Now we’re getting serious.  It’s been a long time since I cracked 40 miles in a week, which isn’t really all that much when it comes to marathon training, but it’s a milestone nonetheless.  Another milestone is going 14 for 14 on scheduled runs so far in the training plan.  Hopefully I’ll be able to say I went 74 for 74 by the time the race rolls around, but we’ll see.

Monday I had to drop my car off to get a little TLC.  What’s that?  Serendipity?  Yes, it is.  With 4 miles on the schedule and the service center 4 miles from work, I think you know what happened next.  A nice, easy 4 mile run saved me from needing to find a ride to work first thing in the morning.  Who says running is pointless?

Tuesday I got up nice and early to crank out 10 miles and was pleasantly surprised to see how low my heart rate stayed considering my pace.  I also got talked into going for a lunch-time swim with some coworkers.  Who am I to turn down some cross-training fun?  I woke up Thursday nicer and earlier to get in an 8 mile tempo run so that I could make it to work for an early meeting.  Those tempo miles felt really good, considering how ho-hum everything else that week (and the week before (and the week before that)) had been.

Thanks to an overnight email from Europe, Friday turned into a scramble to get to work extra early.  I took the liberty of stepping away from my desk after the emergency was handled and went for another 4 mile recovery run.  Later on I got the weekly “Saturday Run” group email which usually consists of approximately 6 characters like “6:30 bs”, which is code for Barton Springs at 6:30am.  That’s not a typo.  Meet at 6:30am.  I joined the group of guys (who are much faster than I am) for my 15 miles.  They called it a day at 11 miles, but not before rocking my legs with some fast paces up some non-trivial hills.  I relished those last four solitary miles at my own more human pace.

The week as a whole went well, getting in all my runs despite some work-related complications.  Next week the mileage goes up a little more and the intensity gets a little harder.  Things are starting to get serious.