Cautiously Aggressive

Even if I am running by the doctors' earliest estimate of June 10th, I will have less than three months to pound myself into shape before the season. That means I have to be aggressive, but I also have to stay healthy.

The balance between too much and too little is a constant battle for the distance runner, and in my case, it will be imperative to strike exactly the right formula. I'd love to go out and run 100 mile weeks and feel like death warmed over from day to day. It's a good kind of tired. But I know my body cannot handle that, nor will I have the time to safely build to that mileage. However, 8 kilometers is going to be quite a long race if I cannot run some sort of high mileage by August.

Over the next few weeks, I must do all that I can to get my body ready for the workload. I need to eat healthier and cross train so that I lose weight and can handle the shock of a faster mileage build-up than is ideal. Moreover, I need to fit plenty of icing and stretching into my routine to prevent injury and allow my muscles to recover from a workload they haven't experienced in over two years.

The most important things I can do this summer are remember to take it day-by-day and listen to my body. I usually give myself strict mileage goals, but the variability in my conditioning will make this nearly impossible. I may find myself in July struggling to complete a 40 mile week, or I may end up cruising through a 50 mile week. Like never before, I will have to tune in to my body in order to efficiently use the limited time that I have.

On Tuesday I visit my doctor to have a new dressing put on my leg. I will get to see the leg for the first time since my surgery, and I will also get to discuss recovery with my doctor. Judging from the way I feel, I think I could be back even sooner than expected, or at the very least, I will be able to cross train earlier than we thought. Whatever the case, this summer is going to be the most challenging and potentially rewarding period of my running career.