February Wrapup and Another Taper Begins

It's hard to believe that we are already in the first week of March! Wow! That means it's time to put the wrap on February and look forward to this month.

Bottom line is February went out like a lamb. Part of it was a little too much racing - three races this past month - Surf City Half on the 7th, WTRS 21K Trail race on the 20th, and the Firecracker 10K this past Sunday. With all the mini-tapering that went on, that definitely put the kibosh on serious mileage:

• Week ending 2/7: 28 running, 9 rowing - 37 total
• Week ending 2/14: 41 running, 10 rowing - 51 total
• Week ending 2/21: 29 running, 9 rowing - 38 total
• Week ending 2/28: 23 running, 5 rowing - 28 total
• Total: 121 running, 33 rowing - 154 total

That's about 25 to 30 miles short of plan when I started the month. Oh well. Consistency is really the name of the game. Or so I convince myself that it is.

And now? Nervous time begins! The L.A. Marathon is less than 3 weeks away. Gulp! That means that I start taper this week. I'm going to forgo the rowing machine for the next few weeks and put my mileage in on the roads and trails. For this week:

• Monday: Scheduled rest.
• Tuesday: 8 general aerobic miles
• Wednesday: 6 general aerobic miles. Stretch and core workout.
• Thursday: Hill repeats. 6 miles total including 6 hill repeats.
• Friday: Scheduled rest.
• Saturday: 12 miles general aerobic.
• Sunday: 4 miles general aerobic. Stretch and core workout
• Total plan: 36 miles

This time around I am committed to not showing up at the start line tired. So while this week's schedule is a medium effort for me, next week and the week after will be rather pedestrian - 25 miles next week, and 8 miles (plus the marathon) the following week. My challenge will be to not *eat* like I'm still running 40 miles.....

I Guess I Have a Life

I was supposed to put in a 5 mile recovery run yesterday. But I guess I don't do a good job of maintaining my social calendar and was "reminded" that I had a prior commitment in the evening that I had to attend - an Eagle Scout Court of Honor. Now, if there is one thing that is near and dear to my heart, it's Scouting. I am an Eagle myself, and Scouting did more to round me out as a youth than any other activity. It kept me out of trouble. It taught me how to take care of myself. It helped me when it came to college. It helped me get jobs. Scouting seems to take a back seat these days to a lot of the other activities that are available to youth, but as long as those activities are providing value and moral guidance, it beats the alternative. It's just when I was growing up, my choices were hanging out in front of the drugstore (cheap Cheech and Chong reference) or Scouting. And since Scouting seemed like a cool thing to do (you know, camping, hiking, etc.), and the fact that it was the assigned youth program for my church (Latter Day Saints), Scouting it was!

So, it was time to honor the hard work, perseverance, and commitment of some young men that I am proud to be associated with (one of them even started out in my Cub Scout pack 10 years ago). For that, I will happily give up some miles! Well Done!

That wraps up a decent week of running. I put in 50.25 miles (even with three days off), including an epic FAIL on Wednesday followed by a pick myself up by the bootstraps Thursday and a long 20 mile Saturday.

Schedule for this week:

Monday: Rest day. Maybe some erging. Maybe not.
Tuesday: Hit the track for 5 X 800 intervals with 400 active rest. 3.25 mile warm up and 1 mile warm down for a total of 8 miles.
Wednesday: 11 mile medium long run
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 4 mile recovery run
Saturday: 10K race (haven't found one yet).
Sunday: 17 mile long
Total: 46.2 miles

Eight more weeks to Long Beach! I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!