Endurance Building, Week 1

I have until April 20 to get my endurance up so I can PR at the Blue Ridge Half Marathon.  This will be my 3rd year in a row at this race.  The first time, it was my 2nd half marathon, and it took me 1:59.  Last year, it took me 1:35, and I came in 2nd place.  A PR and a 1st place finish would be pretty awesome...but we'll just have to wait and see what happens!

After my 4 days off with a hurting knee, I got back to running with a vengeance and ran 9 days in a row.  I didn't even realize it had been awhile since my last day off until I had run 8 days, and then a co-worker wanted to run with me the next day, so it turned into 9.  I took today off though, I definitely earned it!  62.1 miles in 9 days.  This week, I got some great mileage in, and all but the Friday run were completed before school in the morning.  Last Sunday I ran 8, and then this week I did:

M: 7.11 / 55:26 / 7:47

T:  6.1 / 49:17 / 8:04

W: 8.14 / 1:04:14 / 7:53

R: 10.3 / 1:25:31 / 8:18

F: 7.5 / 58:48 / 7:50 

(Greenbrier River Trail, with a friend)

= 39.15 miles

I'm really happy that I was able to get so many long runs this week.  It's especially astounding that I was able to get 10.3 one morning, and I was only 30 min late to work!  I had actually planned on going in even later than that, it wasn't a day that I teach early.  

I don't mind that my runs have been slow lately, because I am much more concerned with mileage than speed right now.  I do miss running in daylight, with music, but as long as I can continue to get to bed between 9 and 10, I have more energy in the morning, so I am able to run further.  It makes the weekend runs more enjoyable though, since I actually get to see where I'm going, and listen to music.