With fresh memories of the Route 66 Marathon and all it's pit-stops still in my head, I took the plunge and registered for the Tobacco Road Marathon (Raleigh, NC) on March 19th. I'll be running with my friend who ran Ann Arbor with me, and now wants to try for a BQ. I figure, why not. I've been wanting to chase down my 2009 self anyway.
I gave myself two weeks "off" after Tulsa before jumping straight back into marathon training. I still ran of course, but took extra rest days and didn't worry about accumulating weekly mileage. The first two weeks of training for TRM went smoothly, but at the end of the third week (Christmas) my left achilles flared up and let me know it wasn't happy.
Week 15: 12/5 - 12/11
Long: 14 miles
Speed: 4 mile tempo (middle of a 10 miler)
Rest Days: 1
Total: 52.6 miles
Week 14: 12/12 - 12/18
Long: 13
Speed: Fartlek 5x4:00 hard+3:00 easy (middle of a 10 miler); 4 mile tempo (part of long run)
Rest Days: 2
Total: 45.9
Week 13: 12/19 - 12/25
Long: 7.8 (supposed to be 14, cut short by achilles and had to call for a ride home)
Speed: 5x1000m (middle of a 9 miler)
Rest Days: 2
Total: 39.8
Week 12: 12/26 - 1/1
Long: 16 (I was determined to run 16 on NYE, achilles or not!)
Speed: None (achilles doesn't like speed, or hills)
Rest Days: 3
Total: 30.5
Yeah so I probably should have given my left foot a little more time off but I love running around the holidays. In theory, less work = more time for mileage! I had to shorten my stride and slow my pace for the NYE 16 miler which made my leg muscles work more than they're used to and I was SO sore the next day. It seems to be doing better - allowing me to run my normal easy pace and only occasionally starting to ache on hills.
If you're looking for an early spring half or full - come join me at TRM! I haven't run this race before but it looks to be pretty flat on a paved rail-trail so I'm hoping it'll be a fast course. Use code TRMBuddy to get $10 off registration in January. (This code was emailed to everyone already registered to help spread the word, "this code is only available to friends of registered runners!").
