In transition

Monday, February 18th: 7:00 AM - 8 Miles, 57 min
Tuesday, February 19th: 7:30 AM - 6 Miles, 41 min
Wednesday, February 20th: 12:00 PM - 10 Miles, 67 min
Thursday, February 21st: 11:00 AM - 3 Miles, 23 min
8:45 AM - 24 min w/u, 5K race (14:42, 25th), 21 min c/d
Friday, February 22nd: 5:00 PM - 10 Miles, 68 min
Saturday, February 23rd: 10:00 AM - 9 Miles, 61 min
Sunday, February 24th: 8:00 AM - 10 min shakeout
1:15 PM - 21 min w/u, 6K race (18:35, 11th), 20 min c/d
Week Total = 66 Miles, 2 Races

Monday, February 25th: Travel day - no running
Tuesday, February 26th: 7:30 AM - 6 Miles, 40 min
Wednesday, February 27th: 8:00 AM - 8 Miles, 54 min
Thursday, February 28th: 8:30 PM - 7 Miles, 49 min (treadmill)
Friday, February 29th: 4:00 PM - 8 Miles, 54 min
Saturday, March 1st: bad weather, long day at work - no running
Sunday, March 2nd: 9:30 AM - 6 Miles, 41 min w/ Maloney & Carter
6:30 PM - 6 Miles, 40 min
Week Total = 41 Miles, 2 days off

After returning from Ireland, I wasn't really sure where I was going with my training. I had just finished my last planned race of the "season", which consisted of three track races, one road race, and one cross race. The track races didn't really go that well so my "indoor season" was pretty much the trip to Ireland which consisted of two outdoor races. Usually at the end of a season, I would plan some time off from running before building up for the next season to follow. However, since I had so much forced down time in the middle of the season and since my body is now starting to feel better, I didn't feel it was necessary to take any time off. But I didn't have any other races coming up until April so I didn't want to jump back into workouts either. So I found myself in this transition phase where I'm 'just running'. I'm not doing anything hard, and there is no real plan for each day; I'm just getting out there and trying to feel comfortable as I begin to rebuild my base for the outdoor season.

Now, I mentioned I didn't have any planned races coming up; however, I do have one unplanned race coming up. After doing reasonably well in Ireland and getting my body back to a healthy level, I decided to add one more race to the schedule. That race is the Ras na hEireann USA on March 16th. It's a 5K road race here in Somerville that brings the Irish background of the Ras International race over here to the states. Since I competed in this race in Ireland and Charlie Breagy suggested the US race to me, I figured it would be good to complete the race series by running this race as well. This won't be a major competition for me and isn't something that I'm really training for, but it will be another fun event to add to the books and maybe give me another boost in the process. It's not part of my indoor season and isn't really part of my outdoor season but again falls into this transition phase that I'm currently in.

I sat down with Kevin this week and started talking about the outdoor season and began developing a plan for where, when, and what to race this year. He has some really good meets on the schedule and I'm getting pretty excited to travel around to these big races. We haven't set anything in stone yet but it's nice to have some options on the table and something to think about over the next few weeks of training. As I said before, I probably won't be racing (track) until late April, so over the next 6-8 weeks, all I'll be doing is building up my strength. I'll slowly build my mileage back up to a healthy 5K training level, I'll get back to doing core three times a week, I'll start doing more strength exercises (which I've been slacking on), I'll get at least 8 hours of sleep a night, I'll eat right, and most importantly, I'll improve my confidence and keep the mental focus that's needed to do all these things. In the past, I've often made the excuse that there just isn't enough time in the day to do all of this. This may be true, but I have to make time for it now. Every day, we're presented with choices, and I just have to believe that I'm consistently making the choices that will give me the best opportunity to get to where I want to be. I have to believe in myself and just have faith!