Neglected Blog

So its been since Week 9 of Philly training since I last posted - and today marked the start of week 16. I apologize to my reader (Hi Dad).....First the weekly break downs of since week 9

Week 10
I ran 3 times that week with one of the runs being the Niantic Half Marathon. My ankle had started to give me troubles during week 9 and wasnt getting much better. So I decided to do a mini taper heading into the half marathon. That morning things didnt feel much better so I decided to just take it easy and not push too much out there. You can read about my race at DailyMile - short of it is I ran very well and strong even with ankle issue. Total mileage for the week 22.5 miles

Week 11 (Sept 27 - Oct 3)
Monday I woke up after running Niantic and I could barely walk. I knew I was going to need some time off after the race - but I ended up taking 5 days before I attempted to run again. Spent the week icing, elevating, ibuprofen-ing and trying my best to stay off my feet. Thought about getting some crutches to keep pressure off when I had to move around - but decided against it. Total mileage for this week was 8.75 (which was done on Saturday with Milford Road Runners). At this point I was starting to get really nervous about Philly and my training. I felt that 3:40 was slipping away - and that Id be lucky to do a 4:40.

Week 12 (Oct 4-10)
Things started to feel a little better but still not 100%. Ran a total of 4 times that week - some good some bad. Long run of the week was 12 miles. Ended the week nervous that I could even do the 26.2. Total mileage was 27.5 miles. At this point I decided to toss the Pfitzinger plan out the window. There was no way I was going to try and "sneak" back into the plan after the past 3 weeks.

Week 13 (Oct 11-17)
This week things actually felt almost normal again. Had some good runs and a couple bad ones - but thats normal whether you are healthy or not. Actually got 5 runs in during the week - one being an almost 20 miler (19.6) with Alecia and Brian. Even though that long tired me out and I felt miserable (and hungry) for the mile or so - it did give me the confidence back that I had been missing. But then I did something dumb - I went for a 4 miler the next day. I never run the day after a long run - its ALWAYS my rest day. I wont make that mistake again - as even though I had good company for it - that run sucked. Total mileage - 40.6 miles.

Week 14 (Oct 18-24)
I got 5 runs in again this week - and even started to bring back some speed work to wake up the legs a bit as they had been feeling heavy and slow since Niantic. The long run this week I decided to cut back pretty far from last weeks 20 and I did a 15 miler on the hilly Milford course (thanks Al for joining me for the entire 15). Total weekly mileage 35.5 miles.

Week 15 (Oct 25-31)
This week I knew I wasnt going to get all 5 "planned" runs in as my Doctor Wife was out of town over the weekend so no running at all. Started the week by doing 8x800 Yassos for some speed work. Had a crap run mid week in which I got 1.5 miles out and had to call it and walk it back. I took Friday off from work to get my last 20 miler in. The 20 miler was great - by far one of my best runs this training cycle - and maybe top 3 all year.