Another month has closed and I have a new record for a single month: 144 miles! Yes, and all of those miles were outside – not a single step on the treadmill. I really feel like I took my running to a new level in August. After completing my week at running camp in July, I was determined to stay focused and keep logging those miles.
August also represented the beginning of my 16-week training program for the Philadelphia Marathon which will be on November 21, 2011. That will be the Sunday before the Thanksgiving holiday and it will be here before you know it.
Here are some of the highlights for my August running miles:
- The majority of my miles were logged during Easy Runs. One change I made towards the end of August was to slow down the pace of my easy runs. Initially, I was averaging a 9:30 pace and when I took a serious look at a realistic time for my first marathon (between 4 hr 10 min and 4 hr 30 min), I changed my target pace to 10:30. I will be sticking with this strategy over the next couple of weeks.
- I did manage to include Interval Training and a Tempo Run during the month. I did a lot of my running at a local high school track so it is the perfect setting for me to get more comfortable with speed workouts in the future.
- I ran the Minneapolis 13.1 race on August 21 and managed to come within 25 seconds of my PR for a half-marathon. Although I was a bit disappointed not to score a new PR, I was very happy with finishing in less than 2 hours (1:59:48).
So, today begins a new month and I will be moving into the Strength building phase of my marathon training program. To accomplish this, I will be adding either a Fartlek Run or Tempo Run to my schedule one day each week. This will help prepare me for speed work that will be coming in October.
Happy and Safe Running!
John
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