Rebuilding.

I've gotten away from journaling my weekly run times, and have to be careful to not let the Perfect become the enemy of the Good. In that spirit I'll just dive right back in and make some notes as I go, with the intent of filling in the gaps of the past couple of months.

My running practice has continued, three times each week, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, regular as a heartbeat. Coach continues to guide me along the way as I rebuild from the marathon in North Carolina.

Building deeper and deeper with endurance, I've also begun shifting my focus to increasing my speed on the marathon. With my next marathon experience planned for autumn 2011, I've registered for the Colorado Half Marathon in May 2011 as an intermediate step, a 13-mile tempo run. As well, I'm anticipating the full variety of local 5Ks and 10Ks this spring and summer, all integrated by Coach's careful planning into my marathon training plan.

My report from this last week of training:
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It was a great week for running. My shorter runs begin at my locker at 13th & Arapahoe, this week being loops around SE Boulder. For the long run I did sections of the Boulder Marathon course, starting north of the Res.

The 8-miler was in the cold wind, a good challenge. I had intended to do a couple of miles of tempo run, but a combination of factors prevented it. I set an overall pace for the run that was too fast to leave anything in the tank, under those conditions and with that amount of long, slow elevation gain. When it came time to try for a tempo pace, there was just nothing there. I managed a half-mile at a pace almost 1min/mi off, and simply couldn't muster any more leg speed.

Next time I'll pace myself better--slower overall--so I have a margin for tempo.

Long Run was a fun, rewarding 13 miles, as this Boulder Marathon course often is for me. I think my body really likes running on the dirt roads. My pace was a just a tad faster than our goal range, my HR stayed low and steady, and I found myself enjoying the hilly terrain, actually accelerating with each climb. It was easy, smooth cruising, and I could have comfortably continued for several miles more. Had great energy for a long list of errands afterwards, including a shopping trip to a busy, busy Costco.
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After three weeks of building mileage, I'm now due for a resting week. My energy is holding up well, and this is exactly where good coaching comes in, to keep track of the longer-term goal.