Run, eat, and sleep....

”We ran twice a day, sometimes three times. Twenty miles a day, sometimes more. There were a couple of 170-mile weeks.... All we did was run - run, eat, and sleep.” —Frank Shorter detailing his training with Jack Bacheler and Jeff Galloway prior to the 1972 Olympics (Frank won the gold medal in the marathon)

I've made a conscious effort to put a greater emphasis on my total mileage and long runs lately. After running the half-marathon last weekend, I realized that aerobically, the pace was not overly difficult (as it shouldn't be). My greatest weakness was my muscular endurance. I'm going to subscribe to the philosophy I always stress to my athletes -- RUN MORE! I ran 230 miles in the past 4 weeks (57.5 mpw) and I plan to try to keep my mileage between 60 and 70 mpw through the end of the year. If I feel I need a recovery week, I'll take it.... but only if I need it. I've also been increasing the duration of my weekly long runs. I ran 14.5-miles on the road Sunday night. I wasn't too excited about running it on the road and I was extremely sore on Monday, but it got done. I hope to be able to get in two runs a day at least 2 or 3 times a week until the end of the year.

This morning I ran a 4-Mile Tempo Run on a course around campus. I wasn't feeling that great and during the second mile my legs felt extremely heavy (and I'm sure running up cemetery hill didn't help). However, I put in a big surge just after the 2.5-mile mark and finished pretty well. I ran 27:56 (6:55-7:16-6:55-6:49). I followed it up with 4x200m uphill with a jog back recovery and got 8 in this morning. I hope to get out and run 4 this afternoon along with 15 to 20 miles on the bike.