It’s not always the thought that counts...

I’m beginning to learn that sometimes it’s not always the thought that counts, especially when you’re trying to train for a marathon and keep a blog.  I had the best intentions of getting out there and knocking out another 50 miles this week, but it just wasn’t in the cards.  I battled through a cold at the beginning of the week, and life got a little busy at the end of the week, but I did manage to get a couple of runs in AND I also got a chance to hang out at the Respite Center (as you hopefully just read).  

 

Thursday was my first day of running this week and it was fun.  I went up to the MIT indoor track to meet with the Cambridge Running Club.  Our track workout was a little different than the usual track workout that most people think of.  Instead of doing intervals based on distance, we did intervals based on time, and replaced the interval jogging breaks with running drills.  10 minutes at 10k pace followed by 5 minutes of running drills (walking on the top of your toes, on your heels, and then on the side of your feet).  Then 4 minutes at our 5k pace, or in this case an all-out sprint.  Afterwards, we did some ab exercises.  After 4X1 minute intervals with 30 seconds rest, we concluded our workout with a mile at marathon pace.  Overall, I can say the workout was fun and a good change of pace, but probably not the best workout to perform while training for a marathon.  BUT, it sure beat not running at all.

 

Last night, for my second and final run of the week, I did a 9 mile tempo run that I knocked out in 1 hour and 3 minutes.  It’s a fantastic feeling to push yourself when you have fresh legs.  I hope to feel this good at the beginning of the marathon.  Now, my goal is to run myself into the ground for the next 5 weeks.  Afterwards, I’ll have two weeks to recover by significantly reducing my miles, and then I should be ready to go come April 20th.  As I’ve said once or twice before, “here’s to hoping.”