Week 8 Training

Week 8 done. 12 weeks until the Philadelphia Marathon.

Again this week’s schedule didn’t allow for me to stick strictly to my training plan other than the mileage which I completed. I missed my Monday cross training (probably too tired from last week) and I missed my Friday rest day as I had a committment on Sunday morning so I ended up running 5 days in a row. Again, I can only say this is training for Dopey as my excuse.

The longest run of the training plan so far was the 15 miler on Saturday. I did my first run back in Tyler Park since the spring. It is pretty good training as there is a lot of hill work to be done. I did three loops of just over 5 miles each and felt good. The hills weren’t too tough although the first couple of miles (uphill) were probably my slowest of the run, but once I had warmed up I was a little faster and brought my average pace down so the long run ended up under 10 minutes per mile overall.

The seasons are definitely changing. I broke out the long sleeve shirt and thin gloves one on my runs this week. I wished I had brought my gloves along for my long run on Saturday but it did warm up eventually so all was good. I’ll need to start reassessing and resorting my running gear shortly. Maybe a shopping spree?!?

Again I ran in the Pro Compression Marathon sock and I’m feeling comfortable in them as I go longer and longer. I actually bought another pair for myself this week and a pair for my wife too for her to try. Next week we will be running together at the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Philadelphia. Looking forward to that.

A highlight this week was that I was featured on the Philadelphia Marathon blog [2013 Entry #6]. It was a nice end to the week and I’m looking forward to the Marathon in just over 2 months (whoa…just over 2 months).

Next week is a step back week again and my long run will be the Philly Rock and Roll Half. The plan calls for an 11 mile run but I am not planning to race the half so I’ll run those extra 2.1 miles fairly easy (I hope).

Thanks for reading.