Keep Moving Forward

It's been a while since my last post so I figured I better get an update on my first month of training. I've been working on getting my mileage up specifically in the running department. Last year was about laying down a base. I read a lot of different books and articles on triathlon training and the general statement that always came through was to go out and get in the miles and not to concentrate too much on the speed, intervals and so on. I'm sure others may disagree, but that's the route I went. While I have not shifted my focus entirely from triathlon to ultras, I have for sure put in more miles on foot this month then ever before. Instead of using my short run days for bike and pool work, I have opted to run on those days. This will change around the March/April time frame to accommodate for my 1/2 Ironman in September.

AS of today (today's run not included) I am at 134.65 miles. With the remainder of this month's mileage, I will be just over 160. I looked back and even at my peak running of 2006, I barely went over 100 miles a month more then a couple of times. I feel good, no major pains to speak of. I am putting the miles in but not jumping up too much in weekly miles. I did that once before last year before McNaughton. I had never run anything over a 10k and decided to run a 30 mile with around 3 months of training. My ITband has never forgave me. :)

Along with the running, I have been making sure to get in some cross training. I have logged about 6 hours of strength training that comes from weight routines and pilates (yes, I'm THE guy in the class). On a side note if you get a chance to go to pilates, I highly recommend it. It is a great core workout with some mild stretching. My wife convinced me to go with her. I go on Monday's which is usually a rest day, but it fits in well as it gives me some active recovery after my long runs which usually fall on Sunday. I've also hit the pool a couple of times on Tuesday mornings. Nothing huge there, just trying to get my form in some sort of shape so when pool workouts start, I'm not starting over again on my form.

That about sums it up for the month. I've got the Psycho Wyco 50k in 2 weekends that I am excited about. I'm looking forward to getting in a real event that is not just me running around in the woods for 6 hour by myself... though that is still possible. Ben makes it sound like a great event and it will be good to connect with some other mid-western located runners and try out my new Inov-8 Terrocs. Hopefully the ground will cooperate with that shoe choice, if not, I've got other's. I'm just really enjoying the fit of these shoes, but that's another post.

Now, time to bundle up and log some miles!!