Posts Tagged ‘1000 miles’

Running 1,000 miles this year was never on my radar, especially after running less than 50 miles in January and even less in February.

Today, as I neared a quarter mile to go to 1,000, I was forced to stop …

I’ve run across these tracks probably a dozen times this year and not once did I encounter a train. It struck me as being pretty funny that I had to wait a couple of minutes to run a little farther before hitting 2.2 miles into my run, marking my 1,000th mile. And, that too, was kind of funny as I hit the mark in front of the church I went to much of my life (Main Street United Methodist Church in Bedford).

My running log from today - miles, shoes and total 2011 miles.

Unlike last year, I hit this mark today healthy and more confident than ever about what’s ahead. In the final couple of weeks of 2011, I’ll do some reflecting on what’s happened in these 1,000+ miles — this has been a special year in so many ways and I’m looking forward to taking some time and reading posts I haven’t visited in a while.

While I reflect, though, I’ll keep running. It’s day 24 of the Runner’s World Holiday Run Streak — I have quite a bit more running to do and some early 2012 goals to start getting serious about.

In these last two weeks I’ll continue to hit milestones I’ve never seen with the most miles ever in a year and my most consecutive running days.

Until then, I’m going to celebrate a bit tonight.

I actually have a lot on my mind these days and a lot I could talk about, but I have one final major goal this year — hitting 1,000 miles.

And now I’m just two runs from hitting that mark. I haven’t talked about it much on here, nor do I make it a main topic of conversation on Twitter — I’m just enjoying running right now and love watching those miles creep closer to quadruple digits.

Until then, there’s nothing else to say …

No, I did not fall off the edge of a cliff. I’m alive and doing very well. I just happened to get caught up in the madness of life, got some extra sleep, and then traveled to Ohio to visit the in-laws and go to a wedding. The few days off the computer (besides my phone a few times) has been nice.

No hills in sight around this northeast Ohio greenway.

Fortunately I’ve had time to run twice on this trip too — on a nice, quiet paved trail that pretty much goes through the middle of nothing. While it can easily become boring, my two runs on this trip — 4 and 6 miles, respectively — have been great. It’s just been me and a few of my favorite tunes, as well as some cool weather in the mid-30s.

(Complete side note here — I thought this was northeast Ohio where everyone brags about how they can handle cold weather? I saw a lot of people bundled up on this morning’s run while my southern self was in shorts and a thin long-sleeve shirt with no issues.)

Anyway … I took advantage of the flatness to get in my first goal-oriented run since Baltimore — I did a progressive run on Friday with splits of 9:11, 8:54, 8:17, and 7:57. Today I started a bit slow, but finished my 6-miler under a 9-minute pace. These two runs are the first ones in three weeks in which I felt completely normal.

It’s left me with thoughts all over the place abut what I want to do this spring. I know I’ve mentioned going for a PR in the Shamrock Half Marathon in March, but I’m also thinking about upgrading to the full marathon. I’ve had other thoughts of still doing Shamrock Half and then maybe doing the Charlottesville Marathon in April.

Other races and other goals have been on my mind quite a bit too, but I’m still not ready to commit to anything yet. In a way, I want whatever is next beyond my upcoming 5k series to feel spontaneous, kind of like when I signed up for Baltimore. Maybe something even more random that I haven’t even thought of will pop up in the next few weeks.

For now, though, it’s all about those 5k races and the last 97 miles or so until I hit 1,000 miles for 2011.

The math seems so simple — I have 110.7 miles to get to 1,000 miles for 2011. With 60 days left in the year that’s an average of 1.845 miles per day.

The problem, though, is I often hit the end of calendar years with a thud. Four years ago after my first marathon, I was well on my way to hitting quadruple digits, but after my that Richmond Marathon I got sick, I got lazy and I got hurt. Not a good trifecta.

Sure, last year I hit 1,000 miles, but not without 900+ miles of healthy running before getting hurt to make that finish line not seem so far away. And those in between years? I barely crossed 600 miles in both 2008 and 2009 as I battled plantar fasciitis on and off before finally going to the doctor.

Up until now, 2011 hasn’t been about mileage, so putting the 1,000-mile goal out there is hard for me to do. One reason I want to do the 5ks is because the mileage isn’t what’s important — staying healthy, running fast a few more times this year and getting in more quality runs is.

However, getting to 1,000 miles sets me up well for 2012, especially with getting focused on the Shamrock Half. I need the base mileage to keep me strong for whatever else I decide on next year.

