Week 9

Ah, week 9 was nice. Cooler weather, a little rain, and rest time for the legs this week as the training schedule wasn't as brutal. And somehow I still managed to get a little calf tweak. Don't think it's much, but I have been massaging it and trying to roll the pain away. It's in a location that's difficult to stretch.

Some observations from the week:

• Low miles - good. 
• Calf pain - bad
• Starting to add some miscellaneous workouts into the routine.
• Getting a little bored with the runs - ready to just get the marathon here. I know that's probably a normal feeling, but I also know that I need to keep the miles coming and focus on nutrition during the longer runs. So far, so good.
• Took advantage of Runner's World Tulsa 50% off of winter gear. Hard to buy winter gear in the summer, but it's the only way to save big $$.
• Need to find some other routes - I think riverside is starting to wear on me. I should be glad that Tulsa has a place like Riverside and RiverParks for runners and cyclists. It's pretty amazing, really.

I am thinking about carrying tunes while running. I see a lot of people do it, but usually I am talking to a fellow runner, so the time goes by fairly quickly. I have a feeling the actual marathon might be a little lonely, so maybe I'll start doing that. 

All for now. Thanks to all my Runner's World Badgers and friends and everyone else who is supportive and encouraging.

Steve

Week 8

Week 8 is complete. This was a great week. I was fortunate to run well, and mostly pain free. Notes from the week:

• Ran three runs this week - 7, 5.3, and 13.1 for a little over 25 miles. This was my longest week ever, and the Saturday distance of 13.1 (half marathon) was a distance PR for me! And it was like 65 degrees out during the run. It felt great!
• My left calf is healed up and gave me really no problems at all this week.
• Still have some what I will call minor issues with heel and knee pain at the longer distance, but I believe they will adapt and be pain free as well. They are not injuries, just some joint pain.
• Tried a new gel this week from Crank Sports - yeah we had fun with that name on the run on Saturday. Good stuff and my body received it well. I'll keep using them and try the other flavors in the pack to see which ones I like the most.
• I am thankful for body glide - enough said.

Other than that, everything else is great. I am trying to find a half distance race in early October. If anyone knows of one, please let me know. 

The Honey Badgers are an amazing group of people to run with. Many strong runners in the group, and we just keep badgerin' along! Remember the motto- "Anyone can run just one more mile"

Steve

Week 7 - Heat Wave Continues

Completed week 7. Remarkable things from week 7 include:

• Monday run that was terrible. Left calf started giving me trouble at mile 3. I was running with a team member, and he was having some other difficulty, so we walked almost a mile of the 4.5 that day.
• Thursday run was better, but still had calf problems at mile 3. Wound up slugging out 6.5 miles that day
• Saturday 2:00 am woke up with some nasty stomach/intestinal stuff that lasted until around 10:00 am, so I missed the group run which I had planned to do 10 miles. Ran in the evening and although I still had calf issues, I took a break every mile to stretch and hydrate. Finished up with 6.5 miles.
• Got my new hydration belt, and got to use it on Saturday night. I love it! It's gonna be my best friend for sure. 

Feel like my calf is starting to recover, and I'll just kind of take it easy on the pace until it starts to feel strong again. Right now, it's tentative and day to day. Didn't do as many miles as I needed to do in week 7, and week 8 is supposed to be a little less mileage, so I think I'll be able to recover even more this week. In about two weeks, I'll start to eat while running to get used to that for the longer distance days.

I desire to put more weight training back into my week, but finding it difficult to get the motivation to do so.