Day 28

 11.35 on Saturday, 9.3 on Sunday, and 5.5 today, all pretty much easy miles on the treadmill.

I rounded out January with 193.1 miles at 8:15 pace and finished out with back to back 50+ mile weeks.

After a slow start my mileage is back to a pretty typical level.  Plan to keep building to 60 miles and then hopefully winter will wane and I can start transitioning back to the roads and building in some more intensity. 

Overall I feel pretty darn good.  A little stiff/tendinitisy on the side of the legs around the knees but my hips feel better than they have in a while and I'm really happy with that because I was very sick of tight achy hip flexors.  My one issue is in my feet, particularly my right one.  It sometimes hurts really bad when I walk but feels fine when I run.  Doesn't seem serious but I don't want it to turn into something.

January has been a positive month and I've built back to a good base level.  I'm back to feeling fit and the easy, low HR running has been pleasantly enjoyable.  

Day 25

25 days in and I've finished up all the chocolate in the advent calendar.  Still going strong for now.

8 miles this morning at an 8:31 pace.  Average HR of 132.  I'm getting pretty efficient at running really slow and easy on the treadmill.  Hope that this eventually translates to running pretty efficient fast and steady on the roads.  For now, I keep building mileage with mostly easy runs and some harder efforts on Thursdays.

Day 24...

I may have missed a few days posting but I haven't missed any days running. 

I just got back from a work trip.  I left early on Monday morning to catch a 7 am flight.  This required me to wake up extra early to squeeze in a 5K on the treadmill before I left the house.  I had run 9 miles on the previous Saturday and 10.35 on Sunday to complete my first 50+ mile week of 2022 so I didn't feel too guilty about only running 3.1 on Monday.

2 Days at the steel mill on Tuesday and Wednesday didn't prevent me from getting in 7.5 and 5.5 mile runs in.  

And the cumulative fatigue from the trip and the 6 hour drive home didn't prevent me from waking up early and running a tempo workout today:

8.1 miles

1:00:17

7:26 pace  (including 3.1 miles at 9.5 mph aka 6:18 pace aka 19:34 5K.  

The only thing that did get disrupted was any kind of strength work so now I'm behind on burpees and pullups again :(

The treadmill work felt pretty damn good, getting my HR into the 160s fairly quickly and slowly climbing to around 168 by the end.  Right now treadmill running seems very manageable...  outdoor running is a different story.

Last Saturday I did 9 miles with the first 1 mile being on the treadmill to warm-up before I ventured into the cold (25 degrees and sunny but with a 12 MPH wind).  It wasn't exactly pleasant but it was manageable.  I started out pretty good at a 7:45 pace but quickly dropped to 8:10 pace after a few miles and wound up averaging 7:57 pace while working entirely too hard.  Not sure if it was the wind, the cold, the leg muscles not used to running off the treadmill, the fatigue from all the training, or I'm just still not in that great of shape?    

I wonder if I could run 6:18 pace on the road right now?  I bet it would be a lot harder than it was on the treadmill.   It's still only January though so I have time to keep improving.

Day 18!

 Felt good again today after yesterdays workout.  Another 7 miles at 8:22 average pace.  Varied the grade between 0, 1, 2, and 3% every .25 miles and wound up with 600+ feet of elevation when all was said and done.  Easy overall effort and I feel encouraged about how my body is holding up as I build fitness.

The only thing I need to improve on is getting my ass going a bit earlier in the morning.  I've been waking up at 5:10 but starting my workout at 6:15 which winds up either squeezing me for time and limiting the amount of miles I can fit in.  Just a winter motivation issue causing me to mill around a little to much.  

Another 50 push ups this morning has me at 1000 for the year (and on pace for 17380).  Last year I did just enough to hit my 10000 goal so this year I'm trying to be more consistent about how frequently I do them instead of fixating on the overall number.

  

Day 17 :)

 Felt a lot better today than yesterday so I guess 3.5 miles at a true recovery pace is good enough to keep me going for now.

Ran a workout today.  2.5 mile warm up (treadmill speed 6.8, 6.9, 7, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 8, 8.5 bumping up every .25 miles).  Then 3 miles at 9 mph (6:40 pace) and 2 miles at 9.3 mph (6:26 pace).  

