Today's Run, July 12

We had a nice, (mostly) easy run in the heat today and did a good job of sticking together. Here are the numbers:

Time: 1:37:11
Distance: 9.62 miles
Average Pace: 10:06 minute/mile
Calories Burned: 1324

That's pretty good, considering the heat. We also did well sharing the trail with other runners, walkers, and bikers. All in all, it was a good run.

The next month is crucial for our training. This is where getting training in during the week will really start to pay off. Simply put, running 26.2 miles in 4:15 is something that's entirely doable, but it takes some work. Unless you are a genetic freak, you're going to need to build up your cardio level and leg muscles so that they can handle more than four hours of running. The only way to do this is by running more. Follow the training schedule on the LViM website if you can. If you can't, get out of the road (heat and safety permitting) or on a treadmill for at least 25 minutes five times a week. That's probably the bare minimum of work you can put in and have any chance of having a good race in December.

I'll put it to you this way. A month from today, we'll be running 12 miles. Since we did almost ten today, that's easily within the reach of eveyrone in the group. Two months from today, we're running 17 miles. That might seem like a lot, but if you keep up with the training schedule, it won't be hard.

Three months from today, we will have finished our longest training run (22 miles), and four months from this very day, we will have finished our marathon.

My point is that none of this is going to be possible without some work--hard work, even--during the week. If this was impossible, none of us would be trying it, but if it was easy, you'd see a lot more people running marathons. I can't guaranteee easy, but I can guarantee fun and fulfilling, as long as we all stay in shape and do our homework during the week.

This was a great run--even though our pace was a little slower, we had higher temps to deal with and we probably had more fun sticking together. Next week, we'll do about ten miles. I know the schedule says 9, but we've been running about that for two weeks now, and I think we would benefit from the shared confidence of breaking that double-digit barrier a week earlier.

See you on Sunday morning before 5:30. If you have any training tips, questions, or comments, email me or post them here. Have a great week.