Halfway Home

This morning I banged out five miles at 7:12 per mile pace to complete my eighth week of training for the Marine Corps Marathon. My training program is 16 weeks long, so in essence I am halfway home (to some extent I am more than halfway, as the last three weeks are my taper). Given the fact I am at the halfway mark, I thought I would share some of my thoughts and insights (assuming you care):

• I had forgotten how hard marathon training is on your body. I am still relatively healthy, but would be lying if I said I was 100%. The crazy thing is my marathon training program calls for significantly less mileage than many others; it is a miracle to me more people don't hurt themselves training for marathons.
• Training for this marathon has reminded me how "pure" running is, especially compared to doing triathlons. I have definitely picked up a few gadgets this year, but at the end of the day there is no "magic elixir" that makes you run faster--unlike swimming and biking, in which the right wetsuit/bicycle/aero wheelset can give you essentially free (well, paid for) speed.
• I am really starting to enjoy doing long runs on the treadmill. There is just something to be said for being in a controlled environment and having someone/something else control the pacing. I am just hoping my body does not get TOO used to it, but I think with all the somewhat hilly tempo runs I have been doing, I should be fine.
• My race is still almost two months away and I am already starting to get nervous. I thought about working a shorter race into my training program just to shake things up a bit, but decided if it did not go the way I hoped it would just stress me out. This is why I do not race more often--I just stress about it entirely too much.
• It amazes me how much running helps with weight loss/control. I am eating virtually whatever I want whenever I want, and am still below 180 pounds (and at times have gotten down to 175ish). I would love to be 175 or less for race day, but just as long as I can stay around 177-178 I'll be happy.

That is it for now--enjoy the long holiday weekend, and as always, thanks for reading!

Just Five To Go

This morning I did my 14-mile weekly long run on the treadmill at 7:30 per mile pace. I completed last week's long run (12 miles) on Friday, so I think I may have "bit off a bit more than I can chew" by doing another one just four days later--my legs are definitely more sore than they have been after my prior long runs. They do not feel too bad, but I am definitely looking forward to tomorrow's rest day. I also had problems withy my new headphones (my freakishly small ears strike again), and thus, had to run the last 10-11 miles sans any form of entertainment, which was brutal. Aside from that the run was fairly uneventful. Given my prior history, I am still in a state of shock at the fact I have literally completed every weekly long run on my marathon training schedule. I also find it really hard to believe I have just five double digit runs left (16, 16, 17, 18, and 20 miles) before the big day!

11 Down, 15 To Go

Yesterday morning I hit the treadmill for my weekly long run. I banged out 11 miles at 7:30 per mile pace, and just like last week definitely felt like I could have done a few more. I played music on my iPod nano the entire time, and for once actually brought a bottle of water with me, although I definitely did not drink enough (but it's a start, right?) Afterwards my legs actually felt pretty decent--my right knee was a bit stiff (for a change), but aside from that I was perfectly fine. I am actually starting to kind of enjoy my treadmill long runs, which is kind of a scary thought. Six straight weeks of hitting the long runs on my training schedule--who would have thunk it?

Double Digits

This has been my best training week since I began preparing for the Marine Corps Marathon. I was able to squeeze in a rare weekend "bonus run" on Sunday, allowing me to start off the training week strong. After five mile runs on Monday and Tuesday and a weightlifting session on Wednesday, I was all set for today's weekly long run--a ten miler, my first double digit mileage run since the New York City Marathon back in 2007. I opted to do it on the treadmill, as I still have not found many great places for long runs around my home.

This morning's run went really well! I basically just locked in a 7:30 per mile pace, put my headphones on, and banged through it. I had some technical difficulties with my iPod nano (for some reason the volume inexplicably became really low about halfway through), but that is really my only complaint. My legs felt good, my breathing was fine, and I felt really strong the entire way (I even picked up the pace the last couple of miles just to break the monotony). It seems crazy to me that I have just eight more double digit mileage long runs remaining on my training schedule--as well as the fact I have not missed a single scheduled long run yet!