Up until this week, I've been struggling to pull together any reasonable miles this year. The last three weeks have been in the 40's. I keep finding excuses to take a couple extra days off each week, which means most of my miles are slammed into a couple days a week.
...It's amazing how easy it is to be motivated when you're running 90 miles a week. You don't even think about it. The routine just yanks you out the door. Cut that number in half though, and it becomes incredibly difficult to wanna do anything...
OK, so not all of my miles have been garbage recently. I have tried to get into the habit of running a 10 mile progression on Friday's, followed by a 15-17 mile progression on Saturday's. That's helping to fight my lack of fitness, now I just need to add more meat during the week.
That said - this week, I'm getting involved. I should be able to hit 60 miles and actually manage 6 days of running! Monday, I had my first tempo run in two and a half months. Five miles that averaged about 5:46's. And last night I ran 12x 400 that started at about 80 seconds and cranked it's way down to 71 seconds. Neither were easy, but they also weren't crushing... and I didn't fade in the workouts. That's a start.
From here, I'll try to assemble a solid month of basic training to get me into enough shape to not embarrass myself at Cary, Shamrock, and Oak Park. I think it'll require a 5 week streak of 60-75 miles per week. After that, I'll reassess what I need to (and want to) do for the spring racing season.
...It's amazing how easy it is to be motivated when you're running 90 miles a week. You don't even think about it. The routine just yanks you out the door. Cut that number in half though, and it becomes incredibly difficult to wanna do anything...
OK, so not all of my miles have been garbage recently. I have tried to get into the habit of running a 10 mile progression on Friday's, followed by a 15-17 mile progression on Saturday's. That's helping to fight my lack of fitness, now I just need to add more meat during the week.
That said - this week, I'm getting involved. I should be able to hit 60 miles and actually manage 6 days of running! Monday, I had my first tempo run in two and a half months. Five miles that averaged about 5:46's. And last night I ran 12x 400 that started at about 80 seconds and cranked it's way down to 71 seconds. Neither were easy, but they also weren't crushing... and I didn't fade in the workouts. That's a start.
From here, I'll try to assemble a solid month of basic training to get me into enough shape to not embarrass myself at Cary, Shamrock, and Oak Park. I think it'll require a 5 week streak of 60-75 miles per week. After that, I'll reassess what I need to (and want to) do for the spring racing season.
