Hey, what do you know…it’s only December 2nd, and I’m writing my November recap. Not bad. Speaking of “not bad,” that’s how I’d describe my running in November.

As I mentioned in the October 2009 Running Recap, I started using an honest to goodness training plan towards the end of the month. The training plan carried me through the month of November, and is wrapping up this week. I’ve been able to get in all of my training runs, though I will admit that it has taken some time getting used to using a structured plan again. Knowing what each day holds for me for the next six weeks—being able to dread intervals or a tempo run from multiple days away. On the other hand, I really liked not having to think about what sort of run I was doing. Instead, I just ran. Whatever the plan called for, I did it. On to the results for the month:

• Total Miles: 130.2
• Total Time: 20:29:57
• Average Pace: 9:27/mile

Additional Notes

Compared to October, I ran an additional 20.1 miles, taking an extra 3.5 hours. I ran long each Sunday in the month, something I hadn’t done in quite some time. Those long runs helped slow my average pace down from 9:15/mile in October, to 9:27/mile in November. November is the 4th 100+ mile month in a row, and the 6th in the last 7 months. November was also my first 130+ mile month.

For the month of November, my mileage is as follows:

• Easy: 39 miles
• Hill: 15 miles
• Tempo: 17 miles*
• Interval: 10 miles*
• Long Run: 49 miles
• Longest Run: 11 miles
• Shortest Run: 1 mile**
• Best Paced Run: 8:46/mile (6 mile tempo run)*

One last note—I didn’t race at all in the month of November, though there were a handful of races that I considered doing. In the end, our calendar simply didn’t cooperate. However, I am racing this Saturday, pending full recovery from the cold I have been battling.

* Distance includes warm up and warm down mileage.

** This was on the treadmill, on November 30th, on a scheduled XT/Rest day, just to hit 130 miles for the month. I couldn’t resist.