Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Three Things Thursday

1. I don't want to complain, but I'm going to for a moment. Numbers. I like looking at them. How many miles I've run in a day, week, month, year. How fast I ran those miles. But lately? I don't like the numbers. Leading up to the Fox Cities Half Marathon I could bust out a 4-5 mile run with sub-10 (barely) minute miles. The last month? The pace has been closer to 11:30 minute miles for a 4-5 mile run. And it feels hard. I know the colder weather plays a little bit of a role. I know my mileage has decreased. And I know I've been babying my IT band and slowing down. But still. It's frustrating to see those kind of paces. And I know right now I'm at the point where I'm just building a base and maintaining endurance and that speed will come in a few months as the spring half marathon season gets closer. But still. It's frustrating to see those numbers.


2. Continuing on the numbers theme, with one run left in 2011, I'm 6 miles from hitting my (adjusted) goal of hitting 900 miles for the year. Back in January I was aiming for 1,000, but then there was 9+ months of pretty intense training and four half marathons. And by the time I hit the massive PR at Fox Cities, I just wanted a break. So I cut back on mileage in October and November, ran when I felt like it. And watched the goal of 1,000 miles slip away. But I'm still pretty happy with hitting 900 considering my previous yearly high was 590-something. So one run left on Saturday. And it just happens to be 6 miles. But I might just make it 7 so I can say I ran 901 miles. :)

3. I always thought New Year's weekend was supposed to be the slightly less hectic weekend of the holidays. Not so for me this year. A family gathering after work Friday, that early morning long run on Saturday followed by a New Year's Eve wedding. Then the Packers on Sunday. And of course - the highlight of the long weekend in my opinion - the Badgers in the Rose Bowl on Monday. Should be a good weekend, but I may need a vacation to recover from the holidays!

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