1500 Miles and Beyond (Weeks 48 & 49)

On Tuesday 29 November, while running on a Treadmill at Camp Navarro in Zamboanga, I surpassed my recently modified goal of running 1500 miles in 2011. It was my 252 logged run of the year (an average of just under 6 miles per run), and at the conclusion of the run, I had run a total of 191 hours, 44 minutes, 50 seconds (approximately 8 days worth of running and an average pace of 7 minutes, 39 seconds per mile. I intentionally ran a few miles past 1500 on Tuesday to remind myself that just because I reached my goal, doesn't mean I need to stop. Still, my mileage over the past two weeks dropped off significantly. That is mainly attributed to spending 4 GLORIOUS days in Boracay, Philippines with Stephanie for my "R&R". Following the R&R I spent a few extra days in Manila, and with no gym in the hotel, I did no running for nearly a week. It wasn't until Sunday night of Week 49 that I actually ran, but managed to get in a long run.

My Totals for Week 48 (28 November - 4 December) are:

Total Runs Logged: 4

Total Miles: 29.4

Total Time Spent Running: 3 hours, 42 minutes, 25 seconds

Average Pace: 7:33 (min/mile)

My Totals for Week 49 (5-11 December) are:

Total Runs Logged: 1

Total Miles: 11.2

Total Time Spent Running: 1 hour, 23 minutes, 17 seconds

Average Pace: 7:26 (min/mile)

Although, not great running weeks, every extra mile puts me that much beyond 1500 miles. My Totals as of 11 December are:

Total Runs Logged: 255

Total Miles: 1527.7

Total Time Spent Running: 194 hours, 52 minutes, 29 seconds

Average Pace: 7:49 (min/mile)

Reflection Time! Although I'm not proud of the fact that I went a week without running, I imagine the rest actually did me more good. The 11 mile run on Sunday night felt GREAT, and I managed to keep a steady pace through the entire run. Still, I don't like to intentionally schedule breaks in my running routine mainly because I know there will be unplanned breaks, as life goes on. With exactly 1 week left in the Philippines, I'll be doing a lot of travelling over the next 7 days. It will be a challenge to find running time each day, so when I have the time to run, even if I'm sore, I feel the need to run. I'm not sure just how far I'll go by the end of the year. 1600 miles is probably a good guess, but really it doesn't matter. I wanted to prove to myself I could set a long term fitness goal, and stick to it, and I did just that. Every mile from this point on is just a bonus.