a long hard winter, over?

Oh, I so hope so.  It has been a rough one.  One in which I did not train nearly as much as needed.  We had at least 3ft of snow on the ground (like, covering everything, including sidewalks) from the end of December until the end of February.  It made running outside nearly impossible.  And as regular readers of this blog know, running on the treadmill is NOT my favorite thing.

Well, I survived and am still training...just on a much more rushed scale than anticipated.  On Feb 27th I completed a half marathon in Hyannis on the Cape.  It was very hard.  I had just gotten over the flu...when I say JUST, I mean 4 days prior I was home sick from work.  My body was still recovering.  This resulted in a painful personal worst - 2:16:10.

My next long run was 14.5mi.  This was run with a good friend, Kirsten.  It really helped to have a friend with me...I did not want to complete the full mileage.  I felt sore afterward, but the recovery time was better than after the half.

The longest run yet for this training period was this past Saturday.  It was 40deg, bright sunshine and windy.  Why is spring always windy?  It turned out to be a great head clearing run as well as a mental boost for me.  I needed to get a strong, long run in before attempting 20mi (this weekend).  I got 17mi in on Saturday morning and despite being tired, I was not achy and sore (for the most part...).  I went for a nice recovery walk on Sunday, another beautiful spring day, and felt great - really strong. 

So, friends, that brings us to this coming Saturday.  So far the weather reports are good.  I'll be heading up to the north shore to a favorite long run route from Peabody through Salem and into Marblehead.  I'll run around the neck 3x before heading back to Peabody.  It's a bit daunting to think about...but I know I can do it!  Check back for a post recaping the run on Saturday afternoon or Sunday. 

A note to regular readers - I sincerely apologize for my absence from this blog.  Like I mentioned, this winter was a tough one.  I did not want to share it with you...it was just too depressing.  But spring is coming!  It's lighter out later!  Blogging begins anew!