Thresholds

November Project Denver −02.26.14 (suicides in the park)

Perhaps it's a Spring thing, but I have dedicated myself to pushing hard in my training plan. I have up'd the mileage some but am also cross training with November Project on Wednesday's. All those that recommended plyometrics can rest assured, they are very much a part of the week now as are a few two-a-days. Add in a level 2 yoga class once a week and I feel sawed in half most of the week. I know I am pushing harder as I look forward to whatever long run I have on Sat just for the ease of a long, slow run. I keep thinking that the training of last year should make some of this easier, but that I suppose is the point of pushing harder. I am biking all the time now as well and purposely take hills as often as is possible. Yesterdays bike accident had me feeling  much more sore than usual and today I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do much on my tempo run. I pulled of my two fastest miles this year. It is fun to push harder and try for more. When I do find out what is enough, I hope to have had a long, exciting road getting there.

Pushing harder is fun. Doing it again is great. Atrophy is terrifying. Today I can.

Winter Makes You Stronger

I love winter! I do! The cold barely bothers me and when it is colder than I can stand, I have the perfect layers to negate it. It's easy to stay warm enough and there's an exhilaration to facing the chill. My wife showed me her phone that said the "feels like" temp this morning in Denver was −4 degrees. I immediately suited up and hit the roads for a 7 mile run. It was great, quiet and made me feel alive. I then threw on some good boots, my shorts and a heavy jacket and ran some errands. Winter is fantastic. I'll take this over heat anytime!

Cold Run

I have said it before and I'll likely say it again but running on snow is fun! With the right layers, the cold is a whole lot of fun, especially if I have the chance to hit the snow right after it has fallen. I know I live in Colorado and it seems like everyone here is beating the door down to get on the slopes this time of year, but hitting the parks and trails here in town on bike and running shoes. The winter chill doesn't bug me as there are easy ways to stay warm. It's also fun to not have a lot of people to deal with.