Monday, February 16, 2009

Laughable Mileage

I updated the log book yesterday, and I was surprised to see how few miles I've been running.  I knew I had that off week due to the hand, and another few days off because of the hamstring prior to that - but I didn't think it was THIS bad:

2/2 - 2/8:  4-miles (hand in a cast)

1/26 - 2/1:  15-miles (missed a day due to the hand, extra 2 off days due to hamstrings)

1/19 - 1/25:  17-miles (extra off days due to hamstrings)

That's a whopping 36-miles in 3-weeks!!  If I go back further than that - the two previous weeks were only 25-miles each (but that was due to focus on race paced speed work to prep for the track season, so that was by design)

Still, it gives me a 5-week average of just 17-miles per week!!  I'm now wondering how the heck I was able to hit my daily runs this week at sub-7 pace after that kind of layoff.  I guess I'll add it to my list of miracles lately.

This past week (my first base week for the summer season) I totaled about 35-miles.  That's including one extra off-day due to a CMT appointment to finish up the rehab of the hamstrings.  If this week goes to plan I should be back up into the 40s, and I'm hoping that this remains the case for a few weeks until I can bump it up again into the 50s.  

Although, another tidbit I discovered in the book - during the last build I only had a total of 4-weeks that went over 40-miles and only once did I get two of those in a row.  My "record week" was just 47 miles.  

I guess this means that at least as far as mileage goes, the bar is pretty low for me to step over on this build.  If I can come close to the mileage I outlined in the rough base plan and add in those tempos and long interval sessions - this base work should be several times more effective than the last one.  And w/ the health improving daily, I'm starting to look forward to what's ahead . . . 

Training:

Mon, 2/16:  Weightlifting on legs (squats, presses, extensions, calves, hip flexors, adductors, abductors), stretching, rolling, abs.

3 comments:

bricey said...

I think you can be forgiven for the low mileage recently. Given that you're now doubling up I'm sure that your weekly mileage will rise steeply (baring and trips, slips or falls!!)

Grellan said...

I'm with Brendan. Take it easy on yourself. Anyway you hardly need the high mileage of a long distance runner.

Ewen said...

I'd have forgiven you if you'd been doing hard racing during those weeks ;)

Looks like it was enough to maintain some fitness. You wouldn't want to run 12 miles a week for 6 months though.