Gobble gobble went November and onto the Ho ho ho season! December is among us. That means another monthly running report is needed and in a surprising note for Texas, the weather has cooled on down. On the running side, November saw a slight increase in running miles, weight gain, and back pain. Let’s break down how all this looked through our favorite lens, data!

Week 1: 30.1 Miles

This was another 30+ mile written into the average record books. Hour runs were starting to become the norm which felt pretty cool. My shins were getting less angry at that distance these days and I would typically cover around 7 miles in an hour. I managed to run just under 10 miles for my weekly long run and cover over 1,000 feet of elevation during that run. I will admit, there was a lot of walking during that 10 mile stint because that elevation beat me down. My Everest training would briefly be on hold this month until after the Irving marathon. More mileage needed to come before elevation gain.

I did a second run of 8.3 miles the next day after my long run which was good to see how the legs responded on back to back hour plus days. The elevation gain for that run was 14 feet…much lower! The 8 mile run included a progression run after the first mile. I warmed up at an 8:24 minute mile and progressed down to my last mile at 6:49 for mile eight. The majority dropped around 10 seconds per mile and my legs surviving was the biggest highlight. It made me feel good for the upcoming race!

Week 2: 36.4 Miles

A yearly distance record! My highest monthly training mileage in over five years. I had topped 36 miles a week foor running a few times over the past few years in ultra attempts but never during a training block. That says a lot for my consistency as a long distance runner. AKA – None. This year showed that progress was being made though or at least, the latter part of the year. The only 2026 goal of mine should just be consistent mileage. I’ll probably have more fun goals though!

A highlight run this week included making it up the ‘Howdy Hill of Death’ a personal record of eight times! Woooooohooooooo! The distance included double digits at 11 miles with the average pace of about 11 minute per mile. It took 2 hours to hit that distance will all the ups and downs on the hill. Whew, what an effort that felt. I managed the highest elevation gain in one run ever (for me) at 2,220 feet. This was almost 8% of the gain of Mt. Everest so I was still pretty far from that goal. My shins the next day said I was far from the attempt too. Maybe in January I could get up to 20%? We shall see.

Week 3: 32.3 Miles

I officially passed the 1,000 mile mark during week 3 and was well on my way to averaging at least 20 miles per week of running for the year. I can’t remember if my initial 2025 goal was 20 miles per week or 30. To get to 30 miles a week average in a year, a runner needs to cover a total of 1,560 miles. In order to hit that total, I would need to run around 55 miles per week till the end of the year. As readers know here, that would be unlikely.

On the bright side, my best run of the year happened from a training perspective. I covered 14.5 miles in just over 2 hours with the average pace landing at 8:33 per mile. My legs felt good at the end of this and I managed my last few miles to dip below 8 minute per mile for a speedy finish. I was also highly motivated by fried food at that point and managed to get some fried chicken afterwards. What a blessing. My half marathon time was 1:53:58 during that long run. If I could string that performance together back to back I would be a happy man in Irving. Would that happen? Only future us will find out!

Week 4: 31.2 Miles

Welcome back shin pain! I had strung together some smaller runs and then did my longest training run, certainly in years, at 19 miles. My phone died on me during the attempt so my strava data only recorded me to the 16 mile mark. At that point, I had covered almost 1,000 feet of elevation. Why so much? Turns out I did this long run in Arkansas which is much more hilly than I knew. Next time, I would try to find a track.

Following this long run, it was Thanksgiving week in the averagerunnerpaul household. Janel made an amazing Thanksgiving brunch and we also had lots of friend and family get togethers to make my waistline hurt. Did I stop eating once I was full? Nope. Crazy to get so many miles in and continue to gain weight. Having three different Thanksgiving meals will do that to most people though. In total, I gained 8 pounds in 10 days…Oof-da…

Monthly Total: 133.3 Miles!

With a 5k run over the weekend, I ended at a yearly monthly high of 133.3. This surpassed last week by 1 mile which surprised me because of the amount of 30 + mile weeks strung together. On that happy note, that was 6 weeks of 30+ mile weeks. Consistency had occurred!

Now there would be only a few weeks to go before the marathon. Unfortunately, and due to the weight gain most likely, I threw out my back right at the end of the month. That meant a couple days off which the body would hopefully heal and I would find the opportunity to eat a salad. Where the veggies be at?

December Goals:

There wasn’t any time left to procrastinate and I would need to get in one more long run before the week finished up. After that long run, it was time to mentally prep and hopefully shoot for a 3:45ish marathon. Once the long training run was done, it would be time to tamper down, stretch, and get the diet on track. So long fried food! I’d need to tone down the beer consumption fun too to make sure my body felt good in the mornings. That typically isn’t an issue but let’s just say the day after Thanksgiving was a slow moving day in our household…

I hope you all had a great November and for those that celebrated, any favorite dishes? Mine was a vegetarian stuffing that a friend made and it was delicious. Outside of the holiday, how did your running go for the month? Hope it went great and wishing you a great December!