Almost back

 Took a look back at last years training and saw that I took about a 9 weeks "break" in September where I gravitated between 20 and 30 miles a week finally dropping down to 14 in week 9.  Then 2 more weeks at 35 miles and 37 miles to get back into the 40s and then a few more weeks in the 40s to build back to a 50 MPW in December.

This year I've had 4 weeks down and 1 of those weeks was pre-marathon taper.  Then 3 weeks post marathon recover at under 15 MPW average.  As of now, I'm feeling just about fully recovered and am itching to get back to training.

I kicked the comeback off this weekend starting with 6.25 on the treadmill on Friday at 8:10 pace, Then 6.25 on the road Saturday at 7:40 pace.  This was pushing it a bit but not too hard.  I charged the hills and did 4 strides in the baseball field at the beginning of mile 6.   Then I went all in on Sunday and ran my first long run since the marathon.   

12.01 miles 
1:35:22
7:56 pace

I was tuckering out by the end but overall it felt pretty darn good.  HR was in the 140s.  I think in a week or two I'll be totally back to normal.  

Today I did 36 minutes on the bike but actually pushed it pretty hard and then did 24 minutes walking on the treadmill on a 5% grade at 4 MPH.   I really just felt motivated and energized.  

I ended October with 126 miles, which was my lowest mileage since last October but still higher than 3 of my lowest months in 2020.  Hope to be pushing closer to 200 in November but we'll see.  Plan to build a bit on my way back to 50 MPW for the next few weeks.  Judging by how the 12 miler felt, it should be to bad.

Also, I've been meaning to do this for a while but I did the Myrtle routine Saturday and Sunday before my run and it felt pretty good.  I could feel it in my hips but in a good way instead of the usual bad way.  Going to try to start doing this every day before I run and see if my hips start feeling better. 

2021 Goals Update

With 2 months left in the year its time for a goals update:

1. 10,000 pushups:  8465 pushups and on pace for 10130.  Knocked out 2 sets of 60 this morning in fact.  I'm tempted to just bulldog this goal and hit the mark in the next few weeks so I can stop worrying about it.  Pushups are easy for me but I think they are valuable for my core.

2. 7500 10,000 pulls ups: 8285 and on pace for 9914.  Travelling got me off routine again and I slacked a couple days after.  I'm back underwater on these again but just barely.   I did 76 this morning to catch back up a bit.  I'll hopefully be back on pace by the end of the week.  The closer I stay to my goal as the year comes to an end, the easier it'll be to sprint to the finish... I'm sure I could do 300 pull ups over a weekend if I really had to but hopefully I won't have to.

3. 26 Hours on the Bike:  Hit the bike again today and now am at 23:44.  I really like hitting the bike for these 30-40 minute sessions.  Not sure about multi-hour sessions unless I got hurt or something.  I was doing hour long sessions last year but they seemed to tire me out the next day for running.  I'd really like to cross-train more but don't want it to effect my workouts.  I'd toy around with using the bike to get easy 30 minute recovery efforts in as doubles on workout days.  That's an idea for 2022 anyhow.

4. 2021 miles:  I'm at 2055 for the year.  13 miles away from last years total with 2 months to go.  2nd year with 2000+ miles.  Currently on pace for 2459.   2500 would be a good stretch goal but that seems unlikely at this point.  2400 is way more likely.  The main thing is to not force anything.  The purpose of the goal is a boost of motivation to get out there most everyday but the actual miles I run depend on how I'm feeling.

5. 12500 steps a day:  Currently at 1226 days in a row.