This week was a bit tougher than the prior 5. I have been increasing miles fro a few weeks. I also have been pushing my short distance runs. The extra efforts seemed to have caught up with me this week. I pretty much held onto whatever pace I could towards the end of each run.

The week started out just fine. I ran the fastest 4.2 miles ever for a training run. My Garmin showed my pace to be right at 9:00 minute miles. I was quite pleased with that. It had me psyched for a pretty good week.

The excitement changed a little bit during the day on Wednesday. My left shin was a bit sore for most of the day. With the shin bothering and the weather being kind of nasty I chose not to run that evening. I think resting was the right thing to do. There was no sign of any problems on Thursday.

My mid distance run of 8.2 on Thursday and shorter run of 6.2 on Saturday went just fine. The pace was pretty much consistent throughout the runs. No difficulties were encountered. There was no shin pain at all. They were pretty much nice and simple routine runs.

Today’s LSD of 18.2 miles was quite different than my prior 3 LSD runs. When I started out I had a difficult time getting enthused about running. I thought to myself how I just didn’t feel fresh. The route I chose took me through a tough hilly section for the first 4 miles. Time wise I was doing fine but I still just didn’t have that feeling of liking what I was doing. Over the next 6 miles I just kind of went through the motions. I picked up two more bottles of Gatorade and off I went for the last 8 miles. I knew getting to the end was going to be a struggle. At 15 miles I began a 5/1 run/walk (run 5 minutes/walk 1 minute) program. I carried that on through to the end. It wasn’t pretty and there was no push at the end whatsoever.

Week 7 is a step back week. That means I take just a bit of a breather. The mileage will be a bit lower. I will run as my body lets me run be it slow, fast or in between. It will be what it is on that day. At the end of the week I will run my first of 2 maybe 3 events that I will run during training. It will be a 25K that has some challenging hills throughout the run. I look forward to a nice relaxing week.

Onto week 7 and there is no looking back.

Without a doubt my running this year is better because I have lost weight since  October 2008. A little over 15 pounds. Sure feels a lot better.

October of 2008 is when I become a Weight Watcher (WW) retread. About 5 or maybe 6 years ago when I reached 226 lbs I made the decision that a change was needed. I chose WW for help in losing weight. I dropped nearly 30 lbs down to 193 from Feb to June that year. I am pretty sure that is when I ran my PR for G’mas marathon, 4:37. I liked where I was at and thought I can maintain my weight in the 190’s without WW. Well that thought was wrong. I bounced in and out of WW periodically with half hearted attempts over the following years. That all changed last fall.

As I was nearing the end of my training for my fall marathon last September I knew that if I wanted to continue running change would be required. I chose to go back to what worked before and I was ready to institute change. Little by little just like before results were favorable. I got back into what we WW people call onderland in mid February. I finally dropped my weight below that 200 level, down 18 lbs. There is no doubt that is the key to my training going so well.

This week all but one run went very well. Being at this for so long I know very well that there are runs that just happen which are quite laborious. I had my first one on Saturday. I trudged through all 6 miles despite the feeling that I had one of those lead aprons on me for most of the way. My mid range distance run went extremely well. Today’s long run was run with a tough wind like last week but still went just fine. Total miles logged for the week 40.6. Simply put I just kept on truckin,

Going into next week it looks like I’ll be without my Garmin. It chose not to work today.  I sent off an email to support this afternoon. Hopefully that can get resolved soon.

Week 5 is booked and in the past. On to week 6 and no looking back.

Without a doubt the last week’s weather was the most diverse weather that I have encountered in a week of training. You could have called me a postman. Rain, Sleet, Snow didn’t stop me from my daily runs.

The week started out on Tuesday with rain at the start of my run. During the last half of the run it changed to sleet. My Wednesday run didn’t get started until late in the evening with the temperature just barely into the single digits. The wind chill was in the teens below 0. I run a route that allowed me to keep the winds at a crosswind. So only half of me was called on the way out and the other half on the way back. Thursday was just a typical Minnesota day with the temp at about 20. To end the week my run was completed in a typical spring day at about 55 degrees.

Other than the weather all my runs were pretty uneventful. The weekday runs I kept at a pace between 9:10 to 9:40 which is right where I want them to be. I did have to change my middle distance route just a bit due to ice but all in all that went well. My long today went very well.

My optimistic goal pace for this year’s marathon is an overall pace of 10:00 minutes. That would include walking through the water stops to drink and cool down if need be. So with that in mind My time for today’s 14.2 miles was 2:17:44. that equates to a 9:42 pace. I carried Gatorade with me and walked while I drank the Gatorade at 2 mile intervals. I even stopped to retie my shoe once. And as I mentioned there was a heck of a headwind there for a bit. To make things even better my quickest mile was my last at a 9:11 pace. Must admit that last mile was with a tail wind. Sure was to have a long run exceed my goal pace.

No doubt one has to enjoy living in this state in order to endure the wacky weather we have. Hopefully in the weeks to come the extremes will not be as great as they were this week. On to week 5 with no looking back.

There is an event that is held towards the end of August called the Great River Relay. In 2009 it will be August 21 - 22. I have been intrigued by it over the last couple of years. It’s an event that has 6 or 12 team members run from Lacrosse, WI to the Twin Cities

It is something that I would like to try some time during my running career. Problem is that I don’t know much more than 2 or 3 other runners. One of those 2 or 3 has indicated that she would be up for it. I am thinking that this forum might be a possible source. The link to the website is http://www.ragnarrelay.com/greatriver/index.php

If it is something that intrigues you please let me know esko75@yahoo.com. Or if you know of a team that is running it and might need a body, I would be glad to be that body.

No other way than to describe this weeks training other than groovy. From the first run of the week on Tuesday to today’s long run I was in the runners groove. The distance and the time were barely a mere thought during the runs. I pretty much cruised at a good pace and everything was in sync.

The week started with a 4.2 run that I ran with extreme ease. I ran at a pace well above my average pace over the years. The pace was quite consistent (9:09, 9:06, 9:03 & 9:05) the entire run. I was a bit surprised by that pace because I didn’t think I was pushing it. The run was simply a precursor to the rest of the week.

I ran everyday that I had planned to run and went slightly above my mileage goal. I did cut my Thursday run a ½ mile short of the planned distance. I thought I was getting a bit tired and felt it would be best not to push it through that last half mile. Thursdays run was the first time I ran 3 days in a row this year. I rested as planned on Friday. Saturday I posted my best time for 6.2 miles by running a 9:17 pace and that was running on my hill route. I than followed up running a rather nice and easy 11 ½.2 long run today which was 1 ½ miles longer than planned (made up for Thursday). That gave me a total of 34.1 miles which was 1.1 miles longer than planned.

A good week after a terrible week sure does help the mindset. I feel confident yet I know there are several weeks to go. It will be important that I  stay focused and diligent during my training. Right now I say “bring it on”.