Back in the saddle - last two weeks

I was still recovering at the beginning of last week but was on vacation this week and had plenty of opportunity to get in the workouts. And the workouts are going to change slightly to be like this:

• Tue - Hill Repeats or possibly intervals
  
• Wed - Easy 4
  
• Thu - Long road run (17 miles) or long track run (16 miles)
  
• Sat - Hill Repeats
  
• Sun - Long trail run
  

The goal for both hill repeat workouts is 4k' climb in 10 miles.
The Thu run is going to stay at around 17 miles.
The Sun run hopefully is going to grow to 50k as preparation for 50 mile races.

Since John Davis proposed the Baldy Peaks 100 mile run and I started training for that, I've found that hill repeats not only prepare me for mountain running, they also improve my speed. And the other thing I'm finding these days is that you can run the next day.
So -

• Tue 1/3/2012 - 2x2k in Twyla Reid park (I was still recovering)
  
• Thu 1/5/2012 - 17 miles (Seal Beach run)
  
• Sat 1/7/2012 - 4xS Ridge (2k' climb, 5 miles)
  
• Sun 1/8/2012 - Whittier - Schabarum Park loop - 19 hilly miles (I bonked)
  
• Tue 1/10/2012 - 5xS Ridge (2.5k' climb, 6.25 miles) - felt very comfortable. Could easily have done more.
  
• Wed 1/11/2012 - 4 miles easy at Signal Hill (hilly)
  
• Thu 1/12/2012 - Harding Truck Trail - first time in a long while, maybe a year. 3300' climb, 18.3 miles
  
• Sat 1/14/2012 - 13xRose Hills Road (new and really like it). 3k+ climb, 7.8 miles
  
• Sun 1/15/2012 - Seal Beach run - 17 miles. Probably cut about 1 min/mile off previous pace.

So obviously from the Sunday run, I'm feeling pretty good. I was pretty much over the cough from December until the 1/8 run. That brought it back.

The advantages of the new Rose Hill Road repeats are

• Much less likely to get kicked out because the park is closed compared to S Ridge hill.
  
• Nice surface, even climb. This plus the shorter distance allows me to run this repeat better than S Ridge, both up and down.
  
• Not as popular as S Ridge. Minor advantage but this reduces distractions.

Rose Hills Road:


Harding Truck Trail (to 9.15 mile mark):