Marathon No. 5: Weekly Round-Up (Week 10)

I don't know about you, but, at times, January seemed to slog by.  I love winter, and I love snow, but the bitter cold and short days are starting to get to me.

This weekend, we got a nice break from winter in DC.  I did my second 20-miler with temperatures in the high 40s, and it was amazing to not have to wear layer upon layer to go out running  I'm looking forward to spring -- wearing dresses/skirts with bare legs, rooftop lounging, and ideal running temperatures.

After running my second 20-miler, I feel very good about my progress.  Here's the plan for Week 11:

Monday: Off
Tuesday: 4 miles
Wednesday: 6 miles (speed workout)
Thursday: 4 miles
Friday: Off
Saturday: 16 miles
Sunday: 6 miles (easy)

Marathon No. 5: Weekly Round-Up (Week 6)

This comes somewhat belatedly, but happy new year!

It’s funny – when I graduated from college in 2009 and thought about returned for my five year reunion, 2014 seemed so distant. But, it’s here – which also means that I’m also at the half-way point in my training.

Week 7 includes my first of three (planned) 20-mile runs. Thankfully, this weekend will be much warmer than it has been. I’m not going to say that I enjoyed running 17 miles in below freezing temperatures last weekend, but the temperature did provide a nice incentive to keep moving and finish as quickly as possible.

Here’s the full plan for the week (most of which is already done):

Monday – Rest
Tuesday – 3 miles
Wednesday – Stretching and foam rolling. (I started physical therapy and learned that I am dealing with ITBS in my right knee, but it’s largely due to weak gluteus medius and gluteus minimus muscles. I have a plan and, hopefully, will be able to correct the problem without too much difficulty.)
Thursday – 6 miles (speed workout)
Friday – Cross-training and strength training
Saturday – Rest
Sunday – 20 miles (eeeeeep!)

Marathon No. 5: Weekly Round-Up (Week 4 and 5)

I'm back from spending a week with my family in Connecticut, where I ate many slices of cake and didn't run as often as I planned.  (As it turns out, when you spend two days "cross training" and eating your weight in holiday leftovers and then try to run, things don't go as well as they should.)  The bright side of not working out too hard while I was home is that I finally got rid of the cold that I developed weeks ago.

I finished this week with Yasso 800s at the gym.  If there's any truth to the workout, I'm in great shape to run a sub-4:30 marathon.  Now, I just need to get myself to the sub-4:00 range.

Here's the plan for Week 6:

Monday: X-train, weights
Tuesday: 6 miles (easy)
Wednesday: X-training, stretching
Thursday: 5 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 18 miles
Sunday: Rest

Marathon No. 5: Weekly Round-Up (Week 3)

Week 3 didn't go exactly as planned, which is okay.  Although I planned to run 25 miles, I was only able to run 15.  The short story is that I came down with a nasty cold on Monday.  With headaches, a slight fever, and constant coughing, I decided to take it the week off until I felt better.  By Friday, I was strong enough to attempt running but it was way harder than it should have been.  Saturday wasn't any better, but I was able to get in eight miles - slowly - today.  I feel good about it, and I've been trying to figure out what's the best way to move forward with my training plan.

My training plan has a few recovery weeks built in, so i think I may count this weekend's runs as that. For Week 4, I'll try the Week 3 plan again with a few modifications.

Monday - Off

Tuesday - 6 miles (speed work)

Wednesday - 5 miles (holiday fun run)

Thursday - X-training

Friday - Off

Saturday - 15 miles

Sunday -X-training 

Judging by my run today, I should be back to normal health-wise by Monday.  I'm crossing my fingers. Plus, the bright side of being sick was that I was able to give my IT band several rest days, and it didn't bother me at all on my runs this week.

Marathon No. 5: Let the Wild Rumpus Begin

One, two, three, four, five - everybody get your shoes
So come on
Let's run on the trails and in the neighborhood...

See what I did there? Har, har har...

I registered for the Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon a few months ago, which will be my fifth marathon.  I figured that since I've run the half three times now, it's time to switch things up and go the full distance. I'm still feeling really good about my performance at the Richmond Half so I actually want to train for this one - hard - to see what I can do.

