10 weeks in the bag ...

... or 20 weeks half in the bag, whichever.

I've been slacking on my blogging for a few days. I finally got a new computer, and I've been getting it set up in my free time. There were about 45 critical updates, and a number of service packs to install. It has basically taken all weekend to get it fully up and running all the software that I use. But it's nice, and it's much faster than my old Frankenstein computer, which was about 8 years old, and had various upgrades and hacks running on it, some of which were made for other computers, so this one is much more stable, and much faster.

I ran two laps on Señor Bridgio, partly with America's own Joe! Then another 4 miler on Friday, that I can no longer remember any details of, except that I saw two dead birds and I convinced myself that they had the birdflu and that I probably have it now. Say that reminds me, I read a paper about the 1918 Influenza pandemic that killed millions of people and how there are some key mutations to that virus that enabled it to infect humans and cause a pandemic, and the H5N1 birdflu already has 6 out of those same 10 mutations! So we're probably all gonna die from it. YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!

Anyways, where was I, ah yes, Saturday. I ran 8.2 with some folks from the club, and I have to say it was a bit of a struggle. I'm not sure why, maybe because it was warm, or maybe because the people I was trying to keep up with were taking breaks every so often, but when they were running, it was faster than I usually go on longer runs. But, at least in Clear Lake, there was no problem with the weather, unlike those who tried to run the Bayou Bash. It threatened for a little while, but it waited to start until about an hour after we finished. And this morning, another 4 miler, on the trails. No dead birds.

I've done some brainstorming about the 'state of the union,' as it pertains to my training.

And here are the positive aspects.

10 weeks running every day.

I'm improving in fitness.

Confidence is returning - 4 milers, and even 8 milers are not intimidating at all.

Losing weight, although not as fast as I'd have guessed.

Here are the negatives.

Occasional discomfort in my left foot. This is the most upsetting thing right now, since it could severly limit my training like it did towards the end of last year.

Once or twice per week struggles with the 'whybothers.' So far, I've come up with enough reasons to get my butt out the door.

It's getting hot. The melting point for motivation is 82F.


And here's the general outline for the next ten weeks.

Continue the running streak.

Increase mileage. I've been doing daily runs of 3, now 4, miles, with one day where I go twice as far. I plan to continue that pattern, running 5, then 6, miles per day, with long runs of 10, and 12, miles respectively. I'll do one more week at 4 miles per day (for 5 weeks total), then bump.

Maintain my ice cream free streak, and do better with my snack cracker free streak.

So, ten weeks from now is July 9th, and by then I'll be at 6 miles per day, with a long run of 12, for 4 weeks or so, which will be about 48 miles per week. It sounds like a lot of miles, but the daily runs seem to inflate that number a bit. Hmm. I'm just crunching some numbers here. Just a sec. July 9 is 4 months before the San Antonio Marathon, which is looking like the first marathon for our run at the TMC. It seems like that's too long a time. I ran some 50 mile weeks in preparation for the NYCM, but if I tried to maintain ~50 mpw for four months, I might just crash and burn. Maybe I should ramp up more slowly. I always start preparing too early and then crash and burn. Okay, so maybe I'll run 5 and 6 miles per day for 6 weeks each, instead of 4 weeks. But then, it still might be too ambitious ... okay, I don't know what I'm going to do.

Keith out.