Training Update

First things first, my last ski was April 27th at Birch Hill. It was mushy and slow by then but I believe that's the latest I've skied here. All our ski stuff is still out, waiting for summer wax and storage.

Just a week later, this Wednesday, I had my first trail run. Warmed up on the UAF Commuter Trail (just behind the Botanical Garden and Reindeer Farm) and then did a 20 min tempo run and surges on the Sheep Creek trail with a long cool down. Sheep Creek is my favorite stretch for workouts. Straight, soft, no traffic. Great for strength work (slight uphill heading out) and sustained speed.

Workouts have been going okay. Up to 35 miles a week or so, plus cross training. Most of my "speed" and threshold training runs have been uphill. I've kind of switched from every other day of running to two days on, one day off. That seems to be working; I tried three days of consecutive running last weekend, but the knee was getting sore. So I biked Chena Ridge on Tuesday and it bounced right back.

Chena River Run tomorrow. Despite the Jazzercise crew and other pre-race BS I look forward to this one all year. 5Ks are not my cup of tea but it's usually a competitive race and the true opener to the spring season.

I don't usually make predictions, but hoping for 17:40. Everone is gung ho on this one, and the key is not to get sucked out too fast. At 3/4 mile I'll probably be in 40th or 50th place. Moving up is easy for another 3/4 mile, and then it's just hang on and hope not to get outkicked by those with younger-faster legs.