Enjoyable run this afternoon in warmer than average temperatures (at least high 50’s). I ran a few miles to warm up and then headed to the local high school to run a few miles on the rubber track. I started in the outside lane (8), ran fast on the straights and jogged the bends. Each lap I changed lanes and eventually made it onto lane 1 for my final bit of speed work. Nice to mix things up a bit.
Splits are not very impressive, but here they are anyway: 7:53, 7:40, 7:40, 7:38, 7:14, 7:03, 7:05, 7:59, 7:57
So, 60 miles logged for December and 2276 for 2008 with just 22 days remaining. Looks like I’ll hit 2400 miles for the year; not too shabby I suppose.
Click on the map for full details of the run:
Looking back on your 3 marathons for the year and acknowledging the fact that all 3 had age adjusted times well below 2:50…I would say that is one heck of a year! I honestly don’t know how you do it and have to guess there is a fair bit of talent mixed in with that great work ethic.
What are you planning for the spring?
Thanks for the comment Bill. I guess a 2:52 average for 3 marathons isn’t bad eh?
I’m seriously excited about 2009. Last December (’07), I ran just 29 miles and ended up playing catch-up for the first few months this year.
I’m looking for a fast 5k on New Year’s Day, a solid 3-race cross country series in Jan/Feb, my best ever “Distance Series” (20k, 25k, 30k) which I’ll be using as a tune-up for the Shamrock Marathon in March. Naturally I’ll be shooting for the elusive sub-2:50 again.
I’ll be following your progress too of course. Congrats on a fantastic ’08 and here’s to an even better ’09!
–Steve
Nice work! I haven’t been doing much in the way of speed work lately. Maybe in a week or two I’ll feel up to it. A little speed work during a taper can help keep you from going too nuts.
2400 miles is lot! Way more than I’ve ran the last few years; how does that compare to 2007?
Hey Blaine,
Considering the mega-mileage you’re logging at the moment, I’m not surprised you haven’t done much speedwork! Your preparation for the upcoming 50 Miler looks to be spot on. Enjoy the taper…
2006 I ran close to 2600, last year I think I barely made 2000. I’ll need to check and confirm the figures; as far as I can tell, runningahead.com doesn’t provide an easy way to view annual totals.
It’s funny, I’ve only driven 8000 miles this year – just over 3 times the amount of running miles!
I wonder what 2009 will bring?
When I was in college, I tracked my mileage in my car one month. I filled the tank once that month, and ran about 3 times further than I drove. I think I ran somewhere around 380 miles or so that month, and drove like 110 or something like that. I found it humorous at the time.
Looking back, I ran less than 1400 miles in 2006 and less than 1900 miles in 2007, and both of those were more than I’d run in the previous few years.
This year I’m running a bit more.