My name is Dan Beck and I am entering my sophomore year at DeSales University. DeSales is located in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, right near Allentown and Bethlehem. Here on this blog, I'll let you in on my training. It'll serve as a training log for me, where I'll talk about my workouts and how I feel and anything else I feel like talking about, which you probably won't care about. I meant to start this before I started my cross country training a year ago, but I forgot and before I knew it, it was time to start my second year of college running.
My freshman year had it's ups and downs. My summer of training leading up to cross went very well. I hit a high for mileage and stayed healthy. I trained with a lot of former high school teammates, which really helped me out. I didn't go too crazy with mileage, however. The first half of my XC season went well. I raced well and then it happened. I got my first taste of the "injury bug." I battled Achilles tendonitis for the remainder of the season and it continued to hamper my abilities all throughout winter and into spring season. I did, however, finish out the cross season, spending the week doing workouts on the elliptical and racing weekends on the elliptical. I accomplished my goal of cracking the top 7 and making DeSales' regional squad. I didn't race at all indoors and my outdoor season was a disappointment due to my lack of training.
As I move into the summer of 2011, my main goal is to stay healthy. Nothing is worse than knowing I could do better than what I showed. If I can stay healthy, who knows what is possible? This summer I plan to try and hit up around 70 miles/week when I enter August. Originally, my plan was to hit a little more, but I do not want a relapse on my injury. I'll slowly build up to that mark through the months of June and July.
As I move in to the season, in which I will hopefully be healthy, my other goals have to do with the team and times. I'd like to remain in the top 7 and help my team place in the top 10 in the region and top 3 (hopefully 2nd) in our conference, the MAC. We are loaded with talent, so hopefully we can accomplish these goals. And I know XC really isn't about time, but I'd like to dip under 27 minutes for 8k; something I thought would be possible last season, if not for crappy courses and often crappy course conditions.
I have already started training for the 2011 cross season. Here's my mileage to this point:
Mon, May 30 - 3 mi. (neighborhood)
Tue, May 31 - 3 mi. (neighborhood)
Wed, June 1 - 4 mi. (neighborhood)
Thu, June 2 - 4 mi. (neighborhood)
Fri, June 3 - OFF
Sat, June 4 - 3 mi. (neighborhood)
Week 1 Mileage: 17 miles
