OFF SEASON

Looks like I last posted about 2 months ago.  Don't worry, I'm still here.  I have just been having a bit of an off season.  After peaking in August thru mid September, my motivations starting waning.  My mileage dropped quite  a bit and I took some days off here and there and even a few days off in a row.  Never really quit running though.  Through it I started traveling for work again which messed with my consistency and then I got sick (not Covid), which eventually went into my lungs and totally slowed me down.  For a week or two I was jog/walking and out of breath.  Eventually I took some Prednisone and everything cleared back up.

Exiting August I had run 13 weeks of 40 to 50+ miles.  Entering September I ran 33, 21, 32, 22, 31, 23, 30, 27, 14... The last 2 weeks I've started picking it back up again, running 35 and then 37.  

I was amazed at how fast I got "out of shape".  Going out running suddenly felt tough again and my heart rate was back up near 150 for paces and efforts that had been in the 130s a couple months ago. 

Yesterday, I finally had a breakthrough run of sorts.  11.6 miles on the treadmill in 1:30:05.

I started at 7 MPH for the first mile, then bumped it up by .2 for each mile.  

Mile 1:  7  (8:34)

Mile 2: 7.2 (8:20)

Mile 3: 7.4 (8:06)

Mile 4: 7.6 (7:54)

Mile 5: 7.8 (7:42)

Mile 6: 8.0 (7:30)

Mile 7: 8.2 (7:19)

Mile 8: 8.4 (7:09)

Mile 9: 8.6 (6:59)

Mile 10: 8.0 (7:30)

Mile 11 and 11.5: 7 (8:34)

Getting under 7 for the 9th mile was a real effort... My HR approached 170 by the end but it didn't really "hurt" at least not in a bad way.  It felt smooth and natural.  

At this point offseason is over and I'm ready to start building my base back.  I hope to be able to run a half marathon in February but I have my doubts on if it will actually occur.  Without a tangible goal, I'll just keep training and building and hoping I can stay healthy so that when the time finally comes when I can use my fitness I will be ready.