This week it was difficult to find the time to do the scheduled runs. I managed to only get 3 training runs this week. There is pretty much going to be sometime over 18 weeks where life just gets in the way.

Although there weren’t many runs this week, the ones that I did do were high quality.  The 3.1 one that I did on Sunday was uplifting. The run I completed on Wednesday just seemed to bring a big boost to my confidence. My LSD on Saturday went just about as smooth as the week before and the pace for the 1st 17 miles was better than the week before. I must admit though the last 3 were tough. I felt the quality of each run was right up at the top.

The training for this G’mas marathon is going far better than the other 7 times I have trained for a marathon.  My confidence is at a level that has me thinking more about what my final time will be rather than will I be able to get to the finish line. There are still 8 weeks to go so I must remain diligent and continue working. As long as I do that there seems to be a good chance this marathon will be better than the past 7.

Onto week 11, no looking back.

I am tracking Sam's progress. She hit the 5K mark at 8:26.

I'll add updates via the comment section as I get them.

Good luck to Sam

I just completed week 9 of the 18 week training program that I am following. In my mind I have just come out of turn 2 and I am heading into the back stretch. There are a lot of miles to be run yet.

For the most part another uneventful week. The runs all went off without any hitches at all. The weather was quite cooperative this week. The winds have subsided. The temperature was quite comfortable. A very good week.

There was one eventful run this week that has my spirits up quite a bit. That run was my long run on Saturday. It was my first 20 miler of this training season. Completing that in itself is a good feeling but completing at a pace better than expectations is a great feeling. On my long runs I religiously break every two miles for Gatorade and starting at 6 miles I chew a product called cliff shot bloks (carb supplement). Basically trying to simulate what I will be doing during the marathon. I have a marathon personal record (PR) of 4:37 was just a bit more than a 10:30 pace. My pace for this long run was 9:40. Couldn’t help myself from being a bit giddy about that run.

To end the week I ran in the Get Your Rear In Gear 5k here in Minneapolis, MN. This is a run I do along with several friends as a memorial to my friend Dan who passed away from colon cancer in 2008. This is our second time. Despite the 20 miler yesterday I felt quite fresh. I ran one of my best 5Ks. I think Dan was lifting me up as I ran today.

One other thing that was great this week was I ran with two people who I have become acquainted with via chat threads. It’s really neat how via the complete strangers through common interests can come together and be friends. I ran a few strides with Kristen on Saturday and from there we headed in opposite directions of the loop. We were than able give a friendly wave and hi as we crossed paths. Today I met up with Jana who lives in Pennsylvania prior to and after the 5k. She was here in Minnesota visiting

Onto week 10 no looking back.

Steady as she goes sums up the week. There was nothing spectacular and nothing went awry. I plodded along just fine.

This week I switched up my days just a bit. The bowling season is done so that frees up my Mondays. That being the case I have moved my long & slow distance runs (LSD) to Saturday. My rest day is now on Sunday’s. That also gives me the flexibility to maybe change my LSD if Saturday’s weather is just too far out of the norm. I’ll then run Monday Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday.  Wednesday will be a light easy run or might possibly bike that day. Thursday’s run will be a middle distance run which would be 8 to 12 miles. Friday will continue to be a rest day.

I seemed to have found an answer to the issue of my left foot tingle and a slight discomfort feeling that occurred about 4 miles into a run. I have taped the bottom of my foot for the last several runs. The taping seems to have helped for all those runs except for one. Not sure why that one run didn’t quite work. I will continue to monitor the issue and take action as warranted.

Onto week 9 (almost to the halfway point) no looking back.

This week was a step back week. I dropped my total mileage just a bit. Ran easy runs except for the event that I ran today.

The event I did today was the Ron Daws Memorial 25K. The race is named after the 1968 Olympian Ron Daws. Prior to the race a friend of Ron Daws talked about Ron. I had not known about his history. A very remarkable story about a guy who basically trained himself to become a great runner and then went on to coach others. He also wrote a few books that I am going to have to find. He left quite a mark on the running world.

In addition to the first speaker it was quite a thrill to have one other speak. It was a person he coached, Lorraine Moller, a New Zealand Olympian. They were married for a year. She said the marriage was a disaster but he sure could run and coach. She learned about his death the day before she ran in the 92 Olympics. The following day she won the Bronze Medal in the 1992 Olympics at the age of 37. Her best advice was seconds in the beginning saves minutes in the end. Referring to not starting too fast in the beginning, the few seconds over a person’s pace in the beginning will catch up to you at the end.

Okay onto the run.

The course was everything I expected to be. Hills, hills and more hills. Without a doubt the toughest course I have run. I knew it going in and felt prepared for it.

The run for the most part went rather smoothly. The only issue that I had was I hadn’t noticed that I put the cap back on my Gatorade bottle properly. The last half of what I had not drank leaked out. Fortunately I noticed this prior to the water stop at the 15K mark. So I was able to fill it up with water. I was quite pleased with how it went.

My hope was to finish at an overall pace of 10:00. I missed that by just a little bit finishing at a 10:09 pace. I am in no way disappointed by that pace whatsoever. I was very happy to see the finish line as I came around a bend at the 15 mile mark. I had given the run everything I had. It was the best I could do on this day. I was smiling when I crossed the finish line.

Week 7 is done onto week 8, no looking back.