Weekly Total: 39 miles. Nice small-taper week before the Twin State 50!
Saturday AM: 8 miles trail, elevation galore. Another trip to Wachusett with Mr. P and Little Boy — they skied, I ran. Or, “ran.” Spring steadily chips away at the astute snow pack. The trails were 50% slush, 30% ice, 30% snow, 10% bare rock, 10% water… oh, let’s just round down to 100% crap. (And that’s not including the actual crap on the trails, courtesy of dog owners who think picking up after their pets is optional if they’re in the woods — at least get it off the trail!) Hard stuff to run on. I headed over to the steep Pine Hill trail to get some calf-burning vertical hiking up sheaths of ice with my trusty microspikes. I survived three hours on water only, then headed over to the ski lodge to join the boys for some lunch. I was all healthy with the turkey/avocado salad that I brought from home… then less healthy with a beer and bag of peanut M&Ms.
Saturday PM: 4 miles trails, more elevation. We planned to stay only an hour after lunch since rain was coming and the snow was getting increasingly bad to ski on. So I got another 4 miles in. This time I plowed through the puddles and fecklessly tweaked more than a few muscles in my lower legs. It started raining as we all walked back to the car. A good day for everyone.
Meanwhile, on the ski trails...
Sunday AM: Gyming. 30 minutes stepmill, 50 minute spinning class, about 1 mile sprints on indoor track. I don’t know what possessed me to take a spinning class. It was raining outside that morning and I had a limited exercise window for the day, so I headed to the gym. And had no intention of taking a spinning class until, well, I did. I used to love spinning classes — I blog about them constantly. But now, it was boring, annoying, yet a heck of a good workout.
Monday AM: 5 miles speedwork, treadmill. And jumprope, weights. I hate the treadmill but… for speedwork, I admit, the treadmill makes me faster.
Tuesday AM: 8 miles Bread and Butter Loop. Such a dilemma right now, that I’m supposed to be tapering for this Sunday’s Twin State 50-miler… yet my legs feel genuinely fresh, fantastic, and invigorated by this beleaguered Spring. For sure I’ve cut out the speedwork, but the miles may persist.
Wednesday AM: 8 miles Bread and Butter Loop. Another great morning to run.
Thursday AM: 6 miles , mostly easy and flat. Okay, last run before the 50 miler, I promise.
Friday AM: 60 minutes swimming.
