For 3 runs this week, I had some quad pain in my right leg so I’ve been taking it easy, pacewise.  The weather helped with that, a big mush of snow came down one day and then it was just plain friggin’ cold for the others, so I’ve had no problem keeping it calm.   I also foam rollered the crap out of it which worked wonderfully, drawing out that exquisite pain that no amount of Stick or hand manipulation can replicate.

Yesterday I was back to my resilient self, not a twinge to be had, so today I’ve got 9 with some strides on tap, then tomorrow, along with a blessedly warmer day they’re promising,  I’ll do a tempo run, which I haven’t done since December!

I’d been so good doing both a tempo and interval session weekly during my 5K cycle but in this “between” period it morphed into one interval/fartlek/steady state or progression a week.  I have no regrets about this, I firmly believe that there is a time and place to put the pedal to the metal and between cycles isn’t it.  In fact, considering I started on this 7-day/week running at the top of January, I guess we can officially call this period basebuilding.

Funny to think that back in November, I declared I’d be aiming for 45-50 mi/week, though in my heart of hearts, I figured I’d be closer to 45 than 50.  Now I’m looking at 60 for my average and it doesn’t feel like I’ve even increased the load.

I’m embracing the idea of keeping mileage at a level where, when I go into marathon training again, there’s nothing to have to build beforehand, just make the long runs longer and add specificity to the quality work.  I suppose it does take out one of the potential growth elements, but at the same token, removes one of the potential injury elements, so I think it’s a valid plan.

Quasi-basebuilding aside, next week marks 12 weeks to my goal Half, so it’s time to get back into serious work mode.   I still have no idea what pace I’ll be shooting for, so it’s all a big fat question mark.

Speaking of fat, my weightloss slowed down for a while there, which I believe was a result of not eating enough.  I’m now targeting 2000 calories/day which seems to have kicked the weight-loss back into gear.   I’m loving the results so far, I’ve lost 7.5 pounds so far and my body looks better than it ever has.  No lie.

I’ve settled on 114 lbs. as my final goal – Glover’s magic number for my height and one I think will suit my small frame quite well.   That means I’ve got 5 lbs. left to go, which seems like no biggie but it’s weird, because I never planned on losing 12.5 lbs. and if I thought of it that way, would have been freaked out at the prospect. Now, it’s like having a huge unopened Xmas present waiting for my hot little hands to unwrap.  What will the final speed gains be?

The anticipation is heavenly.

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