One of the reasons I picked the Hanson plan to train this time was that I wanted to up my weekly mileage and get to the point where I could run 50 miles or more in a week. I hadn’t found a good strategy for building up to the mileage This was the first week I crossed the boundary and it felt good.

My speed work and tempo workout went okay. I kept close to my paces in the speed work on Tuesday but was on the high end of the range I set. This week my workout was a speed ladder (400m-800-1200-1600-1200-800-400), which is one of my least favorite. I like repeats better since you can develop a sense of pace and rhythm. With the ladder the paces vary slightly as  you go up or down, and I find it mentally tougher to get through the longer intervals in the middle of the workout. That’s probably good for me, though.

I slowed my pace in my tempo run during the fifth mile and did not close as well as I did last week. My recovery runs all went well, and my long run was good. I tried a new loop in Umstead and “rewarded” myself for the week with a detour on single-track towards the end. My long run pace for these runs is higher than my target, but the route is hilly and it’s sand or gravel for most of the way. I hope that explains it.

One of my side goals for the week was to week in strength and flexibility workouts. I finally managed to do so, but it hurt. I was surprised how tight my muscles were and that the tightness was uneven though it makes sense that I would have a strong side and a weak side. I need to continue to work on these in the coming weeks.

I am starting to get a little nervous about my training and whether it is sufficient to meet my goals. I trust that my body is adapting to the increased mileage, and as that continues and the weather cools my lungs will benefit as well.  I don’t have any doubts that I will be able to finish the marathon, I just don’t know if I will be able to drop my time. I feel like I should be running faster in some of my workouts, but at the same time I need to remember that I am not training for a 5k. I’m committed to the plan and will see what happens.