My journey as a marathoner...

This was an OK week that could've been a little better. I wanted to get in another workout mid-week but experienced some slight shin pain. Instead of pushing for the workout, I just stayed smart and listened to my body. Eventually the shin pain went away. I was a bit nervous because it felt similar to the shin pain that cost me 6 weeks of training in May and June, different leg though. On the positive side, very happy with both the 5k effort (goal was about 15 flat) and the 20 mile tempo (goal was about 1:50 flat). Really looking forward to the last one-third of this marathon block. This week I will be racing a 15k race in VT. I will most likely go into the race a bit tired but it will be interesting to see what kind of pace I can hold. Anything sub 5 flat would be solid.

Another solid week of training. I had to cut back on racing this weekend to be able to fit in workouts and recover. Feeling very good about where my fitness is at with 7 weeks to go before Twin Cities.

 

This week I had 2 races lined up: The Newburyport 10 mile (goal was sub 51min or win) and the Ibero American Games track 5k (goal to just run hard and try to place as high as possible). The 10 mile was decent. My initial goal was to run 51 but also contest for the win. I was 2nd, but could've probably ran much faster if I didn't try to go for the win and chase down the 1st place guy from the gun. It cost me at least 20 seconds based on how I felt towards the end of the race. However, I'm glad I "went" for it. Sometimes I feel that it's good to try new race tactics and learn from them. Compared to during this time in my last marathon block, I am doing good in terms of fitness schedule. I ran a bit slower at Amherst 10 miler (50:56) during similar training period. This 10 mile race provides me a good indication of where I'm at before I start the big marathon workouts in August. Next up was the Ibero-American Games track 5k in Brazil for which I was