November 21, 2007

Wednesday, November 21, 2007
4.1 easy miles from the school in 32:26 (7:55 pace). Cool, 33 degrees, breezy, cloudy, some snow and freezing rain, slush and ice on road. A typical late November day. There is one huge difference between running from home and running from school. The school is in the middle of a river valley, hard by the meandering river which forms the border of NH and VT, while my house is on a mountain ridge. Today was my first run without hills! Now, I love running hills more than most people, even if out of shape, but it really felt nice today to have a little level road. I note that this was my first run under 8 minute pace, and it twarn’t hard, neither. Evidently there’s some mysterious force at work here which allows me to run faster and easier from work this week than from home last week.

Progress always appears dramatic in the first month. I’m determined not to make the same mistake I’ve made so many times before – getting too excited and doing too much too quick, then getting hurt or otherwise burnt out. I’m going to increase my training load at a glacial pace, allowing my body plenty of time make the appropriate adaptations, keep the immune system strong, and stay mentally and physically fresh. My plan is to start at 25 meq (mile equivalents) per week, maintaining that for a month, then increasing by about 5 meq/week each subsequent month. I convert swimming to running by a pace-based formula which generally equates 10-12 minutes of swimming to 1 mile of running. Thus, by April I hope to be up to 50 meq/week = 200+miles/month, which is what I consider a good load for base training. Come spring, a higher proportion of the training will be running (I need to get a bike trainer for those nasty days I don’t feel like running in the dark or driving to the pool). Additional training plans include: first month, one long (60+ minutes) run per week, all single workouts; second month, two long runs per week, one double workout per week; third month, two doubles/week; fourth month, three doubles/week, etc. Double (and even triple) workouts are absolutely key to the success of my program; I really need the addition hgh. I don’t intend any hard-core interval/hill type training until I’ve been at 50 meq/week for a couple months (May/June). I’m also a big believer in training every day. A day off means an easy 25 minutes. Surprising philosophy for someone who’s missed over 3000 days over the last 10 years.

I feel good! Even my gouty old left foot isn’t bothering me. I’m looking forward to a nice 3 mile trail turkey trot tomorrow. Just enough snow to hide the ankle-busting ruts and just enough ice to hide the puddles. Fun, baby!

Quote of the Day, from a great Roman warrior-philosopher: “Take care of the running, and everything else will take of itself.”