Week in Review

73 Miles
13 miles with 3-4 sets of (mile-800)
16 miles with 4x(3-2-1) with 90s rest between each
2 nights in NYC

For a finals week, this is an impressive mileage.  I knocked out one final on Monday this week by spending 12 hours locked in my work office.  I knocked out my strategy final on Friday morning before I headed to NYC for a quick rendezvous with my MBA classmates.  I felt really good about my mid-week workout and knocked my solo long run out of the (Central) park.  I'm always surprised when I run fast solo because it's about 100x harder than running with a training buddy.  Fortunately for me, there were about 10,000 people running in Central Park because it was probably the first time these New Yorkers had seen the sunshine and a clear roadway in months.  For that reason, it felt like I was running a race and passing people left and right.  It was very motivating!

I had a great time hanging out with my classmates, celebrating their birthdays (Happy Birthday Kishor).  I am glad that they still respect me as a person considering that I left them around midnight because I turn into a pumpkin at any time after that.  I'm in the middle of a training cycle, so I needed my beauty sleep. Plus, I wanted to be able to run with Sarah the next morning in the park.

February Snow and Ice Review

I was going to do a week in review for every week in February, but then I realized that all I remember about February was that there was a bunch of snow or ice on the roads for about 2 weeks straight. So, the main thing to remember is that the last two weeks of February were annoying and I ran most runs on either the 2 mile stretch on Campus Drive, or on snow-packed pathways, or in Charlotte, where they didn't get nearly as much snow.  I definitely got to know the 14 mile loop around the Research Triangle Park as well.

Week of Feb 23:
8 inches of snow
70 Miles
3 x 2 miles fail
16M Long Run with last 9 miles at 633, 612, 615, 607, 552, 651, 605, 625, 643

Week of Feb 16
1 inch of ice
72 miles
12M MLR
10 miles with 4M tempo in 611, 615,557,559
12 miles with 4 x (4 x 300m) with 100m rest and 500m rest between sets. All in 60-58-56-55 ish
15.5M easy long run 

Week of Feb 9
74 Miles
11.7 MLR
12.3M with 6 x mile via 549 (42 rest), 545 (50s), 544 (51), 540 (55s), 540 (75s), 552 (200m on/off)
16M in the freezing cold at 653 average and with 15mph winds

Blogs Don't Get Updated When You Work and Study

I really did have a goal to keep this blog updated after I got back from Santiago.  Well, I underestimated the amount of time my third Fuqua MBA term would take from me.  Between travelling to Charlotte for work and wrestling 30-page strategy papers along with a confusing finance team assignment, it's been a bit rough.  I've somehow managed to still cook dinner for two every to fuel me during my crazy schedule, but it's been a tight squeeze.  Running continues to be my outlet, my source of freedom and fun...a time to unwind and forget (for a short bit at least) about all the stuff that's on my plate.  And I'm not complaining - I love every minute of this - but I do have to prioritize the things I do now in my spare time and unfortunately updating my blog is not one of them.

From a running front, I ran 60 miles over the week of January 26th and then 70 miles this past week.  I even threw in a couple of workouts (200m repeats and a 5 mile progression tempo) and a 16 mile long run. Overall, I'm feeling really good and I'm hopeful to win some good prize money this year to continue handing over to Duke for tuition.  Things are looking good!

My race schedule is as follows:
March 7 - NC USATF 10k Champs
March 15 - Tobacco Road Half
March 28 - Cooper River Bridge Run
April 6 - 20 - Dubai and Delhi for Term 4
May 16 - Brooklyn Half
May 30 - NC USATF 8k Champs

December and January (so far) in review

December and January have been a whirlwind.  I finished my second MBA term, finalized some things at work and began travelling for Christmas and then for my MBA.  I ran around 70 miles a week in December and felt really strong and confident.  Then I decided that it was about time to take some days off from running and figured that January in Patagonia would be perfect.  So instead of running every day, I hiked 15-18 miles with Selina and soaked in the sun and the sights of glaciers, avalanches and mountains.  I hopped from Durham to California, to Asheville, to Valaparaiso, Chile, to Santiago and then to Patagonia.  I feel like I've been a nomad for about 6 weeks, but every step of the way has been totally worth the displacement I feel.  I'm still finalizing my race schedule for the spring, but one thing is for certain - I will not be doing LA marathon because I didn't make the top ten to get hotel and travel compensation so I am not in a position where I can afford to fly all the way out there.  Perhaps I'll eye another marathon that Meagan does, but I'll wait to cross that bridge once it gets closer.

Week of December 1:
72 Miles
18 mile long run
1000m repeats

December 8:
73 Miles
18 miles with some tempo

December 15 - In California
74 miles
15 mile long run

December 22 - in California
70 miles
no long run

December 29
8k Race in 27:16 for $500
19 miles long run