March was a pretty good running month, but a great racing month. I wasn’t aware of it, but the 2 previous March totals were identical at 100.1, so even though I fell short of my monthly goal, I was in no danger of pulling off the “barely over 100 miles” trifecta. My total for the month finished up at 134.3. Lessons I learned:
- Running more miles over a long period of time is really starting to pay off. My average pace for the months of March has dropped each year (13:25 to 10:11 to 9:15). The numbers are a little skewed because 2 years ago I was doing low heart rate training (which slows the pace) and this year I raced a half marathon (which would quicken the pace). Still, consistency does pay dividends, and I’m seeing them.
- Less is more. I really struggled the last few weeks because I knew that my weekly mileage was going to drop due to the half marathon, and I have been trying to slowly get up to a consistent 40-45 miles per week. I made the decision to try and take it easy the week leading up to the race and the week after, mainly so I’d be fresh on race day and stay fresh after. It was hard to see the mileage drop, but I don’t think I would have gotten sub 1:50 in DC if I’d have just run to chase mileage.
- In a race, it’s okay to walk when you need to, but a slower jog is faster than a quick walk, and can help you recover just as well. The race in DC really pushed my limits, and I found myself tempted to walk a lot more than I did in the later stages uphill, but I found a mental toughness that I had previously only hoped I had.
I won’t go into all the details about the race since I already wrote a recap of it, but I’ll just say that it was without a doubt the highlight of the month, and it was the first time I’ve raced something that long with a goal and nailed it. That alone felt good.
I am shooting for 2,000 miles this year, which means that I had hoped to be at 500 miles at the end of March. I’m about 50 miles short of that, and that was one of the reasons I struggled with the decision to back off around the race in DC, but with marathon training still to come, I should be able to make those miles up later. At any rate, I’m on pace for 1,800 which would still be a nice improvement from 2010.
Rewind stats:
- Total miles: 134.3
- Average per week: 33.6
- Races: 1
- New records: Half Marathon (1:49:35 – a 14 minute improvement)
- Consecutive triple-digit months: 13
