Bear Mountain 50k Training – Week 5

Week 5 started out pretty good, and by the end I could tell my body was starting to get tired from all the hours spent running. This weeks mileage was more than the previous week, and I found a little error in my training plan which threw me for a loop. I counted all the miles for the week and it was 44 (which would have been 10 more than the previous week), but the training plan recap said 41, so I had to figure out where to cut some miles off.

Tuesday started with a 7-mile nighttime run on the esplanade thanks to New Balance helping with snow removal after some storms! I strapped on my headlamp and did 7 fairly quick miles (average 8:52/mile) with 4 strides. It felt good, and I enjoyed getting some running time in without worrying about traffic – I popped in some headphones and listened to some Trail Running podcasts during my run!

Wednesday was the day I decided to cut some miles off, since my plan said to do 8-9 miles of fartleks. I decided to run 5, since my shins have been tender still and doing 3 extra miles of speed work could be dangerous. I averaged 8:46/mile and tried not to let the fact I cut some miles off my run bring me down too much.

Thursday I was feeling pretty sore/lazy, so I decided to move my run to Friday instead. I immediately regretted not running on Thursday when we got out there. It was cold, it was windy, and I am not mentally prepared to be running 6.3 miles on a freezing cold Friday morning. It was great to have some company to get me through the run, at least!

Saturday was another freezing cold day – by nighttime the windchill in Boston was pretty much -30 degrees. We got our run in early with the Heartbreak Hill Running Company to avoid the coldest part of the day, and the run felt pretty good despite the cold. Everyone was in full cold-weather gear, and it was necessary. My pace was pretty good (I even got a compliment out on the run about my pacing ability!) and I felt pretty strong despite the cold and the wind. I got in a good 15 miler on the Boston Marathon Course, and enjoyed cozying up on the couch in my jammies the rest of the day!

Sunday was supposed to be an easy 6 miler, but with the windchill at dangerous temperatures, I couldn’t bring myself to run outside. I can suck it up with the best of them for a cold run, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to damage my skin for an easy 6 miler. Matt and I headed up to the treadmills for a nice Valentine’s Day couples treadmill torture, but they were both taken. We decided to come back later and try again, and the same thing happened. One opened up, so I offered it to Matt since he had to do 10 miles and I only had 6. I did about 2 on the elliptical waiting for the treadmill, and did 3 on the treadmill before my right shin started to get pretty sore. I called it early in hopes that some rest would help my leg recover for my Tuesday run in week 6.

Overall it was a good week, but I’m keeping a careful watch on my shins for the next few weeks as my miles ramp up even more. I would absolutely hate to get a serious injury a month and a half into a training program. I’ve been focusing more energy on stretching throughout the day and rolling twice a day to help alleviate the pain and recover.