The medievalist takes a holiday, and returns to a tough cycle

I was fortunate enough to have my friend Melissa in town for the weekend. I met Melissa 4 years ago when I started working for CTY, and we've become good friends over the years. She drove down for the long weekend. Because we had had some time off from school, I was able to get ahead in my reading, which meant that I could actually take the weekend off from reading, and just have fun. What a novel idea!
My 10k was canceled on Saturday because there was still some ice. As bummed as I was, the race director made the right decision. I'll just have to redeem myself at a later 10k this year!
But not having the race just meant I could do a 10 mile run on Saturday and then reap the benefits by dining out all day.
We did lots of touristy-things, hitting up the Smithsonian museums, and going out to eat. On Sunday, we saw Henry V at Sidney Harman Hall in DC by the Shakespeare Theater company. A friend of hers is a fellow in the company, and so he got us free tickets. It was an excellent performance; the entire company did a great job. The set and scenery was great, the makeup team did a great job making the actors bloody during fights, and then clean them up. It was a great show, and I would highly recommend that people check it out. They are also doing Richard II at the same time (same actors), which I am sure is great too and would love to see.

Anyways, it was great to have her here and spend some quality time with Melissa.

And back to reality...

Sarah sent me my training plan for cycle 3 of Boston, which she said is "by far the toughest cycle." I believe it...

Monday, February 15: OFF

Tuesday, February 16: 2.5 mile warm-up; 6x1mile, start at about 8:00 minute pace and cut down 5-7 seconds per mile, 500 meter jog between each rep; 4 mile cool-down. Total mileage—14 miles (***if you can’t get on a track because of the snow, just try to replicate the workout on the roads. So, you’ll have to judge it a bit by effort, but aim to do 6 x 8 minutes on the road with about a 2-3 minute rest)

Wednesday, February 17: 6 miles easy

Thursday, February 18: 9 miles easy

Friday, February 19: OFF

Saturday, February 20: 20 miles; run easy the first 5 miles, tempo at average marathon goal pace for 10 miles, finish last 5 miles as easy this run.

Sunday, February 21: 8 miles easy

Weekly Mileage Total: 57 miles

So, this morning was my speed workout. The track still has a lot of snow, and the gym doesn't open up early enough to run on the treadmill, so I made a makeshift track. I found a 1/2 mile straightaway with a slight hill and used that for my mile repeats. It went really well, and was nice to only have to do one big turn per mile. I pretended I was Deena Kastor (again, can you tell that she's my role model?), because I've read that she does her speed workouts on the the road as well. I think it was slightly less than a mile, but I started at 7:45 pace and went down to 7:14 pace. Woo! I'm taking that as a good sign, and that my training is paying off. The final 2 mile repeats were tiring, but I think that's when the mind needs to take over. You can coach yourself through a mile and break it down into segments, and that's just what I did, and that's how I got through those last 2 repeats. The adrenaline kicked in and I felt like I was flying. That's the best feeling, and that's why I love running in the morning; it really does kick-start my day in a good way.

I watched the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics, as well as some of the events throughout the weekend. The Olympics are so inspiring in a number of ways; watching all of these countries come together, watch people triumph over their dreams, etc. The Olympians are amazing: how they train, how they eat, and their dedication and attitude toward their sport - those are all things to emulate. I'll never be on an Olympic team, but I think like an Olympian and dream like one. Boston is my Olympic dream, and I'm only 9 weeks away from being there!