New Shoes?

A little late, but I finally got another set of Nimbus 12's. I used them today on the track, and they were ok. I think. I got new socks as well, and didn't like those. Anyway, I'm not sure whether I should wear these or the old ones for the marathon.
The old ones have 350 miles on them. They don't bother me, but they're old. I figure the new ones will have better cushioning, and maybe help me feel stronger at the end of the day. But maybe they're too stiff, and I don't have enough time to break them in. (If I wore them for all my remaining runs scheduled, I'd have less than 30 miles on them at the start.)
So... any advice?

In other news, I've gone over 800 miles for the year. Considering that I didn't start until March, that's pretty cool. I'd love to break that (arbitrary) barrier of 1000 for the year - but it will be tough to do that after the marathon. I'm kind of burnt out as well.

And just to keep up with the obsession, here's the latest extended forecast.



If you compare this to how it looked a few days ago, you'll see that Marathon Sunday looks about the same. Of course, the three days before it have turned from sunny to rain - so you can see how inaccurate this is at this point.

Not so fast...

Alright, I spoke too soon. I thought I was getting faster, but then I looked back at my 2007 times, and I'm not that fast.

Yes, I'm faster than I was 25 pounds ago, and at the end of this training cycle. But starting from a bad place means I didn't end in as good a place as I could have. I do seem to be running my interval runs well, but my tempo runs - which I think are clutch for marathon training - are a little off the pace.

In a way I'm kind of happy, since it helps me set some more realistic goals for the marathon. I'll discuss these at a later date.

In the meantime, the 15 day extended forecast has finally hit marathon day. Yay! It's time to obsess about the weather! (Even though I know they're not nearly accurate. They're generally not accurate for the next day, and at this moment, they're not even accurate about what's going on outside my window! But hey, I feel like this is part of the whole marathon process!)

Getting Faster

Lately, my training runs have been fast. Or what I consider fast. I looked back at where I was in 2007, and in fact, I've been running slightly faster as of late.

Now I'm annoyed. For the majority of this training cycle, I've felt that I was nowhere near where I was in 2007. I started out 20 pounds heavier, and much slower. And so I assumed that a PR was out of the question. Actually, I kind of felt that my 2007 performance would likely be the best ever for me. It was an hour faster than 2005, and I felt I was in really great shape then.

And now, suddenly I feel as though I could actually better my time. Only, that I really haven't trained appropriately. I've run some of these last training runs fast, but I could tell that I wouldn't be able to keep it up. One thing I definitely don't want to do, is crash and burn during this race. I don't want to start too fast, and then suffer through the last 10 miles. (Been there, done that.) And so I'm not certain how to run this race...

It's interesting for me to realize that I have a lot more running potential in me. Quite honestly, I'm tired now and can't really think about doing this again. But I can tell that if I started the training season in good shape, and trained as if I was going to run a 3:30, that I could definitely do it.

I think I'll try and start at a comfortable pace, and then gauge how I'm doing at about 10 miles. Easier said than done, but that's what I'm thinking right now.

(Of course it could be a torrential downpour, or 75 degrees, and all this will go out the window. But it's still too early to obsess about the weather at this point!)

Update - 1 Month to go

Yeah, I'm not so good at posting anymore. I guess facebook has kind of taken over. Just a lot quicker.

In any case, I've definitely been running. Let's see...

July 109 miles

August 151 miles (PR!)

September 133 miles

Total for the year so far: 717 miles. (Not bad, considering that at the beginning of March I was up to 2!)

I've been using the FIRST method, though a lot of my tempo runs haven't been too exact. I'm sure that will hurt my time, but I'm ok with that.

Also, I was away for the Jewish Holidays in Israel. Really tough to run there with all the hills and high heat. Between the location and the holiday schedule, I'm a little off. Today I ran for only the second time in 9 days: a 20 mile long run on Sunday, and a 10 mile tempo run today. I was pretty fast, but my knees hurt towards the end. I didn't want to stop, but it's concerning a little. And I'm supposed to run a speed workout tomorrow. We'll see...

Today marks 1 month to go until the marathon. I'm actually pretty tired of the training. It's been a big stress finding time for the runs, and making sure I do them. It's been good for me, no doubt. I've lost over 20 pounds and I've gotten much faster than when I started. But it's hard to fit it all in. May move back to the half after this one. (Though I'd have to eat less - which is a problem.) Needless to say, I'm looking forward to the taper.