February 2012 Training Summary

Posted by on Mar 1, 2012 in My Running

I concluded my training in February with an easy 10-miler in the rain. It was a cold, wet, and windy run, as I nearly bagged it at mile 8. Now that I think about it – it’s probably not the best idea to loop around my house because I may be ready to quit any minute and just walk home. I don’t find running in the cold rain particularly enjoyable – but I digress because I naturally complain a lot. I’d like to point out this is the most miles I’ve ever run in

a February, ever. So I’m rather excited to share this with you. Below is a comparison of the past two months of running:

January 2012February 2012
Count1319
Distance129.39 mi188.48 mi
Avg Distance9.95 mi9.92 mi
Total Time20h 38m 33s28m 04s 13s
Avg Pace9m 34s per mile8m 56s per mile
Longest1616
Shortest 55

Albeit (I need to stop using this word in an attempt to fake sophistication) being the shorter month of the two, this past February allowed me to get in more runs than I did in January – almost an extra week’s worth. This was possible simply because I wasn’t injured nor recovering from previous injuries.

In track workouts, my interval intensity increased significantly in both speed and reps. I’ve been making progress in performance since my return after the injury last year. The data nicely reflects this as my average pace improved by almost a minute!

From my training log, the two most memorable runs in February are the following:

2/4/2012 Group Run with Fernando and Sean The weather was sunny and toasty. We took a new route to Weehawken and back. My calves were manageable on the rolling hills today. I’m finally back in 40+ mpw for the first time in ages. Next week will be a cutback week.

2/22/2012 Tempo and Traffic Accident 2 mi warm-up, 3 mi tempo (7:20, 7:16, 7:06), 5 mi easy. I meant to do 4~5 miles at tempo pace; but I was quite tired. I’m glad I banged out two speedworks by Wednesday – the rest of the week will be junk miles and a long run. Old injuries are completely gone now (knock on wood). Besides some soreness on my calves, I feel pretty strong. Overall my speed improved a lot since I started logging weekly intervals after last year’s injuries. Although my top-end speed isn’t where I want it to be, I can definitely see a huge improvement in my “easy” pace. I’m looking forward to my half-mary in less than one month. By the way, I can’t believe I’m saying this – but it’s HOT outside, in February. On an unrelated note, I saw a traffic accident at mile 8.89. I screamed “OH SH1T” as I stood stunned for a few seconds. Then I went over and saw that nobody was badly hurt. The teenage young lady in the passenger side was traumatized as she suffered what seemed like a neck injury. There was no blood. I stayed around as a witness as the police took my words down. YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO CAREFUL WHEN DRIVING!

Although I didn’t make my monthly mileage goal of 240~250 miles, I am still glad that I’ve logged more miles than last February (a whopping nada logged) – or any February to date, in fact. Looking forward, this monthly deficit of mileage shouldn’t be too problematic as I’ll be sure to log more than 250 miles monthly in Q2 and Q3 of 2012. Besides, I am unable to keep the mileage that high in my current training state, as I am zeroing in on NYC Half in about 2 weeks. On the whole, I may not be exactly where I want to be, in terms of performance – but I am feeling strong, confident, and, most importantly, happy about running.

Enough about me for now. How was your running in February? Did you try anything new or different? What are you looking forward to in the upcoming month? Please share in the comment section below.

Author Bio: Kevin Lu is an engineer in the field of orthopedic devices. He received his B.S. and M.S. in biomedical engineering from NJIT. Science, technology, and running are Kevin’s passions. In his spare time, Kevin trains for and participates in races of various distances. In addition to Beyond Distance, Kevin also writes for iRunnerBlog as a contributing tech columnist. Find out more about Kevin here and follow him on Twitter.

Related posts:

  1. January 2012 Training Summary