Halfway to Memphis

The marathon training has started.  I will dial it up with what seems to have worked in the past and do the best I can.  It has been over 10 years since I specifically trained for a marathon.  There is no doubt the speed has diminished.  I should not be shocked by this, but my brain acts dumb at times.  I tend to not focus on a lot of long runs.  I am happy to get several in otherwise I am just spent.  I am going back to the old standard of checking the resting heart rate first thing in the morning.  I hope I have the courage to understand what it means.  In a nutshell I try and do the easier runs about 40-80 seconds slower than marathon pace, do a fair amount of running at marathon pace, run 5-10% below marathon pace, and rest.  It can be a balancing act because you have to mimic marathon racing, but not get to carried away at times.  Was a time I could go bonkers-Zulu, but not too much these days.

Part of me thinks I let myself get slow, but this isn't true.  I am always in pretty good shape and I'll admit I have leaned towards more pedestrian efforts in training.  I believe that will bring longevity.  I am slowly focusing on my weight.  I ran Madison in 3:15:58 this past November at 179 pounds.  I vowed I would not run my next marathon that big and I am glad to report this morning I am 172 pounds.  That has always been a good weight for me, but my PR at Boston in 2002 had me at 162 pounds.  I would like to get and hold at around 165.

7/11 - 10.3 (7:52)
7/11 - 4.8 (9:25)
7/12 - 4.7 (9:37)
7/13 - 4.0 (9:59) HR 58
7/14 - 6.0 (9:23) HR 56
7/15 - 8.0 (9:16) HR 55
7/16 - 10.0 (8:11) HR 57
7/17 - 8.0 w/ 4 x 1 mile w/ 1 lap jog in 6:34, 6:33, 6:29, 6:35 HR 58
7/18 - 11.5 (8:27) HR 57, I died at 7 miles, extremely humid

I will need to average 7:14 per mile to slip under 3:10.  Lakefront is October 4th.  I found out you can submit another time to Boston after you are registered.  Not sure it will be beneficial, but if I run a faster time perhaps I will try and move up.  I have not decided at this point if I will race Boston, or "take it all in."  For now I want to stay fit and get to the starting line.