Getting there isn’t going to be easy. I don’t want it to be. If it were easy, it would be time for me to move on to something else, but I don’t plan on that happening any time soon.

Image: tungphoto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A year ago I was panicking as my second Richmond Marathon neared and I was battling an ITB injury. I had a strong year only to see things unravel in the final 2½ months of 2010.

After the marathon, I closed out the year at the lowest point since I started running in 2004. Sure I hit 1,000 miles, which was my huge goal for the year, but I had to do it in what felt like such an uncelebratory way. In December, I set a goal for 2011 to end it stronger than I begin it.

And now, all of a sudden, that time is here. I’ve thought about it since I wrote about it. I’ve been trying to figure out what I meant all year – sure it sounded good, but how I hit accomplish this goal is so open-ending.

In some ways, I’ve already accomplished it. In the second half of the year I have set a PR in the 5k twice, the 5 miler and the marathon. I’ve also already ran more miles in the second half of this year than I did in the first 6 months – 412.3 from January through June; 463 since July 1.

I’m finding myself in unchartered terrority with my running – two marathons ended with injury and an overall lack of interest in running. Now with a little more than two months left in the year, I remain excited about running after my third marathon.

It’s time to focus on finishing what I started this year … and last year. In these last two months I want to hit 1,000 miles in a meaningful way. I don’t want to force it just because I’m close to it. I want it to be fun.

I also want to close the year off strong race-wise with a course record at my “home” course – the Bedford Christmas Classic. I enjoyed watching my friends run strong in that race last year, but it hurt me to miss it.

I ease back on my mileage a bit and get rested up before I prepare for the next big training cycle with my fifth Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach in March. But that’s 2012. I have some things to take care of in the next 67 days.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’m nowhere close to saying “I’m back,” but for the first time since my ITB issues started three months ago I have some confidence with my running. I said the same thing in my “It’s a long tunnel” post a week ago, but after looking at my Daily Mile stats this weekend I realized how long of a journey this has been. It hasn’t felt all that long — I guess with my son’s birthday, Thanksgiving and Christmas all mixed in, I was pretty distracted for a while. Plus I was relatively content to take a running break after not having one for a while.

I have no idea where things are headed the second half of this winter and early spring. I don’t need to have plans or a come back race planned right now. I just want to keep doing what I’m doing and see how I feel week to week before I decide anything.

Above are my miles from my peak week in marathon training when my problems began to what I did this week. As you can see, I had three weeks of steady decline until the marathon — much more than I wanted — then a spike on marathon week and then some extremely low mileage as I kept doing a little bit to get to 1,000 miles for the year.

It’s very refreshing to see things starting to go back up in the past few weeks. This week I hit 13.1 miles — completely unintentional to hit the half marathon distance, but still cool nonetheless.

Do you ever say something that doesn’t make sense one minute only for it to make perfect sense another? One great thing about Twitter is that those free-flowing thoughts are kept somewhere forever and you can go back and look at comments in hindsight.

Last night in a Twitter conversation with @irun2befit (Steena, who did a Q&A with me recently), I said this: “My goal for ’11 is going to be to end it stronger than I begin it. While ’10 has been awesome, this is not a good ending.”

When I first said that, I didn’t know what I meant. It sounded good, and what goal doesn’t sound good? But since I typed that, I’ve thought a lot about next year and my goals and I’m starting to realize what it means.

For most of this year, I’ve stayed focused and have been more determined than ever with my goals. Part of that was keeping my eye on hitting 1,000 miles for the year. Had it not been for that goal, I might not have made it to the start line of the marathon, injury or not.

While miles are important to me, the end number doesn’t define me. How I get to those miles is what is important. I didn’t run 1,000 miles just to run 1,000 miles — I think there’s some misunderstanding from some people out there about that. But I documented that well enough the other day and throughout the year.

So, here’s the deal. I’m going to start 2011 in a better place than I did 2010. Sort of. I’m going to weigh a decent amount less no matter what happens these last 10 days. I’m going to enter the year with an awesome base of 1,000 miles ran in the previous 12 months. The problem, though, is that I can’t exactly hit the ground running in 2011.

Running is a big unknown for right now. So what I want to do in 2011 is be able to be at this point next year feeling stronger and more confident about running than I do right now. I think most runners want each year to be better than the previous, so even if I’m not on top of my game in January, there’s no reason I can’t be next November and December.

