10 Weeks Until the Marathon

Daily Quote: "Know how much fluid you will need for a long run before you start, and create a plan to ensure you have access to enough. If you will need more fluid than your hydration system will hold, put a five-dollar bill in your pocket and buy a bottle of liquid form a convenience store midway through your route, or return home for a refill." --Dean Karnazes, from his excellent book, "50/50 Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!"

I've learned the hard way in past years of not carrying enough fluids, nowadays I carry more fluids than I would need as a precaution against dehydration. During long runs I find that drinking a small swallow every two miles works for me, any runs under an hour I'll carry a large bottle of water and drink when thirsty.

Yesterday did my typical six miler on the roads and today ran a General Aerobic Run of ten miles. A nice restful weekend, went to see the movie, "Burn After Reading," which is subtle, dark humor at its best....if you liked "Fargo" you will love "Burn After Reading." Our bowling team, "One Wonders" tonight won two games out of four. Slept late on Saturday and Sunday. Ate well throughout the weekend. Life is good!

SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER 22-28, 2008

I have 10 weeks left until the 2008 Las Vegas Marathon! I ran a total of 84 miles, which is the highest weekly mileage this year!! I also completed my transition from the treadmill to the roads, which wasn't easy as Vegas was suffering a small heat wave with daily highs of 104-106 degrees. I'll continue to do speedwork on the treadmill so I can control all the variables, but until next summer most of my runs will be on the roads.

My weight has remained stable at 172 pounds on a six foot frame. My body feels very comfortable at this current weight, but I'm still striving to reach my race weight of 165 pounds. I need to keep a close eye on my consumption of junk food.

Only two weight circuit training sessions this week, and finding it very difficult to maintain weight training as I continue to increase my mileage. Running is my priority, I'll just do my best with the weights.

My sleeping patterns have been erratic, for example, due to Vegas' heat wave I decided to awake early on Friday at 7:00 a.m. with only four hours of sleep, ran 16 miles, than returned to bed for another three hours of sleep. Not exactly a sound way of sleeping! I hope the temperatures will be cooler this week so I can return to my normal sleeping patterns.

A short recap of last week's mileage:
Monday: Long Run, 20 miles.
Tuesday: Doubles, AM: Recovery Run, 6 miles. PM: 6 miles.
Wednesday: Tempo Run, 8 miles.
Thursday: Doubles, AM: Recovery Run, 6 miles. PM: 6 miles.
Friday: Medium-Long Runs, 16 miles.
Saturday: Recovery Run, 6 miles.
Sunday: General Aerobic Run, 10 miles.
Total Weekly Mileage: 84 miles.