Feeling more focused: Training Week 3

Prior Weeks The first week of training was mainly a non-training week due to letting an injury heal up a bit more. The second week (last week) was full-on, but I struggled against fatigue and humidity. Last Friday morning I attempted my 11 mile long run before work which was covered by my whining blog entry. I am realizing that the FIRST program really pushes you and the rest days are key. Due to some soreness and fatigue, the weekend plan should have been no running. But Friday night I noticed a severe drop in the temperature and saw the forecast for the weekend was with the highs in the low 80s!

Weekend Recap Saturday morning I went to the group run meetup which lately is only about 2 or 3 people. I ran with another guy who is also training for the same marathon as I am. We did an easy 4.5 miles and it felt good to run without pushing it. Later that day I agreed to meet my main running buddy on Sunday morning for his long run. I told him I had already done my long run but I would start out with him and see how I feel. Feeling pretty good, I didn't stop until we closed off a second loop and hit 11 miles.

And Now, Week 3 I decided that since I had run both Sat and Sun, I would take off Monday and Tuesday. So far I feel rested and glad I did this. My three workouts this week look like so: Wed: Intervals - Warm up; 4x800 @ 2:58 (2 min rest); cool down Fri: Tempo - 1 mile warm up; 5 miles @ 7:15; 1 mile cool down Sun: Long - 14 miles @ 8:11 I haven't planned my cross training yet, but I might do some laps tonight and a bike ride on Thursday morning.

Optimism There is still a bit of soreness in my quads and a slight twinge in my right hamstring, but overall I do feel better and am ready for this week's runs. Sunday's run should again be with my running partner. 8:11 is faster than we have been doing our long run pace, but not by a ton. I'll feel much better about my progress if I can hit that target. I also hope to hit that tempo goal pace because last week was off and short.