Marathon Pace Run

My workout schedule right now has 8 workouts per week. Five of them are mandatory - weights on Monday and Wednesday. Intervals on Tuesday. Marathon pace run on Thursday. Long run on Saturday. My other three workouts - easy 60 minute runs on Monday and Wednesday, and a bodyweight lifting day on Friday - are optional. As I get into the second half of my marathon training, in September and October, I hope to be more adapted to this schedule and be nailing every workout.

But this morning, I skipped the bodyweight lifting workout. I'm sore. It's kind of funny what's going on in our household these days. My son is working to get ready for soccer season, and I have him vary his workouts a lot. My wife recently started a new lifting routine and has added some new high intensity interval training (HIIT) on lifting and non-lifting days. Wednesday night, all three of use were complaining about how sore we were.

I think the soreness is a good thing. I can sometimes go for months in training, when I'm only doing running workouts, where I won't get sore. Yeah, I'll be tired at times, but not sore. The soreness these days reminds me that I've got so many areas of my body that can get stronger and that I'm making those changes.

Anyway, last night my workout was 7 miles, with 4 AMP miles. For AMP, I'm using a moving target. AMP in July was 8:00, in August it's 7:55, September will be 7:50 and October will be 7:45. So, the goal last night was 4 miles in 32 minutes - no faster, no slower. I was tired and sore when I started the workout, but I'll be tired late in the marathon, so that's no excuse. My miles were 8:04, 7:50, 8:00, and 8:00. That's about as close as I'll probably get to my planned pace in a workout.

Tomorrow morning, I'll do an early 20 miler. I was planning a surprise dinner for my wife tomorrow night for our 22nd wedding anniversary. But, instead, we'll be at the memorial service for Jim Hutchinson, the Vermont 100 Race Director. I'm sure it's going to be a huge party, with many friends there to celebrate his life. Regretfully, on Sunday, the world will keep on spinning, and Jim will still be gone. I haven't been hit this hard by someone's death in quite a long time.