More Milestones Achieved in October

Although there is one more day in October, my running is complete for the month. And, what a month it was! I just completed week 13 of my 16-week training program for the Philadelphia Marathon and it was the most strenuous of all training weeks. During week 13 alone, I logged 9.12 hours of running and that included a 20 mile long run (on the treadmill) today!

Since August, I steadily increased my running hours and distance covered. I remember back when I was in running camp during July when the coaches talked about logging 40-50 hours a week and thinking there was no way I'd be able to pull it off. But, to my surprise and satisfaction, I was able to keep up with the program and do what I had to do.

In fact, today I had to resort to running my 20 mile long run on the treadmill due to unfavorable weather conditions. Yesterday, we had a very unusual Nor'Easter storm that dumped close to 7 inches of snow in the area where I live outside of Philadelphia and the roads were still being cleared this morning so I bit the bullet and went to the gym to do my 20! My goodness – what a challenge that was! I tend to run slower on the treadmill so I took my time, listened to music on my iPod and finished in 3:47. Looking forward to my REST day tomorrow.

Here are some of more notable achievements for October:

• Ran a total distance of 201 miles. That represents a 21% increase from September (166 miles) and a 40% increase from August (144 miles).
  
• Hit a weekly mileage milestone of 50 miles during the week of October 3-9.
  
• Hit a weekly duration milestone of 9 hours 12 minutes during the week of October 24-31.
  
• Placed 2^nd in my age group (Male 55-59) at the OctoRun 13K Race in Hatfield, PA on October 24.
  

So, with October coming to a close and the Philadelphia Marathon just 3 weeks from TODAY, my taper officially begins tomorrow. This will be interesting for me since this will be my first full marathon – that means, this will also be my first taper after preparing so hard for the past 13 weeks. I am going to have to re-discover some lost hobbies to fill in the extra time that I'll be having on my hands!

Happy and Safe Running Folks,
John

Placed 2nd in My Age Group (M55-59)

I guess I should have hung around for the awards ceremony yesterday because I placed 2^nd in my age group (M55-59) at the OctoRun 13K race in Hatfield, PA! What a great surprise. Based on my overall placement (94^th) and time (1:10:57), I really wasn't expecting an award winning finish but I'll take it! This makes me really proud of the progress I've made with my training and helps build my confidence for running the Philadelphia Marathon in just under 4 weeks!

Happy and Safe Running,
John

OctoRun 13K

Race: OctoRun 13K (Hatfield, PA) by jbaker614 at Garmin Connect - Details

This morning was an absolutely beautiful fall morning for the 2^nd Annual OctoRun 13K in Hatfield, PA. Blue skies, a chill in the air (around 50 degrees at race time), and a couple hundred of runners hit the streets of Hatfield township. I felt that I had a really strong run, finishing in 1:10:59 (8:50 pace). It was primarily a flat course with a few inclines and I was happy that my average pace was stronger than my best 10K race thus far and this race was 3K longer. To me, that is an indicator that my training is paying off!

This week it's back to business with my marathon training – it is week 13 of my 16-week training program for the Philadelphia Marathon and it represents the longest number of hours (8.25) of running in the whole program. I will be back to the treadmill early tomorrow (Monday) morning to kick off the week to a great start.

Happy and Safe Running!
John