Boston Training week THREE! DONE!!

Week three.
Done and dusted.

What was exciting this week?

I had a few workouts that I expected to feel challenged by.

The first was another brutal Sufferfest bike ride, followed by a short 3 mile run.
GOOD LORD. The struggle is real. I find biking to be a horrific challenge, but I am sticking with it, determined to suck less, eventually.

This is how I feel.

I hit the road for 12x400 repeats.
Compared to stupid sufferfest, this was basically an evening stroll.
Well, perhaps not quite that easy. However, I am well accustomed to the challenge that running presents and I find it much more manageable than that of biking.

400's are so much easier than biking.

I then enjoyed my official beer of the week. A recent favorite of mine, this beer is an amazing collaboration and EVERYTHING that a barley wine should be. Coming in at $15 a 4 pack it isn't cheap, but it is completely worth it. (readily available at the Rooper's in Oxford, FYI.)

The very best of good beers

My Friday long run came in at 12 miles.
I felt good about this workout, and was pleased with how my legs cooperated. I made a really foolish rookie move and neglected to bring any snacks. Despite that noob mistake, everything went well.
I hit some big hills. My photo shows my vantage point from the very top of one such hill, with a point in my run just visable across the little white blob that is the lake. The bottom pic shows the flip side, I'm on the other side of the lake looking at the hill where I just was. You can see a little (white, snowy) field in the middle/right of the shot, which shows where I came from.



Top of the hill, bottom of the lake (which doesn't look lake a like....)

We then went out for burgers and a Bissell, another quality choice. 

Beers and burgers at the Gastropub, a post long run staple.

A couple more runs occurred over the week. Eric and I enjoyed a base pace run together, and were very pleased with our 8:40 AP results. Considering that both of us were running on tired legs, this was a particularly solid effort.
I also had a gentle recovery run, coming in at a 9:45 AP, as a recovery run should.

Three weeks in and I am feeling good. My mileage, and the challenge of my workouts is steadily growing. I am begining to notice the positive results of consisent work.
This week was particularly pleasant because several key workouts were done outside! Bonus!

My jaw/chin continue to heal nicely, but I am not cured.... I continue to have some unpleasant pain in my ears, which of course comes from my jaw injury. My chin looks good but is still a gross combination of quite sore, and completely numb (this combo resonates quite poorly with me. I try not to think about how it feels, as I find it disgusting.)
All this being said, I know it could be so much worse.
THAT being said, I am OVER it and wish that my face felt like it used to.

Weekly stats:
Miles run: 30, per the plan.
Longest run: 12. A very sensible step up.
Other: 1 bike, 2 strength work outs.
Wildlife sightings: ZERO. Which is very, very strange. WTF?? Come out DUCKS!!!
Low/High temps: 8/42. A mostly mild week.
How am I feeling? Good, a little tired after a couple of my bigger workouts. After a recovery day, all better with good energy. Lots of weird dreams, everything from having a pet snake, to running from a terrifying killer, to dealing with the fallout of an atomic bomb (which was kind enough only to blow up half the house. ok.)
Beer of the week: Double or nothing. A terrific maple barleywine by Lawson's (geniuses) and Otter Creek. Go get some.