Update on my training

Well I wanted to start by just throwing out a much needed disclaimer that any advice or tips I give are in no way professional. I still have a lot to learn about running and all things associated with it. I just like to babble on about things that have worked for me or I think are cool.

That being said I wanted to throw in a quick update on my running. Yesterday I ran 10 miles and did it 82 minutes (pace of 8:12/mile). I don't think I've talked about my paces yet so now you can all start to judge me and say "well I could do that"; so why not go out and run 10 miles and prove it to me and yourself? Let me know how you're doing if you go for a long run of any distance; I'd love to hear how everyone is doing whether it's faster or slower. I started pretty slow on the run and at the end still felt really good and knew I could have given more. But since it was a long run that's expected for me to run slower than I could, but what was very encouraging was how good I felt at the end. I definitely had some gas left in the tank and actually feel like I'm ready to run a half marathon right now. Too bad I'm running a full marathon :P

I ran 5 miles tonight and took it real easy and kind of just used it as a recovery run from yesterday to get my muscles moving again. Let me tell you, the day after the marathon last year I went for a run for the same reasons. People who'd run marathons told me, "you need to go out for a real short run to help the recovery process". So I went for a 3 mile run.... I'm still not sure if I should qualify it as a run haha. My legs were like jelly and I must have been the funniest thing to watch on two legs that day. But yes, recovery runs are in fact good and healthy but don't go pushing yourself otherwise it kind of loses the point of recovery, right?

Anyway I've logged 21 miles so far this week and will probably log just under 40 miles for the week. I need to start picking up the distance of my long runs a lot and plan on doing 12, 14, 16, and 18 miles as my long runs for the next 4 weeks. Then I'll drop back down to 12 and work back up again. It's suggested that every fourth week or so you take a lighter week to ensure you get not just a day of rest but a week of not quite rest, but reduced activity.

I don't fret too much about following a training schedule where it dictates your mileage every day. It might work some people, but I tend to focus on getting good mileage in and on ensuring long runs occur at least once a week and progressively build up to the 21 mile run that is typical to do about 3 weeks out from the race.

My body is holding up great so far with minimal aches and pains; I attribute it to my off-season training and my renewed focus on maintaining a solid core.

Well, I hope I haven't bored you, but if you are impressed with what I'm doing and appreciate my cause to raise money for Dana-Farber through the Boston Marathon please go the following site and donate towards a worthy cause

http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009

And as always, go out there and let's logs some miles together.