After not having a training schedule to follow for 3 months, yesterday kicked off my third marathon training! To make it more official, I just registered to run the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, VT on May 25th. Its supposed to be a great course with scenic views of Lake Champlain with 2 larger hills at miles 8 and 15 (this one is called Assault on Battery so it must be bad!). I'm told the crowd support is great for a small town marathon and my parents, my in-laws, and of course Bryan are all planning to come cheer me on!
My goals at this point are as follows: (1) to set a PR...under 3:57 and (2) under 3:50. My stretch goal is to qualify for Boston (3:40). I am targeting Boston '09 so if the BQ doesn't happen this time, I'll still have the fall so I'm not going to stress about having to BQ this race.....just see what happens.
So yesterday I started following Pfitzinger's 18 week up to 55 mile per week program (Pfitz 18/55). It's the same plan I followed for Hartford until I got hurt and had to back off some. I plan to see how I feel and maybe try to add some additional miles to peak around 60 MPW, but we'll see how things go. Monday I ran a dark and very cold 7 miles with 6 sets of strides. Its was 19 degrees out with a wind chill of 11....buurrrr!
I am still struggling with a cold that I've been fighting since Christmas. Plus my asthma has been acting up. I'm not running the paces that I would like, but I'm trying not to get discouraged about it. Once I kick this cold, I know my paces will pick up some too.....at least I hope! I feel so slow out there right now :(
Here's to a strong and fun training.....18 weeks until race day!
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