Weekly Wrap-Up: November 27-December 3

In the past, I’ve held up my monthly wrap-ups when I’ve had an outstanding race report, but this time, I figured I had a better chance of finishing the November wrap-up than my Trophy Trot 10K recap, so that’s what I published on Friday. My race recap will hopefully be done this week.

I mentioned this in my November wrap-up, but I set a new record for most miles in a single year on Tuesday. I’m up to 1,569.2 miles now. I know I’ll hit 1600, which is cool, but I don’t think I’ll quite make it to 1700.

Weight Check: 164.4 pounds, up 1.1 from last week. I’m lucky it wasn’t more than that. It was a stressful week, and I didn’t handle it well. Better luck next week, I hope.

This Week’s Runs
Day Scheduled Total Miles
Monday 5 miles easy 5.01
Tuesday 4 miles easy 4.01
Wednesday 1 mile easy, 3 miles at half marathon pace (9:30-9:40/mile), 1 mile easy 5.01
Friday 3 miles easy 3.11
Saturday 10 miles easy 10.02

Total: 27.16 miles

On Monday, it was 31 degrees. My legs felt fine (or maybe they were just numb). Other than the cold, it was uneventful. I was a little faster on the first mile due to the cold, then I settled into an easier but steady pace, and finally I sped up at the very end.

Tuesday was pretty similar to Monday, just one mile shorter. Still 31 degrees, but my legs still felt fine. I was a little bit faster, though.

On Wednesday, I had a tempo run. It only got down to 44 degrees. My legs felt fine for most of the run, with just a little bit of fatigue at the end, which I expected. I managed to speed up on each mile of the main workout. I ended up giving this one a shout out in my November recap, and it was a nice way to close out what was a pretty disappointing month.

Friday was pretty nice, 46 degrees. I think I slowed down a little bit because I wasn’t cold. My legs felt fine. I kept the effort easy (and apparently consistent on the first two miles, both were 11:31) until my usual speed-up near the end.

On Saturday, it was 50 and overcast, which is pretty close to perfect weather for me. My legs felt OK. They started shutting down the water fountains for the winter, so there were a couple of spots where I slowed down to check if a fountain was still working. I only found one, just before 5 miles, and then they turned it off shortly after I finished. D’oh!

I kept the effort easy until I got to the last mile when I really pushed it. I was really happy with my finish.

Next week, I have the Huntersville Half Marathon on Saturday. It won’t be as flat as Tobacco Road, but it should be a good challenge. Also, it’s probably going to be cold. As I write this, the forecast says 32 degrees at race time. I’d be shocked if I got a PR, but you never know.