onepinkfuzzy

So somehow my last post disappeared, but I didn't realize it till today. (Hmm, I thought to myself, I think I only got one comment on my last post. What's up with that? Yeah - it was gone.) It's back up now...

I spent tonight reviewing my training for the last few months and realizing, holy mother of running, I think I've really screwed it up good. I'll be very surprised if I make it through the next few months without getting injured. I had a good build-up last spring (2007) after gallbladder surgery and a knee injury the previous winter (that would have been 2006/2007). Then I encountered heart trouble, which put a stop to my running - literally. For the first time since I started actively running in 2005, I didn't run for over a month. That was August. Then in Sept, I started running again.

Here's how 2007 broke down:
Jan: 29
Feb: 40
March: 69
April: 41
May: 75
June: 74
July: 18
Aug: 0
Sept: 25 (longest run: 8 miles; no cross-training)
Oct: 51.5 (longest run: 15.4 miles; no cross-training)
Nov: 30.8 (longest run: 9 miles; approx 4 hours cross-training)
Dec: 32.1 (longest run: 11 miles; approx 4 hours cross-training)
mid-Jan: 42.1 already (longest run to date: 14 miles...16 scheduled for this weekend; approx 4 hours cross-training to date)

That's per MONTH, people. Not per week. And I think I'm going to be ready for a super-tough, hilly 50k by April? Am I freaking nuts?

And the giNORmous jump in training in the first two weeks of January - that's just beggingfor trouble. And the plan calls for me to just build on top of that training - keep going harder, farther, bigger, more.

I'm so going to crash and burn. But do you think that's going to stop me? No freakin' way. If I don't ramp up my mileage, my cross-training, if I don't go out and do my long runs (even though I don't have the sort of base I want), then there's no WAY I'm going to be able to do ZG. I have to do this. Or else give up already.

So I'm taking the chance. I'm risking it. I'm doing my damndest to take care of myself while I do this - I'm stretching, I'm fueling, I'm keeping the pace slow (although it's nice that I'm getting in shape and can handle a 10:30 pace cardiovascularly, it sucks that as soon as I go sub-11, it hurts behind my right knee).

A word on cross-training: I have to cross-train, since my hours for working out are so limited and I refuse to run alone in the dark in the mornings. So I go to the gym. Mostly it involves spinning or the elliptical machine, but this morning I discovered the stairclimber. Hoo boy! That thing made me sweat more than anything else I've tried at the gym. I need opinions, though - what's the best cross-training I could be doing in preparation for ZG??? I'm also doing some weights - hip ad/abductors, abs, quads.

Go on, take bets. Will I crash and burn? Will I do it without injury? Am I crazy? Am I overreacting?