Training Update

I'm feeling pretty good week one week removed from club nationals. Took a few days off this week and had some solid runs despite the winterly conditions, including a solid 10 miler today in Rocky River Metro Park with the last 4 @ AT effort (:40 - :60 slower than 5K race pace) going 6:37, 6:30, 6:25, 6:13 (my current PR race pace is 5:36). The effort felt really easy despite the slick bike paths and multiple layers of clothing as I braved the wind, cold and snow. Monday I'm going to start a proper base training phase where each week I'll try to do hill reps, aerobic fartleks @ 10K race effort (stuff like 4 x 5:00 w/ 2:00 rest) and a weekend long run with the last 3-4 miles @ moderate tempo effort like today's run. As winters can get pretty brutal here, it's all about the effort. In any case, with a really solid conditioning phase I think I'll be able to go straight into my next racing season in PR shape for 5K - 10 miles.