Training Summary: 11/5 - 11/11

Mon: 5 miles
Tue: 6 miles
Wed: 9.5 miles, including 10X30 sec strides with 60 sec rec
Thu: 6.5 miles
Fri: 10 miles, including 6 mile progression run (3 X 2-mile segments)
Sat: 3 miles
Sun: 15 miles
Total: 55 miles

I like weeks where I accomplish what I set out to and feel good doing it. Unfortunately those have been few and far between for quite a while now, but this was such a week. I’m basically just treading water with my training right now, running a few less miles than full volume and lighter-than-usual workouts, and that’s the plan for the entire month of November, with a bigger cut-back week thrown in the week of Thanksgiving. After that, it’s back to the grind in preparation for the 2013 racing season, which hopefully will start in late-January on the indoor track at Liberty University.

Anyway, not a whole lot worth going in to in terms of specifics. The Friday progression run went better and felt easier than expected, and the same could be said for the Sunday long run. In fact, the last ten miles of the Sunday run was spent in the 6:40’s, with the exception of the last mile where I dropped it down to a 6:18 for a strong finish (average pace for the last 5 miles was 6:36). After struggling to do 13 miles without a single mile under 7 min pace the week before, that was a pleasant surprise for sure.

I’m optimistic that I may have found something to help get me back on track, literally and figuratively. Specifically, I’ve been getting treatment at Balance Chiropractic in Roanoke, and they’ve been doing a variety of things, including the Graston Technique on my calf/shin. I’ll post more on that soon.

I’ve thought for some time now that if I could get fully healthy it would make a huge difference in my ability to run fast. Since returning from the double Jones Fracture that almost ended running altogether for me in 2010, I’ve been able to stay “relatively” healthy the past two years. By “relatively,” I mean I haven’t missed any long chunks of time, although my calf has knocked me out for a few weeks more than once during that time frame. However, even though I’ve been able to train for the most part, I haven’t been able to train like I need to and want to, and even when I’ve been able to complete workouts, I haven’t been able to get after them as desired. I haven’t had the ability to push off or really lengthen out my stride in a long, long time. I know age has become at least somewhat of a factor, but I truly believe that if I can get my body to 100%, I can come close to running as fast as I did in the past. It will take a lot of work and some time and patience, but hopefully I’m starting down that road. Time will tell, and at the very least, I plan to enjoy the journey along the way!