My week

Until last night, I was feeling like my current marathon training was going incredibly well. I was surprised at how easy the transition between mile training and marathon training was. All of my runs so far have been really good. And now, with the weather cooling down, there hasn't been a better time for some quality runs.

I got up Tuesday morning for my usual interval session. I stepped out the door and felt the 75 degree air on my skin. It was only 75 degrees! I actually felt a little cold for my warm-up! I loved it! The temps have slowly been declining, but this is a new low. After my warm-up, I proceeded with my workout. For some reason, I was measuring everything in kilometers. I felt like I was in a different country or something. The schedule called for 5x1K intervals at 3:37. It was kinda weird running 1 kilometer. I'd never done that before, but it was kinda fun. The first 2 were right on pace, but the last 3 were all about 10 seconds faster. I headed home feeling like I could probably do a couple more, but thought I'd better get to work.

Thursday I headed out for a 4 mile tempo run. I was glad it was only 4 miles because I had been really tired the last few days. The goal pace was 6:49, and surprisingly, I had no problem staying well under that. It felt great, in fact. The first 2 were just under 6:40, mile 3 was 6:21, and the last one was 5:58! I didn't realize I had picked it up that much. Things are going pretty well.

Yesterday, I headed over to South Mountain. I really wanted to do some hills. South Mountain is one big hill. I ran up to a viewpoint and back down for a total of 13 miles. The uphill miles averaged about an 8:15 pace, and the downhill miles were all around 7:15. I had slowed a little during mile 11 to chat with another runner. He was really friendly, and when he encouraged me to continue on, I felt totally energized. Mile 12 was done in 6:45, and 13 in 6:33. I guess I found that runner's high. I probably could have gone on for a few more miles, but had to get home before Lani started thinking I was dead.

I was feeling a little sore yesterday afternoon, but nothing too concerning considering I just ran 13 miles. I went to a church meeting in the evening, and when I stood up after it's conclusion, my right knee was feeling really uncomfortable. When I got home, I put some ice on it and did some stretching. It felt a lot better this morning, but still pretty sore. I've stretched a couple times today, and that seems to help a lot. I'm planning to take things real easy this week. It's kind of a bummer because I have the week off from work. Perfect for getting some extra runs in. Oh well.

On a related note, I was lucky enough to be selected for The Stick 21-Day Challenge with the Runner's Lounge. I am so excited to try this thing out. I've actually wanted one for some time now. With this latest little injury, now would be a great time to have one, too. Be sure to check out the forums in the Lounge to read about my experience and those of the other runners selected for the challenge. Here's to hoping for positive results.