I can’t believe I’m halfway through training already. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, although I’ve been in training a little over two months. I also don’t feel like I’m anywhere near ready for the marathon. But that makes sense, since I really haven’t gotten into the bulk of my mileage yet. I’m still feeling more like Woody than Buzz.

Monday- 5 miles with 3 at marathon pace (10:18/mile). I decided to swap my usual Monday track workout for Wednesday’s marathon pace run. I had the day off work and had a massage scheduled for the afternoon. I didn’t want to run after my massage and if I was going to do a track workout beforehand, it would have to be early in the morning before school started. Since I had the day off work, I opted to sleep in a bit and then go for a mid-morning marathon pace run on the roads around our house. I was looking for a little redemption from last Wednesday’s tough marathon pace run, but I didn’t find it. My warm up mile was 10:17, but then the middle 3 miles were 10:28, 10:10, and 10:23. But that averages out to 10:20/mile pace, so it’s still pretty close to my goal. When I’m running on hills, I don’t expect to clock in right at 10:18 each mile, but rather to average 10:18.

I took my handheld water bottle with me. It wasn’t too hot, but still hot enough- 78 degrees and 86% humidity. Apparently I didn’t rinse it well enough after I washed it on Sunday, because my water tasted like dish soap. Has that ever happened to you?

Tuesday- Cross training day. After work I did a level three 30 day shred workout.

Wednesday- Track workout at the local high school track. The weather was gloriously cool- 75 degrees and 69% humidity, and the track itself was completely in the shade. The workout itself was 6 x 800m for a total of 5 miles and it went really well. My splits were 4:23, 4:28, 4:26, 4:23, 4:21, and 4:09. I broke the workout down, focusing on the first set of three and then the second set of three. I pushed it on the last one. I’ve discovered that a small bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats is my perfect pre-workout snack before a track workout.

Thursday- Rest day.

Friday- Easy, but hot, 5 mile mid-afternoon run. This was one of those runs where I just wanted to be done and move on with my day. My calves and Achilles felt pretty tight so I did some extra stretching at the end of my run.

The cows ran with me for a short time during mile 4. And by that I mean that they ran away from me, because they spook every time I run by the fence when they’re out in that field.

Saturday- Twelve mile long run on the Dora and New River Trails. I ran the first 3 miles on my own from the Dora Trail up to the NRT trail head, where I met up with Kim. Then we ran six miles together on the NRT. I was feeling kind of rough during the first 3 miles, but once I met up with Kim I felt much better and had a very enjoyable run.

Once we got back to the NRT trail head and Kim’s car, I refilled my water bottle and headed back down the NRT to the Dora Trail for the final three miles. I continued to feel good for another mile, and then I started feeling really sleepy and my legs started to feel very tired. So I played “the water game” for the final 2 miles of my run to keep myself going. The weather was great for a long run this weekend. It was a cool 55 degrees and hadn’t quite reached 70 when I finished up my run. The humidity was still 100% but it really didn’t feel that bad since it just wasn’t hot out. Thank goodness we are finally starting to see some signs of fall!

Sunday- 3 mile recovery run. My legs were feeling pretty sore from my long run the day before, but after the first mile it felt good to get my muscles warmed up and my legs moving. I spent a lot of time stretching afterwards.

Total miles: 30 (new weekly high for me)

Next week’s schedule:
Monday: 5 miles
Tuesday: XT
Wednesday: 5 miles w/ 3 @ MP
Thursday: rest
Friday: 5 miles
Saturday: 5 miles
Sunday: 14 miles (Hokie Half Marathon!!)