Week 1: In the books

Week 1 Total Mileage = 60 miles

So yesterday marked the end of my first week of summer training. I capped the week off with a 14 mile long run in the morning. Overall the run was decent. I am still feeling a little banged up on my knee (the unfortunate run-in with the corner of my bed), and a little mystery going on with my foot. Not exactly sure whats going on there, but it is pretty annoying at this point. Anyway, those issues aside, the run went well. I like running in the morning and being done early so that I have the entire day ahead of me to relax with no workout lingering in the background. I would probably train in the morning most days of the week if I could, but that is looking pretty much impossible for the rest of this summer (8 AM Anatomy class starts in approximately 10 days).

My first 60 mile week in a while has taken a bit of a toll on me. I long for the weeks when 60 miles seemed like a joke. I was just looking back in my log at my first 65 mile week from last summer: I ran every day of the week, had a 12 miler "long run" on Saturday of the week, 11 miles for my "medium-long run" on Wednesday of the week, AND did a double of 9 in the AM and 6 in the PM on one of the days. Sometimes getting up to the higher mileage boggles my mind and is a little intimidating.

On a kind of sad note, I have just realized that this will be my last full week training at home. Next Wednesday I move to Richmond to start Physical Therapy school. From then on, I will be doing the majority of my training in the city. That was also one of the reasons I started this blog, to chronicle my experiences of training for a marathon, at fairly high mileage, while being forced to run in the city most of the time. It is going to be a very tough, new experience for me, but as long as I can figure out places to run and am able to get the miles in, it should be fine.

As I've eluded to in previous posts, I am slowly but surely becoming the most motivated I have ever been to train for this fall marathon. I am getting stronger (both through the miles and with the weights). If my training over the next couple of months stays consistent and quality, I should be in an extremely good position to run a fast race in Richmond. Make it happen.