SUMMARY: AUGUST 17-23, 2009

Daily Quote: "Bite off small chunks. Over a few years, you can double or triple your mileage, but increasing mileage too much at once is almost certain to lead to injury or overtiredness. Unfortunately, there's no scientific evidence indicating how much is safe to increase at one time. A commonly used, but unvalidated, rule of thumb is to increase mileage by no more than 1 mile for each training session that you run per week. For example, if you run six times per week, you would increase your mileage by up to 6 miles per week." --Pete Pfitzinger & Scott Douglas from their excellent book, "Advanced Marathoning."


SUMMARY: AUGUST 17-23, 2009

Finished my second week of marathon training with a total of 61 miles, which is my highest weekly mileage this year! I've added a Lactate Threshold Run into my routine and will continue to have one hard speed drill per week. I've continued my running streak and haven't had a day without running since February 14th. Only 15 weeks until the "2009 RNR Las Vegas Marathon!!"

I've lost another pound last week and I'm now 171 pounds on a six foot frame! My racing weight is 170 pounds and only need to lose one more pound before the marathon...geez, can I lose another pound and maintain my race weight within the next 15 weeks?!?

I accomplished three weight circuit sessions last week! As my marathon training mileage and intensity increases it's getting more difficult to find the time and energy to squeeze in the weight training. Starting next week I'll be only doing two weight sessions per week throughout the duration of my marathon training.

My sleeping patterns have been very good, which has been a struggle due to the extra mileage, nevertheless this year I won't sacrifice sleep so I can run more. Last year I did doubles (ran twice a day), but this year I plan on not doing any doubles nor have any 100 mile weeks. This year's plan is less mileage and more emphasis on quality runs. My morning heart rates have been the usual, approximately 38-41 bpm.

I've been blogging less due to marathon training, but hope to as least post my key workouts and week summaries throughout the next 15 weeks.

A short recap of last week's training:
Monday: Lactate Threshold Run, 9 miles.
Tuesday: Recovery Run, 6 miles. Weight Circuit Training.
Wednesday: Long Run, 18 miles.
Thursday: Recovery Run, 5 miles. Weight Circuit Training.
Friday: Recovery Run, 6 miles.
Saturday: Medium-Long Run, 11 miles.
Sunday: Recovery Run, 6 miles. Weight Circuit Training.
Total Weekly Mileage: 61 miles.