Running Comeback!

Graph of weekly running mileage showing and increase then sudden decrease with some periods of no running. The graph ends with the same mileage as it begins with.

It’s been a long 12 weeks, but I’m back!

Last week, I matched the mileage I ran in the first week of 2024. I feel stronger and am running with better form.

After CIM in December 2023, I dabbled with running with better form, and I finally got my tight calf issue controlled with the massage ball.

In January, I went full-throttle into running with better form, and my body paid the price with injury. I let off the gas a little in February to heal. I eased on the accelerator pedal again, but my injury came back. Towards the end of February, I took some time off. After seven days off, I took a test run, and like Punxsutawney Phil, I saw my shadow and said I would take one more week off from running. In hindsight, better form meant my quads were being stretched more than they were in the past, and I did not have the strength needed with my “new” muscle length to increase my mileage as quickly as I did.

I introduced strength and conditioning exercises in March and slowly ramped up the mileage. I added a glute activation warm-up. Now, I have better balance for single-leg exercises, my weekly mileage is back up, and I added speed sessions and long runs to my week. Last week, I copied the first week of Hal Higdon’s Advanced I Marathon Training Plan. My pace run and long run were a little shorter than prescribed in the actual plan, but overall, I’m back, albeit slower.

The plan is to get up to double-digit long runs. Then, I am going to train for a 10K PB. The only distance I did not run a PB in last year was the 10K. From there, I want to hit the benchmarks that generally predict a sub-four-hour marathon. That means I will need personal bests in the two-mile, 5K, 10K, and half marathon.

Those are my loose plans for 2024. I will wait until Thursday to hear if my entry to the New York City Marathon was accepted. Once I have that information, I will start working on a schedule for 2024.

What are your running plans in 2024? Please let me know about them in the comments below.

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