October Project Conclusion

By the numbers:
Ran 31 out of 31 days
92.81 miles total (2.99 miles average run - includes chicago marathon)
Weekly totals:

1. Week ending Oct 4: 27.95 (7.48 in month of October)


2. Week ending Oct 11: 12.41


3. Week ending Oct 18: 38.00 (chicago marathon)


4. Week ending Oct 25: 12.95


5. Week ending Nov 1: 30.97 (21.97 in month of October)

Weight on Sept 30th: 295
Weight on Oct 31: 289

2008 totals:
Jan: 2
Feb: 20.5
Mar: 49
Apr: 70
May: 1 (sick all month)
Jun: 23
Jul: 51
Aug: 87
Sept: 67
Oct: 92.81

Total so far in 2008: 463.31

Well, I did it. I ran at least one mile every day in the month of october.

.. and I was hit by a car while running on the last day of the project.
What a fitting end to an interesting experiment.
Gladly, I was unhurt - but did leave one hell of a dent in the hood though.

I ran over 90 miles in a month, probably the first time in my life.

I feel a lot stronger, especially at faster speeds and on hills.

I feel like I didn't do enough distance running - mostly due to the lack of time. But the lack of recovery didn't exactly help.

I think the problem is that I never had any really easy days. There were plenty of short/hard runs, and there were some long/easy runs - but very few short/easy runs - and in lieu of rest days, I think I need them.

The problem is that because of the consistent training, 10:00 minutes per mile feels easy now, even after a mere month. The problem is that it's not so easy that a short 1-mile run at that pace serves in lieu as a rest day.

I'm still going with the streak - don't see a reason not to - when all it would take to keep the streak alive is 10 minutes of comfortable running, it's hard not to. And, if I take it easy, I can still recover for hard efforts. I have to be disciplined enough to do the 15-minute 1.25-mile workout - resisting the urge to go faster. When I do run that way, my ability to go long the next day definitely improves.

As of this writing (sorry I'm late, BTW), the streak is up to 36 days. My runs have been shorter for the past few days because my body can use a break.