Weekly Summary - 2/24/09 - 3/1/09 (605 minutes, 1200 race in 3:15, tempo run)

A very fine week of training. I was sore most of the week, but just now I'm feeling fantastic - physically, mentally, emotionally. Getting out to some races is energizing, like a homecoming that's welcoming and natural even though you weren't expecting anything of it. I felt that post-race chest burning and persistent bit of coughing for the first time in a long time, too. My run today felt great, and then I cranked out 14 pull ups at the gym - more than I've done since before I injured my shoulder.

I think the thing to watch out for now is overtraining and complacency. When things start to go well, I get so wrapped up in miles and speed and running that I neglect gym work and achilles tendons and those sorts of things. So I want to enjoy whatever good things I'm feeling, without taking them for granted, and for the time being just let running be whatever it feels like being.

I'm taking a long-term general approach to training right now. My main goal before graduation is simply to feel very comfortable at ten, or if I get there eleven hours of running a week on mostly double days. I think that if I want to get to the places I want to be long-term as a distance runner, the thing to do now is not hit the track for another racing season that will probably seem some marginal improvement, but to go back to the roots and hunt bigger quarry in the future. (Did you like the mixed flora-fauna metaphor?)

Next week I want to keep the running level about the same as this one, with a single long run and a little faster stuff here and there when I'm feeling good.