Less than 8 weeks to the TCS New York City Marathon: Last week's training

It feels good to be back in the thick of marathon training after a little time in the pool. I am still trying to be very cautious as volume and intensity ramp up, but training is getting closer and closer to where I'd like it to be before NYC. This was the first week in a long time that I did not have a day off, but that was just the way it worked out with the schedule, and I did take Monday off. I will continue to take approximately one day off from running per week for the foreseeable future.

Not only did I have a solid week of running workouts, but it was in the midst of some tough lifting and my highest mileage week in quite some time. The two marathon workouts this week were fairly similar in terms of pace, so I am looking forward to getting more threshold level efforts in this week to ramp up the intensity. Sunday's long run did go a long way in boosting my confidence that my body will be ready to handle the 26.2 miles of pounding come November. This workout was a first for me, but it broke the run up nicely and also forced me to run sub-marathon pace from miles 20-22 on tired legs, a mild simulation of race day. If I can stay patient, healthy, and continue to make bits of progress, I am excited to see where I can be in terms of fitness 7 weeks from now. I am doing my best to hone in all areas possible including diet, sleep, vitamin/mineral supplements, physical therapy, massage, strength training, and remaining tuned in to my body.

Thanks again for reading and feel free to check out last week's training below.

Weeks to go: 8	AM	PM	Strength	Mileage
Monday	10	1 hour aqua jogging	40 minutes	10
Tuesday	11 + drills and strides	5 miles		16
Wednesday	14 mi progression run starting @ 5:38 down to 4:49	45 minutes elliptical		15
Thursday	12 miles	5 miles	1 hour	17
Friday	70 minutes aqua jogging	5 miles, 8 x 200 meter hills, 5 miles		12
Saturday	12 miles + drills and strides	5 miles	40 minutes	17
Sunday	5 x 2 miles easy, 2 miles @ marathon effort (avg. 11:12, 9:52)	off		24
TOTAL				111