Fun With Numbers - Analysis of my Average Weekly Mileage

I have been battling a calf injury for the past 2 months. This has left me with a little extra time to look at some mileage data. I started training for my first ultra in the fall of 2007. Since then I have kept track of my weekly mileage. I decided to produce some charts based on my 16 and 32 week averages. Below are those charts.

16 Week Average

32 Week Average

As one can quickly see my average mileage per week is at a low point right now. Part of this is due to some time off from injury, the rest is due to taking most of last summer and a few scattered weeks last fall off. On the contrary my race times are getting better. The last Ultra I ran was the Holiday Lake 50K and I cut off around 25 minutes from 2 years ago (also the catalyst of my injuries). Maybe if I can stay healthy and get my mileage back up I can make a run at a 100 this fall. Injury is going to dictate this. The first part of 2011 is lost, but God willing the rest of 2011 will be better.

If your interested - I produced these charts and keep my weekly mileage log in Google Documents. This "cloud based" service works well for non-technical spreadsheets and allows me access from any web-enabled computer or device. Drop me a comment if you want to know more about my setup.

2011 Holiday Lake 50K++

Three long years ago Holiday Lake was my first ultra. I remember that weekend vividly as I packed up my wife and 5 month old daughter for a weekend journey into the unknown. I had no idea the adventure, pain, struggle, will power, and pure joy that day would be the catalyst for. People often ask me why I want to run such long distances by myself in the woods. I honestly do not have an answer for them. I don't know if you are born with it, or if it is like a healthy virus that infects you when you are around other like minded runners. Once ultras get their hooks into there is no turning back.

Much has changed since that cool and sunny February day back in 2008. My little girl is now 3 and refuses to give me a hug when I come home from a run if I am sweaty (she asks if I was racing and says "Daddy, your all wet!"). My fitness level and race knowledge have also grown through training and race experience. So I decided to come back to Holiday Lake once again to try and quantify how much things have changed.