December was a rougher month for me to be honest. I saw a lot of changes in my training including cutting down racing, increased mileage and, of course, my antibiotic issues. I feel like a broken record when I talk about it, but my reaction to them plays an important role in training because it impacted how my running felt.
December:
Miles: 304
Range of paces: 6:02-10:20-untimed
Longest Run: 12 miles *several of my workout days added up to be 14 miles.
Shortest run: 2-mile cooldown
Races:
Memorial 5k (19:45)
Loop Run (54:00…6:26 pace)
Jingle Bell Jog 5k (19:30)
Best Race:
That is easy as the Loop Run was the only race I felt good, and I ran as hard as possible. I ran the first 5k of the Loop Run at the same pace as my fastest 5k this month.
Best Run:
A few weeks ago I planned to do a base race. Long story short, we figured out the race was on a different base. Instead of “giving up” and not doing anything I did a workout. I was proud of myself for accomplishing a workout, despite not being the original plan.
Thoughts from December:
After talking with my doctor and tracking daily changes, I can look back and see that I see improvements in recovering (is that the right word?) from antibiotics. Instead of feeling sick or nauseous a few days weekly, it’s down to 1 maybe two days a week. Hopefully, this continues in January.
Training this month saw an increase in mileage and as well as longer, harder workouts. The increased distance, caused my overall paces to slow a little bit, but you have to pick your poison. Either you want fast workouts or want to increase mileage but increasing speed and distance can result in injury. I’ve been there.
Honestly, I had two great months: October and November. I saw more progression in those two months than the last few, so I’m not surprised that I had a lull. I know I had several factors playing a role, though.
I did, however, start January off with a PR. The 5k PR on January 1st has nothing to do with training in January but everything to do with training in December.
Thoughts for January:
In January, I have two more races on the calendar. I’m doing a ten miler this weekend as well as a half marathon the following weekend. I might sign up for a few “no frills” 5ks at the end of the month depending how I feel.
I will be interested to see my progression in the half marathon since the Philadelphia half two months ago. I plan to continue building mileage as well as speed workouts. I’ve improved nearly 40 seconds from my 5k in the last two months. If you multiply that by 4, I should be over 3 minutes faster in the half. Kidding of course, if only it worked like that…
Questions for you:
How was your month of training?
Do you like the warm or cold weather?
To be honest, I’m probably in the minority enjoyed how warm December was. I’m sure January and February will be hard to adjust too, though.
I’m with you… I’d rather run in warm weather. Our recent 30 degree mornings has had this Texas girl blue.
Oomph, I do miss the warm weather from Texas, that was definitely nice.
I’m so happy for you getting that PR!! And that you are recovering from the antibiotics too. Yogurt and kombucha usually help me feel better if I have to take anything like that. My training was pretty unintentional and relaxed for December but I’m still happy with the miles I got in.
It’s funny, I really wanted to like kombacha but I cannot stomach it! Thank you for your support Sam, it means a lot.
december lul means january is going to rock, which it already has with your PR! i love cooler weather it really helps my running so i was one of the sad ones that it was hot in decemeber…but hot was like 85 with 90% humidity which is never fun even when its in season.
It’s crazy how strongly medications can impact us. I’m glad you’re feeling better, and I hope that your symptoms will completely disappear this month. Have you tried taking probiotics? They can really help get our bodies back to normal after a bout of antibiotics!
I absolutely LOVE the warmer weather!
December was a pretty decent month for me in terms of training and particularly speedwork 🙂 Although I don’t like the really hot weather, I will take a warm and wet winter over a snow-filled one any day. We’ve had a lot of flooding about though, so perhaps the weather is a little too mild :/ I’ll regret saying that once the ice comes back next week as it is predicted to. I’m never cold, so as long as the ground stays dry I’m very happy to run in freezing conditions, but ice is and has always been my running nemesis.
I think you had an excellent month and were right to back of a little bit when you weren’t feeling well at all. I think there are great things ahead for you and lots of potential PRs in your January races.
It’s important to look back and review how things went, but I’m so excited about what January and the rest of 2016 has in store for you. I mean, you kicked off the year with a PR!
I’ve been kind of enjoying the cold weather. The runs have been fun! And not sweaty. And even a little warm… I always dress for 20 degrees warmer, so hats and gloves sometimes Aren’t super necessary… When I was living in SoCal, during the Summer I would have to run at like 3 am before it got too hot!
Awesome month! I’m glad you’re feeling nauseous less often now.