July Miles and Expectations

My goal for the year was to run 2007 miles. This total included race miles as well. I have never been a high mileage guy. Last year was probably the most miles I have ever ran in one year and I only ran 1771 miles. Granted, 77% of those miles were races miles (holy crap, really?!) which didn't allow for me to run mush more but it is still a relatively small number.

So I wanted to bump it up to 2007. 365 days in a year means I have to average 5.49 miles every single day. I started off slow in January which is to be expected after the year I had. Picked it up in February and kept going until July. Here are miles per month:

Jan: 119.50 (19 runs) = 6.29 miles per run
Feb: 135.20 (18 runs) = 7.51 miles per run
Mar: 153.26 (21 runs) = 7.3 miles per run
Apr: 170.25 (22 runs) = 7.74 miles per run
May: 200.25 (26 runs) = 7.7 miles per run
Jun: 211.37 (20 runs) = 10.57 miles per run

Then July hit. Even though I tied May for the most separate runs at 26, because I did no run longer than 13 miles, both my total and my average sunk.

Jul: 150.98 (26 runs) = 5.81 miles

So after August 1, I am 25 miles behind where I want to be. Saturday's 50k will help though. Plus I have to remember my own advice. It is the quality of the run, not the amount, that matters most. In June I had a few races that were just 1 mile. That hurts the average. I never ran "long" on the weekends like I usually do. That hurts the average. But more importantly, I have seemed to recover from what was a disastrous June (OD 100 and Dalian Marathon). I know an 8k race and a relay do not a comeback make so the 50k this weekend will tell a great deal.

While not easy there is no way I will not crush the time I set in my first 50k in March (under the worst race course conditions I have ever run in). So my modest goal is 4:30, my happy goal will be 3:59 and anything else will be gravy.

Hope that 94 degrees on Saturday (predicted) does not come with D.C. humidity. That would be blah indeed!