This summer’s running was NOT good. I’d hit a ceiling and wasn’t feeling good, mentally OR physically. Talked to a couple people and the solution came from an unlikely (?) source. Kim suggested that instead of kicking my mileage up so fast and running every other day I decrease the increment of increase but run more often. After a month of tinkering with THAT idea I’ve finally reduced it to a mechanic and made a leap in progress.

Here’s the deal. I resorted to my Fit-bit (duh!) I come home from school and open the dashboard. I’m told my daily seven day average. I increase THAT number by 10% (a reasonable weekly step up), subtract my distance covered that day and voila – there’s my training distance for that day (round up to next highest ¼.) Running almost daily. Legs feeling tired but not aching. Mentally sharp. The last three days I’ve run more than any given week in YEARS! Without pushing I breezed to my best 2 miles in over 17 months. Best mile in a year. Superior Cooper test results. Finally ready to start speed work again.

Or not. Using the guidelines for speed work I’ve used for decades of “successful” racing my first w/o SHOULD be 5-7 400m under 1:45, 2′ rest between. I can do ONE quarter under 1:45. Maybe two. But I’m not convinced I can do four or five. I’ll TRY it of course. Maybe today. Maybe tomorrow. But I’m not optimistic. And that’s not good. That means that if I’m struggling part way through the third, I’ll hang it up. Call it off. Which makes sense. But where do I go next? Back to LSD? Longer intervals to get my aerobic capacity up? More three-milers? And how much more? A week? A month?? Technically I need to shave 8 more seconds from my 2-mile time so if the 400’s bomb I’ll refocus on the 2-mile time and hit the October workouts again when I hit it.