Marathon and Beyond

Well, this past week I officially became a published author. Back in 2008, just after I qualified for Boston in Missoula, I sat down and hammered out the story of how I became a runner, and then a marathoner, and then a marathoner trying to qualify for Boston. I emailed it to the editor at Marathon and Beyond and basically forgot about it. A couple of months later, I had a publishing contract and, finally, this past week the article appeared in their March/April issue, which includes a special section on the Boston Marathon. It's not like I can quit my day job anytime soon, but it was pretty cool to actually see it in print. If you'd like to check it out, your best bet is to visit your local running store and see if they carry it (Marathon and Beyond doesn't have the widest circulation in the world). I know some Barnes and Nobles carry it too, but not all of them. If you're really desperate to read it, you can order back issues directly from the Marathon and Beyond website (www.marathonandbeyond.com).

I did some running this week too. After three straight weeks of 80+ miles, I took a planned cutback week (although I didn't really feel like I needed it, but I guess the point is to do it before you feel like you need to....kind of like drinking before you feel thirsty). I'm in an incredible groove right now (knock on wood). The majority of my runs lately have been around 30 seconds per mile faster than I normally would run but the pace feels effortless. Don't know why that is, but I really don't give a damn either. I'll just roll with it as long as it continues.

Sunday - Rest. Didn't want to, but I made myself.

Monday - 6.3 miles in the morning, 5 in the afternoon.

Tuesday - 9 miles with 8x800 intervals. Had to run it on the indoor track, which kinda sucked, but it ended up going alright.

Wednesday - 7 miles.

Thursday - 9 miles.

Friday - 16 miles. This one was a doozy. I ran a loop that I pretty much always negative split because of the terrain (all the biggest, longest uphills are in the first half). This time, I didn't glance at my Garmin at all between the halfway point and about mile 13, I was just running by feel. When I did take a peek, I realized that I was running sub-8 pace and that my overall pace was 8:08, over 20 seconds faster than I would normally run a long run. But it didn't feel like I was pushing at all. So, I decided to see if I could get my overall pace under 8 minutes for the entire run and did push the pace for the last 3 miles. I ended up running a 6:35 final mile (that pace was hurting by the end) and ended up with a 7:57 overall pace.

Saturday - 8 miles. Expected to feel a little sluggish after the long run on Friday but I didn't. Ended up running 8:08 pace and it felt like 9:08 effort. When I finished the 8 miles I didn't feel like I'd even really run.

Total - 60.3 miles

Ramping the mileage back up this week and hoping things keep on clicking like they are. I would gladly stay in the this groove for a long, long time if it was up to me.