Halftime

If I could create the perfect day for a run I would set the temperature to 58 degrees, remove the humidity from the air and the clouds from the sky, and then add a gentle breeze. That is exactly what Saturday morning was like. I ran ten miles in Hines Park with Team World Vision. 10 miles seemed relatively easy after running 13 last Saturday and 12 the week before. That told me my training is going well.

I have now completed 9 weeks of my 18 week marathon training plan. In theory it is halftime. I have completed 50% of my training according to the calendar, but I have only run 40% of the total miles on the plan. I still have 259 miles to go. This week is the week training starts to get tough. It is a 29 mile week including a 15 mile long run. Next week I’ll run 32 miles with the long run being 16. The plan peaks in the second week of September when a 20 mile long run is just half of my miles for the week.

Several weeks ago I wrote about the importance and the benefits of strictly adhering to a good training plan. That week my long run was 6 miles and that was about all I could do. Following my plan got me to the point where I ran a strong 13 miles a week ago, and I expect to be able to run 15 this Friday. Sticking to the plan gets harder each week, in spite of progress in strength and endurance. 26.2 miles still seems impossible. But today I just need to run an easy 4 miles. It’s starting to get light outside. Time to run!