Monday, December 21, 2009

Mile Run Aborted: Winter Training Mode Begins

With the 1-2 punch of being sick for a few days, and winter storms covering up the track, I decided to take a well-deserved rest from hard training and racing for a few weeks. Thus, although the multitude of blog readers will be disappointed, I am bowing out of the indoor mile race on December 26.

In summary, 2010 was a great year for running. I ran 10 mile attempts, with a best of 5:20.7, and also ran 2 5ks in 18:48 (track) and 18:54 (winter road race with a couple hills). In addition, I managed a 3rd place overall in a very hilly trail 10K trail run (albeit with a slow time of 45:03, 7:15 per mile). My mile and 5K times were my fastest by far since 2000 and 2001, and my 5K time of 18:48, when age graded, was a substantially better performance than my 18:21 5k in 2000.

And no, I am not giving up on the 5-minute mile quest. Although it literally becomes harder each year, I feel that this year I made good progress, and plan to continue that into 2010, with perhaps more emphasis on mileage as a base, especially in the winter and spring.

For the next couple of months, I hope to run about 3 to 4 times per week, 4 to 5 miles per run, but weekend "runs" may be substituted with cross country ski outings whenever possible.

Oh, and C'mon Harry!!

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