It's not about the numbers

Numbers matter, but they are not everything.  I often end up chasing numbers that I have set for a weekly goal, such as miles, elevation gain or time spent in heart rate zones.  There is nothing wrong with setting goals.  Afterall, it's kind of the point of all of this.  When everything else gets disregarded in pursuit of these numbers is when things can go off the rails like a crazy train.  

Some examples; it doesn't matter if you run 80 miles a week.  What matters is what the quality of recovery after those miles are.  It also doesn't matter how much elevation gain you can do in a single day.  What matters is whether or not your body is adapting to the training load.  

In my very humble opinion, if you can't do the same workout every single day, it's not an easy workout.  If we're not putting in those consistant easy days, we're probably just overtraining and not realizing it.  Then it won't matter what your numbers are.  The only thing that will matter is how badly overtrained you've become.  The only number that will really matter then is how many weeks before your big goal you'll have to correct the problem.  Which will mean forced time off and not training.

Start easy and make progress.  Set goals but don't be a slave to the numbers.  If regular life stress is getting in the way of hitting that goal this week, push that goal out a week or two and take some recovery.  Mentally and physically, you'll feel better.

It's not about the numbers.  It's about feeling recovered for the big workouts.  It's about being ready when it matters most!