Kicking off Fall Marathon Training

Today kicked off marathon training for the fall. For what marathon, you may ask?
Announcing...
I will be running the Rochester Marathon on Sunday, September 12th. It is my hometown marathon, and I am very excited about it. This will be the chance for my grandparents to see me run a marathon, and so I am very determined to train in the best way possible so I can have a great race. But there's more...
I will also be running the Marine Corps Marathon on October 31st. Last year, a deal was struck between me and my friend Jenny (of Florida fame): if I qualified for Boston, she would run a marathon. So, she is running MCM as her first marathon, and I will be pacing her through it. Some friends go out to dinner - we're running a marathon together! We work together in the summer, so I will do a lot of runs with her. While running is not her first sport (she was a collegiate swimmer), she is a great athlete and will do will in the marathon.
But I digress...fall marathon 2 is so far away.
Today kicked off training for the Rochester marathon. My friend Sarah is designing my plan again, which means 4 week cycles. This is the first week of cycle 1:

Monday, May 31: Swim and weight-lifting

Tuesday, June 1: 2.5 mile warm-up; 2 mile on track; start first mile at 7:35 pace, cut-down second mile to 7:20 pace. 2 lap jog. 4x800, 1 lap jog between each repeat. Start first 800 at 3:35, try to cut-down by 5 seconds or so for each 800. 2.5 mile cool-down: Total mileage—10.25 miles

Wednesday, June 2: 6 miles easy.

Thursday, June 3: 8 miles easy.

Friday, June 4: OFF

Saturday, June 5: 14 miles easy

Sunday, June 6: 6 miles easy

Total Mileage: 44.25 miles

My track workout this morning went well - I hit all of my splits. Felt great to get back on the track. It was pouring rain, which can often be a deal-breaker in a run. I loved it - it pushed me to go harder as I was splashing through the puddles on the track. The 800s were tough, especially the last 2. The lactic acid started to build up, and and the following phrase started to come to mind in the last lap of each interval "When the body says "No", the mind must say "Yes." Because that's what you need to do - mind over matter, right?

I am at home until the 20th. Until then, I have two main tasks at home - training and studying for my master's exams (which are in July). 60 books to master - and I am well on my way. If anything I feel like Rocky in Siberia (again). He went there just to train, and that's what I'm doing. Running and reading about medieval things - that's the name of the game.