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<p>As many of you are aware, 2011 was one of the worst years I've had for running. I started the year with Achilles tendinopathy in both ankles. The cause was simple, boosting my mileage too quickly. Take it from me folks, you never, ever want to have Achilles tendinopathy.</p>
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<p>By the end of January I had done a few runs, but very few. January saw me do exactly 8.79 miles. Unfortunately, by the end of the month of January, things didn't feel right in the ankles. I did not run at all in February. That's right, 0.00 miles in February. In March, things finally started to feel a little better. I was able to get in 42.4 miles in March.</p>
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<p>So, through the first quarter of the year, I had only done 51.19 miles. </p>
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<p>Early in April I ran my first race of the year, the 20th Annual Merrimack River 10 Mile Trail Race. I struggled with the distance, but managed to drag myself to the finish line in 2:04:45. By the end of April I had more than doubled my mileage total for the year. I did 65.19 miles in April, to give me 116.38 for the year.</p>
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<p>May saw things finally starting to turn around with the ankles. It was my first triple digit month of the year, as I did 100.09 miles for the month. I also did my first 1/2 marathon post injury when I did the Middlebury Maple Run in Middlebury, Vermont. My time wasn't good, 2:27:29.6, for the 1/2 marathon. But I had finished it, and at that point really started to feel like things were coming around. So at the end of May I was at 216.47 miles.</p>
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<p>I continued to build the mileage, albeit slowly, in June. There were no races, but I ended up with 114.61 miles in June.</p>
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<p>Halfway through the year,I was at 331.08 miles.</p>
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<p>July was not a good month for me. The left ankle acted up one day on a long run, and didn't feel right for most of the month. I ended July with just 93.85 miles, so there I was at 424.93 miles and thinking 1000 was out of the question.</p>
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<p>At the beginning of August I went to see a friend and a fellow Merrimack Valley Strider who worked at a running store. She did a gait analysis on my stride. Two other people had done a gait analysis on me before, but she saw something that the others had missed. My left ankle was rolling and was causing pain in the Achilles tendon. She found the perfect shoe for me, and almost instantly, everything felt better. During August, I did my first Hill Repeats workout in I can't remember how long, and the mileage went back up in August. I ended August with 112.58 miles.</p>
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<p>September was a pretty good month for me, when I did a total of 140.975 miles. I also did my final race of the year, the 7th Annual Town of Wilmington Half Marathon. Unfortunately it was very hot on race day, and I struggled really bad. I finished the race in 2:29:21.</p>
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<p>October was my best month mileage wise. I came in with 158.5025 miles for October. </p>
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<p>November came in a bit off of October's total, but still pretty good. I did 140.675 miles in November.</p>
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<p>December was slightly under November's total, but still pretty good. I did 138.13 miles in December.</p>
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<p><strong>Summary Run Report</strong></p>
<p><em>For the period: 01/01/2011 to 12/31/2011</em></p>
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<p><strong>-------------- By Run Type -------------</strong></p>
<p>Race Pace</p>
<p>Miles Time Average Mile</p>
<p>43.54 08:10:51.3 00:11:16.4</p>
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<p>Warmup</p>
<p>Miles Time Average Mile</p>
<p>37.74 06:37:27.3 00:10:31.9</p>
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<p>Cooldown</p>
<p>Miles Time Average Mile</p>
<p>26.085 04:55:03.6 00:11:18.7</p>
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<p>Speed Work</p>
<p>Miles Time Average Mile</p>
<p>84.615 11:53:22.2 00:08:25.8</p>
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<p>Hill Work</p>
<p>Miles Time Average Mile</p>
<p>52.06 09:09:50.8 00:10:33.7</p>
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<p>Hill Climb</p>
<p>Miles Time Average Mile</p>
<p>26.03 04:51:01.8 00:11:10.8</p>
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<p>Hill Descent</p>
<p>Miles Time Average Mile</p>
<p>26.03 04:18:49.0 00:09:56.6</p>
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<p>Just A Run</p>
<p>Miles Time Average Mile</p>
<p>871.7525 159:07:44.0 00:10:57.1</p>
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<p>Grand Total</p>
<p>Miles Time Average Mile</p>
<p>1115.7925 199:54:19.2 00:10:45.0</p>
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<p><strong>------------ BY SURFACE ------------</strong></p>
<p>Track (32 runs)</p>
<p>Miles Time Average Mile</p>
<p>207.6725 34:14:33.5 00:09:53.6</p>
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<p>Trail (29 runs)</p>
<p>Miles Time Average Mile</p>
<p>162.27 31:33:34.3 00:11:40.2</p>
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<p>Pavement (108 runs)</p>
<p>Miles Time Average Mile</p>
<p>745.85 134:19:41.4 00:10:45.7</p>
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<p>Grand Total (169 runs)</p>
<p>Miles Time Average Mile</p>
<p>1115.7925 199:54:19.2 00:10:45.0</p>
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<p>Races</p>
<p>04/09/2011 Merrimack River 10 Mile Trail Race Andover, MA</p>
<p>05/01/2011 3rd Annual Middlebury Maple Run Middlebury, VT </p>
<p>09/25/2011 7th Annual Wilmington Half Marathon Wilmington, MA</p>
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<p>Personal Bests</p>
<p>None</p>
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<p><span class="photo_center"><img alt="" class="photo_img img" src="http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/208180_1995786612856_1189192735_3708865_2152594_a.jpg" style=""><span class="caption">Finishing the 2011 Merrimack River 10 Mile Trail Race</span></span></p>
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