Week 9 (Catching Up)

With a dismal Week 8 that included absolutely no running, I knew I had some serious work to do in Week 9. Although even after skipping a week of running I was still "ahead" of my 1200 mile goal, I knew I was falling behind. My biggest near-term concern was and still is the Guam Marathon on 27 March. Starting off Week 9, I only had two runs for the year that were greater than 10 miles. Although some people would argue the necessity of really long runs, most people would agree that in preparation for a marathon you do have to get your weekly mileage up and at least a few really long runs in (~20 miles). Well, I was able to do a 13.1 mile run on Saturday which still is only half the distance I'll have to run on the 27th, but it's a step in the right direction. Of course I'm running out of time too, as I can't complete my longest run right before the marathon or I'll be too worn out for the actual race.

Although, my individual runs weren't very long in Week 9, I did manage to increase my mileage. My weekly totals were:
Total Runs Logged: 4
Total Miles: 34.3
Total Time Spent Running: 4:29:26
Average Pace: 7:51

My longer (though not long enough) runs in Week 9 slowed down my pace a little, but that was to be expected. More than anything, I was just glad to be outside and running. At the end of Week 9 my "as of" totals were:
Total Runs Logged: 43
Total Miles: 264.9
Total Time Spent Running: 33:12:03
Average Pace: 7:31

Over the next couple of weeks, I really can't think about my 1200 mile goal. Instead I need to focus on preparing for the marathon. Luckily, preparing for the marathon will help me with my goal, but I need to be smart about my runs. Ordinarily I would run as much as I felt like running with no real goal in mind as long as I was getting at least 25 miles a week. Now, with a challenging run in my very near future I have to be a little more deliberate in my run planning in order to get the maximum benefit from my runs to best prepare me for the 26.2 mile race. If I had planned far enough in advance I'd use a website like this one, but there really isn't that much time. It's not like I'm coming into this marathon completely unprepared, but it's been more than 2 year since my last marathon, and again my longest run over the past several months has only been a half-marathon. I'm not planning on setting a PR (personal record) at this event, just on finishing, so really it's going to come down to mental more than physical determination, and I'm confident that I will finish.

The scary part is, that the marathon isn't the only challenge that week. The details on what else I'll be doing are forthcoming.