I’ve just returned to Seattle from Spring Break. I’ll post more about Spring Break later but for now I’ll concentrate on how pleased I am that I managed to stick with my training schedule while on vacation. This required more treadmill running than I’d have liked because it was colder in Ottawa than I’d anticipated (or hoped) and I’m used to being spoiled by West Coast weather.

My week 12 total mileage was 24 miles (4.5+3+4.5+8+4) which is 38.6 km! I moved my Sunday long run of 8 miles to Saturday. This may be a permanent change since I like doing the long run immediately following Friday’s rest day. I’m pretty sure that 8 miles (12.9 km) is the longest run I’ve even done in one shot. That’s a milestone for me. At the end of the run I even felt like I could have kept going which is a big confidence boost as the actual race is only 41 days away.

I’m currently enjoying Spring Break in Ottawa and well into training week 12 but I figure I better make my week 11 post before I forget what I did last week!

Week 11 corresponded to the UDub winter quarter exam week and even though I didn’t have any exams I changed my schedule a bit and made it a step-back week. I ran a total of only 14 miles (4.5+4.5+5). My Wednesday cross training was a rare trip to the gym where I did some time on an elliptical machine and then some weight training. I really wish I could fit more weight training into my regular routine. I missed Saturday’s workout because I spent the day flying between Vancouver and Ottawa. Then on Sunday I ran my 5 mile “long run” on the treadmill in my parent’s basement. I’m not a huge fan of running on treadmills but it did keep perfect pace for me (12 min/mile) and I didn’t have to brave the Ottawa March weather!

Week 10 started out a little rough as I came down with a head cold a few hours after last Sunday’s long run. I ended up staying home on Monday and Tuesday (with the exception of Monday night’s rockin’ Bon Jovi concert) getting over the cold. So I moved Tuesday’s run to Wednesday and skipped Wednesday’s usual cross training swim. That’s the first time I’ve missed a workout since week 2. So for week 10 I ran a total of 19 miles (4+4+4+7).

I have to admit that my 7 mile run this morning was a little tough. That’s probably because yesterday I ran 4 miles then had softball and ultimate practices – it was a triple sport Saturday. I guess this will continue to be a problem as starting in a few weeks I’ll be playing softball once a week and ultimate twice a week. I may have to do some reorganizing of the training schedule but I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to work it out.

Even though my training in week 9 was exactly the same as in week 8 (17.5m plus some swimming) there were still two important events of note:

1. I can run slow! I ran my 6m Sunday “long run” at a just below a 12 min/mile pace. This felt very slow but all the running books I’ve been reading say that the best way to build endurance is to run slow.
2. The end of week 9 marked the mid point in my training schedule. So week-wise I’m half way there!