Effort felt just about perfect.   HR got up to the low 160s by the end.  I was working hard but not too hard.  I felt good when I was running but once I stopped I was sweating hard and feeling exhausted (in a good way).  I didn't want to do my daily pushups, pullups, burpees at first but after 10 minutes I wound up doing them and felt fine.  

Only problem was some GI issues.  I had to stop briefly between the warm up and workout and then I didn't get a cooldown in.  At least I got my whole workout done without stopping.  Hopefully just a one off thing due to the fact that I haven't been working this hard for the most part. 

Overall workout averaged to 7.5 miles at 7:07 pace... fastest effort since my early October marathon.  I think 6:26 pace is easier for me on my treadmill than on the road but I also ran 6:09 pace for 10K last year so maybe not.  I don't think I'm in 6:09 pace 10K shape right now, but I've been feeling pretty good lately.  

I need to get outside and run and eventually I need to time trial something to get a better idea where I'm at.  It's 8 degrees today but it is supposed to be 28 on Saturday but with 14 mph winds... maybe I should suck it up but it sounds miserable.  Winter sucks!

Day 16 :(

 Seriously felt like I'm starting to fizzle today.  Legs are fatigued and am getting more and more tempted to break the streak and take a day off.  Instead I did 3.5 miles today at a 8:50 pace and average HR of 125.  I guess I'll see how ~30 minutes of really easy running compares to actually taking a day off. 

I've really only been doing easy running since last Saturday.  Tomorrow I'm planning to get in some sub 7 minute miles so that will be a true test of how I'm doing.  Might be good to stretch it out with some faster pace work... we'll see.  

With today's run I got my first 100 mile in for the year.  now I need to do that at least 19 more times plus hopefully a few more and we'll consider 2022 a success.  

Day 15 :)

 Another 7.5 miles in 1:02:33 (8:20 pace).  I'm mildly sore and creaky but it feels like normal training fatigue.  I'm curious... if I keep going at this rate will I start to get used to it and feel less tired or will I continue to get more and more tired?  

One thing I'm sure of is that an hour on the treadmill is a grind.  I try to think of these days as bricks (not like a triathlon brick but a literal brick).  One brick alone is not worth much but stack enough and you can build a house.  Just got to keep my head down, my mind right, and keep stacking those bricks through winter and see how it pays off come spring.

Day 14

 14th day of running in a row.  Followed up Saturdays long run with 5 easy miles at 8:40 pace on Sunday, averaging under 130 BPM for HR.  Then another 6.25 today averaging about 8 minute pace and squeezing 500 feet of vert out of it.  Goal was to run just hard enough to stretch out and get the muscles firing but not build fatigue.  Sprinkled a bit of pushups, pullups, and burpees on at the end to complete my daily fulfillment of punishment.  

I wound up with 48.12 miles for the week which was my highest since September.  Also, already eclipsed last months mileage.  Got some fatigue setting in but so far I'm fine once I get moving.  Not sure how long I should keep this up?  I suppose if the streak is important to maintain I can always just do one mile for an off day.   Not sure I love that idea though.   For now we'll just try to get through January?  

Day 12

 12.6 miles today at just over 8 minute pace.  Mixed it up by throwing in a sprinkle of uptempo work.  I had a mile at 6:07 pace somewhere in the middle and maybe 2 more miles at 7 min pace that was pieced out through the run.  Just kept going until the treadmill shut off at 1:39:00.

Longest run of the year.  Now I’m tired and a little sore.  Just gonna chill and I should be recovered for some easy work tomorrow.

Day 11

 5 more easy miles today at 8:27 pace.  Nothing too remarkable... planned on 4 miles and stretched it to 5.

After squeezing in another 40 pullups this morning I'm at 400 for the year that finally has me back on pace for 10000.  Did 50 pushups and 12 burpees as well.  I usually do my exercises after I get done running and mix them between packing my lunch, showering and getting dressed for work, and rushing out the door.  This makes it hectic to fit in but also means I'm getting this work done without sacrificing any precious time.  There's efficiency in this chaos!

My motivation is back for now so that's a plus.  Only thing lacking is that all my running has been on treadmills.  Treadmill is good for keeping things easy anyhow.  

I'm starting to think about mileage goals again so I looked back at 2021.  Overall I had 24 weeks logged of over 50 mpw with 7 of those weeks being over 60 mpw.  My weekly high was 65.18.

