week ten.

Before this week gets away from me entirely, I'd better post my look back at last week.  I didn't make any leaps forward in terms of mileage but I am quite pleased with what I accomplished with the miles that I was able to log.

It was another good mix of road and trail, hills and flats, fair weather and foul.  Four of the five runs were an hour in duration or just shy.  I feel more and more strongly that these are the types of runs that I want to be logging over shorter, faster workouts.

A wicked amount of rain fell on Thursday which left everything (and I do mean just about everything) under water.  I'd thought initially of avoiding the trail until it had time to dry out but convinced myself that I was stupid for doing so.

It would've been.

I hit the trail on Friday at Pumping Station and it was fantastic.  I picked up some blisters because of it and have a toenail that is likely to fall away from the wet, slippery conditions that gave it a good battering, but all in a day's work, right?

The damage wasn't significant enough to keep me away the next morning and Jefferson and I put in work on trails that were still spongy and water-logged.  Jefferson headed off to other commitments after 3 miles and I gave Mole Hill a go.  I'd say more but have decided that said hill deserves a blog entry of its own and I intend to grant it that due in the coming days.  Suffice to say, I received my usual quad and lung-busting punishment.

On Saturday afternoon, I took Lindsay and the girls to see the snow geese at Middle Creek.  They're gone at this point, but as far as my companions were concerned, the tundra swans that are still hanging around were suitable replacements.  Most of the other tourists seemed convinced that they were viewing snow geese anyway, so all's well.  After leaving Middle Creek, we hit the Freeze 'n Frizz in Lititz for hard-earned ice cream.  My shoe fetish got the best of me and I ended up speaking at length with a stranger solely on the basis of his wearing Saucony Kinvaras.  I tend to avoid strangers like a well-schooled child, but I'm glad that the candy of running shoes tempted me into the conversation.  Jason had nothing but positive things to say about the shoes and ended up revealing himself as my doppelganger.

He'd played hoops all life longs and had the ruined ankles to prove it.  We were a year apart in school and probably shared basketball courts along the way in the small world that is Lancaster County.  A flatfooted pronater, Jason had received the same as advice as I had to pick up overbuilt shoes to try and correct for the deficiencies.  The subsequent aches and pains led to him nearly giving up on running before giving trail running a shot and going with more and more stripped down shoes as his mileage increased.  He'll attempt his first marathon next month and though he claims to have no interest in qualifying for Boston, I could tell that his mentioning it meant he hopes to prove himself wrong.  Good luck, Jason!

With the Boston conversation fresh on my mind, I pushed hard on Sunday's road run and covered 10 miles at a faster pace than I maybe ever have before.  If I could just manage to hold that pace for another 16.2 miles, I might just hit up Boston myself.  Some day.

Here's the stats:

Tuesday, March 8 - Pre-work run up Sun Hill, through town on 72, up Orchard Street and back home.

Wednesday, March 9 - Post-work out-and-back on Power Road, Sun Hill Road and Park Hill.

Friday, March 11 - Water-logged run at Pumping Station - decent pace in the conditions (deep water and mud) - picked up a toe blister and bashed/bruised a toe on my right foot.

Saturday, March 12 - Run up to Eagle Rock with Jefferson and then hit the wall on Mole Hill.

Sunday, March 13 - Smoking 10+ mile pace (for me) while battling wicked head winds.  Super stoked on this effort.