7 weeks to the Boston Marathon: Last week's training

The reprieve from cold rain and snow treated me well in Santa Cruz last week. It's amazing how much of a difference a little change in weather and scenery can make. I did not choose the course for the 6 x mile wisely, as it was a little too soft and hilly, but the effort was there. If I was training for a shorter distance, I would be looking for more of a confidence boost from this type of workout, but for the marathon, effort will do. My confidence boost came over the weekend with a fairly quick 14 mile tempo on a hilly 1.5 mile loop. I was fortunate enough to have the company of Brett Gotcher on the bike showing me the way and providing encouragement. Before the workout, I had resigned myself to the fact that the hilly course would force me to back off on the pace, but I managed to surprise myself with how smooth sub-5:00 felt on tough terrain. Trading tights and a waterproof jacket for shorts and a t-shirt in California felt like Forest Gump dropping his leg braces. Hopefully I can get a few days of similar weather in Portland over the next 6 weeks!

Thanks again for reading, and feel free to check out last week's training below. Follow me here on Twitter for more updates.

8	140	Sunday	2/18/2018	Long run 24 miles with 2 x 3 mile pushes at 13-15 and 17-19, (4:57, 4:52, 4:49) (4:57, 4:49, 4:48)
		Monday	2/19/2018
		Tuesday	2/20/2018
		Wednesday	2/21/2018	6  x 1 mile on hilly course, 3 min recovery
		Thursday	2/22/2018
		Friday	2/23/2018
		Saturday	2/24/2018	14 mile tempo @ 4:55