Blog News & Commentary

1. The page, Running Goals (accomplished) has been updated.

2. The page, Running Goals (in progress) has been updated.

3. A new page, Mileage, has been added.

4. A new page, Race Placement, has been updated and returned to the page line-up.

5. I have responded to any comments that have been left for me in the last few weeks by leaving a subsequent comment. First, thank you for writing to me - it is appreciated and valued. :) Second, I am not sure if you receive notification if a comment has received a reply, hence why I am making note of it here.

And now for a few comments ... this is a blog/diary after all. :)

*****

When I started this training program, I noted that there would be a few extra long runs by this point. Here is what I have slated for the next few months:

This week ... Week #6 - LSD 19.5K/12 miles (total for week = 62K)

AUGUST

Week #7 - LSD 22.5K /14 miles (total for week = 65K)

Week #8 - LSD 26K/16 miles (total for week = 68.5K)

Week #9 - LSD 19.5K/12 miles (Phase II - strength training

(hills and tempo runs) begin)

Week #10 - LSD 16K/10 miles

SEPTEMBER

Week #11 - LSD 16K/10 miles

Week #12 - Race Week - 1st HM Springbank

This is what I am realizing - I can't do it. This is too much for me at my current level of fitness and my current running ability. I am not making excuses because I don't want to do it. In fact, I was quite hopeful and enthusiastic when I started this program that my running level would be such that I could do it. This isn't crying uncle.

However, after working in some wiggle room and needing three weeks worth of 16K LSDs before I felt like I could run that distance steadily and consistently, I now see a lot of additional mileage being added to my LSD schedule without the standard "recovery" or "rest" weeks added in (do you know what I am referring to? The "rule" that you add 10% more mileage each week until Week #4, at which time you dramatically decrease your mileage as a rest/recovery week before resuming the mileage increase).

We are also in the midst of the hottest and most humid summer on record. Although I am proving myself to be truly "Canadian" by bitching about the weather, it seriously is challenging to run right now because I am not accustomed to it. I applaud runners who regularly run in this type of weather where they live, but the intensity of the H&H is really affecting my pace and ego! :)

I experienced this last year and I think I am at the same point this year ... I am proud of how I have been able to slowly add mileage for the last few months, but I do not have faith that in this heat and humidity, I can add almost 4K to a running distance I have been challenged by for the last three weeks. So this is what I am going to do:

This week - Week #6 - tomorrow I will aim for 17-18K. I will see where I am mentally at by 17K to see if I can push myself to 18K.

Week #7 - no LSD. I need a rest. I have the South Huron 8K race on Sunday and since creating my schedule, I have mused and hummed and hawed about how I was going to balance an 8K trail race with a scheduled 22.5K on the same day. I thought about a double run on the same day and I thought about switching the LSD to Saturday while running my scheduled 8K + 8 striders as a my race on Sunday. Now it makes better sense to me to cancel it.

Week #8 - I am going to see where I am at before deciding.