Day 3,996: My first 50-mile week (in a long time)

Ran into another runner on my snow run!

I had an easy 8-mile run on schedule today that would give me 50 miles for the week for the first time since the second week of September 2016 when I injured my right shin after running in the Craft Classic Half Marathon in Atlanta.

It was sort of incredible to think it had been that long to put up that many miles but even in my lead up to running 1:39:14 in Boston's Run to Remember, the most weekly mileage I'd put up in that training cycle was 41.1 two weeks before that May race.

Up until today this week had been all smiles -- I'd fully recovered from the Thanksgiving Half Marathon and was able to put up workouts that showed it -- I did 6 x .5 mile intervals on Monday and then hit seven miles at tempo pace on Wednesday in a run that totalled 12.63 miles. Then, of course, yesterday's 10.54 miles in the snow.

I've been pretty careful about my running, though, always cognizant of that injury that led up to the 2016 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Yet so far the extra mileage has been a joy -- before this training cycle I'd hovered around 30 miles a week and it's been nice to let the cats loose toward the 40-mile range last month.

Still I had this run to run and while the snow looked like it was melting, I wasn't totally convinced that just going in running shoes was the best idea, so I strapped on my YaxTrax traction control devices on my Saucony ISO Zealot 3 shoes and headed down Ponce de Leon Avenue into Oakhurst.

It was nice to get this run in. Really no matter what happens in the marathon, doing this training program is a good way to get in shape through the winter.

Time: 8:53 a.m.
Temp: 30 degrees
Gear: Technical T-shirts, long x2 (Nike black, JG 13.1), Brooks running pants, North Face windbreaker, gloves, Hoka One One beanie, Nuun hydration hat, Saucony ISO Zealot 3.