Back at it!

Here is a quick weekend summary - Friday, scheduled day off, can't remember what I did that night but I'm sure it was relaxing! Saturday, slept in, dragged my sorry carcass outside for a long run. Weather was cold (10-15 degrees), windy, but sunny. Had no idea what type of loop I was going to do, but figured I was going to run some outside and a few on the treadmill to break it up. Trails weren't going to be easy to run with the snow, so I thought I would just improvise as I ran. Roads up to the trail were slushy, and weren't plowed all the way. Made my way onto the trail, which was pretty snow covered, so shortened my stride a bit to account for the road conditions. On certain parts of the trail, the snow had completely blown away so those were clear, and I consequently hit faster splits on those parts. Made my way over the bridge, and hit basically drifts of snow which were very uncomfortable to run through/over, so was running all around to avoid all that. Eventually, made my way out to the park around 5 miles out where I discovered clear roads headed out towards the country, so called an audible and went off the trail in that direction. Ahhhh, the bliss of clear roads! Rolling hills everywhere, but not many cars so was fine. Looped around Troy/Maryville back roads, found my way into some neighborhood and came back. Tracked through the snow on the trail - by this point, legs were really tired from all the changes of pace, so was just ready to get done. Finally got back on the main drag, labored home and hit my goal mileage so was very pleased. Total mileage: 16 miles - splits were: 7:51, 8:17, 7:39, 8:15, 8:25, 7:59, 7:58, 7:51, 7:36, 7:48, 8:18, 7:44, 8:23, 7:48, 8:40, 7:44.

Went at it too hard I think, and legs were tired and back was absolutely killing me afterwards. Went to the Big River Running end of year meeting at night with Crystal, hung out afterwards. Sunday, took the day off to rest up a bit and watch football. Was happy with the week's mileage - 36, and a good start to my 2010 running. Monday, still pretty sore, so slowly did my run. Back was still tingly, so was very careful to go slow and watch for any more signs of discomfort. First couple miles were eh, but worked out the kinks and felt better once I was warmed up. Just did a neighborhood loop, which was hilly but snow free. Temp was 22, and slightly breezy but nothing bad. Felt good at the end, solid run. Total mileage: 5 miles - time ran was 41:08.

Stretching and easy corework afterwards, rested up for the evening. Back feels better today, and going to try to get some easy mileage tonight, then doing plyo's with Dave and watching Avatar!