Week 3

The big news this week is that I have decided on a 'formal' training program for the marathon. Right now I am running 4-5 times a week with 2 long runs and 3 shorter runs. I'll keep this up for another 6 weeks before switching to Hal Higdon's Intermediate Marathon Guide; http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/inter2.html

Hal is a Runners World contributor and experienced runner, he 'coached' me through my 2 NYC Half Marathons, of which for the 2007 race I came in at an average pace of 7m46s per mile, which is a little quicker than what I hope to achieve for the marathon.

My base training will set me up to be more than comfortable running at the levels set in the guide, my main goal in the next 6 weeks will be gaining outdoor stamina; right now I am dehydrating too quickly and struggle to run more than 1 mile without needing a break. I found a running Club that meets on Saturday's so I will use them for my long run training once more into the rhythm. They run between 10-20 miles at 8.20 pace so that is perfect for my long run training.

Last week was good, I ran 5 miles on treadmills Tue/Thu night, and another 6m on Saturday. I also ran a 5km on Wednesday outside but, struggled (see above!).

This week has started well, for cross training I today swam 16 length's in the YMCA pool. Tomorrow and Thursday I will run 5 miles again, and again a 5km run outdoors on Wednesday. Saturday will likely be a 7 mile run, with another 5km outside on Sunday.

We have record highs in Phoenix right now so outdoors running is a challenge but, I need to do it. My hope is that, if I can get into the groove of running distance in zero humidity, NYC will be a breeze!!!