Alternating Hard/Easy Weeks

The Hard/Easy definition of weekly running is different from Hard/Easy daily runs. My Easy daily run is currently 2.0 mi. This distance neither causes an increase or decrease in my fitness. My Easy week is three Hard and three Easy runs of the same distance. My Hard daily run is currently 2.5 mi. My Hard week involves incrementally increasing my weekly mileage by increasing my daily Hard run by 200 meters. A Hard week has increasing mileage and an Easy week has no mileage increase. My weekly increases are 5%, well below the 10% increase injury threshold.

No 2012 Bolder Boulder for me

I will not be able to run the 2012 Bolder Boulder. Although the running program to rehabilitate my knee is going well, my maximum distance so far is 3.5 mi. I am afraid trying to run 10K in the next few weeks is a huge jump in mileage and very likely to injure my knee. I am targeting the Avery Four on the Fourth (2.5 mi) for my return to road racing. Six more weeks of small increases in mileage and pace should strengthen my leg enough to take the stress of a short race.

Do I Have a Mileage Obsession?

I will reach my goal of three easy 3 mile runs and three hard 3.5 mile runs later this week. But now I am wondering why I picked that mileage? Before I tore my left knee menicus in 2010, I considered a run of 3 mi as too short to give me any pleasure or benefit. Then I was training for marathons, now I just want to be able to run for my daily exercise. Biking, swimming, walking and working out on my Bowflex do not give me the same enjoyment as running. Mike Sandrock, the Boulder Camera running columnist, says "Every day is Earth Day to a runner." He is right and I want to be a runner. I read that 3 mi runs are only good for maintaining the runner's fitness level. I have found it is the maximum distance I can run and not aggravate my knee. The hard run of 3.5 mi does aggravate my knee but it does increase my fitness by a modest amount as I have seen while slowly adding distance beyond 3 mi. Running 3.5/3 mi or 19.5 mi/week appears to be the furthest I can run without getting injured at this point. This is assuming I can actually reach 3.5/3 mi without mishap. Below is my next week's schedule.
Mon-Off, Tue-3 mi, Wed-3.5 mi, Thu-3 mi, Fri-3.5 mi, Sat-3 mi, Sun-3.5mi.

Daily Mileage Increase

Adding a 1-2% mileage increase to my daily run has made increasing my weekly mileage more enjoyable. This is because I now have a dynamic turn-around point in my out-and-back runs. I try to find a unique landmark at the turn around so I know where to start adding distance the next time I run the same route. I originally aimed at adding 1% per run to a 5K run. This works out to plus 50 meters every run. For some reason adding 50 meters is not comfortable and I have actually been adding about 75 meters per run. I guess 75 m gives me a greater sense of progress than 50 m. I am currently at 2.5 mi for my easy run and 3 mi for my hard run. I'll stop increasing the easy run when I reach 4 mi around the second week in June. My damaged meniscus does not seem to mind the slight increases and in almost two weeks of doing this my knee has not been sore. Knock on wood.

Summer 2012 Running Plan

My sprained ankle finally quit hurting at Easter, just like the Physical Therapist said it would. My torn meniscus continues to bother me after Long runs on Sunday. So I have stopped the Sunday Long runs and now run Hard/Easy six times a week. Actually, the difference between Hard and Easy is only .5 mi and I currently am at 3 and 2.5 mi for a weekly total of 16.5 mi. I want to increase my weekly mileage but adding a half mile to the hard run seems to aggravate my knee with the torn meniscus. My plan is to increase my daily run by 1% or 50 meters. My hope is this will allow me to increase my mileage without big increases in my longest run.

Summer Running Plan

I plan on running this weekly schedule for June, July and August. Distances include a half mile jog to 55th the Centennial Trail and a half mile cool down back to my home. I plan on only running easy in June, adding some tempos in July and August but no intervals at all. The only race I plan on running is the 4K on July 4th.

Spring Summary

My plan to run the Colorado marathon May 9 in Ft Collins was thwarted by right Achilles tendonitis I got in the Boulder Distance Classic 15K April 24. I had decided to run 8 min/mi in the BDC because I had a terrible cold in early April that ruined my marathon training and I was not going to have a pleasant experience or reasonable time in the marathon. Missing the long run and peaking made my body susceptible to injury and in retrospect I should have just jogged the BDC. I used a calf compression sleeve and that helped me a lot sooner. I was able to run the Bolder Boulder in 54:56, 8:50 min/mi. This put 22/160 M62, not bad considering I could barely walk after the BDC.