Week in Review

89 Miles
3 Doubles (10 Runs)
21.4 long run in 7:14 average
3 Hours of Dance

Technically, I'm not fully done with this week because I still have to complete another run this evening, but I'm assuming that I'm going to go ahead and complete that one.  This week could be characterized as one of those where I was working on getting myself out of a mental rut.  I actually devoted much of my time to focusing on all the positive things going on with my training right now and how I can still get in the work that I need to, given my schedule, to still accomplish a new PR at Philly.  My iron is low, but I'm not going to let that inhibit my own mental tenacity any more, as it had been over the last couple of weeks.

I tried running 100 miles a week in the summer, and now that I've had time to reflect on those three weeks, I realized that running that many miles is just too much for me physically and mentally.  I've decided to keep my mileage around 90, which will still be 12 miles more per week than what I ran on average during my Twin Cities training cycle.  Granted, I am running a 24 miler for the first time during this training cycle, and during that week I may be a bit higher, but the idea of running 100 mile weeks in a row is not comfortably feasible for me.  Additionally, I am going to alternate between running 2 workouts + 1 long run a week and then 1 workout + 1 long run the other week.

Let's be honest here -- I am anal-retentive and I'm planning a wedding...which means that I'm probably putting in too much work into the details of the wedding. On top of that, I'm working full time, acting as Vice President for the CRC, taking dance lessons, and preparing to be a wife for the time in my life.  I'm exceptionally passionate about all of these "extra-curriculars" and I don't want to give up any of these so that I can successfully run 100 miles a week. Instead, I'll keep doing them all and just run 90 miles, and trust that this change will be the catalyst to getting me back in the right spot mentally.  I already have noticed a positive change in my outlook just in this past week by incorporating these changes.

Enough about that.  The highlight of this week was definitely my long run on Saturday with six other people, which is a small feat in itself considering that nearly every CRC member was racing either Hit the Brixx 10k or the Run for the Green Half.  For two hours and thirty five minutes, I covered all of the trails in McAlpine with Laurie, Jason, Charlie, Anna, Megan, and Josh.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous for a long run and the company ensured that we had lots to talk about since we had two newcomers in the group.

One thing that has remained strong for me throughout this training cycle is my long run.  I haven't had a long run yet where I felt like I couldn't finish it, and I think that's a sure sign that I'm still in good shape and ready for a marathon.