Marathon Training: Week Fourteen

Welcome to 2012… and what a welcome it was.  Had to jump back to Panama City Beach on New Year’s Eve over a family emergency, and here I remain for now.  This week was all about letting things heal up while attempting to maintain some intensity.  Here’s how it went down…

Sun – 1-1-12: Another day off – needed the rest… plus, the “Saturday” run happened so late last night it might as well have been this morning!

Mon – 1-2-12: Weights at Lord’s gym in Panama City (Free form… and yes, that really is the name of this place!)

Tue – 1-3-12: 6 mile run around Panama City… took it really easy, as I’m still recovering from some knees and shins fatigue. The idea this week is to log the mileage, but not worry about pace (which happened to be 10:45).

Wed – 1-4-12:  Weights at Lord’s gym (Free form)

Thu – 1-5-12: Since I took my usual Wednesday off from running this week, I did my 7-miler today at a slightly faster clip than Tuesday (10:12 per).  Again, just trying to get through the miles and let everything heal up okay.

Fri – 1-6-12:  Weights at Lord’s gym (Free form)  I foolishly blasted away on a bunch of extra back stuff today, like chins and rows, forgetting that I have to do a long run tomorrow.  I’m sure I’ll pay for it then…

Sat – 1-7-12:  After another night of little sleep, I did NOT feel like getting up early to run.  I just felt burnt and a bit spent, with a sore back from yesterday’s pummeling.  Even the bottoms of my feet were a little fatigued, probably from just being on them so much lately.  Still, with 15 miles staring me in the face, I figured I would try it and see what happens.  It was okay, but I took it really easy.  I walked a little here and there as I drank some water, and really tried to pace the miles easy.  In fact, I had a few 11:00, or even 11:30 minute miles, as I didn’t bother to pause my watch during water breaks.  So be it.  I made it through, still feeling quite a bit of fatigue in the knees once I got deeper into the double digits.

And when I was done, all I could think about was, “Could I really do another 11 miles on top of what I just did?”  Hard to fathom at this point, but there was a time not long ago where 5 or 6 miles was a stretch, and now I can drop 7 or 8, anytime, with little effort.  So, I’ve gotta believe that I’ll continue to get more comfortable with the heavier mileage.

BR

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