4/2011: 135.0 miles
4/2012: 164.9 miles
On Sunday and Monday (the last two days of April) I managed to run two recovery runs to bring my monthly mileage total just barely above my previous record for April. It was a small triumph to return from my injury-enforced reduced mileage fast enough to be able to log that many miles in April. That makes 10 consecutive months where I've set personal records for total mileage run.
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| The Boulders Trail, Iowa Gulch, Leadville. |
More than any other month I can think of, April was a roller coaster of emotional highs and lows. When my ITBS struck it was like someone pulled the rug out from under my feet. I lost my balance, everything was up in the air. Could I recover in time for CPTR? For any of the races I had planned for May? For the San Juan Solstice in June? To be able to bounce back as quickly as a I did and set a PR at Collegiate Peaks seems almost miraculous. As elated as I am, I'm still jittery about my knees. Is my ITBS truly behind me or will it surface again as my mileage increases? I will continue to stretch, massage, and strengthen and hope for the best.
My last six weeks of training have looked like this:
3/19: 37 miles
3/26: 18 miles (injured)
4/02: 20 miles (injured)
4/09: 50 miles
4/16: 42 miles
4/23: 43 miles
Even though I have several different training plans sitting on my desk, I'm not really following any particular one. I'm not sure exactly why (fear of commitment?), but I guess I'm trying to run more by feel this year-- adjusting my training schedule to fit the race schedule I've signed up for. My training logs from the previous two years form the foundation of my training. I know what kind of results they produced, so they're an invaluable benchmark.
As complicated as training schedules can get, here's my basic high level plan for this year:
Jan: 25 miles/week
Feb: 30 miles/week
Mar: 35 miles/week
Apr: 40 miles/week
May: 45 miles/week
Jun: 50 miles/week
Jul: 55 miles/week
Aug: taper and race!
Of course, nothing is set in stone and there are always weekly variations from the average, but I think these high level per week averages are a good guideline for me to train by. Their beauty is their simplicity: weekly mileage just increases 5 miles/week/month.
May is when the hammer drops. I consider May, June, and July to be peak training time. Every year, Collegiate Peaks ushers in a new phase of training for the 100. This year I've got the Quad Rock 25 in two weeks and the Sage Burner 50K two weeks after that! So my week-by-week schedule for the end of April and the rest of May looks like: race, train, race, train, race. (That pretty much sums up the life of an ultra runner.)
The mileage to beat for May is 238.4 (set in 2010). That's my all time monthly high. I don't think I'm likely to top it this month-- nor am I sure it's smart to even try. Training is more than just mileage. Probably my most important goal this month is to run one 20+ mile run every week and follow it up with a 5-10 mile recovery run the day after. Sure, I could pad my mileage by sprinkling a ton of 5-7 mile runs throughout the week, but the long run is the key.
The plan is for May is ~20 miles Tue/Wed/Thu and ~30 miles Sat/Sun. Stay vigilant about ITBS: continue to stretch, foam roll, and strengthen. Eat lots of protein. Drink lots of Recoverite.
Simple.
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| Clown shoe power! |
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