Week 4 In The Books.

This past Sunday was the end of week 4 of training.  It's amazing how fast it has been going by this time around.  I think that looking forward to the weekly Saturday team long run really helps a lot.  The past two weeks, our team run has taken place completely on the marathon course through Wellesley, MA and Newton, MA.  Getting acclimated to the route again and seeing familiar sights again is definitely a plus and motivational.  That may sound kind of weird but it really is.  Even running past Newton-Wellesley Hospital.  Enough said. 

I have to say that I really do enjoy running by myself most of the time as I can run whatever distance I want at whatever pace I want whenever I want.  I don't have to worry about anyone but myself.  That said, I am quickly enjoying running with the team once a week.  It's nice to meet fellow runners as well as running in new locations (each week we are adding on a couple more miles).  It keeps it fresh and exciting.  Running?  Exciting? Absolutely! 

I logged a total of 33.3 miles for week 4.  There were many opportunities to take a day off from training here or there since I was on vacation and there was New Year's Eve/New Year's Day.  In the end though, I ended up sticking with the training schedule and didn't take the easy route out.  I've got way too much invested in this to start slacking off on training, even if it is only a day or two.

Week 5 started off yesterday.  Wow, what a crazy day to run outdoors in Boston!  That had to be the hardest training run I have ever completed.  The temp was 22 degrees.  That wasn't the issue.  The "feels like" temp was 14 degrees.  Nope that wasn't it either.  The wind was gusting at 38 MPH.  That was it!  Running into that amount of wind for a good chunk of the time was very challenging.  At one point, the wind literally stopped me in my tracks.  I decided to run down neighborhood streets using the brownstones as windbreakers instead of running along the Charles river.  That worked for the most part.  The upside to running in that wind?  The moon.  It was absolutely amazing as it was rising in the sky.  Completely worth dealing with the wind and freezing temps.  Wow, it really was amazing!

Until next time, keep on runnin'!