The running portion of last week's training totaled about 34 miles.  As usual, Tuesday was interval training.  This time, the intervals were relatively long at 2 miles, 1 mile, and 2x half-miles.  Thursday was a tempo run that totaled 6 miles.  The long run on Saturday went for about 21 miles.

I'm using the FIRST training program that specifies only 3 days of running per week with 2 days of cross-training (http://www.furman.ed/first).  I used this program to train for my last race (OBX Marathon in the Outer Banks) and it seemed to work really well for me.

One of the ideas behind the program is that the cross-training provides a break between runs that allows you to push a little harder on your running days.  While using this program in the past, the cross-training has been on either a stationary bike at the gym or bike rides on back streets and trails near my house.  With the cold weather in winter, however, the training was happening exclusively at the gym and was starting to get just a little bit boring.

At the start of January, I made the leap to a Spin class at the gym as an alternative to the stationary bike.  I must admit that I was extremely reluctant to step into the class - the incessant throbbing of the techno music and being yelled at by an instructor isn't exactly my style.  After a month and a half of bi-weekly Spin sessions, though, I'm starting to appreciate the benefits.  I am definitely getting a more intense workout and it's hitting a lot more muscles than I ever worked on the stationary bike.  From everything that I've read, it's also important to keep up a high cadence if you're going to cross-train on a bike.  When I was working out by myself, it was a struggle to stay on task and keep the pedals turning fast enough.

The verdict so far is that I'm really glad that I added the Spin class to my training program.  I think it's a much more consistent and a higher quality workout than I would have completed on my own.  I guess I'll have to see if the hill-climbing on the bike pays off when I get to mile 24 and have to run up that hill to the Gay Street bridge.

Favorite moment of the (long) run:  With one daughter and my wife at an all-night church lock-in and the other daughter hosting a sleepover at our house, there was basically zero chance of me getting in an early-morning run on Saturday.  As a result, I didn't make it out until mid-afternoon when the weather was bright and warm.  It turns out that basically everyone else in town seemed to have the same idea because one of my routes through a park was closer to a street fair than the usual isolation that you get on a long run in February.  In the end, it could have been annoying to have so many people around but everyone was in such a good mood that it was impossible not to enjoy it.

Song-of-the-run:  "You Get What You Give" by New Radicals.  No real reason.  It my stride well and came at a good time in the run.