1000 Uneventful Miles

Last year I was posting running update after running update until Chicago, then sort of fell off the map (at least on this blog - I've been updating my daily running log with what I've been up to). Since Chicago I realized that I've run about a thousand uneventful miles without a training update. It's been mostly low-key run-commuting, although after Thanksgiving I started to phase back in some workouts. And long runs have slowly increased in duration during that time frame as well.

Here's how the past couple months have looked...

December Tempo Runs

Last week I registered for the Phoenix Half Marathon - it will be nice to return to the desert and defend my title down there on February 28th. I'm also probably going to run the USATF Cross Country Championships on February 7th. Yeah, grass isn't my forte, and 12K at altitude is going to hurt... but there's just some weird allure of running XC in Boulder... it just seems like the right thing to do. Plus, I got some new Carrera 4 spikes!

Beyond Boulder XC and Phoenix 1/2,  a spring marathon is in the cards. I don't know where exactly that will be yet, but hopefully I will soon. I need to figure out some logistics, but the time-frame I'm targeting is mid/late April. I'd like to leave May weekends (post-marathon) open for spring ski mountaineering and stuff like that. And I'd like to leave January as a low-pressure month of base building - you never know what the weather has in store for you this time of year. Last week the windchills were below zero, this week the afternoon temperatures are pushing 50 degrees. If I've learned anything about winter training, it's that you just take what mother nature gives you. Or run on a treadmill - a road I refuse to go down... I enjoy running too much to suffer on the wheel.

I'm aiming to incorporate lots of SkiMo workouts and backcountry skiing days - both for fun: skiing is a huge passion and I'm not willing to cut back on it for the sake of running - and for function: I honestly believe lots of time on skis makes me a better runner. I've developed some imbalances over the years that skinning (a very controlled-motion uphill grind) and skiing (constant activation of core muscles) seem to help.

PS - the final mileage total for 2014 was 5262 - after years of 5288 (2013), 5906 (2012), and 5806 (2011). I'm thinking 2015 will be the year I finally dip below 5000 - not because of injury, but maybe due to smarter training and better periodization?