HAPPY NEW YEAR

Here's a quick recap of my recent training. Saturday I had a great 1:56 group run. Distance-wise it was 15 miles, but effort-wise with the crappy footing, it was probably over 16 miles. That gave me 60 miles for my cutback week.

Sunday I didn't want to mess with more crappy footing, so I just ran on the treadmill for 12 miles while watching the Vikings get eliminated from the playoffs. I'm trying to make the most of my treadmill runs by making sure they're strong aerobic efforts. After starting out easy, I worked my way down to 7:03 pace.

Given my back to back harder runs, I settled on an easy 5 mile run on Monday. In the afternoon I met a buddy from work for some one-on-one ski lessons. He gave me some pointers during our 10K of skiing.

As a result, I closed out the month with 331 miles on 30 days of running and 31 runs - plus 2 hours of skiing. It also means I finished 2007 with 3,062 miles. While those numbers are down from last year's 350 and 3,204, I feel very comfortable with where I'm at. I think I've done a very good job of balancing the building of my mileage in three-week segments, followed by a cutback week. I'm also happy with the number of mid-week 14-16 mile runs I've run lately, as well as already getting in three long runs of 20 or more miles.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Joan Benoit Samuelson ran her long runs every 10 days. She thought every 7 days was too close and every 14 days was too far apart. Of course, that kind of schedule is a little easier for someone who's not working Monday-Friday. With the help of the holidays and vacation, I've been able to get close to Joan's schedule. On 12/9 I ran 20 miles, 12 days later I ran 22 miles, and 11 days later - today - I ran 24 miles. If all works out, I should be able to get in another long run in 11 or 12 days.

I didn't really know what to expect with today's long run. My right hip was sore from skiing, but it only seemed to bother me when I moved laterally. Also, with temps around 0 and the windchill of -15, I wasn't sure how much of this run would be outside. I was prepared to stay close to home and finish on the treadmill at any point. Somehow I made it 18 miles before getting tired of freezing into the wind and then overheating with the wind. With the last 6 miles on the treadmill, I'd almost say this run was easier than my 22 mile run which included a bunch of hills near the end.

Quote of the day;

"For us [Japanese], distance and time are both important. I would do up to 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) per month in my main training, whether at sea level or at altitude. I always liked to feel I was doing training that nobody else could do." - Yuko Arimori