That's it. Streak over. I came up with a calf strain after my race on 11/29 which I only made worse by running a 9 miler the next day. By Monday, I was limped through a quarter mile and called it quits. It is actually a good time since I am suppose to be taking it a little easy before I begin my spring training schedule... starting base building this week. Good news is I ran 11:36 2 mile in the race which is 24 seconds faster than I ran in 2007. The increased mileage is helping alot. Bad news is the year mark got a little farther away though.

Nope, I did not run in the Malden, MA race. I ran my 2 mile race in Moline, IL at a local college track. It was not an official race, but I wanted to do a time trial with the goal of breaking the 12 minute mark. I had been floating between 12 to 13 minutes for a few years. I finially got smart (thanks to lots of good folks in RA) and increased my mileage. I was very pleased with my overall effort. I definitely understand why you do not like running on the track for a 2 mile race. 2 Miles on a track is a little bit daunting since there is no change in scenary. It makes you a little bit too aware of how much pain you have left to endure. Even with that said, I do tend run these types of time trials on the track. I like that I can eliminate the hills and get as close to my potential as possible. That is interesting that your 5K pace is faster than what you did in the 2 mile. Most likely it was just an off day since I can see from your log you have had quite a few 5Ks at a faster pace over the prior months. Did you try to run negative splits or did you run the first mile fastest? Maybe some speed work would help? I have been doing some aerobic capacity training sessions with 400m effort and 200m jog which has really increased my confidence for my latest races.

I am glad to hear that your team won the race. Sounds like the other runners were slowing you down But it must have been a great feeling to being doing most of the passing. If the weather is anything there in MA like it is here in Chicago, motivation is hard to come by. Snow, ice, and cold. In fact it is snowing right now I think my motivation is sliding too. Oh well, about time to go slosh through an 8 miler.

I have to ask.... Olive oil??

Reminds me of Kramer and the butter...

I just wanted to give an update. I am happy to say that I have finally overtaken my previous streak! Nice to start seeing my longest streak climbing again. I am currently in a base building phase of my training, and I have almost reached the 60 mile a week mark. This was my aim for the current base building cycle. I think that I am going to level out at 60 MPW, then begin incorporating more intense tempo, speed, and hills work. If things go well, I should be well on my way to a 5K PR this Spring. As I near 60 miles per week, I am finding it more strenuous mentally. Being that I am in uncharted territory, I am not sure if this is expected, and I am not sure if this is something that will go away as I get used to the mileage. When I was at 40 Miles per week, it was nice to have a couple 4 mile days which were very easy from a mental standpoint. Now, I look at my schedule and see an hour or more everyday and cringe a bit. The doubles are helping out alot in this regards. I find that it is alot easier mentally to run 2 5-Mile runs in a day, then one 10 miler. I will probably end up settling into a couple of double days a week. Anyhow, time to recovery from my long run. Streak on! Ryan

Thanks Jeff. Good luck on your build-up to 60 MPW. It's gonna be a good year! Maybe we will both go sub 19 in the 5K this year, what do ya say?