It’s a really big picture way of thinking. I know that I can’t rush back to running, and I know that there’s a good possibility that I have to skip my usual winter training. I’m not giving up hope, but I know the reality of what I’m going through. I’m OK with that too. I also know that I could be running just fine in a few weeks and that the first three months of the year would just be a huge springboard for the rest of the year.

But the BIG goal is to not be sitting here a year from now not being able to run. In our “right now” society, it’s hard to wrap my head around that goal, but sometimes we have to slow down and think about the rest of our lives.

Make sense? Maybe not. But it does to me, and that’s all that matters.

Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As with many of my miles this year, Duke was with me for mile 1,000.

I’ve said many, many times this year how great of a year this has been for me with running. Then November came along and it all seemingly came crashing down. But I’m not going to let an injury define my year or set the stage for 2011.

There have been so many great things happen this year that my attitude about running is changed forever. 2010 has been the highest of highs and it’s time to reflect on running quadruple digits for the first time in the seven full years I’ve been running. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. I (quietly) hit 1,000 running miles in 2010 Saturday. So here it is, the highlights of my 1,000 miles of running this year …

The year started off with a lot of snow -- the most snow this area has seen in more than a decade.

0-2.4
Funny thing about the year with the most running miles ever … I didn’t run my first miles until Jan. 4 because I started the year off with a horrible cold and horrible weather conditions.

42.5-54.5
It’s very rare to have a non-race run to be so life-altering, but these miles covered a run/power hike on Terrapin Mountain that I didn’t think I could do. A big group of us battled wind, cold and icy conditions at the top to do this. This run set the tone for the year, putting in my head that I could do anything I set my mind to. Not that it wasn’t there before, but it became reality.

226.6-239.7
Simply put: a PR in the Shamrock Half Marathon. A goal met that was a long time coming.

This was me at the 100th mile in April. Looking back, this photo was somewhat of a wake-up call to drop a few pounds. Besides my beard, I can see the difference in my mile 1,000 photo and this one.

257.8-359
Talk about doing anything I set my mind to, the April streak is the highlight of my year. While I had PRs and climbed mountains, running at least a mile a day for 30 straight days was one of the most self-satisfying things I’ve ever done in my seven years of running. Speaking of PRs and climbing mountains, during my streak I set a PR in a 5k by one second (miles 310.2-313.3) and ran a half marathon that climbed Roanoke Mountain (miles 325.1-336.2). I also ran just before and after midnight for two of those days during Relay for Life. Looking back, April 2010 was the single best running month ever. Expect another streak in 2011.

435.8-437.5
Not all these miles have to be good — this was my DNF in a trail half marathon in June. While I was sick for much of that week, I learned that it’s OK to not finish if the body doesn’t allow it. My DNF was so much better than a DNS. I gave it a shot; that’s all I could do that day.

514-515
One measly mile, but it was oh-so fast. The 6:15 in the Academy Mile was surprising, and to this day I think I could have done better.

647-660.1
It’s strange how many humbling runs I’ve had this year, and the Lynchburg Half Marathon in August is no exception. It was a wake-up call that I needed to step-up my training a bit. A GIANT hill in the middle killed any thoughts of having a good race and it made me realize that I had to stop taking hills for granted. But I finished with my son in my hands, and that was what made this so special.

I took several photos during marathon training this year -- this was at mile 800 for the year.

810.6-820.6
Not a PR, but I survived some late race heat to put in a good performance at the Virginia 10 Miler, a pretty much unplanned race. Looking back, I know I could have set a PR had I not had an 18-miler the week before. Maybe, just maybe, this becomes a big focus for 2011.

835.6-855.6
The first 20-miler of my Richmond Marathon training session was also a bit humbling. Looking back, I still don’t know what to say about it. Each long run this summer was special with hitting distances I haven’t hit in 3 years. It makes it even more special now knowing that I’m not going to do it again anytime soon.

901.6-921.6
The second 20-miler, which set the stage for the injury I have now. I clearly remember the last big hill in that run and my knee starting to ache a bit. Had I stopped that run at around 18 miles instead of pushing it, who knows what could have happened the rest of the year. But I can’t play the “what if” game. It’s another lesson in listening to my body that I so easily forget.

966.6-992.8
I’ve well documented the Richmond Marathon and how that went and how things have gone since then, but looking back a month later, I wouldn’t have done anything differently. If I lived and ran in hindsight, I would be doing myself a disservice. It’s done and I’ve moved on. So many of you out there who have injuries and regrets with running need to do the same thing.

