Training Summary: 8/16 - 8/22

Mon - 4 miles (7:49 avg) - Hanging Rock Trail
Tue - 4.5 miles (7:45 avg) - Salem, with some on the golf course and track
Wed - 4.5 miles (7:38 avg) - Brian Center in Fincastle, dirt road
Thu - 5 miles (7:45 avg) - Salem, roads
Fri - 5 miles (7:44 avg) - Greenfield Trails
Sat - 6 miles (7:31 avg) - from my house, roads
Sun - 6 miles (7:30 avg) - from my house, roads
Total: 35 miles (7:40 avg)

Not bad at all for my first full week back running, but WOW am I out of shape. That would pretty much sum up how I feel about this past week. I’ve gone through a ridiculous number of “comebacks” over the years, but I have never been at a point where averaging 7:45 per mile felt hard and that’s where I am right now. Still, even just during this week I noticed progress, so it will come back. It’s just gonna take a while this time.

The good news is my foot feels fine. As the week wore on my pace got faster and my form more natural, and aside from an incident where I stepped on a rock on Tuesday, I never felt even so much as a twinge. I wish I could say the same thing for my ankle/achilles, but that’s not quite as good. It’s very manageable though, and also seems to be getting better, so no major complaints. Basically my achilles is sore and tight until it gets warmed up and my ankle feels weak, almost like I sprained it recently. I’m pretty sure I just need to build back some strength and flexibility and I’ll be fine, but it’s something to keep an eye on, particularly since it’s been a chronic problem area for a long time. My left shin is feeling a little sore too, but that’s manageable for the time being as well, and I think it’s just one of the normal aches and pains associated with getting back into running. Otherwise, the rest of my body seems to be holding up pretty well. My quads have returned to normal and I have no other muscle soreness worthy of mention.

In terms of the specifics of the week, not much to go into. Each day was a mini struggle, some more than others, but I got through them all without wanting to quit too many times – ha, ha. I appreciated Andrew slowing down enough to join me on Tuesday (in a downpour) and Thursday. I was working fairly hard and he was barely jogging, but having some company is really nice when you’re suffering, and I promised to return the favor by leading some workouts down the road. My best runs occurred on the weekend in spite of the fact they were also the hilliest. I ran my fastest mile since starting back on Saturday (a blazing 7:09 for mile 6 - lol) then replaced that with a 6:53 on Sunday. Both days averaged right at 7:30/mile and were my farthest efforts since starting back.

At this point, all systems are go, but “patience and persistence” is my motto for the time being. I plan to slowly work my mileage towards the 50 mile mark over the next few weeks, but I’m not going to push it, so I don’t know exactly how long it will take. Once there, I plan on working on the quality of my training before adding any more volume. I plan on eventually getting my mileage back to a fairly high level because I know I need to in order to achieve my goals. However, rather than just push it up, up, up, like I have in the past, I want to get comfortable at one level, including hard workouts, before taking it to another. In other words, 4-8 weeks at say 50 miles, then 4-8 at 55-60, then 4-8 at 60-65, etc., taking a cutback week every 3-4 as well. Hopefully that will allow me to get fit AND stay healthy. That’s definitely the idea. So, right now my fastest mile is a 6:53 and I need to race 5k’s around 2 min a mile faster than that. I can’t really fathom it right now, but sounds like a challenge. We’ll see what happens. Have a great week!