Stepping it up

Time for a color change...

This week marks the beginning of Cycle 2 of Boston training. This was a big increase, on a number of ways. Tuesday I had my track workout, with 5 mile repeats, starting at 8:00 minute pace and knocking off 5-7 seconds per mile. Mile times were 8:00, 7:54, 7:47, 7:40, and 7:33. It felt good, and not too hard to go faster and faster with each mile. Of course, I'm sure the next time mile repeats come up, I'll have to start at a faster pace, so we'll see.
In total this week, I'm running 52 miles. I have never run that much in a week; I peaked at 50 when I trained for the Marine Corps Marathon. While it's a new experience, it's a good one, for it means I'll get used to just running more each week. From here on out, with the exception of recovery weeks (which are once per four week cycle) and the taper at the end, I'll run at least 50 miles a week. I think this very good for me, for those long track workouts (Tuesday's totaled 13 miles) and long runs (I'll start doing 20 mile runs in a couple of weeks) will get me prepared for Boston.

In other news, I found out last night that I am now going to be a Pacers Ambassador. This is a program by Pacers Running Stores, a running store with several locations in the greater DC region. It means that I'll wear their clothes in races, and participate in their racing series, while promoting their store and running program (they also offer training seminars, clinics, and other great opportunities) throughout the year. I'll get to try out some new products, volunteer at some races, and meet a lot of great other runners. I'm excited to start the program (our kick off meeting is in a few weeks). This is certainly another positive step in my running career, because now I'll be getting some support from a company (after I volunteer at a few races, I can get complimentary entry into Pacers Races), and the opportunity to regularly meet with a group of runners in the DC area. I'll write here on a regular update with information about how the Ambassador program is going, so stay tuned.
Time to close; listed below is my training plan for the week.

Monday, January 18: OFF

Tuesday, January 19: 2.5 mile warm-up; 5x1mile, start at about 8:00 minute pace and cut down 5-7 seconds per mile, 500 meter jog between each rep; 4 mile cool-down. Total mileage—13 miles

Wednesday, January 20: 6 miles easy

Thursday, January 21: 9 miles easy

Friday, January 22: OFF

Saturday, January 23: 16 miles; run easy the first 5 miles, tempo at average marathon goal pace for 6 miles (start slower than marathon race pace, about 8:30 and then try to cut down to 8:15 pace for the last few miles), finish last 5 miles as easy run.

Sunday, January 24: 8 miles easy

Weekly Mileage Total: 52 miles