Some Semblance of Normality

The road back from injury is rarely pretty, but I seem to be making slow, steady progress. Last week looked like this:

• Mon - 20 min elliptical; circuit training; core; stretching
• Tues - 7.5 miles, with 6X100-meter strides
• Wed - Physical Therapy and about 30+ mins of cycling (to and from work and PT)
• Thur - 8.5 miles
• Fri - 30 mins elliptical; light weights; core; stretching
• Sat - 4+ miles, with 15 mins at tempo pace (about 7:20/mile)
• Sun - 14 miles

Total mileage just a hair under 35 for the week, but more important is that while I'm a little tired and a bit sore, I feel pretty good. The tempo miles on Saturday were less a training session and more of a test to see how it would feel to run fast on Saturday, at the Beach to Beacon 10K in Maine. It seems unlikely that I'll break 43:00 like last year, but I'm looking forward to using the race as a stepping stone to getting back in the training and racing groove.

While I am essentially following the Pfitzinger 12-week/55-mile peak schedule, I am modifying to account for how I feel, the races I want to run and anything else that reasonably dictates a change from Pete's prescribed program. Therefore, this week will look this (first figure is my mileage; second is Pete's recommended workout):

• Mon - same as last week / Rest/XT
• Tues - 8-10M, with 5+ strides / 8M, with 4M at LT pace
• Wed - 4-5M (trails) / Rest/XT
• Thurs - 8M / 11M
• Fri - Rest / Rest/XT
• Sat - 10K Race (8-10M total) / 5M Recovery
• Sun - 14-15M (easy) / 15M

Last time around, I would have tried to race AND keep the rest of the schedule the same. As some of my RW forum-mates observed, the 10K race will be like a tempo/LT run, so there's no point beating myself up unnecessarily, especially with a goal 5K race on August 14th.

"Humility" and "serenity" are my current buzzwords. These concepts stem from the realization (finally!) that I am not talented enough to expect to get to Boston so soon, and must continue to try to improve methodically, avoiding injury and making incremental progress. If I can shave 10 minutes off my Burlington time, then I'll be getting closer and closer. I may even skip a Spring marathon, focus on half-marathons and 10Ks and then build up again for a Fall 2009 marathon as a Boston qualifying attempt.

For now, I hope that the humidity abates some, and that each time I hit the road, trail or track, I feel a little bit better, smoother and faster than I did the last time.

-ESG