Aw yeah!

The miles are fun. I miss running this much and I am feeling pretty good. I needed to take a bit of a break yesterday due to overuse, but I feel great today and will get in a nice run after work with my dog. It is amazing to me how fast the miles help and how smooth the runs start to feel. I need to continue to be careful and a bit conservative for my calves, but other than that, I feel great. I think that after a couple of months in this routine, there will be a noticeable difference in my fitness and racing ability. I will get in a long run this weekend and then a moderate run on the following day. I will have a weekly total around 70 and that will be good for the first week of "mileage focused running". I will up the mileage about 10% each week and stay consistent with the speed-work and tempos. I considered jumping in the California 100 mile race, but I am not sure I would even make it (I would make it, but it could and would most likely be very very ugly!!!). It is in my old stomping grounds and has something like 14,600' elevation gain throughout the run. I will stay away from this one for now, and think about something more reasonable (like a 5k)! I know, big difference, but so what. Racing is racing, and I miss it! I have noticed that the competitive edge comes back pretty naturally when the training gets more serious. I use to dislike losing to Adrienne at Cribbage, but now it is all I can do to not tip the board over :) I don't, but I think about it.

I am looking forward to getting up into the mountains and finding lost lakes and seeing all the wild animals soon. I still have a few months before the snow clears, but until then, I will continue on with what I have been doing.

Adrienne is running great as well. She did 10.5 last weekend, and that was her longest run by quite a bit for quite a while. I think she will hit somewhere around 10-13 this weekend as well, and that will be where she stays for another week or so. She is working up to doing a comfortable 20miler, and then we will take a weekend and both go LONG! Everything else is moderate and just a little speed added in. The training is reminicent of Marty Liquori's trainiing back in the day (save the fact that he was fast as a cheetah, and did consistent 30 milers after races). But if the body can take it, and there are good results coming from it all, then more power to the system. I do not see any need to go over 70-80 considering the goals that I have, but if I can, I will. I love being out there running!

Finch