2.5 months after running the Calgary Marathon, I decide to run the Victoria Marathon over Thanksgiving weekend in October. This gives me a mere 8 weeks to train, but since I was already somewhat conditioned from the spring I figure this won’t be an issue. I had 17 weeks to train for my first marathon and 16 weeks for my second one.
I am half way to the marathon now and I have run 174 kms staying on target with my training regime with the exception of 2 runs when I was sick for a weekend. I experienced some rather severe shin pain in the first couple weeks, but the pain hasn’t carried further than that and only resurfaces when I play tennis (mysterious). I have supplemented with a bit of ultimate frisbee and cycling to work.
The RunKeeper app has been fantastic in tracking distances and paces and even providing my training program. The connection to friends who are also running has been encouraging and even delivers a level of accountability. Yesterday I discovered the RunKeeper site which allows for far more analysis. I even downloaded all of my runs and imported them into Google Earth to show all the trails I have pounded in Calgary, Radium and Red Deer in the last 4 weeks.
My longest pre-marathon run is coming this weekend (and the heaviest running week too at 79 kms). I still have 167 kms total to run. The best part is that I really enjoy the runs when I have the time. The cool weather is definitely a bonus too!