Not running MDI marathon

Too much going on.  Not training enough.  Blah.

14 weeks to go

Well, I had the best intentions.  It was 20 weeks to go.  I thought I could use Brad Hudson's "Run Faster" schedule, to get back in shape and give 3:15 a scare.  Life and not really caring has derailed that dream.  I've basically just run and not all that much.  My only emphasis has been increasing my long run (up to 15 now) so that I can ramp up and get some 20 milers in.  I've had a slight strain with my right lower leg (lateral side -- calf or one of those stabilizer muscles), for the last couple of weeks, so I ran/walked Sun - Sat this week.  Here's the tally

• week of 5/27 - 55 miles - 9, 7/2, 6, 10.2, 6, 8.8, 5.4, 9.9
• week of 6/4 - 44 miles - 4.7, 7.9, 2, 0.7, 8.6, 6.5, 13.6
• week of 6/11 - 49 miles - 0, 10, 6.4, 8, 7.7, 6.1/1.6, 2.9, 13.6
• week of 6/18 - 42 miles - 8, 1.1, 7.6, 8, 1.4/3 (before and after swim meet), 13.6
• week of 6/25 - 32 miles - 0 (no sleep), 7.5, 7.1, 8.2, 0 (6:30am flight), 0 (swim meet/tired, sore) , 9.1 (run/walk) -- work travel this week
• week of 7/2 - 50 miles - 8.3 (r/w), 8 (r/w), 8.8 (r/w), 0,  8.1 (r/w), 2.2 (swim meet), 15 on mill

All running quite slow except  6/26.  miles were 9:05, 7:57/153, 7:32/160, 8:01/155, 7:26/166, 8:01/163, 7:29/170, 10:29.  This was on a track.  Wx was pretty good.  It was 70 deg and dry (in desert).

Where to go from  here?  I need to stop skipping days, but I'm just not motivated and am able to rationalize a tweaked muscle into an off day or use a family activity (read: swimming) as an excuse.  15 miles is enough for the long run for now.  I could try and add a mid-week medium long run or add some intensity.  Ah, maybe I'll just shoot for finishing.

week of 21 May - 20 weeks to go

20 weeks to go today (5/27) until the marathon.  A lackluster week of running to start, but I had a renewed focus after commiting myself to run 42.195km.

 - Mo - nada, strangely sore
 - Tu - 5.6 @10:00 on TM
 - We - nada, no sleep
 - Th - 7.9 usual out and back, 9:18 pace
 - Fr am - 7.6 on TM, 78' weight loss level 7
 - Fr pm - 2.0 @ 10:00 on TM
 - Sa - 7.6 on TM, 78' weight loss level 7
 - Su am - 9.1 @ 9:48 at Burke Lake, 76deg and humid
 - Su pm - 3.0 @ 10:00 on TM
Total: 42.9 mile

I doubled on Friday and Sunday, which is always awesome.  I had planned to do 3 laps (13.8 miles) but stopped at two because my legs were sore and I didn't want to start this adventure injured.  I made up for it with 3 in the afternoon.  43 isn't good, but not bad with two days off.  I'll do better this week.

I'm still mulling over how to go about training.  I had hoped to have a plan before today, but... oh, well.  Here's a list of things I think are important:  weekly mileage, weight.  That's about it.  There's a long list of semi-important stuff I can't decide between -- long runs, hills, moderate runs, marathon pace runs, tempo, intervals, drills, strides, core, ...

Mount Desert Island Marathon - 14 October 2012

 20 weeks from Sunday, I'll be running the Desert Island Marathon in Bar Harbor, Maine.  The last marathon I ran was Boston in 2009.  Frankly, I've gotten a bit lazy.  I chased the sub-40 10k for a while and I sort of got there last Spring when I ran a downhill, wind-at-my back 39:35.  That was good enough I guess, because I haven't run that much since then.

I signed up for a Fall marathon, but it was local and easy to bail on.  This suckers in Maine.  We're talking hotels and airline tickets.  Plus a friend of mine is going.  Fear and same -- my greatest motivators.

I'm also planning to get back on the blogging horse, so I have to write down my weekly mileage.

Here's my mileage by the months since I last posted (July 2, 2011!).

July - 162 (37 mpw)
August - 152 (34 mpw)
September - 203 (47 mpw)
October - 190 (44 mpw)
November - 162 (38 mpw)
December - 218 (49 mpw)
January - 182 (41 mpw)
February 182 (44 mpw)
March 163 (37 mpw)
April - 155 (36 mpw)
May - 136 (thru 5/24 -- 40 mpw)

Compare this to the 60 mpw I *averaged* over 2008.  Also I notice a trend with my good races.  I ran 232 miles in March of 2011 before running 1:06:17 at Cherry Blossom and 283 in March 2010 before running 1:05:55.  I didn't make it in the lottery for Cherry Blossom, which I think killed some of my motivation.

The last race I ran was a 20:41 5k on New Year's Eve.  I did manage 2nd in my age group (the strange M36-40???), but didn't stick around to find out.

The race is in early Fall, so I'll have to get in some mileage this summer.  Here we go...