December is looking pretty wimpy-- mainly because I felt worn out/run down for the first half of the month. But I still have 10 days left to crank out some good workouts! My calf might be ready for a long run on Saturday. Apparently it was a mild strain and the Graston that I had done on Monday has already helped. I won't attempt a long run unless I am 100%, but I am hopeful that I will be. If not, there is always the pool.
Looking only at land running and the specific workouts themselves, 2011 looks like this:
I worked really hard over the summer and was prepared to crank out a killer marathon on Oct. 2. But alas, it wasn't my day. Instead of getting a new marathon PR, I ended up with PRs in the shorter distances, which I am very happy about.
My land mileage for 2011 is the lowest its been since I started tracking miles back in 2008. However, with the introduction of pool running, I haven't lagged behind too much. I'm also training smarter now, so I am able to get better results with fewer miles.
I don't plan on beating my 2010 mileage in 2012 because I don't think I need to go that high to see results. I do hope, however, that I don't get injured in 2012 and I can keep up with the mileage I want.
Great post. Kinda interesting conundrum, huh? Mileage is definitely necessary, but can be overdone, and the goal at the end of the day is not to rack up the most miles, but to race the best. Something that's sometimes easy to forget.
ReplyDeleteThe pool running you did early on paid off in PR's this year! I think its great that you will continue to push for improvement, but won't base that on some arbitrary mileage goal. If you keep running smart, you will have an excellent 2012!
ReplyDeleteI love looking at all the run data from the past years! I think cross training is so important even tho sometimes I don't listen to my own advice! Great job on 2011!
ReplyDeleteI love all the charts! It definitely gives you a different perspective on your year. I hope you can build on your string of year end PRs in shorter distances and have a great 2012!
ReplyDeleteHmm. Very interesting and great info to reference back to.
ReplyDeleteWow. This post totally amazes me - I love the charts! I wish I had all that info on my own running, but for the longest time I recorded it only in my paper log or calendar (I know, I know ...) and only recently have it saved electronically. I am sure you will have a stellar 2012!!
ReplyDeleteThe visual of this is awesome. You're definitely right - more miles doesn't necessarily mean better running. I think you're starting to find your sweet spot in terms of volume!
ReplyDeletewhoa....i would totally geek out over this kind of data analysis! that's awesome!
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