I ran my longest run to date last Saturday and it felt awesome. I went for 17-k in about 1 hour and 40 minutes. I had only planned to go about 15-k but I wasn’t paying too much attention to my Garmin and before I knew it I was committed. By the time I got back home I was just past the 17-k mark. It felt awesome.

I have no doubts that I could have run farther and completed a half-marathon distance. My decision to sign up for the marathon is a good one as this distance will really stretch me. However, I am getting ahead of myself here. I just need to focus on staying healthy for the half-marathon in February and THEN focus on the marathon. One step at a time!!

Wow, long time no post. Sorry about that. My life is crazy right now as I started a new job last week with a Calgary based Oil and Gas company and between that, the kids, and my training I have not had time to post to any of my blogs.

I have adjusted my schedule a bit. As I mentioned last post I have started working out with weights again and it is going well. I am also training for the half-marathon. It feels good.

Here is how my week of training looks:

Training Schedule

Monday AM	Weights (chest)	Monday Lunch	Rest
Tuesday AM	Weights (Back)	Tuesday Lunch	Run 4 - 6 K
Wednesday AM	Weights (Shoulders)	Wednesday Lunch	Run 4 - 6 K
Thursday AM	Weights (Bis, Legs)	Thursday Lunch	Run 4 - 6 K
Friday AM	Weights (Tris)	Friday Lunch	Rest
Saturday	Run 7 - 8 K
Sunday	Long Run (10+)

I know it looks like a lot but so far it is feeling good. At the first sign of over-training I will cut back.

I have moved my runs from morning to lunch basically because it is so damn dark and cold first thing in the morning. Where I am living right now has no street lights so the 5:00 am runs can be a bit scary and dangerous (never know when I might run into a coyote or slip on the uneven trail). It is also nice running downtown at lunch as there are LOTS of people running and it is good motivation.

I hope to post a bit more frequently next week so I will be able to tell you how it is going. Who knows, with all this training maybe Men’s Health magazine will call me up for a cover shot!!!

This past week I started to work out with weights again and let me tell you, I am in a great deal of freakin’ pain. Not pain like it hurts and I need to do to the doctor, but the pain one gets after pushing your muscles too far.

As an illustration, I went out for a 10-K run this morning and as I started out I could not believe the uncomfortable feeling I was experiencing as my pectoral muscles were bouncing up and down (reminder - I am a guy; note - guy’s pecs do bounce up and down a bit when running). Then there was the issue of my hamstrings. On Friday I did what I thought was a pretty light round of deadlifts but let me tell you, those ‘light’ sets had a real impact and I could not run as fast as I wanted to.

It would have been pretty easy to stop at that point but I didn’t because I obviously had an impact on my muscles and that is what lifting weights is all about. As a result of this pain I will get stronger and ultimately improve my running. That is why I am lifting weights after all (and to look like a buffed god of course). I can’t wait until Monday to hit the gym again and see what further pain I can inflict on myself…

For all of you folks out there who like to listen to podcasts, there is a pretty good series available either through iTunes or at the Runner’s World site. It covers the ING NYC Marathon and focuses on preparation for a marathon. I enjoyed listening to it - some of the information was a bit basic but overall I found it pretty valuable.

In iTunes, do a search in Podcasts for “runners world” and you should find it. Or, you can go directly to the Runner’s World website and download the audio files from there. A good way to break of the monotony of getting to work.