22 weeks until the Shamrock Virginia Beach Marathon

Sunday: 10 miles. Slept in and missed the group run... which after getting out and running, was a good thing. I wanted to run a bit quicker for my 10 miler to see where my fitness is. In the first phase of training, I like to run on my own to see how my fitness is increasing and going off how my body feels... I felt really nice. I hit 6:20 pace for 10 miles and that is with the first 3 miles at 7:00-7:15 pace. Overall, a nice run
Monday: 6 miles in the AM. I ran around Germantown in the milestone neighborhoods. They are light up, which helps at this time of the year... and will definitely be my stomping group for those high mileage weeks coming up.
Tuesday: 6 miles
Wednesday: 8 miles (3 x 2k cruise intervals at Agricultural Park)
Thursday: 6 miles
Friday: 8 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Week 3 projected mileage = 50 miles

23 WEEKS TO GO

The last 2 weeks I have not done much mileage at all... I took off 5 consecutive days and the runs I have done in the last 16 days have not creeped over 8 miles (avg of 5-6 miles). The purpose of this was to give my legs some added rest before my 24 week marathon build up, which also includes some key lead up races. I have 4 weeks built in from the start that are just easy distance miles that by the 4th week I will be up to 65 miles. Week 5 I make a nice jump up to 80 miles and back down to 70 for week 6. from there I leap up to 85 and for the most part of Phase 2 (of 4), I will be avg 80 miles/week. At the end of phase 2 and leading into phase 3, I will see 3 weeks at 100 miles. This is going to be very very foreign to me as I have not been over 80 miles/week in years. My lead up to philly distance run last year I hit 4 weeks at 80 and the avg for the 3 months leading up was 60. I feel that this has to happen at this time in my career if I want to see how good I can be. It could be humbling... I have a feeling it may start out that way and end on a good note...

Sunday: 6 miles (Easy/Med)... I ran around my old stomping ground in the old Ivyland Industrial Park. This is where I ran virtually every run during the summer going into my frosh year of college at James Madison and into my Soph year when I transferred to Penn state. It gave me a good time to reflect on life. Not just with running, but primarily with running. I came to the conclusion that I am tired of not making running a big priority in my life. I now have a job that allows me to get out more than I ever have been able to before, a wife who tells me I need to get my ass in gear, who is a talented runner. I love to compete... I am realizing that I can only perform at a mediocre level at my age off little training. This has to change... I am dedicating the next two years to getting in high/quality mileage in and see where it takes me. I want to be smart and with the training plan from Jack Daniels that I chose to follow, I feel it is a very challenging but good lead up for me.
Back in PA for the weekend to watch my high school team I coached last year win the Tennent XC Invitational!!! I was so proud of the guys and for Warwick (who is returning as head coach after my departure). I am excited also for the Eagles/Bucs game @ 1pm today. Nice to be around some true, die-hard football fans for a change... YES, THAT WAS A SHOT AT YOU SKINS FANS.