The Birkebeiner is right around the corner at the end of February. As with last year, I've decided to focus mostly on running in the winter and ski once a week, treating the Birkie as an event, rather than a race. So...it's been lots of running in the snow, not the deep stuff, but on the plowed parkway. It's been easy enough to navigate, but it sure takes the energy out of you when almost every step is a little slippery. We've also had some spats of wicked cold out, but I actually enjoy getting out in it. Once warmed up, it is actually pretty nice, and when the warm springtime comes those days are all the more pleasant.
Coming up in the spring I'm pretty certain I'll be back down to Zumbro to take a crack at finishing it. It's pretty early for a 100, but taken slow and casual I should be able to tick it. After that it's either Kettle Moraine or Black Hills. Sawtooth again in the fall, for sure. Maybe Voyageur or a marathon in July, or even, gasp, a casual vacation. Big news is that my wife gave me the go ahead to sign up for The HURT 100! OK, the actual race is next weekend, and registration isn't until the end of July. So my main goal is to actually remember when it rolls around.
A quick wrap up for last year was somewhere over 2000 miles of running, probably close to 2500, since I didn't start keeping track until April. I attempted 3 100 milers, finishing two, being Western States in 23:33:46 and Sawtooth in 26:58:01. Oh, and another Birkie finish. This year I'll have better mileage tracking, since I'll actually record the full year on Daily Mile.
My overarching goal for this year, is two ratchet up to four 100 milers and maybe a 50 or marathon thrown in. I still have a goal to qualify for Boston. I've only run a 3:25 marathon and just need to hack off 10 minutes and run a 3:15. I think that's well within my capability.
And for this past week...56 miles including 9.5 skiing and a long run of 15.3 miles. I'm slowly building up to a 3 hour run once a week, so when the skiing is done, I have a good launchpad.
I see you're one of the 52 people who want to be my friend on Facebook - I may have to actually set up a site there someday. And people keep telling me to join DailyMile as well.
ReplyDeleteYou'll rack Zumbro this year. If I don't see you there, there's always Sawtooth in the fall.