What is everyone planning on running this winter. The guys decided to race at the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships on December 13th at Plantes Ferry Recreation Park - Spokane, Washington. So they told me that they do not care how bad I have been training or racing that it was time for me to get into gear. What a kick in the butt? Infact they drug me out for a 13 miler on trails Sunday and said that is only the begin. They told me that if I am not running under 15:00 for 5k again by November that I would wish I was not born. So I guess I have to get my lazy ass off the couch and start running 80 miles a week again. Good Luck

I'm going to get this sub-16 5k out of the way (preferably on Sunday but 2 weeks after that if necessary) and then I'm going to take a little recovery time (7-10 days) before I start training for a 50 miler on January 3rd. My goal is to break the course record, which is a tad shy of 7 hours. Once I run that, I'll take some recovery time and then use that as a base to get myself into marathon shape for the beginning of May so that I can try to break my course record at the Cox Sports Marathon. That should get me through the winter. I'll do a few little races through the span such as the Mid Winter Classic (10 miler), New Bedford half marathon, maybe I'll run ING Georgia again if they wind up hiring me to speak at the expo.

Blaine, what's the 10-miler course like?

I'm not sure what to do after my marathon. If anyone has some good article or books to recommend on periodization I'd be interested. I really trained hard for this marathon and think I pushed my body to the limit. I think I need a period of rest, some time in the pool, and weight training. I want to run Fargo Marathon in May so I'll be building back up the miles soon enough.

Heh, I'm writing a newsletter on that very topic right now. I try to take about a month of downtime after a hard racing season that culminates in a marathon. That usually involves a few days to a week off, and then I start doing short easy runs but spend most of my workout time lifting weights or swimming. The recovery phase is very often overlooked and ignored, and as such is one of the more important parts of your training year.

Excellent. I have really struggled with a post marathon strategy. I'm in the best shape of my life, I hate to loose it, but I know I need some time off these feet. The pool felt so good the other day. Oddly enough straining this ankle was probably a good thing because it made me rest more. I do run 5Ks in the winter, but I compare them against race times from previous winters only, not summer times.