Training Summary: 12/22-12/28

Mon - 3 miles easy
Tue - 4 miles easy
Wed - 4.5 miles easy
Thu - 5 miles easy
Fri - 6.5 miles with Jim & Andy (a little faster than previous 4 days)
Sat - 6 miles easy
Sun - 9 miles steady (6:35 avg for miles 4-8)
Total: 38 miles

As I've already said, this past week went much better than expected. I would have been satisfied with 25-30 miles and a few aches and pains, but I was able to hit almost 40 without ever feeling like I was pushing it and I had practically nothing in the way of problems. I don't know if it's the core work helping, the adjustments I got at the chiropractor, cutting out most all stretching, a combination of the three, or what, and honestly I don't care as long as it continues. I plan to keep up the core work as I can feel myself getting stronger and the routine getting easier and it seems to have helped me feel more stable during my runs as well. I'm also going to continue making periodic trips to the chiropractor to try to keep myself in alignment. I just scheduled a visit for tomorrow evening and will probably try to get in once every 2-3 weeks for the next couple months, then if all goes well, once every 3-4 weeks thereafter. I wish I could just run and not have to do all this other stuff, but this time I'm determined to make every effort to keep myself healthy.

This coming week will be more of the same, just a gradual build back to full mileage before attempting to add in some workouts. I'll probably push the pace here and there and might even throw in a few strides just to continue feeling things out, but for the most part I'll just be logging miles. Thursday will mark the start of a new year, and I'm looking forward to it from a running standpoint. I know it's just a date and a number, but this past year was pretty much a disaster from the start. This past January was my lowest mileage month of a low mileage year, so it got off to a bad start and just never went anywhere. Hopefully I can get this next one off to a good start and really build on it from there. I plan on recapping 2008 and setting some goals for 2009 really soon. That's all from me for now.