Well today marked the 24th consecutive day of running.
Wow..I just had to read that back. I haven't been this consistent since September last year. It's has been going really well with weeks of 33, 43 and 47 miles yet things tailed off this past week due to the fact I was out of the country on business and the best I could do for 2-3 days was 15-20 minutes of jogging.
Still I managed to clock in at just under 38 miles with a 2hr+ run on Sunday but I know that from this week there is every chance I could hit 50+ miles simply by continuing to build fitness and aim for a 2 hour run, couple of 75-90 minute run days and the rest nice and easy. It's odd that only a few weeks ago I would have looked at this and thought "There is no way I can get there" but now I have begun to think very differently.
So far this period of running has taught me to be patient, run within myself, let the pace come to me and focus on recovering from each run. I am not looking to take rest days at this point mainly due to the fact the runs are focused on recovery and building fitness and a aerobic base for the months ahead.
Now there is the small details of what races I want to do next year.
28 Sep - 15 miles, 2:10:51, 8:49 pace, avg HR 143
29 Sep - 7+ miles, 58:26, 8:20 pace, avg HR 142
30 Sep - 4.8 miles, 40:20, 8:26 pace, avg HR 140
Off and running
For the first time in months if not a year I am finally feeling good about building my fitness and it's progressing in the right way. Given the fact I had 6 weeks off doing absolutely nothing back in July / early August. What has astounded me the most is my attitude and commitment to the getting the running shoes on and shooting out the door. I am hungrier to do this than ever before.
The pivotal moment happened during a 2 hour run on Sunday 8th Sept. I was apprehensive at first about going out for 2 hours as I hadn't been out for a longish run for some 5 months and given the fact a 10 mile run a couple weeks earlier had felt like a slog for the past I didn't much like the thought of slogging things out and coming home in a bad mood. However on the contrary the long run turned out to be most enjoyable, the pace reasonable for a fat slow runner (avg 9:03 min/miles) but I had felt in control and the legs felt good. This was the most enjoyable run I'd had since getting back onto the roads.
Since that day things have been getting better and better. Weekly mileage and number of days running have been trending upwards (see table below). I am mixing things up on the trails and roads although I am preferring the roads for the majority of runs (I am a secretly closet road runner)
One big difference that appears to be helping is simply running more and not making excuses to skip running. I ran every day last week and for the past 11 days I haven't needed a rest day. This period of training was always going to be about building base, recovery and getting the miles in. So far so good and I don't intend to take a rest day for the foreseeable future.
The pivotal moment happened during a 2 hour run on Sunday 8th Sept. I was apprehensive at first about going out for 2 hours as I hadn't been out for a longish run for some 5 months and given the fact a 10 mile run a couple weeks earlier had felt like a slog for the past I didn't much like the thought of slogging things out and coming home in a bad mood. However on the contrary the long run turned out to be most enjoyable, the pace reasonable for a fat slow runner (avg 9:03 min/miles) but I had felt in control and the legs felt good. This was the most enjoyable run I'd had since getting back onto the roads.
Since that day things have been getting better and better. Weekly mileage and number of days running have been trending upwards (see table below). I am mixing things up on the trails and roads although I am preferring the roads for the majority of runs (I am a secretly closet road runner)
| 9/9/2013 – 9/15/2013: | 43.0 mi | 6:20:25 | 8:51 / mi |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9/2/2013 – 9/8/2013: | 33.4 mi | 4:54:00 | 8:49 / mi |
| 8/26/2013 – 9/1/2013: | 23.5 mi | 3:30:53 | 9:00 / mi |
| 8/19/2013 – 8/25/2013: | 27.7 mi | 4:04:13 | 8:49 / mi |
| 8/12/2013 – 8/18/2013: | 24.3 mi | 3:35:49 | 8:53 / m |
One big difference that appears to be helping is simply running more and not making excuses to skip running. I ran every day last week and for the past 11 days I haven't needed a rest day. This period of training was always going to be about building base, recovery and getting the miles in. So far so good and I don't intend to take a rest day for the foreseeable future.
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