Richmond Marathon Training Take 2 - Week 7

This morning, it dawned on me that a marathon training plan is only effective if you actually pay attention to it.

3 runs for 19 miles
11 miles on the bike
1600 yard swim on Tuesday; 1650 yard swim on Thursday

Running miles logged so far: 133.3

Looks like a pretty impressive week of training, right? It was... except that when I opened up my training plan spreadsheet this morning to officially book my running miles, I noticed that I was supposed to increase my Monday run to 6 miles started in Week 7. I didn't. And because I didn't look at the training plan until this morning after my run, I am also 1 mile behind for Week 8 as I did the usual 5 miles.

Whoops. Guess I should really start confirming what I'm supposed to be doing before I head out. The good news is that because I ran an extra mile a few weeks ago, I am still on track for total miles for now.

Training highlights:

• Swimming felt great this week. 
• The Brooks Ghost 6s are tolerable. I don't love them as much as my Pinks, but my joints definitely hurt less after a week spent in the Ghosts.
• Pulling out an average pace of 8:30 during the MTT run this week, which was incredibly warm (78), incredibly humid (89%), and sunny. I keep telling myself that the more I suffer in the heat and humidity now, the easier it will be to run in November.
• I'm pretty proud of myself for getting up early every.single.day. and going to work out (except Sunday).

Training lowlights:

• I wussed out on Wednesday and retreated to the treadmill for my morning run. I just didn't feel like going out there in the 80 degree-100% humidity-even at 6:45 am- weather.
• I LOST MY D-BAG RUNNING SUNGLASSES. This is tragic and upsetting for a number of reasons. First, I don't lose things. Ever. So for me to have lost something is very unusual and puts me into a tailspin. Second, now I have to drive to a Dick's (none of which are "on the way" or close to anything that I do on a daily basis) to obtain a new pair. Third, when I go to Dick's, I will probably end up spending more $ on running gear that I don't need.

Hydration belt status: 

• Tags still on, hanging out in my dresser drawer unused.

Week 8 is the last week of my frankenstein plan combining Run Less Run Faster with the SportsBackers team plan. Then the real fun starts with insane speedwork on Mondays, real mid-length tempo runs on Wednesdays, and all-double-digit-from-here-on-out MTT long runs on Saturdays. 

In other words: real training. 

Eep.