Stef and I often review our respective performances at the 2011 Philadelphia Marathon. I ran a PR race -- 54 minutes faster than my performance at the 2010 Baltimore Marathon.  (Baltimore was my first race so I expected some improvement in the next marathon but no where near that much.)  We've concluded that part of the reason we both did so well is that we actually trained.  We skipped one long run and only because I spent the first two miles hacking up my lungs. (I had a chest cold).  We raced often.  (We both PR'ed after running to the start -- and we ran more after the race.)  I half-assed my training for Providence and the Marine Corps Marathon, both in 2012, and didn't come close to a PR.

Moral of the story: I should train for this race.

My goal for my next marathon is to PR.  At minimum, I'd like to run faster than Oprah (a 4:29 marathoner), but my goal is to run a 4:00 race.  Both of my training plans estimate that I should be able to finish the race in 3:52 but I would be very happy with a four hour race. I can do it if I put in the work.

So far, I'm off to a good start.

Week 1 of marathon training happened to coincide with my trip home to New Haven (for Yale-Harvard and Thanksgiving).  I don't know what I was thinking when I packed but I could have used more warm running clothes.  Still, I managed to get in a few runs and cross-trained when I decided not to run outside.

For Week 2, I'm going to attempt to follow the "harder" of my two training plans.  This plan has me running just three days each week (one easy run, one speed workout, and one long run).  I'll also spend three days doing some combination of strength training, stretching and foam rolling, or low-impact cardio.

Here's what I have planned for running:

Total mileage: 23 miles
Tuesday: 5 miles (easy)
Thursday: 6 miles (tempo)
Saturday: 12 miles

I'm also going to try to write more this time around.  Publicly declaring my training plan works really well as an accountability tool.

Let's Talk about Race Registration

Last week, registration for the 2013 Marine Corps Marathon went live and sold out in 2 hours and 27 minutes.  When I registered last year, I had to refresh my computer for a good 15 minutes before I could get in to the system.  The 2012 race sold on in 2 hours in 41 minutes.  At least last year, there weren't any computer issues. From The Washington Post:

Runners trying to secure one of the 30,000 spots in the 38th running of the marathon next fall reported that they were kicked off during the registration process or received repeated “error” messages. The marathon’s Facebook page was awash in complaints from frustrated runners. 

Michael Murray of Silver Spring said in an interview that he was booted out of the registration process twice and reached a point when the system froze on a third try.

“In the days of cloud computing, in the days of Google and Amazon, who deal with millions” of users, “there just has to be a better solution than this,” he said. Murray said he will try to enter marathons in Richmond or Baltimore instead. 

Race director Rick Nealis said the company that operates the system, Active.com, told him the demand for the $99 spots exceeded its capacity to process the requests. Nealis called the delays “an embarrassment for the Marine Corps Marathon as an organization,” which prides itself on organizational expertise.

There two issues here.

First, after Active's Chicago kerfuffle earlier this year, why on would anyone outsource race registration to Active?  Runners don't really have a choice in the matter, of course, and Go, Tracy, Go has thoughts on why race organizers use the system. Hint, hint: it's much cheaper and easier than managing your own registration system.  Of course, if race organizers did build and manage their own registration systems, I'm sure that we'd see a jump in the price of race registrations.

Second, demand for marathons is increasing -- which is silly because you'd have to be insane to voluntarily run 26.2 miles, right? (And, you'd have to be even more insane and decide that you actually like running that distance enough to do it again.)  With such high demand, I think we've reached a point at which all of the major US marathons are going to either have qualifying standards (e.g., Boston) or lotteries (e.g. New York City).  It makes it harder to plan to run a particular marathon, but it means that everyone has an equal shot at registration.

Thinking about my own running wish list, I'm debating entering the drawing for the 2013 New York City Marathon knowing that there are going to be fewer spots this year; 50 percent of 2012 runners chose to defer to the 2013, 2014, or 2015 race. I've been denied admission twice, so maybe the third time is the charm?  Also, if I'm denied again, I'll be guaranteed entry for 2014.

The thing is, the lottery opens up after April 9th (when the Run Disney Registration opens. It's probably another one of those races that sells out quickly).  The good news is that the Honolulu Marathon seems to have the normal demand for a marathon, so that's always an option if NYC doesn't work out this year.

Thoughts on Fall Races

I'm done sulking and being hard on myself for not setting a PR at this year's Rock 'n' Roll USA.  In fact, I find it very easy to be done sulking when I know there are dozens of races at which I can set a PR.  Next month, I'll be running the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run and, in May, I'm doing the DC Color Run with a lovely group of people.

