And the winter rolls onward!

The last several weeks have been interesting. Fortunately, we've been able to hit some pretty solid miles. We have not been able to get all the miles we would have liked to get but we're doing better than we ever have in the winter so that's a plus. Up until this week, we've been able to hit the miles with very little difficulty other than some cold temperatures here and there. It's weeks like this one where things get really difficult.

We're only 3 and a half weeks away from our marathons and all we have left is some speed work and one final legitimate 'long run'.  We've got 24 miles on the schedule slated for Saturday. I'm really hoping the snow and ice will melt away on the Frisco trail so we can get this one in. It's our most important long run as it build some serious confidence and strength. Plus it's the final run prior to the beginning of our 3 week taper. Our taper would normally consist of a decrease in miles but an increase in intensity of workouts.  I'm hoping we're able to get some solid training in for the final 3 weeks.

Over last weekend, we went out to the first ever Cabin Fever Reliever 20k run held in Rogersville.  It was definitely not what I would call a 'flat' course but it was manageable. We had a long workout scheduled and thought what better way to get it done than to incorporate it directly into the 20k.  The plan was to run 4 miles at marathon pace, 1 mile at half marathon pace, then drop back to marathon pace for 4 miles, and then another mile at half marathon pace.  Then following that, we were to cruise easy for 1 mile, and then do an all out mile, leaving .4 mile to the finish where we could just cruise it in. The workout was definitely a success in my book though it didn't really go anywhere close to what we had planned. The first two miles were tough and more uphill into the wind. There was a time during these first two miles that I was unsure if we were going to even be able to get it done anywhere close to the paces we wanted. Fortunately we turned a corner and caught a downhill mile or two which helped get us rolling. The workout pretty much turned into a long tempo run because all of the miles in which we were to run faster, ended up falling on the uphill miles making it tough to feel like we sped up even though the effort increased to maintain pace. We did take it easy for a mile after 10 and then tried to pick it back up for 1 more mile but we just couldn't manage to get it to where we really wanted to go.

Usually when we do this workout, we get a short stop break after the 10 miles and then jog the 1 mile prior to the all out mile.  I think that must have made a difference for how we were able to press for our final hard mile.

Kimi and me after Cabin Fever! The trophies are excellent winter decorations!

This week was to include one speed session on either Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday evening but that's when the weather came into the picture making it impossible for us to get outdoors Tuesday evening due to black ice everywhere.  Unfortunately, this turned into a day off completely.

Wednesday, we managed some solid miles outdoors again. We found a neighborhood road that was clear and made a loop that was a mile long.  Then we covered 10 miles looping. The best part was that we never really had to worry about ice during this 10 mile loop.

This morning we woke up to between 1-2 inches of snow on the ground but that wasn't enough to stop us from getting out and putting in a solid 5 mile run. Snow of this amount doesn't make it impossible to run but simply slows the pace.

All in all, we're getting prepared for our marathons coming up. We might not be exactly where we'd like to be at this point in time, but I think we're definitely on the right track. I'm banking a little bit on experience, adrenaline, and warmer temperatures to help us get through race day but ultimately, my fitness will tell the final story I'm sure.