Start of week 7 of the streak
Given the usual madness of holiday weekends, I didn’t think the streak would survive this onslaught, but I not only got a run in, I managed to hit my target distance of 6.4 miles.
Challenge #2: I woke up with a stiff back. Not a debilitating, keep me from walking, stiff back, but a stiff back and some back pain. I used several tactics to attempt to work out the pain, and something must have clicked. By the time of my 8PM run, the stiffness had worked itself out. It’s doing pretty well today.
I’m going for 6.5 miles today and 40 miles for this week. After this week, I will probably be adjusting the pace of my mileage increase to avoid the injuries I’ve faced over the last 9 months.
Maybe.
I spent some time analyzing my 6-week and 12-week mileage averages (current week inclusive), compared to both my marathon times and current week’s mileage (for injury).
Injuries happened:
- Over 50 miles in a week when 6-week average was 28.5 mpw and 12-week average was 31 mpw (84% and 68% increase).
- Over 60 miles in a week when 6-week average was 44.7 mpw and 12-week average was 39.5 mpw (36% and 54% increase).
Injury did not happen:
- Over 60 miles in a week when 6-week average was 53.2 mpw and 12-week average was 46 mpw (13% and 31% increase).
I believe the answer lies in the average of the weeks 7-12 versus current week.
Marathon results:
- PR (3:39) at 6-week 44.8 mpw, 12-week 46.1 mpw
- Second best (4:30 – at Flying Monkey) 6-week 40.2 mpw, 12-week 31.1 mpw.
- Third best (4:34 – first marathon) 6-week 41.4 mpw, 12-week 39 mpw.
- Worst (4:42 – Hatfield-McCoy and sore leg muscles going into race) 6-week 35.2 mpw, 12-week 40 mpw.