This round of training has been significantly more challenging than when I trained for MCM. Working full time plus, New England winter, Brenna’s activities, and sickness have all had an impact on my ability to get my training in. So, I did what I have heard countless times in yoga:

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I used to ask myself “What does that mean?”  During Week 10, it meant resting as opposed to following the training plan 100%, which meant I did one short easy run on Thursday and my long run on Saturday (which I cut down from 16-18 to 14 miles). During week 11, I opted once again for more rest days, but did manage to get in two shorter runs and a 10 miler on Saturday. Listening to my body meant taking walk breaks during the weekday runs.  The result was I felt strong during my long run where I ran a NS 5 [10:05] and 5 [9:41]. The bottom line is I ran 36.5 miles for the first two weeks of this training cycle and ran 36.9 miles for week 3. I think the rest did me good. I was able to run 3 shorter runs and one LONG run [20 miles] during this stressful work week. I must say that my long run was great. The weather was sunny and 48* and I started out chilly wearing my mittens, short sleeve shirt, arm sleeves and capris. By mile 2, the mittens were off. I fueled with gels and some beans, and had my hydration pack. I managed to do a NS 10 [11:15] and 10 [10:14], which was probably a little fast for a long run with an average pace of 10:40. I did stop at mile 10 to change over from my audiobook [Fangirl] to music, as well as for a potty break in the woods. I am looking forward to receiving my new pair of Saucony Ride 8s from Amazon and beginning the last 6 weeks of my training for the Vermont City Marathon!

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