My February Training

Most of February was a transition month for me. The month saw the end of the ski racing season with the NCAA regional meet and the Birkie, and the beginning of the track season. My running mileage increased as the track season started, and most of my training – especially in the last hast half of the month – was base building. Here is what the month looked like:

February 4 – February 10: The main workouts this week came on Tuesday and Saturday with 4x3 minutes reps. at race pace on Tuesday and a 15k low key race on Saturday. The rest of the week was base building and strength (rock climbing)
46 Miles Run
10:30 Hours Trained

February 11- February 17: My only hard workout this week was the NCAA regional ski meet that took place on Saturday and Sunday. I had a good race on Saturday in the skate race. The other interesting thing this week was the fact that I tapered very little for this meet, and I think that maintaining my base rather than tapering helped me performance.
38 Miles Run
9:30 Hours Trained

February 18 – February 24: This week was a big transition from skiing to running. I did four runs of an hour or more this week. No speed this week as my fitness is very good, but I am trying to get my running muscles back into form. This Saturday was also the Birkie at which I did really well qualifying for the elite wave next year!
40 Miles Run
9:30 Hours Trained

February 25 – March 2: More base this week and my first track meet – the UMAC indoor conference meet. I decided to run the meet primarily on my skiing fitness because I am in great aerobic shape, and the base running mileage increase I did was just enough to get me ready. I did 5x800m at race pace on Tuesday of this week all in around 2:25 and felt good. I also did the mile and the 5000m at the UMCA meet this week and won the 5000m for the second year in a row. This performance is a good sign that I am strong coming into spring running.
56 Miles Run
8:00 Hours Trained

Year totals:
315 Miles Run
95:00 Hours Trained