2012 Review

I started my year in review post about a month back but I struggled to sum up 2012 with a positive view. Then I listened to a podcast from TrailRunnerNation titled "Unpacking Pandora’s Box with Ashley Walsh and Jimmy Dean Freeman", and it caused me to pause. It was kind of a rambling conversation but then at one point, they were talking about DNF's and when and why you should and how we all need to remember that even a DNF means we tried to do something most people do not. I have heard this before but it never really registered but for some reason it did this time. So although I didn't accomplish everything I wanted to do in 2012, I did get out there and I improved over 2011.

Summary:

• 1016 miles, number 9 of 22 for the most miles (counting year 1 which only was a month of running back in 1991)
• 117 miles in October, most of any month for the year
• 51 miles in November, fewest of any month as I worked through the injury from Surf the Murph
• 5 events entered: 1 DNF (injury), 1 drops in distance (injury), 3 went as planned, kind of
• Converted to minimalist running and zero drop shoes
• Ankle injury resolved and appears to be in the past

Executive Summary: Injuries, setbacks, motivation, weight yet hope, changes, new initiatives and focus regained.

• Injuries - continued to have issues with the ankle through mid year, led to me dropping at Chippewa, after that I went minimalist, the ankle is sound again but torqued a foot at Surf the Murph and finished the year once again working on getting healthy.
• Setbacks - calf issue, foot and ankle, gained back weight that was loss after injury setbacks.
• Motivation - without it, I don't get out the door. Work drains it, anticipation of races rejuvenate it.
• New Initiatives - went minimalist in May, felt good, ankle proprioception improved. Working on zero drop 
• Focus - work life balance is critical, I need to commit to keeping work in perspective and meet my families needs and my running needs as I need to get in my runs which should lead to weight loss and motivation gains.
• Changes - Focusing now on more road runs with a speed twist to build strength and finishing the conversion to zero drop.
• Hope - Altra shoes, love them.

The goal for 2013 is take what I can when I can and to cherish every event, run and moment that I will experience on the trails and the roads.

Training Plans for Chippewa + Reality

I have used the Santa Clarita Training schedule as a guide on how to ramp my mileage up for races. Here is the plan for this year's Chippewa 50k:

Ultra Date					Ultra Type
monthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec	day12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031	year20132014	SaturdaySunday		50 Mile50K

  50K Training Schedule      get the spreadsheet!

Week Of	Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Miles
Jan 28	1 CD	0	2	2	2	0	8	6	20
Feb 4	2 CD	0	2	2	4	0	10	6	24
Feb 11	3 CD	0	2	2	4	0	12	8	28
Feb 18	4	0	2	4	6	0	14	8	34
Feb 25	5	0	4	4	6	0	16	10	40
Mar 4	6	0	4	6	6	0	18	10	44
Mar 11	7	0	4	6	8	0	20	10	48
Mar 18	8 CD	0	4	8	6	0	10	8	36
Mar 25	9	0	4	8	8	0	22	10	52
Apr 1	10	0	4	10	8	0	22	10	54
Apr 8	11	0	4	10	8	0	24	10	56
Apr 15	12 CD	0	4	10	6	0	10	8	38
Apr 22	13	4	3	2	0	0	50K ultra	0	55

CD = cycle down

• You will begin running longer on back-to-back weekends. You will also begin building a semi-long mid-week run, preferably on Wednesday. Obviously you will have higher weekly mileage as a result. You may vary your schedule as necessary but nothing substitutes for the weekend long runs which should be on trails or fire roads. Other runs may be on paved roads.
• Rest is essential. It is recommended that you not run at all on Mondays and Fridays. There are occasional easy weeks for recovery.

So my official training begins on Monday and the first stop is to a Doctor to have him figure out how to get my foot healthy. Right now it hurts when I walk or run and it has since Surf the Murph. I have had relief through taping but alas I have now faced the reality of getting it looked at. My theory is that I have posterior tibial tendinitis which is being aggravated by the calf tear of a few years back. So my thinking is the Doctor does some ART on the calf and maybe the foot, tweaks me, advises me and sends me on my way. Based on the above training I can give him a few weeks and my Chippewa plans will still be ok.

Back in December I talked about my Altra Provision shoes and that they had helped my foot pain and they did but I still have had pain so I took off this past week to see if not running would help (plus its been really cold, so I guess I wimped out too). The time off did not help, so to the Dr. I go. I will be again seeing a Chiropractor who does ART and Graston and other stuff.

A few weeks back I also picked up a pair of Altra Lone Peaks, I had the choice of the Superiors which I liked and the Lone Peaks and I guess many other shoes but I love the fit of Altras. I will write about that decision and give an update on my Altras in a future post.

So I have begun 2013 as I did 2012, the difference is I am dealing with it in January ahead of Chippewa versus facing my reality at Chippewa. Hopefully this works out better as I have a lot of race plans for this year. Right now my simple hope is to run 5 then 10 then 20 then 30 miles without foot pain.