999.2-1,000
It’s not even a whole mile, but this Saturday I hit 1,000 running miles for the year. Since the marathon, I’ve ran a few tenths here and there, only logging a mile or more just a couple of times. It certainly didn’t happen like I thought it would or when it would or any of that once I knew it would happen, but now that I’ve hit the mark I don’t care. I did it. 1,000 miles. Quadruple digits.

To mark the occasion, I took my dog, Duke, to the nearby middle school to run the final bit on a field where I ran my very first “official” mile when I was in 4th or 5th grade. Fittingly, it was cloudy, cold and windy, like so many of my runs in the first couple of months in the year.

I ran the final few tenths of a mile on a flat field at the Bedford Middle School, site of my first ever timed mile 20+ years ago.

So there you have it. You won’t see a 2010 recap or top 10 list from me in the next couple of weeks because this is it. This IS my year of running. I may run another mile here or there, but these are the best and worst of what the year had to offer. A year ago at this time I was ready for 2010 to be “my” year — a redefining sort of year. And to reflect on this year, I must say that it was my year.

* I quietly announced in a few places that I hit running mile 1,000 for the year on Saturday. I’m working on a blog post about my 1,000-mile journey, but it started sinking in how much it means to me. It’s one of the biggest goals I’ve ever had, so it’s taking me a while to put together the highlights of this quadruple digit milestone. For now, though, running is over.

* So a few people did read last week’s “Dear Santa” post and just a few days later I was hooked up with P90X. I don’t have any intention of doing the entire program, but instead use it as a supplement to running. True cross training. For now, since I can’t really run, I’m giving myself a slow introduction to the program. All I have to say after two DVDs … two partial DVDs … is WOW.

My arms were sore for almost three days after the first disk, and I just finished up the Plyometrics disk. Who knows how I’ll feel tomorrow, but it’s very nice to do a full lower body workout with my knee not bothering me at all.

* Speaking of knee issues, I’ve had a couple of visits with the chiropractor and things seem to be going well. (I was supposed to have appointment No. 3 today, but my SUV wouldn’t start after work. Ugh.) I probably won’t blog about it too much. Honestly, I have to see how it all goes. I’m confident that getting things lined up will go a long way in making 2011 a great year. For now, I just have to wait.

* Speaking of 2011, I announced on Twitter today I wouldn’t be running a marathon next year. It’s certainly not a big deal, and I’m not sure why I tweeted it, but it’s just something I don’t want to do. I won’t say “never again,” but it’ll be a while before the urge hits again. I want to stick to half marathons, but I want my first focus to run pain free again.

* And speaking of Twitter, #runchat was awesome last night. If you haven’t joined in the conversations yet, please join us for the next one Dec. 26. As a reminder, #runchat is the second and fourth Sundays of every month.

7.2 miles … that’s all I have to get to 1,000 running miles for the year. Sure, some of those miles are power hikes up a mountain or walk breaks during the marathon, but it’s all grueling time on my feet. I won’t let a few miles ruin the celebration of hitting this milestone. For the record, I’m well over 1,000 exercising miles anyway if I still counted walking miles, which I haven’t done in a couple of years.

The question is, when will I run again? A few days after the Richmond Marathon, I actually feel really, really good. There’s some soreness remaining, but I can handle steps just fine and walking provides a lot of relief. It’s kind of crazy to think that I’m so close to 1,000 miles and it all comes down to literally taking it a mile at a time until I get there.

As for “what’s next” with running, there’s a part of me that wants to sign up for a 2011 marathon and do it all over again. Honestly, though, I don’t want to go through that commitment again right now. If I could heal up quickly and have no problems running in a few weeks, I would consider upgrading my Shamrock race, but those chances are slim. If you’re in Vegas, don’t bet on those odds. And I would say right now that there’s a small chance the Shamrock Half won’t happen.

Whatever I do next comes down to how my body reacts to running again. I was hoping I could do a 2-mile turkey trot next week and the Christmas Classic in Bedford on Dec. 4, but I really can’t say either way what I’ll do. Racing isn’t important right now — getting healthy is. All year I have recovered very well after each race and after most of my long runs, so I just have to listen to what my body says.

So go ahead and ask me “what’s next?” All I can say is I don’t know, and I’m fine with that. For a few days anyway.