Gettin' High (Marathon Training week 2)*

Yes, I'm finally getting into some high mileage this past week. It was my first "real" week of training, gearing up for my spring marathon in June on the shores of Lake Superior. This week was a little more structured and actually had some continuity with each passing day. The numerical trend was 22, which I was hitting each day until the weekend approached. The weather here in Albuquerque was quite beautiful, and I took pleasure into every sunny day as I was finally able to wear shorts/half-tights. I've been pondering as to what the weather may be like for the Grandma's Marathon, but I guess it is completely out of my power. The only thing I can do is train and keep pounding the pavement, or the track, which I attended to this past Tuesday. I can also attempt to control the amount of miles I do, and after completing Frank Shorter's book: Olympic Gold, A Runner's Life and Times, it only validated the fact that higher mileage is the key to success. 140 to be exact!!!

I keep talking about the track; as I apparently have a love-hate relationship with it, but so seemingly feel that it is an intrinsic part of my training. After many successful training blocks, I've decided that I need to build up my speed first, so that when I practice marathon pace or tempo runs, it becomes more achievable. (It's a simple Jack Daniels Phd. training philosophy) As well as a training concept that many other coaches have adopted. The notion of speed first, has been something that has been inundated into my running career as the legendary Steve Scott (my college coach) would serve us VO2Max workouts on a regular bases. I've always kept true to maintaining a decent kick, or some kind of turnover, but as the miles rack up on my legs, I may have lost a few strains of that beloved Type II muscle fiber. Oh well, I guess no one is going to be running a 60 sec last quarter in a marathon anyways...

So as the beginning of this week pasted, as well as the track workout, I began to look forward to my lovely long run workout. It was only going to be a short one since my left hamstring was feeling a bit tight or knotted up. Kris and I were able to get in 19 miles with 4x1 mile at tempo effort along the windy Rio Grande this past Sunday. I've started to look forward to these workouts and have been very excited to lace up some racing flats and hit some fast miles. The only discouraging thing was of course the tight hammy. Other than that, the repeats went exceptionally well, and I can't wait to do more of these workouts!

Thought of the week:

With so many marathons out there, which one am I going to do next.....? Well, I already know I've got one in June, but what about for the fall.......?

Week 2 Mileage:

Mon - am. 10 miles / pm. 10 miles

Tue - am. 10x400m [70, 72, 70, 68, 69, 68, 68, 67, 66, 64] total: 7 miles / pm. 13 miles

Wed - am. 12 miles / pm. 10 miles

Thur - am. 10 miles / pm. 12 miles

Fri - am. 12 miles / pm. 10 miles

Sat - am. 12 miles / pm. 8 miles

Sun - 19 miles w/4x1 mile @ [5:23, 5:17, 5:15, 5:08]

Total: 145

*highest mileage ever!