Thinking ahead, I want this fall's schedule to be as intense as my running in 2011.  Looking back, I was in amazing shape and ran a lot -- including one week during which I ran a 10-miler and a half-marathon and set personal records at both. This might sound crazy, but I want to train as hard as I did that summer.  I want to see my hard work pay off at races.  I want to update my About Me page with new records.

I've come up with a tentative plan and have one very important marathon decision to make. Registration for most of these races won't open until April or May.  Many of these races are also very popular so it'll take me being on the computer right when registration opens and a lot of page refreshing.

September 15, 2013 - Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon: I've already registered, and Operation Sub-2:00 Round 3 is on!

October 20, 2013 - Army Ten Mile Run, Washington, DC (General registration opens May 15):  I ran this race once before.  It's a little on the crowded side, but the crowd support is spectacular and the course is mostly flat.

October 27, 2013 - Marine Corps 10K, Washington, DC (Registration opens April 17): My dad has expressed interest in running a 10K, and I think this would be a great race for the two of us to run together.  

In November, I'll focus on small, local races and find a Turkey Trot wherever I spend the holidays.  As for marathons, I've got my eye on two.  For budget reasons, I plan to choose one.

Option 1:

December 8, 2013 - Honolulu Marathon (Registration opens in April): I've never been to Hawaii, and this seems like a great winter get-away.  Of course, this is the little matter of this elevation chart.  A hill at Mile 24 sounds...terrible.

(Source)

Or, Option 2:

January 12, 2014 - Walt Disney World Marathon (Registration opens April 9):  When I was a kid, my parents planned a trip to Disney World for my birthday -- except that at some point during the car ride from Connecticut to Florida, I came down with a terrible illness and spent most of my time in our hotel room while my older brother and cousin enjoyed the parks. Tragic, right? I haven't been back to Disney World since, so I owe it to my eight year-old self to plan a trip and have the time of my life.  Plus, I'll finally have a legitimate reason to order this.

Truth be told, I'm leaning toward Disney.  It's an expensive race, but it's probably worth it to run in Disney World!

Operation Sub-2:00 Half-Marathon, Second Attempt

With 2012 coming to close, I've been looking ahead to my 2013 race calendar and racing goals.  As of the beginning of this month, I've registered for two races: the Rock 'n' Roll USA Half and the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler.  And, I'm certain that I will sign up for a few smaller races during the first half of the year.

Last March, I missed my goal of finishing a half-marathon in under two hours. (Actually, I've missed it a few times before.)  I can give any number of excuses for my failure.  I was just coming off a cold. I was focusing on marathon training. I walked through a few water stations.  I just didn't run fast enough...you get the idea.

I've come close so many times before, and I'm convinced that I can do it this time. 

There are 11 weeks between me and this year's Rock 'n' Roll USA.  Instead of creating a plan myself, I used the Smart Coach tool from Runner's World to form my half-marathon training plan.  Here are the first three weeks:

I like the idea of three easy runs, but, most weeks, I will do at least one short run closer to my intended race pace. (This plan suggests running an 8:59 pace during the race for a finish time of 1:57:46.)

I'm really excited to do this!

One to Go Until the Taper

I had a thought during my short run today that I might need a new challenge to keep running interesting.  With less than a month to go until Providence, I'm finding hard to get as excited for this race as I was when I was getting ready to go to Philadelphia.  I'm not sure what it is, really.  It's going to be a great race, and I'm so excited that I get to see Matt - who's preparing to run a marathon of his own this month (in Boston!!!) - while I'm in town for the race.  I'm probably just anxious about a few things that I have on my plate before the marathon, including a bit of work travel. I'm sure once I have those things done, I'll be able to focus on the race.

But, getting back to setting a new goal:  I've been thinking that 50K might be in my future after I run the Marine Corps Marathon in October.  I've joked about ultramarathoning before (warning my friends that they should stop me if the word ultramarathon came out of my month as something that I should do), but I'm starting to think that a 50K would be the perfect challenge since it's not much farther than a marathon.  Call me crazy, but I think that's where I should head next.

I'm coming up on the last week of intense training before I start to taper. Here's to making it count!

Monday: X-Training/Strength Training
Tuesday: Speed Workout - 60 minutes
Wednesday: 6 miles
Thursday: 3 miles (easy)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 22 miles
Sunday: 5 miles (easy)

Operation Sub-2:00 Half-Marathon

I forgot to mention one important detail about this week:  I start training for my next set of races! Whooo!  (I’ll admit that I’m excited most by getting to look at another colorful spreadsheet for a couple of months.)

