Well that could have been worse.

Today was the first day in a long time that I woke up and did not really want to do my long run. Last night I was up until 2 with noisy neighbors and an overactive brain, so when I saw the clock read 4:56, I was not happy to be rolling out of bed. But I knew I had to get to it and I knew that Jake would be waiting for me at 6:15. So I went through the motions and got out the door on time.


When Jake arrived we greeted each other with lackluster enthusiasm as it turns out Jake's night had not been much better. Once we started running and chatting we got into it pretty quickly. By the time we got to 14 miles or so we were both feeling it, but agreed that things could have been much worse given our preparation. We hammered out the last of our 18 and were happy to be done.


I'm ready for my rest day tomorrow, this marks the 4th week in a row of 55+ miles.

Great Workout

I've had some great workouts this week, but today's was awesome. 16 miles and we really pushed the pace at the end. Our last 2.5 miles we did in 19 minutes! With the good banter with Jake and the "shorter" distance the miles really flew by. I must admit having the company for long runs makes it much easier to pass the time. My speedwork this week was really good as well and I am really happy with where my training is. I have a little bit of pain in my lower leg near my ankle, but it doesn't hurt when I run, and I'm chalking it up to the higher mileage. That and the fact that one of my pairs of shoes is almost ready to be retired. I am swapping in the new pair for the majority of my miles now.

Another good week

I put in 56 or so miles this week, with 18 today. It's good, I feel pretty good and I'm building up confidence for the big day. I had company for a change on my long run today. Jake, who will be running the Denver marathon with me, got up early and made it out to join me for the run. It sure was nice having someone to talk to for the 3 hours that it takes to get through the distance.


This week was really busy for me at work so I feel a little drained. But the weekend will do me good and I will be back at it next week with renewed vigor. I'll be going to Boulder next week so it will be nice to get a little run in there to mix it up a bit.

New Year's Resolutions

Well my new year's resolution this year was to run 1000 miles and with my speedwork today I achieved that goal. I guess now I will try to get to 1500 miles by the new year, but I am happy to have had the success I have had this year. Incidentally, I have officially registered for the Denver Marathon, so now I have a reason to train again.

Run to the Mall

This week marked a return to full-time training with 61 miles for the week. Of course part of that was the 20 miles I did today. I decided to mix it up a bit and instead of running around the reservoir I suggested to Melissa that she meet me at the Cherry Creek Peet's for coffee. From our house to the mall along the Cherry Creek trail is 20 miles, so I left home at 6 am and met up with Melissa at 9:30. We timed it perfectly, both arriving at essentially the same time. For me it was a great run, I finished the whole distance without having to take walk breaks and I averaged 9:18 minutes per mile. A few more weeks like that and I will be ready for the marathon.

I've been more careful about what I've been eating this week too. Of course it helps that there is so much fresh fruit on sale at the supermarket. I think I've actually been getting close to getting my daily recommended servings of fruit, which previously I thought was a theoretical impossibility. But what with fruit and yoghurt for breakfast, fruit for lunch and smoothies in the evening I think I'm there. It's tough to make smart snacking choices when you have the "marathon training appetite" but I know that empty calories will not help me to run better the next day.