the ice is now almost all gone and i got 11 miles in. i even added one extra mile. i am eyeing a fatass run end of the month. if it is not snowing, that is.

Hard to believe, already.
25/25, all outside. Loving the mild winter in NY (so far).
Thanks for the motivation all.

And Dev, to you too. Nice quote above and I hope the good karma you send out retruns 10 fold.

For day 25, this morning started out at -25C (-14F) in a thick ice fog. I have run colder than that before and surely will again but for today I'll get on a nice warm treadmill after work.

Yikes that's cold!

I can handle double digits (F) but I'll build in a few days to avoid colder. And I'll never run on a treadmill again. Ever.

But good on ya. Keep at it. Next stop 50%

You must be in Southern Alberta. I'm in South Eastern Alberta. We have a thick covering of hoar frost on everything, including me when I got in from my run. I waited until it was about -16C before heading out.

So did you head outdoors, or go for the treadmill....minus 25 on day number 25 would have been pretty cool! I remember doing an XC ski race in minus 26C in Tremblant and that race was 42K. I rememeber skiing at the redline and going by an aid station and wondering how the volunteers were staying warm...bless their souls!

Got my first winter run on the snow today after a 2 hrs drive to Montreal visiting my parents. Been lucky traveling to NJ during the holidays were temp there was above 10 C so this was my first outing in our Canadian winter.

Temperature was perfect for a night run with a clear sky. Felt amazing running at night in a quiet neighbourhood while enjoying the some quiet time and stretching my leg after a long ride. Love winter running specially when the snow is not too soft and every stride has this amazing crisp sound to it.

Only bad news is that I now have blister on both big toes (on the exterior) Ran in my Salomon Crosscheck shoes today for the first time where all my other runs were done with my Newton. Should have worn better socks. Oh well.. Tomorrow run will be fun.

Keep it up everyone! Cheers!

today was my longest run of the challenge, to date. 6.6 mi outdoors. some rolling hills in there too (garmin says 472 feet gained). most of my runs have been 30 minutes; a few 40 or 45. most of my runs have been on the treadmill. yesterday I ran twice to make up for a missed day. so, i'm feeling today's run. it's a good tired, but tired nonetheless. good times! the weather here is unseasonably warm (45F), but is apparently about to get cold and snowy. last outdoor run in shorts for a while.

I used the treadmill yesterday but got stuck late this evening with no choice but to go outside. I checked the temps after and it was -25C again, with a -33C wind chill. I just went out and back, aiming for the minimum half hour, but got it done. And yes, southern Alberta with lots of hoar frost on the trees.

When it is that cold, I would recommend 2 min out 2 min back and do repeats. You don't want to go continuously one way into the wind if you can avoid it. I have a 1k loop close to my house around a few blocks that I just repeat on really cold days. Doing short loops allow you to focus also on technique and form since you need something to divert attention span given the scenery stays almost the same.

Long run on Saturday was just under 8 miles. -27C with a -37C windchill. Then Sunday's run was a quick 30 minutes at -29C with a -39 windchill. Welcome to winter in Winnipeg.

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Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it. John D. Rockefeller Sr.

Enjoying my rest/cross-train day after week 3 on the Pfitzinger plan which involved 4 runs of 9+miles (plus a couple of recoveries), culminating in 15 yesterday. I'm wondering if cross-train might be translated as 'short run' this evening in order to keep up my 100/100 stats...

Just finished up week 4 myself, on 3 of those weeks I did just what you are thinking, a 4ish mile run on the treadmill as a "warm-up" for some cross training.

If you look at the higher-mileage plans, the off days become easy recovery days, and then doubles. I'd say add whatever you want, but just make sure they're really easy efforts.

Did anyone today run to any Bowie sound tracks? Man we'd have him blaring on our "ghetto blasters" during track practice or trying to act cool with him blaring "under pressure" with Freddie Mercury into our Walkmans before hitting the starting blocks at high school track meeting.

My favourite with Bowie + Mercury doing Under Pressure! Good memories from the Montreal track scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoDh_gHDvkk

If you can guys can get into the starting blocks and run some 100's for me it would be awesome! We'd use the music to get into the "flow"...when you hit the sweet spot as a sprinter, its a powerful dance from the starting blocks to the finishing tape....4.3 strides per second so a bit faster than 3 strides per second at long distance pace :-)

I hadn't looked at the 70+ plans (bit too much to bite off!), so that's good to know. I'm also thinking I might already have to split the 14mi this week as I'm not sure I can face getting 14mi done before first meetings at 7:30am or after 10pm which seems to be the earliest I'm able to get out right now...
Presume at this stage of the plan it's more about accumulating mileage and stressing the body appropriately and consistently, so it's mostly about building the mileage from 50something miles/week to 60something miles/week. I will say that I've followed a few marathon plans, but this is the first time I can remember doing an 18-miler 4 weeks into an 18-week plan...

For a longer day, splitting the runs has been a nice surprise and not sure why I did not do that before. I will be doing double days on Wednesday and Friday this week.

The MLRs are arguably the second most important run of the week, but probably the hardest to fit in to a busy work schedule. IMO they're the runs that set Pfitz apart from the other training plans. You have to be mentally tough to head out for a two-hour run while it's freezing cold and still dark or after a long day of work when it's already dark.

Of course, getting in the mileage in a split double is much better than only getting in half of the run, if that's the only way to do it. It's basically the same philosophy behind doubles in general. Instead of hammering out 10+ mile runs every day to get up over 80+ mile weeks, break up runs or add easy recovery doubles to increase blood flow and boost your endurance. The 85+ plan has 4 or 5 doubles per week (4-6 easy miles each).

wow, Ian, that is BEAUTIFUL!

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

i'm taking a late start too. i had surgery 23-12 and then a surgical drain put back in last week and finally all removed on friday 8-jan. doc wanted me to wait for Monday to run and it was so much sweeter for the chill (we're under a norte currently). so you're not alone in a delayed start. i'm going to do a 30-day thing and see if i can just do 30 min for 30 days. that should be interesting. still having to bind myself pretty tightly to minimize jarring/movement but lovely to get out there.

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

yay dev! every improvement helps! did you decide on baclofen vs botox? (i don't check in on teh forums when i'm sidelined so forgive me if that has been answered, making my way through the threads slowly)

i'll get you a picture this afternoon when i take the mutt out for our run. we're under a norte - it was down to a bone chilling 23C yesterday for my run. i had tights 2 tops and long sleeves.

from last night's run with dog...


waiting for the monsoon to abate for today's run...

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

Missed a couple days due to being on vacation in -10 degree weather, but other than that this is the most that I have ever ran. Started running a couple years ago. I am also trying the Pfitz 18/70 plan and hope for a 5 minute improvement on my second marathon. One thing I can't manage time wise is doing doubles and most of my runs start before 4:30am.
This challenge has been the push I needed and will try to finish strong.

This is my first time doing Pfitz and I had to break up my midweek for the 2nd time in 5 weeks. It is a tough one to get in. Got in almost 11 today before another 4 after work (both at long run intensity). I'm telling myself that getting in 10+ is giving me at least most of the effect of the mid week long run. Also telling myself, getting only 4 hours of sleep would be even worse than splitting. I guess the proof will be in the pudding come April.

I would kill for some of that around now. Something like 10F here right now. Running inside is killing me.

Stepped it up to 40 minutes a day on day 25. Still have not missed a day but my knee was killing me for the last 5 minutes today so we will see how it goes tomorrow.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. You get in what you can and an 11-miler followed by 4 more later is still a pretty good day!