Notes
Alright, here are the general goals and outcomes:
1) More Mileage. Success. Already many 60+ mile weeks, 10 milers became pretty normal. Plus, I didn't overdo it with long runs and still took a good amount of days off.
2) Stay Healthy. Success. Some pains over the winter, but never had to take multiple days off. Felt great the past month+.
3) Get Faster. Success. Fastest 2k steeple in 5 years, fastest 5k and 5mi in 3 years (comparing 5mi to 10k). Good conditions in each race.
4) Race More. Fail. The trend continues. Only 4 races so far. A few races didn't pan out due to weather/travel, but mostly I didn't really have a race schedule plan (other than Alumni).
5) Find consistency. Success!!! This was the main worry from 2018, I had good results but random complete blowups (due to stomach issues presumably).
Here's what I did: Finally went to the doctor before Thanksgiving; X-ray showed a buildup in the intestines; prescribed daily fiber. I was skeptical but I saw changes over December. Never had another X-ray to see if anything changed, but I never failed a workout or a race. The true test won't be until November trail races though.
Basically the same future goals:
1) Training: Maybe more 70mile weeks, but happy with consistent 60's. Continue with frequent strides and maybe Tinman workouts.
2) Health: Continue occasional stretching and rolling, stay strong and run slow whenever possible.
3) Race: Get back closer to PR's for All-American and Army 10-Miler. Some good trail races but nothing planned yet (Didn't I just complain about not having a race schedule planned?).