August is here already. I'm now down to 3 months and counting until the OBX marathon.
I still feel as if I am a little behind in my training, but the past month was a good step in getting back on track. After 3 months of struggling with first a hamstring issue, then a recurring calf issue, my monthly mileage is back where it was all last fall and winter. I still feel some occasional tightness, but I am running pain free at the moment.
For the month, the raw figures were as follows. There were 20 runs last month, for a total of 98 miles. I even got in a couple of longer runs, specifically 2 8's, a 10 and a 12. My original marathon plan had me doing 12's and 14's last month, so I am behind, but not too much. What I am mainly missing is the base build. Instead of 3 to 4 months of steady runs totaling around 90+ miles per month, I have 3 months of averaging 45 miles, then jumping to 98. I have to think that the 6 months prior to my 3 low mileage months (where I did average 90 each month) still have some residual effect and I won't pay the price for such a quick ramp up last month. Time will tell.
I am still working out my full schedule for the next three months, but my current thoughts are to have a progression going up to a 24 mile run three weeks before the event. If all goes well, August will see me progressing up to a 16 mile long run and somewhere around 110 miles in total.
See you on the road.