In 2020 I had only 13 weeks over 50 mpw and a high of 54.17.   In 2021 I had 12 weeks that surpassed my previous weekly high.

For 2022 I'll be looking to hit more 60 mile weeks and hopefully hit a few 70s.   Got to get those workouts in too but overall I enjoy the easy mileage and it's worked for me so far.   Also looking at 4 week blocks, my biggest 4 week block of mileage was 239 miles... nothing special about 4 weeks but consistent mileage is what seems to pay off so I'm going to target exceeding that.

Day 10

10 days in a row with 61 miles over that span.  

Today I upped the intensity a bit and had a bit of a workout.  7 miles in 53:03 for a 7:34 average pace.

I ran the first 2 miles easy, starting at 6.8 mph (8:49 pace) and bumping up by .1 mph every .25 miles running that last 1/4 of the 2nd mile at 7.5 mph (8:00 pace).  At the 2 mile mark I bumped it to 8 mph (7:30 pace).   At the 2.25 I bumped it to 8.5 mph (7:03 pace) at which point the workout officially began.  

2.5  8.6mph  6:59 
2.75 8.7mph  6:54
3      8.8mph  6:49 
3.25  8.9mph  6:44
3.5   9mph      6:40
4.5   9.1mph    6:36
4.75 9.2mph    6:31
5 - 5.5  9.3mph   6:27

Heart rate started in the low 150s and worked up to 165 by the end.  Never was breathing hard but got into a good rhythm.  I felt like I could have kept going for a while but was pushed enough that I was happy when it was done.  I feel like 6:30 pace on the roads would have been a lot tougher in my current condition but who knows.  The uptempo work got my cadence to around 180 and up to mid 180s by the time I hit 6:27 pace.  The faster turnover felt good and my form felt efficient.  All in all, about 20 minutes of the higher intensity work which should be enough to start easing my body back into performance mode without causing too much lingering fatigue.  

finished up with 1.5 easy miles to complete the 7.  

Similar to what I've experienced in the past, my legs actually feel better right now than they have been.  Oddly enough, sometimes a hard effort seems to reduce or eliminate tightness/soreness in my ITB and hips.  Not sure if it's endorphin related or maybe getting the right muscles to fire releases something?  No clue but I can't complain.  

I'll plan on going easier tomorrow as I head into the weekend.  Looking at the forecast it doesn't look like I'll be outside this weekend but you never know.  I might brave the cold one day if the roads are clear.  Otherwise, I'll at least try to get another 10+ miler in on the treadmill.

Day 9

 Felt better gong into today's workout than yesterday.  Planned to do an easy 5 and wound up doing 7 instead.  Easy pace of 8:49 per mile (6.8 mph) but I varied the incline as I went and wound up with 800 feet of vert by the end.  Wound up running for over an hour for the 2nd day in a row.  I was planning to run harder tomorrow so we'll see how I feel.

I'm also on a 8 day streak in terms of my secondary fitness goals.  I started the year with 5 consecutive days off so I've been playing some catchup. 

Pull ups:  currently on pace for 9733.  I've mostly been doing 36 of these a day.  3 sets of 12 with pullups, chin-ups and side-grip pull ups.  I've been extra cognizant of going all the way down, moving smoothly, and using the full range of motion.  These have been slightly harder than when I just crank them out but not bad and probably more effective overall.   The goal for the year is 10000.

Pushups:  Now on pace for 11860 with a goal of 10000.  Trying to keep good form on these but nothing crazy.  

Burpees:  This is a new one.  I'm currently on pace for 3072 with a goal of ????.  I haven't done enough burpees in my life to know how many is a good number... I'm sure I did some in high-school but I don't remember doing much since then.  The few times I did try I was dropping down onto my shoulders which I used to be able to do with ease in high school but now causes trauma. After watching a few videos I realized I should be squatting down first.  This eliminated the trauma and once I got the motion, timing, and breathing coordinated they are quickly becoming easier.  My original though was to do 10 a day for a goal of 3650.  Right now I'm working off that doing at least 10 and sometimes a few more as I play catchup for my 5 days off.  Currently a set of 12 seems like the right amount of effort but considering I've only done about 100 burpees in the last 20 years I'd imagine that number could grow quite a bit.  

