1060

I've been looking at my running totals and achievements from 2011, and it's been the greatest year of running in my life. I ran consistently, more and harder, set 5K and 5 mile PRs, and signed up to run the Mercedes-Benz Marathon in February.

The last quarter of the year included the three highest monthly mileage totals-- 106 in October, 125 in November and 186 in December, to conclude 2011 with 1060 miles run. This is the first time I've bothered to count, but I'm certain I've never run more miles in any of the years I've laced up my shoes. Now I'm looking at mileage goals for 2012. Might aim for 1061 or 1200. We'll see.

On to marathon news...

Since I ran long on Wednesday, I did my tempo run this morning-- nine miles with seven at 8:15 pace. I wasn't certain how this would go, but it went really well. After the warmup mile, I hit 8:52 and 8:30 on my way down the ladder, eventually settling down to where only one split was over 8:10. Felt like a great run. And my average heart rate was down to 153 from 155 on the two most recent tempo runs-- so my fitness is improving even more.

The week ahead is the last big week before the marathon taper. The agenda shows 44 miles, the same interval run is scheduled for Wednesday, and the last 20 miler is on Saturday. It'll get here eventually and I'll bang it out, but I hope it goes better than the last one.