Fanning the Spark

I hit my mileage goal of 20 miles this week, got the 5-milers and strides.  I even did a little fartlek (1 min. fast, 3 min. slow for a couple of miles).  It was actually a little heavy for one of my recovery weeks, but I didn’t feel that tired going into it, and I needed a mental shake-up more than physical rest.  I expect I won’t be doing this much on my next recovery week.  Even though it was a down week, my 4-week average for mileage gets a bump up to 23 miles.  That shows you how dim my running was before.

Because of the train wreck that was my recovery plan after the fartlek on Saturday, I’m a little tentative about my plan for this week.  I think it’s the right time to do some hills.  I want to keep them short and informal: no more than 400m, and no times yet, just fast enough to test my hold right at the top.  I need a long run, probably a repeat of the last one: 10 miles or so.  I don’t think I’ll set a mileage goal this time around.  I’ll count myself lucky if I get the hills and long run done.  If I need to punt the hills and treat the first half of the week as extended recovery from the tragic fartlek, so be it.

I can’t say that my running is back on track yet.  I need to solidify my mileage gains, and my strides need to be smoother on a more consistent basis.  The last 3 weeks have been sound though, and I feel good about building on them.  Best of all, I think I’ve finally mastered the ITBS enigma!