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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
<p>Clicked over the 3000 running miles for the year mark yesterday. Still two weeks left to add to it. It's been a solid year as I set new PRs in 5K, 10K (twice), 10 miles, half marathon, and 15 miles - and several other odd distance races I do.</p>
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<p>Next year my plan is to reduce volume and really bump up the speedwork to see if that can bring more improvements.</p>
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<p>Happy running and happy holidays!</p>
 

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<p>Nicely done, Don, and congratulations. I've never, ever been one to bean count on mileage, but I certainly appreciate streaks and achievements such as this. And when folks ask you how you stay so fit and fast, you fall back on your substantial base -- like running 3000 miles in a calendar year -- as no coincidence. That's a lot of consistency, determination, and commitment.</p>
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<p>What I find remarkably cool about this time of year, especially for people like you and me who kind of go with the flow of what is fun and challenging a little more freely than those only a few years into the sport, is that we have no idea what kinds of cool events we will do over the next year, but we know from history that we'll have logged some memorable times, run some great races and courses, and commited the lifestyle even further.</p>
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<p>I think back to a year ago. A year ago today I was hoping to get a pinched nerve fixed so that I could get back into triathlon. Little did I know that the pinched nerve would come back ruling out triathlon all together. Little did I know that this would not be looked down upon but would rather open doors to so many cool things to try my hand at. Little did I know I would spend the year running trails and up and down mountains I thought were reserved only for skiing down, and doing an ultra marathon. Pretty cool. And you know next year will bring a similar feeling.</p>
 

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<p>amazing!</p>
 

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Discussion Starter · #8 ·
<p>Thanks everyone.</p>
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<p>One thing I've found interesting about running all these miles is how much my race performances have improved despite doing very little speedwork. For example, in the half marathon a few weeks ago my average pace was 7:07. In the month prior to the race I ran over 300 miles and only 4 of those miles were as fast or faster than the race pace of the HM. Essentially less than 2%. The vast majority was doing easy runs in the 90-120 seconds per mile slower range. I am finding I've been able to carry what little speed I have all the way through a race like a half marathon now, when only two years ago I could barely maintain that pace for a 5K. It doesn't seem logical that a high volume of slow running would yield faster results - but it does as long as there is a small percentage of fast running in the mix.</p>
 

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<p>My coach is a huge fan of base building in heart rate zone 2.</p>
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<p>Congrats on 3000!  <span><img alt="notworthy.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/notworthy.gif"></span></p>
 
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