Last Saturday’s Kim’s Bad Knee 5K was lots of fun. My initial plan was to take three weeks off from running to work on core strength & other fitness workouts, and then to start training for the Deception Pass Half Marathon using the 10-week training plan I’ve used for the other HM I’ve run. For some inexplicable reason, I started looking at other training plans; I ended up being enticed by a 16-week ‘intermediate’ plan, and I added it to my calendar.

The problem? The 16-week plan robbed me of my three week break!

But I’m going to do it, nonetheless. This plan is a lot harder: eight workouts a week – lots of morning recovery runs followed by evening run workouts – and it lacks consistent rest days. I’m going to give it a shot, though, because my hope is that if I suffer in training, race day will be less suffer-y.

So far, I’ve done okay, even with the travelling for the holiday. I took advantage of the hotel‘s fitness center. I ran on a treadmill! On purpose! I agree with the general opinion that the treadmill deck is ‘softer’ than asphalt, but it’s not as forgiving as a trail. I did a couple of ‘recovery runs’ on the hotel’s elliptical. I can see why people like those machines, but I’d still rather be on a trail.

Unfortunately, I could not get to sleep after the drive home from Pugetropolis. I got about three & a half hours of sleep Tuesday night; yesterday was brutal. Fortunately, this week has a rest day in it. I had this great idea I’d be able to get a light workout in, but by the late afternoon the sleepiness hit me with its full force. I think I was asleep by 8:00 last night, and I got a good ten hours of sleep last night. I could use a few more hours, but this’ll do for today.

Despite the somewhat strict training schedule, I still plan to ski this winter. I figure a day of Nordic skiing is as good of a workout as a long run; the only thing it’s lacking is pounding my poor knees. I can shift the long runs to a weekday if I need to. In fact, I can see the advantage of a long run a day or two after skiing all day. (It’ll hurt, but it’d be good training.)

Because I am training for the Deception Pass HM, I’m heading back to Badger. The HM is almost identical to the course of the 25K I ran there a few years ago – lots & lots of ascents & descents! Because my goal is to suffer in training so that I suffer less on race day, I’ll need to run hills a LOT during training. Friday is my first hill workout: we’ll see how I do after months of only running on the flat.

I haven’t signed up for DPHM yet. The price goes up on January 1st, so my initial plan was to make the decision by the end of this month. I’m now considering delaying making the decision until a month or so before the race. It will cost me an extra $10, but it will also allow me to make the decision based on my fitness level. Thus, I am still pondering.

Taking a longer view, April will probably be my last trail race for the summer. I have three events scheduled in April. After the last one (Twilight 12-hours), I’ll take a short break and then shift focus. It’ll be time to start preparing for hiking. (Yay hiking!) I’d like to spend the late spring & summer on the bike, too. By shifting my focus away from racing, I can go back to commuting by bike and still have time to do the workouts to help get ready for next September’s Section J hike.

Let’s just hope the knees hold out! (And here’s to me remembering to do the PT for my knees!)