On the Brink of a Week Off

Last week was another good running cycle and a less than stellar swimming one. I have now run thirty or more miles in a seven day stretch for eight consecutive weeks. For me, thirty miles is pretty good mileage and forty is huge. I have done fifty a few times in my life, and once I ran sixty. The sixty mile week put me into over training mode which took several weeks to recover from.

Besides hitting some pretty good numbers, I have been mixing in some quality running also. In the past, that has introduced injury and recovery issues. Surprisingly, recovery has been good this time around, and I think I have a clue as to why. I wrote about the recovery aspect a few posts back. On the injury front, I credit Hoka shoes for at least some of that. In short, am having fun with my running and should have some PRs in the future if I can do two simple things: 1) stay healthy, and 2) lose some weight. I still have not lost all the poundage gained after stress fracturing my tibia exactly one year ago.

So I am a bit gun shy and do not plan to attack the Great Noxapater Journey Run again this break. What I do plan, however, is some more Buddy Bones Marathons. This week I hope to make it over to the the Tanglefoot Trail for at least 26.2 there. I also have a route mapped out in my head starting from my wife's driveway that will take me to places I have never been. That's right, I have lived here for fifty-eight years and have been obsessed with roads and knowing my world since I was a teenager, and there are still a few places I can make a loop, on foot, from my own front door and back and see new things. What will I do when I run them all? Probably I will sit down like Alexander the Great and weep because I have no more kingdoms to conquer.

But there is still water. I have another big swim coming up in June. That is why I am just a little antsy about the pool at DSU being closed for so long. Until recently, it had been years since I had missed a week of swimming. I just missed one two weeks ago and now I face another two to three consecutive weeks out of the water. What to do? I know the real training doesn't start until February, but I still like laying down a solid base for the big meters I will be swimming in the spring.

Last week, I

ran 34.39 and walked 2.27 miles,
swam 3,199 meters, and
lifted weights two times.

This week, I hope to run lots, lift much and, if I can muster the courage, get in the water at least once.