November has been a crazy month. Whether it was visiting family in Southern California, or entertaining family from Virginia and Northern California we were a busy family. Plus, the kids have been settling into their routine of pre-school, music and dance classes, soccer time and the occasional play date with friends. This hasn’t left Pam and myself with a whole lot of extra time.
But through it all, I’ve managed to stick with my running. And it hasn’t been easy running. T and I have been running in the dark, windy, cold, and rainy mornings that we see here all too often in November. And while the running conditions have been less than spectacular, I’ve decided that running in bad weather with a partner is much better than running alone on a treadmill–it also gives me an excuse to add to my running gear collection.
This month, I ran 18 times–4 days out of every 7. There’s a lot of runners who put in more days than that. But for me, 4 out of 7 seems to be perfect. It allows me to improve as a runner, yet not be too tired. It also keeps me motivated and doesn’t really burn me out. During my 18 runs this month, I managed to log 122.5 miles which was my highest monthly total ever. My weekly totals for the month were 26, 38, 29, and 29.5–the 38 mile week was also a record breaker for me.
All the running this month left me feeling awesome. I’ve been continually fatigued and sore, but not uncomfortably so. And I’ve noticeably improved my running, both in endurance and speed. This morning, I ran 7.5 miles to finish out the month. The first two miles were through rolling hills and I managed about 9 minute per mile pace. But the last 5.5 miles were either flat or a little bit down hill and I ran them at about a 7:50 pace. I was tired when I finished, but also proud of how far and how fast I was able to run.
All the running in November has had another positive outcome. I managed to drop a couple of pounds this month. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I went to the gym for an easy 6-miler on the treadmill. That night, I weighed in at 178 which is the first time that I’ve weighed under 180 in a while. It wasn’t on my home scale (which still hasn’t been returned to me) so I’m not quite sure how that number relates to my previous weigh in, but it made me feel really good.
December starts tomorrow. My goal for the month is to keep up the running 4 out of 7 days while adding 1 or 2 days of weights and or spinning class so that I get 5 to 6 days of exercise every week. It might be tough the week of Christmas, but the rest of the time should be manageable. If I play my cards right, I may even drop a few pounds in December as well. Wouldn’t that be unique!
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That is amazing progress and a feat considering everything you have on your plate. I think December will truly be a special month. No better way to kick off the end of the year than with style
Awesome! Four times per week sounds perfect to me. Keep up the great work!
You are really in the groove now!