Numbers...

Ever since I was a kid I liked to keep track of stats. I remember waking up every morning in the summer and reading the box scores from baseball games from the night before. During my high school days I kept all of the stats for Indiana Basketball games and built an extensive excel spreadsheet. I thought I was big stuff with that. Ha Ha. Call me crazy, but I do the same thing with my running and have done so nearly every year since the Summer of 1995--except from 1998-2002 and 2003-2005. I keep a log of my daily runs, add my miles for the month, keep track of my annual mileage totals, and even track the miles on my shoes. My running really is a tale of three lives: 1994-1998 (High School and my first three years of college); 1998-2005 (ran on and off but did not track miles very well) and then from 1/1/2006 to the present (what I like to call "The Comeback"). So...here are some numbers for you:

Number of unofficial miles run: 21,059.9
Official Miles run that I can back up with data: 16,709.9
Miles since 1/1/2006: 7220.9
Most Miles in a year ever run: 2453 (1996), 2123.3 (2007)
Number of road races run (excluding HS, College): 109

This month I ran 194.7 miles and that brings my 2010 total up to 846.4, which is a little ahead of where I want to be. My goal is to hit 2000 miles for the year and to do so I have to average 167 miles a month. I hope that I can do it. I fell short in 2008 and 2009 with injuries. This May is actually the best May of training I've had since the comeback.

The Comeback: What is it all about anyway? Honestly, I woke up on my 29th (10/24/2005) birthday and looked in the mirror and saw a guy who had picked up 15 pounds in three years and just looked worn out. I used to be the guy who never tired playing any sport and all of the sudden I was out of shape and fading fast. I decided "hell no was I going into my 30s like this" and I set the goal of beating every time that I could run when I was 18. It started in October of 2005 and faded by years end. But...On 1/1/2006 Sarah and I joined a gym in Rohnert Park, CA and I ran 3 miles on the treadmill. I felt terrible, but I went home and signed up for the Big Sur Marathon (probably the most difficult marathon there is because of the hills and the start time of 6a). And with that...I was back. And...slowly I started drinking less beer and more Gatorade/water/tea, eating a little bit better, and just plugging away. Nearly five years later I weigh 20 pounds less than on 10/24/2005. Have I beat every time that I ran when I was 18? No, but I've beaten a few and I do think before I'm 40 I'll be able to beat every time. If not, at least I'm running.

I mention numbers because I think it highlights a point I often make about being consistent with your training. Consistent does not mean trying to get faster or run X number of miles. I like tracking that stuff, but that's not what running is truly about. Running is about just getting out there and making it what you want to make it---it's just easier to make it what you want to make it when you know what you've been doing. And...if you consistently run, then you will consistently reap the benefits.