Week 41: Review

This week signaled the end of my recovery period for the half marathon, and the start of getting my mileage back up to where it was before the race. The training plan peaked at about 50km (~31mi) and I'd like to get back to that level again before pushing much further. What I do after that will depend a lot on what my next big target race will be, so that is still up in the air.

As for the possibility of doing a race next weekend, with my watch out of commission I'm likely not to bother at this point. While I don't mind running training sessions without pace readings, I'd be a bit nervous to attempt an all out effort without them at this point. The logistics of getting down there would have been complicated at this point anyway, and it shouldn't be too difficult to look for another 5-10K race down the road a little (when I have a better idea of my longer term plans).

Either way, other than the snafu with the watch everything went well this week. The lingering tightness that bothered me last week is gone, and I've done a few runs of varying intensities without any issues coming up (see the last few posts for details). As such, it's just a matter of climbing back up the ladder and preparing myself for whatever comes next ;)

Weekly Totals (Week 41):
Running: 44km
Walking: 57km
Cycling: 138km
Total: 239km

As noted in the last post, I did my long run today instead of tomorrow due to scheduling issues with Thanksgiving so that throws the weekly mileage off a bit. When the swapped sessions are switched around, this week basically consisted of about 38km, and next week will get me up to about 45km. To make sure everything is 100% I'm going to take another week off of the hill/speed training and I'll work that back in during the following week. If all goes well, this will get me back up to 50km/week by week 43 and allow me to stabilize at that point for a little while before I start any new programs.

Upcoming Week:
Sun (AM/PM) 8K Steady
Mon 50K Cycle
Tue 5K Tempo
Wed (AM/PM) 10K Steady/30K Cycle
Thurs 8K Steady
Fri 80K Cycle
Sat 8K Steady

As for my longer term plans, I've started reading everything that I can find on Marathon training in order to get a better idea of what I'll be up against. My initial plan was to target a Full Marathon next May, however I'm also playing with the idea of doing a couple more Half Marathons in the spring and then targeting a Full in the fall. With the original plan, the training would have ideal weather but there is a good chance of the race being on the warm side. With the alternate plan, however, the race will likely be more comfortable but the training might be a bit of a fight. Regardless, there's still a good deal more research to do before I make any decisions!