Yes, it’s been a long time since my last post. I’ve been neglecting this blog for Facebook and my marathon team web page. But here’s what I’ve been up to.
Marathon training is going well. I ran my first 20 miler on February 8. I was well-prepared, with my Fuel Belt and a Gu, and I took it easy at a 9:00 pace. I actually felt great at the end; my friends Todd and Cam saw me at mile 16 and commented on how good I looked. I was sore for the next couple of days, but nothing to worry about.
This past week I did the first of my marathon-pace long runs. My schedule called for 15 miles with 12 at race pace. With my marathon goal at 3:30, that meant I needed to run 8:00 miles for 12 miles, which sounded pretty scary. I ran this one with my friends Susan and Todd. Todd is a 3:00 marathoner, so it was a pretty easy pace for him, and his company really helped me get through the workout. The last mile was killer, but we finished strong at an average 7:57/mi pace including the water stops (i.e. I didn’t stop the watch). This workout was very tough, but it gives me a lot of confidence to have completed it.
Today I did a 7-mile tempo run. My goal pace was 7:30/mi, but I felt good and was able to complete it at a 7:20/mi average pace. This improves on a 6-mile tempo @ 7:22/mi I did on 2/2. For comparison, when I was training for my half marathon last May, my toughest tempo workout was 6 miles at 7:51/mi. So I am in much better shape now.
This is actually my highest mileage week, at 55 miles including a 20 mile long run on Sunday. Once again, I’m going to take the long run easy at around 9:00/mi so I won’t be too sore next week.
Injurywise, I’ve been pretty healthy (knock on wood). My hamstrings were bothering me a while back, but a renewed focus on stretching seems to have helped. I’ve also had a little tightness in my right ITB, which is also helped by stretching.
So the short version of this post is that marathon training is going well, and I’m in the best running shape of my life. Here’s hoping I can stay healthy through the next 2 months and keep my training consistent.
