Now normally, this time of year, I take 2 to 3 weeks off from running, and try to recover, then run much less during the winter, until mid to late March, at which point I start a slow build-up.
However, someone from work decided to get a team together from our office to run the Shamrock Run 8k on March 2. This is the 2nd largest road race in Buffalo, usually with about 3 to 4,000 people! I agreed to run it, so now I will feel obligated to be in reasonable condition on March 2. I simply don't like running a race unless i'm in at least fair to good condition.
So, here's my new plan. I still need a bit of time off to recoop from several months of hard training, so I won't really start running much until about January 21. In the interim, though, I'm starting to do indoor biking, probably 3 times per week, weights, ab workouts, and then cross country skiing on the weekends, if there is enough snow. If there is not enough snow, I will probably do some short runs.
After January 21, I think I'll start out with about 20 to 22 miles the first week, then ramp it up to about 30 miles per week over a couple weeks. I'll include some longer runs (about 7 miles), and probably even a couple good, solid tempo runs.
I'm hoping that this program, along with the hard work I've done the past 6 to 8 months, will at least allow a decent performance on March 2. After March 2, I may do 2 or 3 more easy weeks again, before starting Spring training, and thinking once again about the ever elusive sub-5 mile!
Mark
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