Getting Better

Well, I didn't get all three runs in this past week; but I did get nearly 84% of my mileage done. I'll try again to get three runs in this week. This is my 20 mile week on Saturday. My 20 mile course starts at the Shady Grove Metro and goes down 355, with a quick jaunt into Rock Creek Park, to DC then over to Conn. Ave, and then along the Mall finishing just past the Capitol. The plan for the week is 32 miles; we'll see how close I get.

It seems like my 16 mile run last week got my head back on straight. Until I did that run, I was really lazy and in motivated. Now though, I find myself actually looking forward to running. Although with two races in the next three weeks, it could simply be that it's crunch time. In two weeks I'm heading to Jacksonville, FL to run the Gate River Run. Then, three weeks from yesterday is the Shamrock Marathon in VA Beach.

Another thing that has me increasingly excited for the year is my involvement with Running of the Ears. http://www.runningoftheears.com/. ROTE is a group of runners brought together, primarily, because of their love for Disney and Disney races. The group members come from all across the country with quite a few in the area, several of whom are running some of the same races I am. I'm very enthused about actually meeting and running with other ROTErs.

For a while, I've been looking for a way to properly display my race medals. I got tired of hanging them on nails. I found the medal hanger in the picture from Allied Medal Displays: http://www.medalhangers.com/. I love the hanger. My only problem is that, at the rate I'm going, I may run out of room early next year.

Not dead yet.

I'd meant to post again sooner, but after I posted last time I went out for a run in worn out shoes and blistered, which cost me half a week. (Note to self, always start training for a new marathon with new shoes.). After I got back on my feet, I proceeded to get sick which cost me a full week, including my long run last week.

I got back to running Thursday with a fairly lackluster 4 mile performance; still a bit under the weather. I followed that up with a 16 mile run yesterday from Shady Grove to the Zoo. This was the first run I completed since I started training for the Shamrock; no mean feat since my lungs spent most of the afternoon fighting me. It felt much the same as the Half I ran last October that I ran with bronchitis. It's exciting because there were several times I thought about stopping, but persevere allowed me to finish.

After nearly a month of setbacks I feel like I'm finally back on track. With Shamrock four weeks from today, it comes none too soon. This should be the week I finally get a full week of training done. I've only got four weeks left; I've got work to do.