I mentioned in my 2011 Round-Up that one of my goals for this year is to run a half-marathon in under two hours.  I set this goal twice last year – first in advance of the Rock ‘n’ Roll half in Virginia Beach and, when I failed, before the Baltimore Half.  I failed to achieve that goal at both races, and, after, my mind was filled with thoughts of how I probably could have run a sub-2:00 race if I’d done X, Y, and Z during training, ate better before the race, and had run through a few water stops to save time (and spill water all over myself because I only mastered the “Drinking while running” move in Philly).

I surprised myself a bit in Baltimore, though, by running a 2:05 even with all of the hills on the course.  If I focus on strength and speed this time around, I should be prepared to run a sub-2:00 half marathon in March at the Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Half.

My long run mileage peaks at 18 miles before the race, and I’ll be working in speed workouts and two-a-days (with which I experimented last month and it wasn’t as bad as it sounds…as long as only one of those workouts is a hard run).  

This is what I have for Week 1:

Sunday: 3.5 Miles (Accompanied by the men pounding in my head post-New Year’s Eve)

Monday: Stretching, cross-training, and lifting session (Originally planned as a rest day)

Tuesday: Intervals, 40 minutes

Wednesday: 4 miles

Thursday: Tempo Run, 50 minutes and Strength

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 13 miles

December Goals

I've never been comfortable with the way time seems to fly these days.  Running the Philadelphia Marathon feels like it happened ages ago -- even though it was only last weekend that Stef and I went up to Philadelphia.  Maybe it's time to start planning my next running adventure.

I mentioned that I wanted to run a marathon in March but, after some thought, I decided that I want to set a goal to run a sub-2:00 half for that month.  My next task is to decide between Rock 'n' Roll USA (I'm only a little bitter that Competitor is the lead sponsor) and the NYC Half Marathon.

Before that, though, I still have one more solid month of running in 2011; I'm setting a few goals to help me finish this year as strongly as it began.

Run at least 25 miles each week.  I ran my 900th mile of 2011 during the Philadelphia Marathon, which means I need 100 more if I want to reach my goal of running 1,000 miles this year.  I'm looking forward to a few solid weekend long runs.

Strength train at least once per week.  I let this go in the final weeks of marathon training, but I'd like to get back in the habit of strength training at least once each week.

Set a PR during the Jingle All the Way 8K.  I ran by last 8K (in September) in 43:18...after pre-gaming the race with a quick 4-miler.  Since I don't plan to run all the way to this race, I'm curious to see if I can shave at least three minutes off my time.

Tentatively plan race calendar for 2012 and create training plan for spring races.  This one should explain itself.

I'm not going to create a training plan for December, which should be a welcome change.  My Daily Mile training log should be enough to keep my honest about running this month.

Going for Speed: Weekly Round-Up (12)

Post-race indulgence for the win! After a glorious nap, Saturday afternoon included pizza, watching two soccer games and a (poorly called) hockey game, hanging out with friends, and plenty of Guinness. Awesome!

But, it's time to get back to work and make final preparations for the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler. I won't call this training, but I want to make sure that I stay active during a week when it would be very easy for me to rationalize a decision not to run or go to the gym.

Cherry Blossom Pre-Week --

Monday: Yoga/Strength Training
Tuesday: Speed Workout - 30 minutes
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: Off
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run -- Goal: Run fast.

Here we go!

Going for Speed: Weekly Round-Up (7)

This weekend, so far, has turned out to be exactly the kind of weekend that I’ve needed: two excellent runs, soccer on the Mall, fro-yo on the steps of the portrait gallery, time to catch up on my reading (I’m currently working my way through The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness and The Bee Eater), movie-watching, shopping success, and lots of sleep.

Glorious, restorative sleep.

I had a long talk with my dad last weekend about my training – how great it feels to run and to see my hard work pay off, but also how tired I’ve felt recently. I do make an effort to get at least seven hours of sleep every night, but sometimes that isn’t enough to keep me going at the office, during workouts, and during any attempts to be a social butterfly. 

I worried that I might be over training, but I feel very comfortable with my workouts.  After mulling over what could be going on, I decided that my body was just tired and needed a solid night of sleep.  So, last Sunday, I gave it a try. I felt incredibly lame, but I forced myself to go to bed at 10:30.  

