I am in the midst of my surge and all is going very well.
I have not missed a day of running since returning from Germany some 12 weeks ago. This is without a doubt the longest streak of “on days” I’ve had in my entire 15 years of running. I’m not attempting to be anal. If I NEED a day off, I will take a day off. And, I most certainly will come March, April & May. But, so far, I’ve felt I have not needed one. Over these past 12 weeks I’ve averaged just shy of 11 miles a day or, more accurately, 75 miles per week. This is 11 miles MORE per week than I averaged in 2009.
But this update is centered on the 7 weeks of training that started after the USATF XC Champs (12/13) and ends on the last day of January. During these 7 weeks, I’ve averaged 81 miles per week. This is 17 miles MORE per week than I averaged per week in 2009. During that time I’ve noticed the following:
1. My body is now comfortable running 85 mile weeks. A year ago, and even a month ago, my legs felt achy and sore once I flirted with mid-high 80s, now I feel like 85 is my new 70. The latter a number I was (am) able to hit with playground ease.
2. My 2 hour (plus) runs feel more comfortable. These too use to leave me feeling achy, sore and tired. Now I am running them more often. However, I need to do a better job making my long runs actually long (e.g. – 18-20) with a down week every 3rd of 4th week. I also need to continue to throw in marathon-pace effort from time to time.
3. I am MUCH better than I was a year ago when it comes to track workouts. This is the BIGGEST improvement. I am kind of a wuss when it comes to working out. I’ve never been good at it, and frankly don’t like the track that much, but it must be done. This is a result of my legs hardening up to mileage, but it is also a result of having so many guys to workout with. Running 4:40s for 1600m on frigid, moonless nights is a miserable pastime, but it’s a bit more tolerant when there are others suffering too. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the team for this, especially Karl, who I am constantly chasing.
I intend to uptick the mileage from here and climb close to 100 mpw. This seems doable and appropriate based on how I’ve handled the climb to 85-90. I have 5 weeks until my racing season starts, but I am still hoping to get in an indoor 5k before then. As I am typing, I just received a call nixing my admission into a race at the NYC Armory. This proposition seems less and less likely as the weeks roll on.
I have not missed a day of running since returning from Germany some 12 weeks ago. This is without a doubt the longest streak of “on days” I’ve had in my entire 15 years of running. I’m not attempting to be anal. If I NEED a day off, I will take a day off. And, I most certainly will come March, April & May. But, so far, I’ve felt I have not needed one. Over these past 12 weeks I’ve averaged just shy of 11 miles a day or, more accurately, 75 miles per week. This is 11 miles MORE per week than I averaged in 2009.
But this update is centered on the 7 weeks of training that started after the USATF XC Champs (12/13) and ends on the last day of January. During these 7 weeks, I’ve averaged 81 miles per week. This is 17 miles MORE per week than I averaged per week in 2009. During that time I’ve noticed the following:
1. My body is now comfortable running 85 mile weeks. A year ago, and even a month ago, my legs felt achy and sore once I flirted with mid-high 80s, now I feel like 85 is my new 70. The latter a number I was (am) able to hit with playground ease.
2. My 2 hour (plus) runs feel more comfortable. These too use to leave me feeling achy, sore and tired. Now I am running them more often. However, I need to do a better job making my long runs actually long (e.g. – 18-20) with a down week every 3rd of 4th week. I also need to continue to throw in marathon-pace effort from time to time.
3. I am MUCH better than I was a year ago when it comes to track workouts. This is the BIGGEST improvement. I am kind of a wuss when it comes to working out. I’ve never been good at it, and frankly don’t like the track that much, but it must be done. This is a result of my legs hardening up to mileage, but it is also a result of having so many guys to workout with. Running 4:40s for 1600m on frigid, moonless nights is a miserable pastime, but it’s a bit more tolerant when there are others suffering too. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the team for this, especially Karl, who I am constantly chasing.
I intend to uptick the mileage from here and climb close to 100 mpw. This seems doable and appropriate based on how I’ve handled the climb to 85-90. I have 5 weeks until my racing season starts, but I am still hoping to get in an indoor 5k before then. As I am typing, I just received a call nixing my admission into a race at the NYC Armory. This proposition seems less and less likely as the weeks roll on.
2 comments:
and so you WILL run another year of PBs!
Let us hope so!
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