After 4 months of gradually increasing mileage (May – 207, June – 253, July – 287, August – 314), it was time to plan a bit of a step-back month for September. With a two week trip to the UK planned for later in the month, I decided the best course of action was a couple of high mileage weeks early in the month followed by a couple of run-when-you-can weeks whilst visiting family.
August 24th – August 30th [76.5 miles]
I closed out August with a solid week of running which included several fartlek runs, a couple of tire drags and lots more MAF mileage (check my August Update for a brief overview of the Maffetone Method).
August 31st – September 6th [81.2 miles]
September kicked off with my highest mileage week since the Dawn to Dusk to Dawn 12-Hour event at the end of May. I ran close to 70 miles from Monday to Saturday then closed out the week with my 11th running of the local Rock ‘n’ Roll 1/2 Marathon. It was a hot, humid, rainy day for the race, and despite heavy legs and lack of any significant speed training, I still managed an age group and Masters win in 1:21:09.
September 7th – September 13th [75 miles]
Another decent week with 3 x 10 mile runs, a couple of incline treadmill sessions and another 3 mile tire drag. It’s good to look back at my training log and see how the tire dragging speed has improved at the same effort level/heart rate. Back in July I completed 3 miles @ 11:44/mile pace @ MAF. 2 months later I’m covering the same distance at the same effort level over 2 minutes/mile quicker. Pretty cool.
September 14th – September 20th [46.3 miles]
2 days of non-running this week and the start of some much needed downtime.
September 21st – September 27th [20.2 miles]
Just 4 runs in 7 days with a 5K parkrun thrown in at the end of the week for good measure. The “race” went well, despite getting carried away in the first mile (5:16). I slowed to a 5:32 second mile, then 5:42 third mile, but managed to hold on for my 3rd fastest 5K ever with a finish time of 17:04. Nice way to end the UK vacation!
The plan for October is to rack up a few weeks of decent mileage, then take on 24 The Hard Way in Oklahoma at the end of the month. In 2013 I logged 128.87 miles but called it a day after 22 hours 45 minutes after struggling with a foot injury for several hours during the night. Training went well leading up to the 2014 event but somewhat frustratingly, food poisoning hit pretty hard the day before race. I plugged away for 110 miles (enough for the overall win), but to be honest was pretty disappointed to not log more miles. This year I’m hoping to stay healthy and will be doing everything possible to run something special on the almost 1 mile paved loop at Bluff Creek Park. Check back soon to find out how things pan out on October 24th/25th!