Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials

Throughout the summer, I have done a form of cardiovascular activity, (whether it is running or biking) almost everyday. While I may not have been running consistently, I have been putting in the effort when it counts. Now that XC camp is only two weeks away, I felt like I am reaping the benefits of this accumulated aerobic exercise. While my mileage hasn't been at its best, I put in 40 miles last week, which isn't a lot (I know). But the funny thing is that I felt fine. I haven't taken a day off from running in nine days, (normally I take one day off per week) but because I did a recovery run on Tuesday and another easy run last night, I feel fresh and ready to get back into my normal pace.

During the winter in my junior year of high school, I ran practically everyday with a few of the senior guys, trying to get prepped for the upcoming Track season. I ran everyday. I put in the miles, (My highest week was 59) and I hoped that I would see the benefits of the three months of hard work I had put in. When Track rolled around, I thought that I was in the best shape I had ever been in, which was true. I was able to do the workouts that my coach asked me to do and I would do them at the paces I was suppose to hit, sometimes even faster. But when races came around, I found myself confused. I wasn't running what my coaches thought I was capable of, nor what I thought I was capable of. While I did PR in my events, I wasn't satisfied because I never got to where I wanted to be.

My easy pace, during that winter season, was around 7:20min/mile. I know, it's not that fast compared to others, but to me, it was easy enough to where I could run 6-8 miles, but not too fast as to where I would be gasping for breath afterwards. As winter came to a close, my paces gradually sped up (Naturally). By the end of the winter I was averaging close to 7:00min/mile or a tad faster. As of Aug 18th 2011, 7:00min/mile is my easy pace. Earlier in the summer I was running like 7:20's and 7:10's... but now I can comfortably go out on run, and hold 6:50's, sometimes even 6:40's. On two consecutive runs, I closed both of them in 6:30 and 6:36 respectively. Not to mention, my max HR for both of those times was in the mid 160's, while before I would easy eclipse 170.

I am in the best shape of my life right now. I still have two weeks before our XC camp time trial and I hope that my best is good enough.