Back when I was still posting things regularly, (sorry, a 4 week lapse here) I posted about some goals I am currently working on, one of which was a totally random idea to run 4 consecutive weeks of at least 50 miles. I really don't remember how this came to me or why I became intrigued by it, but it was during a lunch with my buddy Cliff so I blame him. Anyhow, I did it.
I decided June was perfect for this because- 4 weeks long. (not counting June 1 and 2, which ushered the last week of May out for the year.) So it began on June 4, since my running calendar runs Mon-Sun. I had been averaging at least 38 to 40 since the first of the year, with many weeks into the mid-40's and a couple 50+ weeks in April while ramping up for the Carmel Marathon. Also I had one stray week right smack dab in the middle of May where I hit 70 frickin' miles, also for no particular reason other than it seemed like fun at the time. And it was. So 50 a week seemed realistic, and a 200 mile month sounded pretty neat too.
I like simplicity most of the time, so figuring the how of this was not hard. I run 5 days most weeks, so 5X10 is the ticket. None of the weeks went like that of course, though I did keep that reference in mind on each run and had the idea that I needed to average 10 as the week went along. Still, nice big round numbers to work with and I was not burdened by ciphering.
Week one- 51.2- weekday runs were around downtown from where I work, Sat. from home, Sun. at McCormick Creek trails. Three 10's, a 12 and a 9.
Week two- 50.2- more of a mix of trails and road, also of distance, with two 8's, two 12's and a 10.
Week three- 52- Ran on Monday, a usual off day, so had miles in the bank. 9.3, 6, 8, 13.3, 4.5, 11.
Week four- 50.9- Ran on Friday, playing catch-up- 10.3, 6, 13.3, 4.5, 8.6, 8.3.
And done. The first week i was surprised that only a few more miles made enough difference to tire me a little. The middle two weeks were both great, I felt fine and ready. The last week was a bit of a struggle, mentally and physically. I'm a very intuitive guy and tend to follow ideas as they sprout up, and at some point I had switched from wanting to go run whatever, to an obligation to hit the minimum at least or do make-up duty. Also it got hot during that last week. But I was into it and these were only minor problems at most.
Writing this I realize that 50 a week is nothing for a lot of runners and major props to them, but it's new ground for me. I'm happy that everything held up well and no problems/injuries/worrisome pains popped up. I love trail running but did intentionally do more road miles than usual because they seem easier to me, though I did finish the last three weeks with the Sunday trail gang, and each of those with Steph running out a couple extra to get 50. In all, 80 of the 200 miles were on trails. I'm more than making up for that ratio now.
June is also the halfway point of the year and I have 1,129 miles logged, so I'm a little ahead of my goal of 2012 for the year. I had also set a goal of losing 10 pounds by end of July and am a little more than halfway there and am planning on a nutrition oriented post soon. Yoga goal, not so much but I'm trying. And the goal of a BQ is ongoing, with the best shot being the third of my three Fall marathons, the Monumental in Indy. Or as I like to call it, the MonuMENTAL.
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