Training Summary: 12/29 - 1/4

Mon: 7.5 miles
Tue: 6.5 miles, including 6X20 sec strides
Wed: 8 miles
Thu: 6 miles, including 6X20 sec strides
Fri: 9 miles
Sat: 6 miles
Sun: 0 – Day Off
Total: 43 miles

I feel like I took another step or two in the right direction this week. My hamstring still isn’t quite 100%, but it’s basically at the point where it’s a non-issue. My achilles, on the other hand, continues to be a real pain, but it’s maybe getting at least a touch better. It’s a chronic issue that I’ve had for years and actually generally seems to get looser the more I run, so it’s something I always have to work through. Overall I’m getting a little more comfortable every day and feel like I might be able to start some real training in another week or two if I can stay the course.

My main goal right now is to get to a point where I’m running what I feel like is a workable amount of mileage, which for the time being I’ll call somewhere around 50 miles per week. Once I get there, I’ll start to increase the quality and see what happens. I almost topped 50 this week, but I made what was almost certainly a wise decision and took Sunday off. I’d thought about hitting my first double-digit mileage day in four months that morning, but ultimately decided I needed a break. The main reason for that is how I felt on Saturday. Friday night’s 9-miler went really well, as it was the farthest distance and fastest sustained pace of my “comeback.” I figured I’d feel it the next day, and boy did I ever. The good news is my hamstring survived just fine, but my legs in general were D-E-A-D! That told me I’m not quite ready for seven days a week running and reminded me that my weekly mileage is now close to what my monthly mileage was in the Sep to Oct timeframe. As is, I hit 10 more miles than last week, which is probably enough of an increase anyway.

This week I hope to continue the build and actually hit that 50 mile mark. I’m monitoring my average HR and average pace, and both are gradually coming down, meaning I’m slowly but surely making progress with my fitness. For now, getting fitter and to the point where I can actually be comfortable and enjoy my daily runs is my only goal. I’ll figure out the rest when/if I get to that point. Happy running!