The result: leaping (quite literally) out of bed at 6:20 the next morning for a workout.

I would love to say that I’m going to get eight hours of sleep every night, but I know that life happens and sometimes you have to settle for fewer hours of sleep than you’d like.  I will, though, promise to make an effort to take better care of myself during training and rest when I need to – even if it means sacrificing a workout every now and then.

Week 8’s training schedule:

Monday: Cycling, strength training, and extra stretching

Tuesday: 5 miles

Wednesday: 8 x 400 m at 5K Pace (8:57 per mile)

Thursday: 30-minute easy run

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 9 miles

Sunday: 3 miles at race pace

With about a month to go before the half-marathon and the Cherry Blossom 10-miler a weeks after, I’m starting to narrow my options for fall marathons.  I’m down to Hartford, Philadelphia, Newport (RI), or the Marine Corps Marathon in DC. Something inside me is hinting at picking two of the above – one half-marathon and one full.

Could it be time to check into Runner's Anonymous?

.....Absolutely not! 

Going for Speed: Weekly Round-Up (5)

I'm up to Week 6, the end of which will mark the half-way point of this training cycle. I'm a little worried that I'm not training enough to be able to run my upcoming half in under two hours. Sure, all of the speed work feels great and I can certainly see the improvement but I haven't run more than three consecutive miles at my intended race pace. I'm sure it'll be okay, but maybe it's time to kick things up a notch now that I feel more comfortable at faster speeds.

Week 6 Schedule:


Monday: Off -- my future self will thank me
Tuesday: 7 x 400m at 5K pace
Wednesday: 4 miles and strength training
Thursday: Cycling and strength training
Friday: Off
Saturday: 8 miles
Sunday: Love the Run You’re With – 5K Race. Goal: Crush race time from Santa Shuffle 5K (See Round-Up) of 31:14.

Going for Speed: Weekly Round-Up (2)

I can’t quite put my finger on why elements of my life felt out of sync this week. To be completely fair, I have very little to actually complain about. Still, I sometimes find myself with this feeling that something isn’t quite right, and I need to make changes – any changes – to my daily routine.

Thinking about this within the context of running, I learned that it’s important to add variety to training – if only to change the time at which you work out, the type of workout, or with whom you exercise. On Tuesday, for example, I decided to go to a work happy hour (and had a great time socializing) and was still able to get in a really great workout at the gym. On Wednesday, I ran with two of my coworkers, which was incredibly fun and helped me get to know them a bit more outside of the office.

So, new rule: Spice up your life (and your routine)!

Week 3 Workout Plan:

Monday: Cardio
Tuesday: 3 miles/Strength Training
Wednesday: Tempo Run (35 minutes)
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: Off
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 3 miles/Strength Training

Oh, and I almost forgot. I found a February race: Love the Run You’re With – 5K!

The great thing about running this race -- other than it being the day before Valentine’s Day and the color-coded t-shirts identifying racers as being in one of three relationship categories -- is that I will hopefully be able to see if all of the speed work completed up until the race is working. The event’s website boasts a great post-party – complete with karaoke. Sounds like a smashing good time to me!

Going for Speed: Weekly Round-Up (1)

One week down! (Eleven to go!)

This week went extremely well. There were a few workouts during which I really had to work, but it felt incredible to push myself.

Week 2's Schedule:

Monday - Strength training and Yoga
Tuesday - Speed Workout: Intervals
Wednesday - Group run with colleagues (40 minutes)
Thursday - Strength training and cycling
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 8 miles
Sunday - 3 miles

She's Going the Distance (Again)

Call me crazy.

It’s been four weeks since I crossed the finish line in Baltimore, and I’m ready to commit to a second marathon. I have a date (March 20, 2011), a race (Yuengling Shamrock Marathon), a goal (shave one hour off the Baltimore Marathon time), a new pair of running shoes, and a colorful training schedule that will carry me until the race in March

Race recovery went well, but not having a set running schedule after months of having running be such a huge part of my life prior to October 16th felt strange. I loved the extra time, but I definitely felt antsy on more than one occasion. But, the antsy-feeling meant that I had more time to think about how I could approach the next couple of months and set some fitness goals.

Daft Punk said it best: “Work it, make it, do it, makes us harder, better, faster, stronger.”

