April Showers Bring May Showers

We better be seeing some May flowers with April's showers coming late in the month -- so late that thunderstorms are forecast for the rest of the week. Oh well. At least we got some springtime heat with the rain.

My activities seem to have faltered in April. Both my running and banjo playing were negligent. Perhaps I just needed a mental break from increasing mileage and improving my old-timey acumen.

Whatever the cause for my dropoff in mileage, I've continued to improve my trail running prowess. Here's last month's statistical rundown:

• Total Miles: 38 miles (eight runs)
• Total Time: 7.36 hours
• Highest Weekly: 21 miles
• Average Weekly: 9.5 miles
• Average Pace: 11:37/mile
• The Monthly Dif: -27 miles (65 miles in March)

My average pace slowed yet again this month, but more than 75 percent of my mileage (all but nine miles) was logged on trails, where my average pace has been slower than 12 minutes per mile for the past two months.

If my pre-training plan were to resume this week, the schedule would prescribe four runs for a total of 21 miles, with a long run of 12 miles. While the first three weeks of April resulted in a total of 13.6 miles -- not one of those higher than single digits -- my final week got back on track.

With 21 miles on just three runs and a long of 11 miles last week, I'm poised to jump back into my planned routine. One thing that has helped is bringing my running clothes to work so that I can just head straight to my chosen venue during the week, but the weekends have been a different story.

Instead of running, those first three weekends were spent dealing with a bout of norovirus, shopping for a lawnmower and celebrating Greek Easter, and then giving in to even more crappy weather and demotivation. But then it clicked.

Despite surpassing my fitness limits Sunday, it was great to finish a long run after such a layoff. Perhaps this renewed sense of accomplishment will motivate me to get out the door again this weekend and those to come.