14 weeks....

Just 14 weeks til Marathon Three!

Quad Cities, Here I COME!! :)

I think my little sister, Megan, will be joining me for this one...and I can't wait!

This week I am getting back on a Hal Higdon training plan bandwagon. The past two weeks since the Minneapolis Marathon, I've been taking it kinda easy. Last week I did NOTHING. Nothing at all athletic, unless you count sand volley ball on Thursday (HAHAHA!!!!!). My first day back at it was this past Monday, June 14th. Monday and Tuesday, I visited the gym and ran on the treadmill (sorry, Mr. Anon...I know you told me to ditch the treadmill...but the weather was bad, and one of the nights it was really late and I didn't want to run in the dark!). Wednesday I did 6 miles outside with my friend Jamie. It was great! Thursday and Friday I took off...and Saturday I did the Warrior Dash in Joliet! It was a 3.17-mile race with twelve crazy obstacles! It was a great time. Today I ran 5 miles at an 8:40 pace. It was swelteringly hot out, but I muscled through it! :)

I think I am gonna majorly amp up my training and try for the Hal Higdon Advanced I plan this time around...we'll see. I am jumping in this week at week 5. That means that this week I need to:
Monday--3 miles
Tuesday--7 miles
Wednesday--3 miles
Thursday--35 tem (have no idea what that means, need to look it up. Assume it stands for "tempo", but again...no real clue what that refers to)
Friday--Rest
Saturday--7 miles
Sunday--14 miles

Uh, just read this on Hal's website:
"The advanced schedules are designed only for the hard core, those willing to take it to the limit. Only a small percentage of today's runners classify themselves as Advanced or want to follow this demanding a schedule."
Haha, am I "hard core" enough for this?! We shall see...

Hm, ok, thank's Hal...just found what he means by "tempo run". Seems straight-forward enough!!

"Tempo Runs: A tempo run is a continuous run with a buildup in the middle to near 10-K race pace. Notice I said "near" 10-K race pace. Coach Jack Daniels defines the peak pace for tempo runs at the pace you might run if racing flat-out for about an hour. That's fairly fast, particularly if the tempo run is 45 minutes long, but you're only going to be near peak pace for 3-6 minutes in the middle of the run. In the Advanced programs, tempo runs are scheduled for Tuesdays or Thursdays. Here's how to do this workout. A tempo run of 30 to 40 minutes would begin with 10-15 minutes easy running, build to peak speed during the next 10-20 minutes, then finish with 5-10 minutes easy running. The pace buildup should be gradual, not sudden, with peak speed coming about two-thirds into the workout and only for those few minutes mentioned above. You can do tempo runs almost anywhere: on the road, on trails or even on a track. Tempo runs should not be punishing. You should finish refreshed, which will happen if you don't push the pace too hard or too long. It helps also to pick a scenic course for your tempo runs. You can do your tempo run with another runner, but usually it works better to run solo. There's less danger of going too slow or (more the problem) too fast if you choose his pace, not yours."

Now, I am excited to begin!! :)

I am also going to keep up the cross-training (I've been very good about pool jogging 1x/week, which I truly feel has saved my knees...I was injury-free during my training for this second marathon!)....but will do that on the low-mileage days either instead of say the 3-4 miles prescribed, or in addition to.

Bring it on! :)

Can't wait for number three! :)