OK, my turn to start the weekly check-in thread, how is everyone doing? My training is going well, and I had another good week last week. I made it to 60 MPW for the second week in a row and it is feeling very sustainable. I had a good quality tempo run last week, which ended up being a minute faster than my 4 mile PR set last February! I am definitely feeling the improvement of the added base. I am trying to get a good quality week of training in this week. Next week will be a forced cutback week as I am going on a cruise with my wife. Running around the cruise track will be fun for a little while, but I am guessing 60 miles of running around it will get old. I plan to get some Garmin stats while running the track to upload for all the data nerds. Streak on! Ryan

I too had another good week. Daily runs seem to be getting easier and easier -- except when I run in 30 mph winds and 8 inches of snow! I actually had my first fall yesterday. I was wearing my yaktrax but wasn't concentrating and totally slipped. "Luckily" my arm was the only thing hurting this morning. I also did another 18 mile run Sunday, which was rather enjoyable . . . light snow falling and not too cold temps. Totally jealous of your upcoming cruise Ryan!

Here is my data for Feb 22 to 28: 35 total miles. Sunday, Feb 22, 10 mile run with mile 3, 4, and 5 in 21:36 (7:12 pace). Average heart rate was low for the effort, I think due to my heart rate monitor battery getting low, not because I am getting fitter. Then, on what I am calling "Terrible Tuesday, Feb 25," I slipped on ice, fell, and bruised my left leg. Currently, it doesn't hurt when I stand, walk, or run. There is sharp pain, back of leg, behind the knee, when I get up from a crouching position; and discomfort is the same area when I bend the leg past 90 degrees. Just below the knee cap is bruised and sore to the touch. This week is a cut back week for me. It is good timing to rest the leg. I started the streak 4/19/2008, so I am getting close to one year! Good running all.

Last week I did just over 40 miles - which was a bit of a cut back for me as I had been up closer to 50 for the 2-3 weeks before that. But I have been having some aches and pains lately - both in my muscles and in my joints. This week will be even lower - probably just over 30 miles. i also realized that I am WAY to competitive because I read runinBlack's post above about how he just did his 2nd 60 mile week and I thought "I want to be up there too" and it made me want to go get another run in at lunch. But I held myself back because I really think my body just needs some rest. Hopefully after this week I can get the mileage back up there again. Maybe not to 60 right away, but I plan to see how a 50 feels after taking it easy for a few weeks. So far this week the runs havent been too bad, though I had a pain in the lower part of my quad right above the knee right after my 6 miler this morning on the treadmill. It might have been my own fault as I picked up the pace a bit for the last two miles. Good luck with the rest of the week everyone. Thanks for starting this thread this week RIB (RunInBlack), I totally forgot - work has been pretty busy and I'm hoping to get the auditors out of here by next Tuesday). Jeff

I got a cold this week and ran a little less. I still have some lingering effects from the cold, but my mileage should be back to normal this week. I'm running in another 5k this weekend.