Running update

The week that just ended Sunday* was one of my best running weeks yet. I ran a total of 26.9 miles in three hours and forty-nine minutes. The sum comprises

• a 4.9 mile "tempo" run in Central Park (8:07-minute miles),
• a five-mile treadmill "hill" run (3-4% grade at 8:34-minute miles),
• a ten-mile "long" run along Riverside Park on Saturday (8:54-minute miles),
• and a six-mile "easy" run on Sunday (8:14 minute miles).

My easy run didn't turn out to be so easy. I found myself trying to keep a good pace and really pushed myself up Cat Hill just pass the Boathouse. Only a handful of runners passed me on the six-mile course which tells me my pace is decent. (One was bare-chested and wearing a heart-rate monitor, so I'm not going to worry about him.)

Runners' World magazine's online training log helps me keep track of my progress. One of the best features is an integrated google-maps feature that lets me plot my route, and the computer tells me the distance I ran. I suspect the ten-mile run was actually farther, given that the running path's multiple twists and turns are not well reflected on the route I traced along the Hudson River. In that case, my time per mile should be even less.

It might be a stretch, but I think a goal coming into focus would be to do the marathon in 3:30 hours, which would be eight-minute miles. I definitely have a lot of work to do between now and October 28. My friend Adam, who also happens to be running the Marine Corps Marathon, has made that his goal. It would be great to be able to run with him.

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* I usually think of Saturday as the last day of the week. I find myself disliking corporate calendars that start the week on Monday since it seems very work-oriented. My online training log, however, places Sunday as day 7. (Seems theologically appropriate for a day of rest, but I'm not sure that's what they had in mind.) Hence, my running week ends on Sunday.