I still can't quite get my diet in order and my weight quite where I'd like it to be.  Part of it is just the fact that my 40+ year old man's body composition and metabolism isn't quite the same as 20 year old me... Still, with all the work I put in I'd really like to wind up ripped at least for a little while... Being ripped would be cool but isn't necessarily the goal though... my real question is how much better I could potentially perform if I got my body fat down a bit.  Also, I can "feel" the extra bulk I carry and expect that I will "feel" a lot more fit if I ever shed it.  The problem is that eating clean takes 24/7 discipline and I just don't have it... so far this year I have been better about some of the snacking on junk food and I haven't been eating ice-cream every day so at least there's that.

Day 8

 Day 8 of my running streak.  Wasn't quite feeling it this morning when I got up.  Might just be mental... now that I mentioned a streak I immediately want to take a day off?!?

Legs are a bit fatigued but nothing too crazy.  The DOMS feeling is pretty much gone but has been replaced with some mild tightness in my ITBs...  Unfortunately this seems to be my new normal. Every time I take a break it's nice because that mild irritation goes away but it always comes right back after I start up again.  Not sure if there is any stretching/strengthening/mobility stuff I could do that would help.  Maybe I'll hit it with the foam roller.

Once I got on the treadmill I felt ok though.  Not as great as I felt over the weekend but I got the run in.  I planned on 6 and wound up doing 7.5 in 1:02:11.  Ran mostly at 7 mph but bumped the last couple miles up to 8 minute pace (7.5 mph).  Varied the incline between 0 and 1.  Overall an easy run with the only significance being that 7.5 is one of my longer runs in the last 2 month.  I don't mind running a bit fatigued but just want to make sure I'm not digging myself into a hole and getting more and more fatiged.

Seems like I'm rounding into form relatively quickly.  Haven't pushed too much but I'm satisfied with how my legs are turning over and how easy the effort has been at a reasonable easy pace.

Should plan on going a bit shorted tomorrow (4 or 5 miles) and pick up the pace for a bit on Thurday.

DOMS?, Streaks, going long, and recount

DOMS:  Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is something I've become familiar with over the years.  It hasn't been something I've had to deal with lately though.  Sure, I haven't been super consistent over November and December due to various reasons but I still averaged about 100 miles each month.  You'd think that would be enough to at least remind the legs to stay vigilant.  I took 6 whole days off between Dec 29 and Jan 3rd and I guess that was enough.  Now my legs are feeling a bit sore in that DOMS kind of way... not enough to impact movement... I'm just a bit surprised and don't completely understand the mechanisms that result in DOMS.

STREAKS: It's January 10th and I'm on a 7 day running streak.  Personally, I've avoided running streaks because I don't think they fit my personality.  For one, I can get obsessive and foresee myself hobbling around on a niggle and causing damage just to keep a streak alive.  Also, rest days are good and part of training.  I've worked my way from 3 to 4 to 5 to 6 and sometimes even 7 days a week of training but I can tell when I'm starting to feel worn down and will normally take a day off during the week when I need it.  This has been successful for me so far in terms of building performance and staying healthy so I don't want to change something that's working.

However, coming into the New Year, I feel like in this case a streak is in order to balance the inconsistency and to build my base back better.  I'm not setting any hard goals for the streak but looking back through my training, it appears my longest (unintentional) streak was 20 days in May of 2021 so beating that would be a good target.  Just need to be smart about it and if the DOMS continues or gets worse I may need to reevaluate.

GOING LONG: Yesterday, I knocked out a 10 miler.  My first double digit run since November 14th and only my 4th since my October 10th marathon.  It's amazing the impact a marathon can have on the body... it's no wonder I swore them off back in 2011... luckily I'm a glutton for punishment so I'm back at it now.  I'm hoping that the more training I put in, the better adapted I'll be, and the quicker I'll recover, otherwise I'll swear off the marathon again!  

But back to yesterday... 10 miles on the treadmill at 8 minute pace.  I started a 9 minute pace... bumped it up a bit, hit a rhythm for a few miles, bumped it up to 8.7 mph (6:53 pace) for 2.5 miles... then slowed back down to 9 minute pace.  I wore a heartrate monitor for the first time in a long time and it was helpful.  My watch HR has been really off lately.  It frequently shows HRs in the 150's even when I'm going at a low effort.  I was starting to believe the data so it was nice to have a sanity check.  Yesterdays data was a lot more palatable.... low 130s for the warm up.  into the mid 150s for the 6:53 work then back down under 140 with the cooldown.  

