Aug

August - A Look Back…(Updated)

If you have been following my blog, you know that in June I developed a slight case of Patella tendonitis.  This overuse injury caused me to take some time off from running.  The time “away” cost me little over two months of marathon training.  Missing two months has required me to relook at my goals for the year. 

My adjusted goals for the remaining months of 2012 are as follows:

I WILL Run:

- Two marathons

- 600 miles Aug-The end of the year

- Run 50 miles during the 200 mile relay

- Finish the year healthy and improving the strength and reliability of my knee

Run 2 Marathons: I have the pieces in place, I’m signed up for the Marine Corp Marathon (MCM) in Oct and the Norfolk Freedom Marathon (NFM) in Nov.  If I do this right I think I’ll be able to run both marathons…although my marathon finish times will be conservative, I don’t see a PR this year, but my goal for the MCM is to finish 4:30 – 4:45 and two weeks later run NFM with a goal of 4:15 – 4:30.

Run 600 Miles:  My come back month (Aug) had modest goals…I wanted to get back running.  And I did.  Shortly after getting back to running I found out my knee was not ready for “back to back” running days.  I adjusted my 13 week marathon training plan and limited running to only three days a week.  I managed to knock out 100 miles.  To make 600 miles I need to avg. 125 miles per month.  This week I was able return to "back to back" running days...one big step towards my end of the year goals.

Colonial 200 Mile Relay: A team of five and I are signed up and getting ready to run the Colonial 200 mile relay (http://colonial200.com/).  This relay is broken up into 36 legs and will take us from Charlottesville to Jamestown settlement, VA over the last weekend in Sept.  My goal is to run all my assigned legs (7/39 miles) then add enough “extra” miles to reach a relay goal of 50 miles.

Other Races to End the Year:
Crawlin Crab Half Marathon
Turkey Trot
Sea Shore 50K 

Finish the Year Healthy, This is perhaps the most important goal.  I’ve been marathon running for 12 years and have had very limited time off the road.  Although I have some lofty goals to finish out the year, I will keep a close eye on my mileage and running conditions to ensure the comeback is a stainable one. 

You can follow me on Twitter @cledawgs