WEEK 49: 41 miles and the Jingle Bell 5K

Mon: Westport Road and railtrail in Winchester while waiting for my car.  Scary new dog- had to yell. Cute cows - might  go back and steal one.  LOG 6

Tues: AM lift/ PM Fullum-South Woods "with" greg, Grif, and George.  Griffin never caught me.  Got REAL dark and scary!  LOG 8

Wed: Old Chesterfield Road in Pisgah with Griffin.  Ran down to parking area and came back- did 10 x 10s hill sprints on way back and then on Horseshoe hill.  Started to rain- nice morning.  LOG 6

Thurs: AM lift/ AM2 3 mi TM in my new Brooks Raveena.  LOG 3

Friday: Spin class at KSC- BRUTAL class.  Probably did too much before a 5k. LOG 0

Sat: Jingle Bell 5K in Concord.  22:56/ 7:15, 7:45, 7:15+; LOG 6

Sun: Keene Railtrail Target to Rt 12 Overpass.  Just shy of 12 miles; 1:45/ 56 out/51 back; LOG 12

Great week.  I feel good.  The 5K was fun.  I didn't run it as fast as last year but I was trying to make sure I didn't go out too fast.   7:15 first mile should be about right for now.  Probably shouldve kicked it up a notch at the end but I wussed out a little.  Had a good feeling about being strong and efficient at times.  It was fun to pass some women on the big hill in mile 2 and then a couple more on the downhill and hold them all off on the flat 3rd mile.  Even caught a couple people in the last mile. 6th female overall and won my age group, but that would've meant more had I run faster than last year. (Got a nice bag and water bottle though). Justin and Greg went 1-2.  Boj and Sontag also ran well.  Cooled down with Sontag- nice to not do that alone.  Talked about Vermont City....getting excited and nervous already. 

Long run Sunday felt good even though I'm exhausted from all the running around/driving this weekend.  Hopefully a good night sleep and an easy schedule at work this week will lead me to another good week.  My plan is to string together 3 weeks at 40 miles and then have a drop down week which will include the New Years Eve 10K.  Then get back to 40's for 3 weeks and a drop down week.  Then change the cycle to 40-45-50 so I can get a couple high mileage weeks before New Bedford in March.  That would be good.  All depends on staying healthy and running smart.  It's a process and I love it!