My newest training spreadsheet is divided into two phases. Phase One started earlier this month and will take me to the last week of December. The goal here is to lay the groundwork to build a better body and increase my speed. Mixing speed workouts with strength training and longs runs of seven or eight miles has worked out well so far. (I’m starting to find that a nine-minute mile pace is comfortable for more than a few minutes. Sweet.)

To add spice and make all of this work worth it in the end, I decided to run shorter races to keep me on the path to reaching my speed goals. I’m most excited about the Santa Shuffle 5K Race – but only because I’d get to dress up as a holiday character. There’s also Jingle All the Way, a 10K where I would get to wear bells while I run. Both races are in December, and I’m also looking into races in 2011. (Most importantly, I’m trying to justify flying to Orlando for the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February. It would be against my love for all things Disney Princess if I didn’t run this race. And, we wouldn’t want that.)

Around the last week of December, I'll start my official training with long runs starting at 13 miles. Winter training will bring its own set of challenges, I'm sure. In any case, it should be a rockin' good time.

There'll be more updates along the way -- more hilarious running stories, recipes, and kick ass playlists.

Are you ready for Round 2? I sure am.

Countdown!

It's been an incredibly lazy Sunday full of errands, bursts of productivity, hours watching 24, and thinking about the approaching race.

During Week 14, I swapped two running days for workouts in my building's fitness center. I was a little worried that it would affect my running performance, but I'm very happy that I did it. I felt incredibly tired on Tuesday and knew that any run I attempted would be a complete disaster. Today, I wanted to rest a bit after Saturday's run. I hate skipping runs, but I know that taking a few days off from running will be better in the long run.

The last twenty-one days are apparently the most important for training. Over the next few weeks, I'll be readjusting my training schedule a bit so that I'm not exerting myself too much, but I still feel feel good about distance running. I'll also make a few diet changes to make sure that I'm getting everything that I need to fuel these last few weeks of training. (Not that my diet was terrible to begin with, but I definitely was starting to miss protein targets.)

I originally planned to run a second 20-miler, but it's time to taper. I'll shoot for a minimum distance of 16 or a maximum distance of 18 miles.

Week 15:

Monday: Strength train and stationary bike
Tuesday: 4 miles
Wednesday: 4 miles
Thursday: 4 miles
Friday: Off
Saturday: between 16 and 18 miles.

So, here we go!

3 Weeks to Go

Friends, I'm down to the last three weeks of training.

Week 14's schedule:

Tuesday: 5 miles
Wednesday: 6 miles
Thursday: 5 miles
Friday: off
Saturday: 12-15 miles
Sunday: 4 miles

I'm overdue for a longer post about the actual details of running. Soon. I promise.

Mid-Week Update

I learned in college that time passes fastest when you're happy, enjoy what you do, and have fun. It also flies when you're totally screwed for a paper you didn't start until the night before it's due date -- but that's another story.


At some point, it became the middle of Week 11 without me even noticing. After a relaxing Labor Day Weekend (with many hours spent in the company of friends, my parents and younger brother, watching 24, knitting, running errands, and starting yucky grad school applications), I started my Tuesday at 6 AM for a quick three-mile run. Now that it's dark at 6 AM, I decided to run on the treadmill and remembered it is the least exciting way to run. The actual work day was pretty chill, and I learned that I'm going to be traveling like it's my job (oh wait) over the next couple of months: definite trips to New York; at least one trip to Louisiana, California (Riverside), Washington, or Ohio (Columbus); and a teacher quality magical mystery tour. I'm excited and know that I'll learn a ton on various trips, but at the same time I still find myself sick at the very idea of flying (I'm better than I was years ago, by the way) and thinking about how this will affect my training (obvious solution: book hotels with fitness centers).

In terms of running, this is what I scheduled for the week:

Tuesday: 3 miles
Wednesday: 6 miles
Thursday: 5 miles (Strength train)
Friday: 5 miles
Saturday: 12 miles (one week until my first 20-mile run)
Sunday: 4 miles (Strength train)



Oh, and there's been a lot of talk about my knee recently. It doesn’t hurt, but I’m starting to worry that it’s going to give out on my next long run. I’m thinking about seeing my doctor. I probably shouldn’t even be thinking about it at this point and make the appointment. I’m just not sure what she’ll be able to tell me besides “Take it easy” or “Run on softer surfaces” or “Stretch” or “Try more strength training.” I just don’t want to hear “You need to give this up.” We'll see. It's probably nothing, but it would be nice to know that I'm going to be okay for the rest of this and be able to make it to the finish line.