runs a week, one-a-day, with one rest day) before I really start to ramp up in mid-February. This is me hoping that over the next few weeks the weather will gradually warm up (next week we're supposed to be in the 20s and 30s!) and stay that way for a while. This is never a guarantee in Minnesota but I'm an optimistic guy and I like to keep hoping.
In March, the high school track season will begin and I will be helping out with my school's track team. My primary role for this spring will be to simply run with the distance runners, do an occasional interval workout with them and cheer them on at the track meets. It'll be interesting to see how my personal training will go with running with the high school team, whether I will need to keep a faster pace, do additional miles myself, or run tempo or interval workouts above and beyond what the team is doing. Since I do want to be a full-time track and cross country coach while still doing my own training and racing, this spring track season will be a great test for me.
Everything in the upper midwest, enjoy this weekend's heat wave. I'm going out for my run and then settling in to enjoy the Super Bowl tonight!
GO CARDINALS! (I'm a diehard Packers fan but I'm also a Coon Rapids Cardinal alum, so the Cardinals have a special place in my heart, at least tonight!)
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