Most importantly, the run felt great!  I didn't start the day with the intention to run 10 miles...  my daily  mileage for the previous days was 4, 5.5, 6, 5, 5 so I was targeting 8 miles but I wound up feeling so good that I just kept going.  It's the best run I've had in months.  The 6:53 pace work was only going to be for a mile but it was so easy that I pushed it out to 2.5 miles.  Then once I dropped the pace back to 9:00 pace it felt so easy I could have gone forever.  I had the music going and was jamming and singing along.  I should have started on Prednisone a couple weeks ago I guess but I always try to avoid it when possible.  

RECOUNT:  I used the 6 day break between last year and this year, and the New Year to make a clean break and finally shift how I count my weeks.  I used to start my weeks on Sunday and end on Saturday.  I kind of liked this because I'd start the week with the long run and it kept me from adding miles to my long run purely for the purpose of meeting arbitrary mileage numbers.  However, my apps (Strava, NRC) count it from Monday-->Sunday so it's slightly more convenient to realign so that I can automatically track my weekly mileage.  At the end of the day it makes no real difference but I'm a numbers guy and like to hit my metrics even if its kind of silly.

Week one is in the books for 2022.  35.5 miles.  First time over 30 since the injury so not a bad way to start the new year.  Will probably target in the 40 mpw range for the next couple weeks and go from there.  Hopefully can be back to around 60 mpw by March just in time for the weather to allow running to be fun again.

OTHER THOUGHTS:  After a bit of a down period I'm finally feeling revigorated.  This past 7 days of running has been great.  My hip is completely healed and I really have no niggles to speak of right now.  The treadmill is no longer my enemy and I'm finding my rhythm.  Sunday has been one of my best runs in a long time.  I hit that flow state and though I ran for 10 miles I could have ran for more if I didn't run out of time.  I just can't stop raving about how great I'm feeling.  It's only been a week so I'm trying to keep things in perspective but if I can keep this up for the next couple months it should be a killer spring!

Stepping it up

 4th day of running in a row today.  We'll call that a streak.  5 miles at 8:11 average pace but the last half mile was at 7:03 pace (8.5 mph).  Even better, 7:03 felt pretty easy.  5 miles a day seems right for now but I plan on building on that through January.  One thing I do know... it's sure easier to get 12500 steps in for the day when I run 5 miles in the morning.

I signed up for my first race of 2022, a 5K on March 12, which according to the website is 2 months, 2 days, 18 hours away.  That should be plenty of time to get back into decent shape, right?  I guess it's too early to set goals but at least sub 19 I would hope.  I ran 18:30 at the same race last year with gas left in the tank... of course I was in a lot better shape at this point last year as well.  The real question is what's more important to running a fast 5K;   My fitness level 2 months before the race or the extra year of training I've had since last year.  

New Year, Same Story

I had a great running year for 2021 by most measures.  New PRs in the marathon and 10K and a masters PR in the 5K (finally breaking 18 minutes)... a new record 2248 miles run... some killer workouts and I was able to meet or exceed all of my goals.

Unfortunately I also got my first real injury since I started up again in 2019.  Didn't keep me down too long but after the injury finally subsided I got bronchitis which limited my training some more.  Add in the holidays and the results are an end of year fizzle out.  Not the way I like to build into a new year. However, being a New Year it's a great arbitrary point to start building back again.  

I got 4 miles in Tuesday on the treadmill at a 8:48 pace.  Then 5.5 miles Wednesday at a 8:22 pace.  It all felt easy and my breathing while not perfect is getting better now that I started a course of Prednisone.  6 miles today at 8:41 pace.  Just trying to rebuild consistency and get back into my rhythm at this point.  So far so good.

Ultimately this could work out well for me.  Build through January and February and start hitting it for real come spring.  That should put me in a good place for March, April, May where I have some races planned.

In review, I'd say that 2021 was a bit of a breakthrough year.  What I was able to achieve was approaching my potential.  I'd image I'll be able to continue to improve but I don't think I'm going to continue to shave minutes off my 5K time.  Definitely have some room to grow in the longer distances.

No glamourous plans this year, just more of the same.  Keep grinding and try to stick with it.